# Career Transition Evidence Matrix

A worksheet for turning past work into evidence-backed capabilities and choosing two realistic
transition experiments. Companion to
[Career reinvention: map transferable evidence before chasing titles](/articles/career-reinvention-transferable-evidence).

## Before you start: keep private history private

Do not paste customer names, confidential project details, unpublished financial or performance
data, colleague evaluations, internal incidents, or documents you do not own into an AI tool.
Replace names with roles and exact values with defensible ranges.

## Step 1: Evidence moments

Write down eight to twelve moments from real work, volunteering, study, or personal projects.
Describe what happened before assigning a skill label.

| # | Situation | What I did | Result |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | | | |
| 2 | | | |
| 3 | | | |
| 4 | | | |
| 5 | | | |
| 6 | | | |
| 7 | | | |
| 8 | | | |

## Step 2: Capability-evidence matrix

One row per evidence moment.

| Situation | Action I personally took | Capability demonstrated | Observable result | Conditions | Evidence or verifier |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |

## Step 3: Capability inventory

Group repeated capabilities into four types.

- **Domain knowledge:**
- **Methods:**
- **Tools:**
- **Operating qualities:**

## Step 4: Target-role hypotheses

Fill in for up to two directions.

```text
Target role:
Type of organization:
Problem the role is hired to solve:
Capabilities apparently required:
Evidence I already have:
Evidence I lack:
Questions that current job descriptions do not answer:
```

## Step 5: Gap test

| Requirement | Evidence now | How strong? | Smallest test |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |

Classify each gap: **knowledge gap** (need to learn), **evidence gap** (may be capable but cannot
demonstrate it), or **access gap** (need a person, environment, or opportunity to test the work).

## Step 6: Transition experiments

```text
Hypothesis:
Experiment:
Evidence I expect:
Cost and deadline:
What would support continuing:
What would make me stop or revise:
Person who can challenge my interpretation:
```

## Skeptical-editor prompt

```text
Act as a skeptical career-evidence editor.

For this target role and capability matrix:
- distinguish direct, adjacent, and missing evidence;
- quote the row supporting each conclusion;
- flag claims that depend on an assumption;
- propose three questions for a person currently doing the role;
- propose one low-cost work-sample test.

Do not predict employability or recommend a career.
Do not invent labour-market demand.
```

## Before you rely on this matrix

- [ ] Every capability label traces back to a specific evidence row, not an adjective.
- [ ] Labour-market and demand claims came from real job descriptions, professional bodies, or
      people doing the work — not an AI-generated impression.
- [ ] For regulated professions, qualification and recognition requirements were verified with
      the relevant authority.
- [ ] Two target-role hypotheses are chosen, not a long open-ended list.