Who this is for
You want out of your current line of work, you have some idea what you would rather do, and every time you sit down to plan it you end up updating your CV instead — because that is the one step with an obvious first action.
This template is built around a practical claim: the CV is often not the first bottleneck. Before polishing it again, test whether you would like the new work and whether employers would consider your current background. Finding either problem in month one is much cheaper than finding it in month nine.
So the structure front-loads the things that could invalidate the whole plan.
The branches
Is this actually the work I want? The branch people skip because it feels like procrastination. It is not — it is the cheapest possible test of the most expensive assumption. Sub-branches: people doing it now that I could talk to; what a bad day in this job looks like; which parts of my current work I actually dislike, stated precisely enough to check whether the new thing avoids them.
Would anyone hire me? Read fifteen real job ads and mark, honestly, which requirements you fail. Not the aspirational ones — the ones that appear in every listing. This branch converts a vague fear into a specific, short list.
Evidence someone could look at. A career changer may not have the expected background, so concrete work gives an employer another way to assess capability. Two or three relevant things a stranger can examine may say more than another generic certificate. This branch usually holds the most actual work.
The gap I would have to survive. Months of runway, what the drop in income would be, what is fixed cost and what is not. It sets the shape of everything else: six months of runway and eighteen months are different plans, not the same plan at different speeds.
People who would vouch for me. Not networking as an activity — specific names. Who already knows I can do things? Who works adjacent to where I want to go? A trusted introduction can reduce uncertainty for both sides, and the branch exists to make you name possible connections rather than hope.
The conversation with my current employer. Sometimes the change is available where you already are. Sometimes the honest answer is that it is not and you need to know before you spend a year finding out. Either way this branch has a dependency: it usually should not happen until the evidence branch has moved.
How to use it
Import it, then mark one branch as Focus — almost always the first one. Nothing else on this map is worth much until you know whether you want the destination.
Draw the dependencies. Evidence depends on skills. The employer conversation depends on having something to say. Runway constrains the timeline for everything. Those dashed relationship lines change the order most people would have chosen.
Add dates sparingly. Application windows are Deadlines; everything else here is an Aim date at best, and this map should not become a wall of self-imposed targets you invented to feel committed.
What to add once it is yours
Replace the generic branches with your actual situation: the real job titles, the real names, the real number for your runway. A template describes the shape of the problem; only you have the content.
Attach Proof as things complete — the conversation that happened, the project you shipped, the ad you rewrote your experience against. A branch cannot be marked Proven without it, and in a change that takes a year, that record is the main defence against feeling like nothing has moved.
Signs it is working
- The first branch resolved into a clear yes or a clear no, and either was useful
- Your list of failed requirements got shorter and more specific
- Someone outside your current employer has seen something you made
- You know your runway as a number rather than a worry
Signs it is not
- The map has grown while nothing has left it
- All the movement is in the evidence branch and none in the "do I want this" branch
- You are collecting courses rather than producing anything examinable