How to get ahead: Document everything
If you’re looking to advance in your career—to get new opportunities, responsibilities, authority, and, yes, paid more—I have a simple but invaluable piece of advice.
Write down everything you do.
Every day, week, or month, add to a running list of your accomplishments at work. Include as much as you can think of, no matter how big or small.
As much as you might like to think that your manager, peers, and colleagues appreciate and remember all of your wonderful contributions, the fact is that they don’t. They have their own busy lives to worry about, their own projects, and their own interests to consider. It’s not intentional or antagonistic—they simply don’t remember everything. That’s why you need to give them a little help.
If your company performs annual reviews, there’s probably a part of the review process to go over your accomplishments during that time. You might be asked to provide a list. Coming up with a summary of your accomplishments for the past year is difficult and time-consuming, and you’re certain to miss some important things. It’s much easier to add to a document, incrementally, throughout the year.
Even if you’re not asked for such a list, it will still be valuable. Someone’s going to be figuring out what you did, and if you can easily spot omissions, it only makes your overall case stronger.
What if your company doesn’t even do regular reviews? (This is a bit of a warning sign about your company, in many cases, but would understandable in early-stage startups.) Well, there’s still probably going to come a time when you would like a raise, promotion, or freedom to work on some new projects. You’re going to be able to make a stronger case for yourself, in any discussion, by having a comprehensive document of your accomplishments handy.
Finally, this list gives you the chance to create a positive impression. In all of the cases above, I’ll bet that whomever you’re speaking with (manager, colleague, interviewer) is unaware of many of the things on your list, which means you’re going to surprise them to the upside. You get to over-deliver, which is a great way to get someone feeling good about you.
It doesn’t have to be fancy. Open a document in Google Docs, Word, or your favorite text editor, and just start typing. You’ll be glad you did.
