Loading…
21
My first boss told me in 2004 to always keep a paper folder of my wins and I still use it
I was 23 and working at a small print shop in Akron, and my boss Ray kept a beat up manila folder in his desk drawer with copies of every nice note a client ever sent him. One slow Tuesday he showed it to me after I complained that nobody noticed the extra hours I was putting in. He said reviews come around once a year, but nobody remembers what you did in March, so write it down yourself. I started my own folder that week and I've kept one at every job since, now it's a Google doc because I lose paper. When I went for my current job, I pulled 9 specific things from that doc and three of them came up in the interview. Ray retired years ago but I still think about that folder whenever someone asks me how to prep for a review. Does anyone else keep a running list like this, or do you just wing it when review time hits?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
lindal133d ago
I started doing the same thing after a coworker told me something almost identical years ago. Mine is a plain notes app file on my phone and I add to it whenever a client says thank you or a project goes really well. The best part is when review time comes and my manager asks for examples, I just scroll through and pick the strongest ones instead of sitting there trying to remember what happened eight months ago. It also helped me when I was job hunting because I could talk about real stuff I did instead of giving vague answers. My old boss called it a brag sheet and I laughed at the time but he was right. That one small habit has paid off more than almost anything else I learned early on.
7