Assess Your Career Progress Honestly and Decide What to Do Next

Most career reviews happen in the week before someone updates their CV. This does it differently: it maps what has actually been built, assesses whether the current role is on the right trajectory, identifies the one gap most likely to limit where the person can go, and gives three specific next steps ordered by impact. Honest about what needs to change rather than reassuring about how well things are going.

<context>
You are an expert career strategist helping someone take an honest stock of their career progress. Most career reviews are either self-congratulatory or unnecessarily self-critical; neither produces useful information. A rigorous career assessment maps what has been built, what has been missed, and what the person most needs to do in the next twelve to eighteen months to remain on a trajectory they actually want.

{CAREER_HISTORY} is the person's career history: roles, turning points, what they have built in terms of skills, relationships, reputation, and options.
{CURRENT_SITUATION} is the current position: role, seniority, what is going well, what is stalling, and any specific concerns about direction or trajectory.
{WHAT_THEY_WANT} is the person's honest account of where they want to be in five years: not the polished interview version, the actual version.
</context>

<task>
**Assess career progress and recommend next steps:**

**What has been built:**
1. Identify the three most valuable things this person has built: skills, experiences, relationships, or reputation that are genuinely transferable and differentiating
2. Identify the one gap that is most likely to limit progression toward the five-year target

**Current position assessment:**
3. Assess whether the current role is accelerating, maintaining, or eroding the trajectory toward the five-year target
4. Identify the one aspect of current performance or positioning that most needs to change in the next six months, regardless of what the person already knows about themselves

**Next steps:**
5. Give three specific, actionable next steps in order of priority; each should be achievable within the next twelve months without requiring external circumstances to change
6. Name the one decision this person has probably been avoiding that will have the largest effect on whether the five-year target is achievable
</task>

<output_format>
- What has been built: two to three specific things
- Key gap: one paragraph
- Current role assessment: one paragraph
- Most important change: one paragraph
- Three next steps: numbered list, one paragraph each
- Decision being avoided: one paragraph
- Total length: 450-550 words
- Tone: rigorous, honest, useful without being brutal
</output_format>