After working as a co pilot (also known as a First Officer) the natural next step in your career is advancing toward roles where you take on greater responsibility and authority in the cockpit, especially by earning an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) and accumulating more flight hours.
Once you have the required flight experience and hold an ATPL you can move up to become an airline captain which means you are the person in command of the aircraft, making critical decisions leading the crew and taking full responsibility for the safety and operation of the flight.
There is also an intermediate role called Senior First Officer which is essentially an upgraded version of your current position but with more experience and responsibilities usually once you meet ATPL requirements you can hold this role even before becoming a captain.
Beyond these, with even more hours and the right certifications you can progress to specialized and leadership positions such as Examiner or Check Pilot, where you are responsible for evaluating other pilots during training or recurrent checks typically after gathering substantial experience. Other advanced career paths include becoming a Test Pilot for testing aircraft after maintenance or system upgrades or moving into management roles like Flight Operations Manager, where you oversee private aviation operations all requiring high levels of experience ratings and ATPL.
summary
he progression after being a co pilot typically follows this path gain flight experience obtain ATPL become Senior First Officer advance to Airline Captain pursue further roles such as Examiner Test Pilot or Operations Manager depending on your career interests and additional qualifications.