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How honest should i be on a self-evaluation.
azith28
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
It's not exactly a self-eval...its a little report my boss has us write about various things that we did the previous year...mostly to remind him of things he may have forgotten about. This past year I had a death in the family around febuary and while i didnt really know it at the time i think i became somewhat depressed and very unmotivated. Around september/oct i could see the work i was doing now was much more productive then it was previously, and Its what had me think i was suffering more from the death and was just starting to get out of it and focus more. I dont know if i should mention this or not since it seems to me that while my boss isnt a heartless bastard, It might sound like a bit of an excuse or covering my own ass.
Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
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Bringing up the other stuff is likely to have him thinking about your temporary poor performance which he likely knows about.
If it is anything like the self evaluation my girlfriend does at her corporate job, the point is to really remind them why they should give you a raise. To sell your value. Not to put forth your shortcomings which they already know.
but they're listening to every word I say
In terms of areas lacking, you can mention it, but it would be wise to follow up with what you can do to change it. But in your case of working after a death in the family, it is expected that some shortcoming may occur in the weeks after, but you haven't stayed in that funk correct? If so, then I wouldn't bother mentioned it at all.
Looking for Edith Finch Pin!
Agreed. In my opinion, having employees write their own evaluations is BS (I had to do that for years). So talk about how great you are (don't get too crazy), and they can downgrade it if they want.
nope - this just shows that you're either A. dishonest or B. deluded... neither are a desirable skill in an employee, and a competent manager will rightfully smack you down for it
be honest - with a tendency towards overly positive.
When writing a self-evaluation don't compare the work you did to YOUR OWN BEST, compare the quality of your work and your contributions to those of your peers/people at your same level. Doing this will help recognize the things you did that may be above and beyond and should be highlighted in your evaluation.
If you grew up with parents like mine "Dad, I got a 98 on the test!" Dad: "What happened to the other two points? Someone must have got 100.", you may end up feeling like doing your work perfectly is just the bare minimum when to the people above you may be a rock star.
5 months is a pretty long time for your work to suffer through. You don't have to say you are the greatest man alive, and I'd recommend honestly saying where you would like to improve. But you still want to play up your strengths and downplay your weaknesses. You need to advocate for yourself.
but they're listening to every word I say
You should be completely self-serving, and you shouldn't even feel bad about it. You're not having a discussion with your wife; you're marketing your value to your commercial employer.
These people will fire you in a heartbeat the instant they perceive an advantage in doing so. Communicate with them accordingly.
I find the ideological who have never really been screwed good by a company talk about the give and take, the merits of being honest on evals and really talk it up about a partnership.
Always protect yourself. Your employer holds a significant economic advantage over you. Evaluations are a way they use to discriminate. These employees had negative comments, these employees didn't. If anyone thinks their employer is going to screw them send me a PM. I can help you be productive and practical about it.
On the plus side. I feel like I've only ever screwed one person professionally. I feel a little bad about it, but I also stuck my neck out and helped someone get into a better position with a different organization, so maybe it equals out?
As a sample, I'm a bit of a techy, but I work in a business role. Sometimes I go too deep with my technical explanations to management, so on my self eval, the things I need to work on include "Schuss can get too technical at times, and should work on bringing things up a level when discussing with management." It's a clear thing to work on, but not necessarily a detriment as it demonstrates comfort and skill with the material, just a tweak to everyday discourse.
Any time an evaluation asks about a weakness, or area you can improve on, pick one that you can focus on and improve. This will strengthen your longterm position with the company over time. When they look at your file and it says "I will work on my skills regarding XYZ" and the next eval you state proficiency, or higher skill level with that thing, it shows commitment, resolve etc.
Lastly, you are selling yourself, so let me give you a little thing I picked up when I used to do sales. You ALWAY list the positve things one at a time, and any time you are talking negative, try and group them together in pairs or under a larger umbrella
So, don't say "I need to work on my e-mail skills. I need to learn Excel." It's "I need to improve my computer skills." You have to be your own PR person. If any of this is hard for you (I hate doing these because I feel like I am bragging), then think of how you would evaluate a fellow employee if you wanted to show them in a positive light. Now pretend that they did all the work that you did, how would you get them a raise?