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Career Paths & Ladders

Career paths and ladders are progressive employment tracks that benefit Pinellas County employees and their work unit. The paths/ladders help employees develop new skills, spur individual initiative, and increase motivation to achieve departmental goals. Human Resources assists with establishing criteria and tailoring the process for each work unit. A career path is a progression of steps within a position, while a career ladder is an upward progression to another related position.

What is a Career Path?

Horizontal intersecting colorful arrows
  • A career path is a move forward within a current position based on acquiring new knowledge and skills that benefit Pinellas County (e.g. progressing from entry level to intermediate level Craftworker 1).
  • Recommended for classified and exempt employees.
  • Requires approval by the Appointing Authority.
  • There are pre-established milestones such as job-related training, education, certification, and/or licensure.
  • Progression from one level to the next is achieved once the specified criteria are met.
  • A career path may result in a 2% increase to the employee’s base pay.
  • Ask your manager for information on career paths in your work unit.

What is a Career Ladder?

Ladder with an upward arrow coming up the steps
  • A career ladder is a promotion to another position within the same job family (e.g. Craftworker 1 to Craftworker 2).
  • Recommended for classified and exempt employees.
  • Requires approval by the Appointing Authority and the Unified Personnel Board.
  • There must be a business need for the higher-level position within the work unit, i.e., a Craftworker 1 would not automatically be promoted to Craftworker 2 if there is no need for that position.
  • A career ladder position may be filled non-competitively or through a competitive recruitment process.
  • A career ladder may result in a 4% to 10% increase to the employee’s base pay (see Personnel Rule 3 for more information).
  • See a list of Current Career Ladders.

How to Create a Career Path or Ladder

  • This is a department-initiated process that is facilitated by Human Resources Classification & Compensation.
  • In consultation with Human Resources, the department/Appointing Authority creates career paths and ladders based on their business needs and budget.
  • Career paths creation requirements:
    • The department must pre-establish the criteria for incremental increases before initiating a career path.
    • The employee must meet performance standards and required criteria prior to being awarded an upward adjustment (pay increase).
  • Career ladder creation requirements:
    • The department must have a genuine need for the higher-level work.
    • The employee must be interested and demonstrate the potential to successfully perform the higher-level work.
    • A class specification for the higher-level position must be available.
    • New career ladders may require approval by the Unified Personnel Board via delegated authority to the Chief Human Resources Officer.

Contact Information

For more information or assistance in creating a career path or ladder, please contact Human Resources at (727) 464-3367 or pay.class@pinellas.gov.

6/12/24