5 Must Do’s in Writing a Self-Evaluation

Evaluation forms are useful documents which cater the assessments of an individual regarding to a particular incident or performance of another entity. A scoring sheet and a set of questions similar to a survey are often seen in this type of document which is expected to be answered and filled out by the person who will do the evaluation. However, there is a kind of evaluation which does not involve a third or another party as it will only demand the thoughts of oneself, and this is known as self-evaluation.

Do’s in Self-evaluating

Specifically, a self-evaluation form can be used by an individual who is required by a higher authority in conducting an assessment and appraisal for himself. There are also some companies and organizations who will require their members to submit a self-evaluation statement which will be composed of paragraphs and narratives. Nonetheless, you, who will be evaluating yourself must remember the following things in making your pitch of appraisal:

Be honest and fact-based

Nothing beats a person who states facts and truths in his or her evaluation rather than someone who merely got his or her ratings from his or her imaginary self. The facts that you claim in your evaluation will be proved by your superior officer or manager upon your submission. Indicating the facts also indicates that you are fully aware of your performance to every task that is given to you and your capability to deal with the everyday problems thrown for you to gather a resolution. Remember, the company can track down your claims which can either be the reason for your promotion or your quick employment termination due to dishonesty.

Prioritize quality and results

Though your productivity may be counted based on your met quota, it is always necessary to consider the quality of each product that you have made. Avoid being blinded by the numbers as there can also be another set of figures which can reflect your performance such as the backlog of your work or the special tasks that you were not able to submit on time. You must also specify the results of your handwork which contributed to a greater benefit for your company such as being able to satisfy customers which then led to opening numerous doors for new clients within a company year. In order to know if your results created a big hit to the company, you should determine the company’s annual objectives and goals to allow you to set your own and meet achievements along the way.

Include feedback from your superiors

Your superiors may not know your every move, but they are knowledgeable about your status in work, the numbers you hit as well as your attendance. With this, they either gave a direct suggestion or handed you a filled out feedback form during a particular period when changes seem to be evident in your productivity and performance. The good thing about every sentiment, words, and constructive feedback that they provide is that you can include them in your self-evaluation statements. Partner the feedback that you received with the actions that you took to meet your superior’s needs.

State your unique abilities

During the job application process, you have been hired due to what the employer saw in you that he was not able to see in someone else’s or to another candidate. Now that you are constructing your self-evaluation, you need to state the uniqueness that you had and you currently have as an employee. If your unique abilities are indeed rare to most people in the company and can be a great advantage once it is used to its full potential, the possibility that you will be granted with an employee transfer to a better position is humongous.

Highlight your strengths and explain your plan for your weaknesses

Your strengths must be the skills that aid you in meeting and completing your tasks as well as the things that you consider to mingle and engage in the company’s activities. Your weaknesses, on the other hand, must not serve as a hindrance for the performance appraisal that you crave for. To omit in writing your weakness with a negative aura, accompany them with the action plan that you considered doing and have done prior to the evaluation period. The plans will also be a tool for your managers to know that your awareness does not limit to your positive abilities but also to the areas which need to be improved.

Don’ts in Self-evaluating

Giving an evaluation to one’s self can be tough as the ratings in an evaluation form, especially in an employee evaluation form, are often interpreted as biased scoring. Although an individual must not be afraid of giving him a five-star rating as long as he can prove his skills and that he deserves the scores he gives to himself. However, there are some don’ts when it comes to self-evaluations and one is omitting to be general or vague with the statements and ratings on the form such as choosing the middle scores as a safe bet. Another thing that an individual must not do is brag too much about his or her achievements and rate himself or herself over the top. This only indicates that he or she does not see any errors on what he or she did during the whole year wherein he was working in the company and that he or she sees himself as a perfect employee. Lastly, an individual must also avoid rating himself or herself down in all areas as it will not be an excuse for honesty but it only proves one’s self-pity and not believing in one’s self to acquire success.

A self-evaluation proves that gathering feedback and assessing one’s performance is not a one-way street where only the superiors will grade what they have witnessed. Giving out self-evaluation forms to the members of the company is a tool for promoting self-awareness, acknowledging personal errors, as well as allowing improvements to be suggested. Nonetheless, one rule to always keep in mind when dealing with any type of evaluation should be gathering sufficient proofs and pieces of evidence to show a factual claim and to assure that questions will be granted with an appropriate answer.