How to write a good self-evaluation?

December is the time of year for holiday celebrations, but it is also often the time to write your year-end self-evaluation. Annual reviews are typically used as part of the compensation cycle to determine which employees get raises, bonuses or promotions. Here are some tips for success. 

Be specific and concise

Vague statements, such as being a good co-worker, being well organized, or communicating well, end up not providing meaningful information. Instead, it is recommended to mention specific achievements that you can tell how they happened and why you were able to achieve them. This way, your manager will have a better idea of how he or she can help you develop professionally. And make sure that these specific examples relate to your team's goals or your company's values. So take a look at the site here for more information.

Your goals and your new vision

As self-assessments can be used to determine promotions, you may be tempted to make yours a simple list of sunny achievements. But omitting areas for improvement would be a missed opportunity to make the appraisal a pitch to your boss about the skills you'd like to develop or the ideas you'd like to implement next year. Some employees will be so focused on explaining or negotiating a better performance appraisal that they miss the opportunity to really think about what aspects of the job they could improve. 

No more excuses

COVID-19 has changed many careers. But saying directly that you could not do your job optimally "because of the pandemic" will not make you look good, because it sounds like an excuse. Instead of blaming circumstances or others for your failures, you can present these difficulties in a positive light, using language such as "I was able to be agile during our challenges and changes."