Patience young grasshopper!!!!

So....one of my major development areas is my lack of patience...I get easily frustrated and constantly have to tell myself to slow down!! I'm so much better than I was a few years ago, and when dealing with others I've often give myself a little pat on the back for holding it in ;-)

But one thing I cant seem to be patient about is my career progression, and its something which frustrates and confused me almost on a daily basis.

Every company has its own way of running HR, and will structure its department in whichever way fits its model the best; so it is hard sometimes to benchmark yourself against others in the profession with, say, the same job title as you. Am I operating at the right level for a HR Advisor? Or am I operating above it, and really should be a HR Manager?? I don't know!!

Its unfortunate that I haven't had a stable line manager for a year now, and therefore haven't really had any HR guidance or development. I have taken opportunities where I can to gain feedback from colleagues; and I have even taken the time to speak to other HR Profs in my local area to try and benchmark myself. Unfortunately their feedback has been a mixed bag of complimenting me on my passion, my ability to engage and my knowledge around recruitment....to picking out obvious gaps in my practical experience.

So how do you know when you are ready for the next step? I have taken all the component parts on the CIPD professional map and all its telling me is that I have chosen Level 2 as my current operating level and the majority of my answers are at Level 3....but that's self assessment?!?!?

As you can probably tell, I am confused and slightly baffled by what my next step should be. I am looking forward to my new boss starting on the 14th, and I am hoping that she will take a vested interest and help me figure out my next steps. But if not, I need to take accountability for my career, and my progression within HR......once I have figured out what that is......