Track Your Accomplishments

There’s a huge tool that I think is often overlooked when discussing professional development, and that is tracking your accomplishments. Let’s get into the why and how of maintaining this habit.

Why

·        Have a list of talking points for your next 1-1, performance review, interview, or salary negotiation: There will be times throughout your career when you need to speak to your accomplishments. While some of these are easy to plan for or you can see coming, sometimes an unexpected opportunity will drop into your lap and you’ll need to summarize your recent wins. Having a record of successes to jog your memory can help you paint a picture of what you’ve been up to.

·        Have a list to draw from when updating application materials: Updating a resume can be daunting, even for a seasoned professional. Tracking your accomplishments can help you to decide what to include, and what to omit.

·        Combat imposter syndrome: When you’re having doubts on whether you can tackle a project, or whether or not you belong in a certain room, having a track record of wins to look back on can help provide you the assurance that you’ve completed hard tasks before, and can do the same this time. Concrete results have far greater power to reassure than empty platitudes.

How

·        Maintain a running word or notes page at work, and add an entry whenever you complete a tough task or big project.

·        Keep a folder in your email of positive feedback. Every time someone speaks highly of your work, move that correspondence to a “positive feedback” folder.

·        Every year after your performance review, take notes on what your manager called out as strengths.

Do you track your accomplishments? Let me know at YourSTEMMentorBlog@gmail.com!