Setting goals, managing self-assessment and advancing your career
I recently attended a panel discussion where recently promoted colleagues served as the panelists and shared about their career paths and tips for success.
Here are my key takeaways from the event —
Setting Goals
Have separate 1:1 with manager for career development
If you try to discuss performance goals and career development in the regular 1:1 with your manager, you might not have enough time to do so since other topics might take up the majority of the time. Therefore, it’s beneficial to set up separate 1:1 solely for the purpose of career development, and you should have at minimum, 3 meetings for career development in a year —
- One for performance goals setting at the beginning of the year
- One for mid-year check-in to see how you’re progressing toward the goals
- One for year-end performance review to receive feedbacks and think about potential goals for next year
Self-Assessment
(1) Write your self-assessment as if writing for your next manager & your manager’s manager
If you think the intended audience for your self-assessment is your current manager (which is true in most cases), you might not feel the need to ensure your self-assessment is as comprehensive as possible, since your manager most likely knows what you did throughout the year. If you change the mindset and write your self-assessment as if the intended audience is your next manger, or anyone that isn’t aware of all your accomplishments throughout the year, your self-assessment would be more thorough, and in the event where your manager changed during the year, all your work would be made aware to your past and current managers, which is important for career development and being recognized for your work.
Note: I’ve heard in another event that people often overlook the staying power of self-assessments and year-end reviews. Perhaps it’s a good idea to take writing your self-assessment more seriously, since it’s an important part of your career development and career advancement.
(2) Don’t wait until year-end to think about your self-assessment — Do it throughout the year
Not the first time I’ve heard this advice, but it’s still very valuable. If you wait until year end, you might forget about certain projects that you worked on earlier in the year, so it’s best to start writing your self-assessment while these projects are still fresh in memory. Plus, it would lift off the pressure from writing self-assessment for a whole year in one setting if you break it down into pieces and tackle it throughout the year.
Career Advancement
(1) You should always have the conversation with your manager
Don’t wait until you feel like you’re ready to move onto the next level — start having this conversation with your manager as soon as possible so that you and your manager could plan ahead and assign you to projects that better align with your goals, give you more opportunities for exposure etc.
(2) Be proactive and own your career
After you set the goals for the year, make sure you check in with your manager frequently on how you are progressing toward those goals. People who own their goals, being accountable for their goals, and being transparent and sharing their goals with others are often the ones that get promoted sooner.
(3) Focus on career progression instead of career advancement
Luck does play a part in when you will get promoted, so it’s better to focus on what you can control — make sure you’re getting better at certain skills, have the right experience under your belt etc., so that when the opportunities present themselves, you will be ready for it.
(4) Managing up
It’s no secret that you need more exposure to be considered for promotion. Instead of waiting passively for the opportunities, you can proactively ask your manager to let you work on certain projects that would get you more exposure. You can also ask your manager to introduce you to your manager’s peers so that you could expand your network and establish relationships with people outside of your immediate team.
