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After being in the workforce long enough, one thing I've finally started doing is keeping a running list of my achievements and the dates thereof. This makes your life much easier when it comes to writing your review, because you already have some good material to work with that will really beef up your self appraisal. - 2
Now, with some employers, your self review will be due every year at the anniversary of your date of hire. Other employers do reviews based on the anniversary of when you took your current position (say if you were promoted or transferred to a new job within). Yet other employers do reviews for all employees at the end/beginning of the calendar year. Whether you are new with a company or have been there for awhile, make sure you know when your self review will be due. - 3
Okay, you know when your review is due and it's time to write. Sometimes the categories you are given to work with are a bit redundant, such as "Communication," and "Production." I know that on self reviews I have done in the past, there seems to be an overlap between many of the categories. So, the first thing I do is review the categories and their parameters, and then take my list of accomplishments and decide which accomplishments will fall into which category. - 4
Something that I feel no employee should do a self review without is a copy of their job description. If you are doing one job and training for another position or promotion within the company, it's a good idea to have a copy of the training guidelines and topics, so that you can throw in progress you've made on this front as well. - 5
Some categories you may just be at a loss for what to put in. If you have been with a company for a long time (or if you have copies of performance reviews from previous companies), I would suggest looking over your copies of past reviews to refresh your memory. If you are stumped on a category, you may try re-wording something you've written in the past. There are only so many ways to state and re-state year after year that you adhere to the company safety standards! So you may just put something like, "I've put in another year with no safety concerns or warnings, and I continue to abide by the company safety guidelines." - 6
If you've been writing and have entered a few items for your self review but just can't seem to come up with enough to finish it, one suggestion is to speak with trusted co-workers and ask them if they have any input. You never know, someone might remember something that you completely forgot about, like, "Oh yeah - remember when you saved that Smith account?" Thank them for any time and/or suggestions, even if you don't use them. - 7
One final piece of advice is to not rate yourself too high or too low. Employee self reviews are meant as a tool to open dialogue between the employee and supervisor about things that are going well and areas that are a work-in-progress. It is wise to rate yourself along the lines of "Meets Expectations" in any areas where you haven't been outstanding, but do give yourself credit if you truly shine in an area or two. On the other hand, don't rate yourself too low - even if you've been written up or have received coaching in a certain area. Usually, employees do not consistently do bad in certain areas - if they make a mistake and are reprimanded for it, that usually does not overshadow all of your other work in that area for the whole entire year. - 8
Best of luck to you in your self review! If you are honest on your self review, there should not be any significant gaps between your appraisal of yourself and your boss or supervisor's review of your performance for the year. Give yourself ample time to write and brainstorm and put your best effort into this very significant document.
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