Excellent idea - the rough stone wall is very effective. The vignette is a bit strong for me but does give this that pinhole effect that works with the challenge. One of my top 10. Voted earlier.
Love the concept here. I think the props need a bit of work. The ladder is a little too modern, if you could find a wooden one, that would work well. It's really the rope on the ladder that I don't like. Also you seem to be carrying a suitcase, but the title leads me to believe this is about climbing the corporate ladder, so a briefcase (attache case) would work better.
I think to really hammer home the end point, you should have put the end of the ladder right above his head and visually you would have had the end. Here it looks like he can keep climbing out of the picture frame. I do like the b&w and the textures of the wall though.