Extract. Transform. Read
1 Sheet To Get You Hired Or Promoted In 2025
How data engineers can wield the power of the “brag sheet” to achieve career-altering results.
The following short read is the latest edition of my weekly newsletter, Extract. Transform. Read. sent to 2,000+ aspiring data professionals. If you enjoy this snippet, you can sign up and receive your free project ideation guide.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… performance reviews. Depending on your outlook on your job/org, that “wonderful” could be sarcastic.
However, if you’ve landed on your manager’s nice list, this can be the time to recap your achievements to maintain credibility and work toward the next rung on the corporate ladder.
If you’re on a small team serving demanding stakeholders it’s possible you’ve done way too much to easily recall individual achievements.
Enter the brag sheet, a 1-page doc recapping your contributions, initiatives and achievements.
If you’ve heard the term, it was most likely in the context of college applications, as a prep sheet for your teachers to write nice stuff, aka recommendation letters.
But you can use the same template to create a record of on-the-job wins you can reference to prep yourself for any formal reviews.
I created and shared a “brag sheet” with my manager since he was on leave for most of the summer. In that situation, the doc is mutually beneficial because I maintain visibility for contributions and save a lengthy back-and-forth exchange to “get up to speed.”
My sheet was a simple Google Doc with these headings:
- Releases
- Maintenance
- Bugs
- Meetings/Support
Even if you’re not currently working in a data role, I would argue there’s definitely a benefit to recording skills, work and achievements you’re proud of.
Your sheet might include headings like:
- Internship Contributions
- Projects Completed
- Certifications Attained
- Conferences Attended
- Blog Posts/Publications
Instead of formally presenting this doc to a hiring manager, you have an opportunity to use it as an interview aide. It’s much more natural to recite your achievements written in casual language than it is to rattle off your resume’s bullet points.
So take time to brag a bit — even if it’s just to yourself.
Thanks for ingesting,
-Zach Quinn
