9 Self-Evaluation Examples That'll Make You Sound Confident—Not Conceited

Self-evaluation is a necessary component of being successful—both in the corporate, professional sense and in terms of personal growth. All employees have to fill out a performance evaluation at some point to review their areas of strengths and weaknesses and discuss their skills for possible promotions.

A self-evaluation form asks a lot of blunt questions, and performance appraisals about yourself can feel awkward. Here are some self-evaluation examples to make this task easier.

How to write a self-evaluation for performance review

Writing a self-appraisal doesn’t have to be anxiety-inducing or a big production. But it should be taken seriously. After all, this document might be one of the key factors in you getting a promotion, a raise, to be considered for new projects or assignments. 

On top of the benefits for you at your current place of employment, your review might turn into the fodder for your next resume. So, how should you approach it? Here’s what to consider when doing your self-assessment.

Review key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals

It's likely that you or your team had goals and KPIs set for the year, so take time to review them and assess what was accomplished. Consider when, how, and what could have been improved. This will serve as the foundation for your self-evaluation.

Be as specific as possible

When writing, point to specific numbers, projects, and tasks completed, as well as goals for the future. For example, if you're a social media manager, you might point to the followers you gained and the number you hope to gain in the coming year. 

Rather than writing “Had great team success in 2017!” try “Outperformed 2017 sales goals by over 135 percent.” This will make your review look less like a recapping your year, and more like a snapshot of what you want to be doing more of. 

Ladder up to broader goals

If you’re unsure what to include in a review or where to start, look to your manager's, team’s, department’s, or company’s broader goals. Everything you include should align with these to show how your accomplishments contribute to the big picture. Tip: If you haven’t gotten goals then ask for them next year.

Share what you “don't think” matters

What you think “doesn’t matter” often actually does. This happens in performance reviews all the time—the seemingly small task or result that you brush aside likely means way more to your manager or an outsider. So, let that person decide.

Rather than omitting what you don’t think matter or aren’t meaty enough, try including any quantifiable accomplishment that ladders up to a broader company imperative. For example, if your company values employee engagement and you spearhead the company picnic each year, then include that!

Allow yourself plenty of time to write

A well-written review for yourself or anyone else should take time. This is not something that you should slap together in 20 minutes and call it a day. Dedicate work time to your review. Rather than slapping something together in a matter of minutes on a Friday afternoon, try to mark off time on your calendar multiple times over a week or two to work on your written review.

Consider asking for a peer review 

You wouldn’t submit your resume without getting someone to proof read it, would you? Why would you submit one of the most important components of your success at an organization without a once over by someone else? 

Something goes off in our brains about self-appraisals needing to be secret and private, but why? Peer review and editing are used by the best writers for a reason—they help. Try exchanging with a close colleague or even someone external.

9 self-evaluation examples

Here are nine ways to write your best self-evaluation without sounding (or feeling!) conceited. These examples should help you with this task:

Self-evaluation sample #1: Highlighting negotiation skills

Strengths:

I successfully negotiated and closed a $2.5 million sponsoring contract for the next two years, the largest partnership we've secured so far. I’m proud of this achievement as it demonstrates how my negotiation skills have improved since my last performance review. I’m also grateful for the training provided to help make this possible.

Improvement areas:

While I’ve achieved important KPIs, I’ve missed a few deadlines due to my focus on perfectionism. Moving forward, I will work on improving my time management skills, setting more realistic goals, and overthinking less.

Self-evaluation sample #2: Highlighting employee engagement

Strengths:

I spearheaded the company picnic by coordinating with the caterer, and planning activities. Employees were engaged and reported higher morale after the event. I'm proud of this accomplishment, as improving employee engagement was one of the company's biggest goals for the year.

Improvement areas:

While I was effective in managing my tasks, I sometimes overcommit to projects when I already have much on my plate. I'm currently working to better assess how much effort and time a certain task will require before taking on new responsibilities.

Self-evaluation sample #3: Highlighting operation optimization 

Strengths:

I manage to streamline customer service operations by implementing a chat bot that makes initial basic questions for customers and directs them to specific operators, depending on their needs. This improved our customer satisfaction by 12%.

Improvement areas:

Because I was so eager to see this project getting started, I sometimes micromanaged my team. I'm now working on trusting their expertise, technical knowledge, and talent, and only providing input when necessary.

Self-evaluation sample #4: Highlighting problem-solving skills

Strengths:

I'm proud of my ability to find solutions to issues we can't predict when launching our products. For instance, when we faced a problem with our lipstick packages from the New Pink collection, I was quickly able to strategize and implement a recall and reimbursement plan for customers, who also received a discount code for a next purchase. This way, our sales increased by 7% and we were able to avoid major legal and brand image issues.

Improvement areas:

For this year, my goal is to be more prepared for potential design and logistics issues, so we don't have to come with a contingency plan from scratch and in the heat of the moment.

Self-evaluation sample #5: Highlighting employee development

Strengths:

I overhauled the employee training program to streamline the onboarding process, which was one of the HR department's goals for the year. Our onboarding is now simpler, but more effective—and we have received positive feedback in our employee satisfaction anonymous survey, which ranked HR as a 9 out 10.

Improvement areas:

I often get frustrated when things don't go as planned, which happened when we had to postpone launching the new onboarding process. My goal is to learn how to manage my expectations and develop backup plans to deal with the unexpected.

Self-evaluation sample #6: Highlighting work ethic

Strengths:

My area of improvement last year was to follow the agreed-upon strategies. Though I like to improvise and be spontaneous, I recognize that this isn't always the best approach—even when everything works out. Since the last performance review, I successfully kept my commitments and showed a strong work ethic, which encouraged members of my team to act the same.

Improvement areas:

I learned that I wasn't the best at taking criticism, which sometimes affects my morale at work. So, right now I'm working on that by making a conscious effort to put myself out there both in my professional and personal life.

Self-evaluation sample #7: Highlighting professional growth

Strengths:

Last year I made a commitment to improve my skillset so I could seek a promotion. After enrolling on the company's training and development program, I now am proud to be a social media manager, one level above my former role as social media assistant. This accomplishment had perfect timing with the company's new organizational structure that aimed to reduce hiring costs.

Improvement areas:

I wasn't very confident in my abilities and that's why it took me so long to ask for a promotion. From now on, I'm committed to track my daily contributions to the organization and my accomplishments, and use my new gained confidence to make bolder moves that could help both me and the company.

Self-evaluation sample #8: Highlighting productivity

Strengths:

I conceived and pitched a Q3 marketing program to all layers of the senior management team. The resulting program yielded 3x more exposure than the previous Q3 and double the exposure of Q1 and Q2 combined. By accomplishing this, I achieved my goals from last year's evaluation.

Improvement areas:

While I have achieved important KPIs, I fell short on some deadlines due to my focus on perfectionism. From now on, I will focus on improving my time management skills, setting realistic goals for myself, and overthinking less.

Self-evaluation sample #9: Highlighting creativity

Strengths:

On my first day here, I was presented with the challenge of redesigning our website and newsletter. I decided to go big or go home and think completely outside the box. So, I got rid of all of the original projects and developed a more engaging and colorful design that speaks with the new generation of clients we are trying to reach. As a result, our site bounce rate decreased by 9% and our newsletter conversion rate increased by 20% in the past six months.

Improvement areas:

Though clinging to my creative ideas often works, I learned that sometimes it's important to consider other perspectives. Moving forward, I’ll welcome more outside input to ensure my instincts are in agreement with the team's and company's vision.

Show what you've got

Next time you’re sitting down to write a self-appraisal, don’t be afraid to brag a little. After all, if you don’t do it, who will? Just be sure to reflect how your accomplishments ladder up to the company's mission and goals, as well as your areas of improvement, and you should be fine.

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Jane Scudder is a certified leadership and personal development coach; she helps individuals and groups get unstuck. She builds and leads original workshops and training programs and consults with organizations of various sizes and is an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University Chicago.

Amanda Cardoso contributed to the latest version of this article.