How to Write a Self-Evaluation

A self-evaluation is a written, detailed review of your performance and accomplishments from the previous year. It’s also a chance for you to outline your strengths and weaknesses, as well as set goals to work toward next year.

Doing an employee self-evaluation can be insightful and beneficial for you, as they give you a chance to stop and reflect on what is important to your work life, what inspires you, what you’re proud of and what you’d like to improve. Evaluations can help managers get a peek at your thought process, what motivates you, what you enjoy working on or what type of management style you respond to.

A self-evaluation is a unique document. No two are, or should be, exactly alike. How you arrange your self-evaluation should reflect what you feel is most important and each description can be as broad or in-depth as you’d like, though in general the more specific you can be the better.

Your self-evaluation should meet the following goals:

Sometimes, it’s okay to toot your own horn. If you think you bring a calming, organized approach to solving stressful situations, you should include this in the description of your strengths. Other strengths may include being able to communicate clearly and concisely, delegating, conflict resolution, project management, honesty, being encouraging to your coworkers or providing background or clarity to complex data. Whatever you feel is your strong suit, express it with pride.

A self-evaluation is a rare opportunity to openly talk about your achievements and why you’re proud of them. If you went above and beyond to help your team meet a deadline, say so. Doing so helps you and your manager recognize your work ethic and what parts of your job you excel at. Don’t forget to mention how your accomplishments also impacted the team or company as a whole.

Stating that you helped your team exceed their goal is one thing, but saying you helped them exceed it by 25% is much stronger. Where possible, include quantifiable data to help emphasize your accomplishments. Keeping track of this kind of data throughout the year and having it ready when it’s time for your evaluation and can help make the process a bit easier.

It may already be company policy to measure your performance against company or team-wide goals, but including a section about how organizational goals or values helped shape your approach to solving a problem, prioritizing tasks and initiatives or interacting with colleagues can help to demonstrate a team-player attitude and underscore your contributions to the larger organization. Back these up with data, if possible.

Looking back on what went wrong over the past year can be illuminating. On a team level, it can give you an opportunity to tighten up processes, figure out what might have been overlooked or show that different resources might be needed next year. On a personal level, it can provide insight into skill gaps or highlight ways you can flesh out your experience and pursue advancements your career.

It’s all well and good to reflect on the past, but don’t forget to set goals for your future. Include goals for both your work and your professional development in your employee self-evaluation. If you’re able to, talk with your manager about setting personalized goals. Maybe you want to work toward a promotion or a career transition. Set up a plan for professional and personal milestones for the coming year and create a regular schedule to check in with your manager to accelerate or course correct if necessary.

Growth can mean expanding your skillset or adopting new practices for improving your work performance. Reflecting on areas for growth demonstrates self-awareness and shows that you have the motivation and desire to improve your skills. For bigger or skill-related improvements, you may also want to sit down with your manager to create a plan on how to get you on your way to professional growth, whether it’s through taking on additional responsibilities or developing your skills through online classes.

Have you ever gotten an accolade from a client or a colleague? Did you recently win employee of the month? Have you gone out of your way to help a coworker or stayed late to pick up the slack on a project? Ask someone you’ve worked closely with for a written testimonial about their experience working with you, what they think you excel at or how you’ve positively contributed to the organization.

Even if you know how you made a difference over the past year, it can be difficult to put into words. Below are some examples of how you might write different sections of your self-evaluation: