Nov 14 2008
Career Mysteries and the Performance Review
It has been a year since you started working for a company and you are nervously awaiting your supervisor, as you sit down for your first performance evaluation. Perhaps they had you fill one out on yourself ahead of time and you gave it to your manager, so she can gauge what you think about your own performance, which is a good human resources practice.
If you do have the opportunity to fill out a “pre-review” on yourself, capitalize on this by making sure you document the instances where you went above an beyond the job to get something accomplished or went out of your way to please the customer, or gave up weekends to work on an important project. Your boss will not have time or the inclination to include all these details on your review, unless you make them readily available to her on the self-review form.
You should bring this self-appraisal with you when you sit down with the boss so you can refer to it and the details of your accomplishments during the session. Try to be as calm and relaxed as you can during the meeting. This is a lot to ask, but will ensure that you are more receptive to her comments and more approachable.
Whatever it is she has to tell you, try to keep in mind that it is information you need to hear and it will ultimately help you improve your job performance. Treat her comments as constructive suggestions on how you can be a more effective professional in the future.
