What is the definition of a Career Ladder?
A career ladder is a progression of positions in an occupational series. Frequently, career ladder positions result from full performance level positions being lowered for recruitment purposes. For example, there may be difficulty recruiting candidates at the full performance level but qualified candidates may be found at lower grades. Career ladders are also used for training, employee development, and succession planning. Our engineering positions have a full performance level of GS-13; however, they are most often filled at the GS-7 or 9 level to provide an internal development opportunity for our employees.
