# Role Progression Self-Assessment

> Fill this in for yourself, then — if you are brave — ask someone who works with you to fill in
> the same sheet about you. The gap between the two is usually the most useful information on the
> page.
>
> Read [Career Paths](/academy/career-paths/) first for what each level means.

**Name:** _______________  **Current role / level:** _______________
**Target level:** _______________  **Date:** _______

## 1. Which level are you actually operating at?

Score each row 1–5 on how consistently it is true of your work over the **last six months** — not
your best week.

| | Score |
|---|---|
| I complete well-scoped tasks without them coming back | |
| I need the work broken down for me before I start | |
| **I take an ambiguous problem and scope it myself** | |
| I notice what was not said in the request | |
| I ask the awkward question early rather than the obvious one late | |
| **My design decisions still look right a year later** | |
| Other people's work is better because of my review | |
| Problems that would have become incidents quietly do not | |
| I am trusted with the vague, high-consequence work | |

**Rough reading:** strong on the first two only = operating at entry level. Strong through the
middle three = mid. Consistently strong on the last four = senior, whatever your title says.

## 2. The evidence test

For your **target** level, name a real example from the last six months. If a row is blank, that
is the gap — not a training course.

| Requirement at target level | My concrete example |
|---|---|
| | |
| | |
| | |

> Vague answers here are the point of the exercise. "I'm good at architecture" is not an example.
> "I chose X over Y for this system, here is what I traded away, and here is how it held up" is.

## 3. Technical gaps

List at most three. More than three means you are collecting rather than progressing.

| Gap | Why it matters for the target role | How I close it | By when |
|---|---|---|---|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |

Prefer closing a gap by doing something real — see [Projects](/academy/projects/) — over reading
about it.

## 4. The uncomfortable questions

Answer these honestly; they identify stalls that no amount of study fixes.

**Am I finishing things, or starting impressive things?** _______________

**When did I last tell someone bad news early?** _______________

**What have I written that other people used?** _______________

**Is my current role capable of giving me the next level's work?** yes / no

**Have I explicitly asked for that scope?** yes / no — when: _______

> The most common stall is at mid level: engineers who keep adding technologies when the actual
> constraint has become handling ambiguity and saying what they will not do.
>
> If you have asked for larger scope twice and been declined, the constraint is the role rather
> than your readiness. That is worth knowing clearly rather than assuming the problem is you.

## 5. The next three months

| # | Commitment | Evidence it happened | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | | |
| 2 | | | |
| 3 | | | |

Three is the limit. A plan with nine items is a wish list, and it will be abandoned by week four.

## 6. Review

| | Date | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Self-assessed | | |
| Someone else assessed me | | |
| Reviewed with my manager | | |
| Next review | | |

**Biggest difference between my score and theirs:** _______________

That difference is worth a conversation. People consistently over-rate themselves on judgement
and under-rate themselves on influence — and both misreadings send you to the wrong work.