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#148 Actualized the career advancement page.
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stickgrinder committed Aug 11, 2023
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People in SparkFabrik should expect to advance on their career path, depending on their inclinations and will. The company will work to give equal opportunities for growth to everyone, rewarding results and commitment.
Progressing requires seizing these opportunities, accruing tenure, achieving results, and nurturing both technical and non-technical skills.

Operational career paths expand **vertically** (per [seniority level](/organization/operations#seniority-levels)) and horizontally (per [Project Roles](/organization/operations#project-roles)).
Operational career paths expand **vertically** (per [seniority level](/organization/operations#seniority-levels)) and **horizontally** (per [project roles](/organization/operations#project-roles)).

## How to advance
## Seniority and vertical growth

We track and rule people's career advancement to make it fair and clear to everybody.
To fulfill [its vision](https://www.sparkfabrik.com/en/the-manifesto/), SparkFabrik sells and cultivates high seniorities. We generally expect junior developers to eventually become senior developers over time.

### Checkpoints
Time alone is not enough to become excellent seniors. On the other hand, maturing seniority takes time.
It's not all about knowing a framework's ins and outs, being able to code in many different languages, etc. That surely matters, but it's worth nothing without stuff like professional standing, the ability to recognize patterns in different contexts, a solid set of soft skills that allows you to seat at many different tables and, ultimately, knowing a lot about different domains.

Each developer can assess their overall level of proficiency by their [impact assessment](/working-at-sparkfabrik/impact-assessment), a qualitative measure of the expected positive outcome of our work<sup><a href="#fn1">1</a></sup>.
Being around here, working on many different projects, and engaging with the company's community will make you climb the ladder.

Stepping up on your career path will then be based on adherence to values and the actual impact you make, not on personal perception of your merit.
Each developer role model has its impact assessment card.
Each developer can assess their overall level of proficiency by performing an [impact assessment](/working-at-sparkfabrik/impact-assessment).
This model allows focusing on quality, lowering the impact of personal perception on your merits.

To understand if you can cover a specific role, you can take the role's IAC and self-assess how well you are fulfilling the expectations.
Or you can reach out to your responsible (your team leader or direct report), asking for their feedback.
To understand if you match a certain level or if you can cover a specific role, learn about the [accountabilities of your target position](/organization/accountabilities) and self-assess how well you are fulfilling the expectations, printing the relevant accountabilities page in the form of an _Impact Assessment Card_.

The IAC result is pretty self-explanatory. Either you match or exceed the role's expectations, or you get an idea about where to invest to grow your skills.
Ask for a meeting with your manager or an HR representative to set your goals and make sure the company will do its best to help you be successful.
Or better yet, reach out to your responsible (your team leader or direct report), asking for help in evaluating your performance in the light of the IAC.

### Stepping up
The IAC result is pretty self-explanatory. Either you match or exceed the role's expectations, or you get an idea about where to invest to grow your skills.
**Set goals you feel you can pursue** and, if you need anything from SparkFabrik (resources, opportunities, or even just suggestions), ask for a meeting with your manager or an HR representative. The company will do its best to help you be successful.

Taking a new role will impact:
## Project Roles and horizontal growth

* your salary according to the baselines for that role (may change over time);
* your duties following your new [accountability sheet](/organization/accountabilities#seniority-related-accountabilities).
No project can be successful without a clever analysis, a disciplined direction, and great architecture at its foundations. That's why taking over a project role is not for everyone: it requires guts and broad shoulders.

### Taking the challenge
As you grow and display your inclinations, you may require to take on one of these responsibilities. Maybe you don't want to become the most impressive engineer on the planet, but you feel at home unraveling the complexities of a customer's domain, or helping your team organize around the success of the project.
Or maybe we see in you the right person for the job and issue you this challenge.

To fulfill [its vision](https://www.sparkfabrik.com/en/the-manifesto/), SparkFabrik sells and cultivates high seniorities. We generally expect junior developers to eventually become senior developers.
Either way, taking over the responsibilities associated with a project role is a key component of your growth.
It's possible that during your career in SparkFabrik, you may cover more of those roles, at times even two at the same time.

Still, despite nobody can consciously avoid learning from experience, not all juniors want to take over the responsibilities of a senior. And not all seniors crave to become team leaders or software architects. This is understandable and we respect the choice.
Of course, some roles require a minimum level of seniority. _Solution Architects_ is a role for Senior and Lead Developers. On the other hand, Team Leaders may be found even among less-skilled developers who show great social and organizational skills.

Every time you will match the requirements for career advancement, and if the company recognizes in you the qualities to cover a new role, you'll be granted the opportunity to take it over.
We will help you understand the new role's benefits, expectations and duties. It's up to you to take or leave.
Compared to vertical growth, which goes in one direction, horizontal growth can move sideways over time. You may work as an analyst on a project, to become the team leader of another. Or you may stick to a specific role for a while, just to take some rest and go back to coding software or designing user interfaces before taking over the next challenge.

We encourage everybody to take the challenge and we may even probe people who already refused if we see a new opportunity for them to shine, but we can't push or force any advancement.
Whenever the company recognizes in you the qualities to cover a new role, you'll be granted the opportunity to take it over.
We will help you understand the new role's benefits, expectations, and duties. It's up to you to take or leave.

Still, we expect **every developer** to constantly increase their assessment and set new professional goals, maybe tackling new [Specialities](/organization/operations#specialities) in their career, making side steps instead of climbing a ladder.
## Advance your career

---
Every time you will match the requirements to level up your seniority or take over a project role, we will discuss about it and reward you accordingly.
It's as simple as that.

<small><a name="fn1">1</a>: Our model is inspired by [Deeson](https://www.deeson.co.uk) and [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/) performance review practices.</small>
If you feel like discussing your level of proficiency or the will to test you in a specific role, just reach out to an HR representative and we'll arrange a review, map the opportunities and come up with a viable plan for that.

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