How to Write a Self Review

Self Reviews or Self appraisals; to some, they feel like an oxymoron, and to others, they create an opportunity to reflect on past achievements.  But for many, they are a necessary tool used during employee performance review time.

Why Write Self Reviews

As tedious as the entire appraisal process can turn into sometimes, the self evaluation portion actually serves a useful and important purpose. 

Self-appraisals are meant to engage an organization’s workers in the evaluation procedure.  Instead of just being the recipient of feedback, employees are given a voice in the process.  They’re also believed to help employees plan for future development goals, as well as open communication channels for performance related issues.  Let’s face it, in self evaluations, accountability starts with you, and that’s exactly the effort behind them.  

How to Write a Good Self Review

We’ve established the importance of the self-appraisal, but there are several key elements of writing a good one that’d be wise to consider.  Writing a self-appraisal can easily become a struggle if you don’t know what to say. There are questions you must first ask yourself, and then there are topics you’ll really want to cover with your manager.

What You Should Think About

Before you start, ask yourself some questions.  What has been the biggest challenge in your position thus far?  How can you do any of it differently? Do you have real strengths worth highlighting?  How might the work environment affect this? Lastly, what do you want to achieve from this job and how are you motivated to do so?  This is meant to dive into key components of what a self-appraisal should cover.

What You Should Address

1 Your Accomplishments

This is not the time to be shy or humble.  Be proud of what you’ve done and support it with facts.  Holding back your value just makes your achievements less visible to your employer.  You might be asked to rate yourself with certain performance measures, or you might have to specifically describe accomplishments and their effect.  Either way, compare the experience to writing your resume - make it attractive but honest.

Gather the data.

It is important to discuss your accomplishments while supporting them with facts.  “I saved the company money by reducing costs” is vastly different from “I saved the company 13% by renegotiating contracts with our current suppliers.”  Quantitative data speaks for itself!

Align yourself with the company.

Remember to talk about yourself through the perspective of your team and boss.  Unless it affects them, it’s not as relevant to the overall picture. Were there any goals your manager or team were striving to reach over the past year and how did your efforts contribute?

2 Your Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes.  It happens to the best. Learning from mistakes is probably how they became the best.  Don’t tear yourself down, but be honest and take ownership. Sometimes there aren’t easy answers to the problems we face at work.  The goal should not be to call attention to the failures, but to display your willingness to grow from them and reach solutions.

Impress with solutions.

Rather than disguise your weaknesses with a cliche such as “I’m too ambitious”, truthfully address any areas that need improvement.  Not only is self-awareness is a desirable character trait, your managers pick up more than you assume! Each weakness should have an action point attached to it and be sure to let your organization know how they can help.

Ask for anything you need to improve.

In order to get what you’ll need, you must be willing to ask for it.  After discussing your mistakes and possible solutions, make a pitch. Are there educational opportunities available?  Does the potential to cross-train exist? Conferences, certifications, or taking on projects outside of your comfort zone show your employer that you’re eager to learn.  

3 Your Goals

Once you’ve essentially outlined the pros and cons of the past year, set new goals on your self-appraisal.  This will be the most meaningful part of the process. Professional goals can be categorized into two groups; what you want to achieve in your current position, and goals you have for professional advancement.   

Get a Second Opinion

Getting a second opinion doesn’t seem conventional for an appraisal, but since self-appraisals are only one-sided, it is common to bounce your ideas off of coworkers, family, and trusted colleagues.  They can help you check for errors and make sure your tone is appropriate.  

Advice from your coworkers might also remind you of things you’ve overlooked.  Maybe you worked on a project where you thought you messed up, but a team member has objective opinions that differ.  Overall, it can’t hurt to run your self-appraisal by someone who’s known you for a long time.

Who do Self-Appraisals Benefit?

Maybe your company doesn’t currently administer self-appraisals as part of their annual evaluation.  But, here’s an idea, it’s extremely helpful to have one anyway. By practicing some of the methods mentioned above, you could create excellent talking points for your regular appraisal.  It can be quite advantageous to have the added input from coworkers, as well as mindful knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses.

Self-appraisals, done ever so often, are also a good way of avoiding pressure from annual meetings on the matter.  Sharing your ups and downs throughout the year keeps your manager cognizant and available. In this way, self-appraisals have become very popular, as they promote employees to monitor themselves and self-correct.  However, as you can see, they’re an extremely useful tool for employees themselves.