Your Career Journal: A quick guide

Does the approach of your performance review often leave you unsure of where to start? Remote simplifies this process by allowing you to track your progress, reflect on your experiences, and promote career growth with the Career Journal.

Use this tool to record specific events and outcomes as a reminder of your achievements. Remember, some record is better than none, and even brief notes about your experiences can be valuable! Your notes are personal to you and won't be shared with your manager or colleagues. Additionally, you have the freedom to improve, edit or delete them as necessary.

Related articles:

• Use the Remote Career Journal to give and receive employee feedback
• Add notes to your Career Journal from Slack

Tips for writing effective notes

Track progress against job description requirements 

This is an excellent way to ensure you're not only meeting but also exceeding the expectations set forth by your role.

Example: "My monthly target is to resolve 100 customer support tickets. This month, I exceeded the goal by handling 120 tickets, a 20% increase from the target. However, my Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) rate was 75%, and I aim to improve this score in the next quarter.”

Track your achievements

Document significant accomplishments, such as completing a project or mastering a new skill, and explain how this achievement benefited your team or project.

Example: "Our company re-brand project concluded two weeks ahead of schedule, due to my mastery of the new graphic design software. This early completion allowed our marketing team to launch our campaign well before the industry peak season, greatly improving our market positioning.”

Highlight challenges

Discuss difficult situations, the problems you faced, and how you overcame them.

Example: "Confronted with challenging feedback from a significant client, I proactively enrolled in an advanced customer communication course. By applying these new techniques, I managed to turn the client's skepticism into satisfaction. As a result, the client increased their spending following our project review session in March.

Record feedback

Document comments from colleagues about your work, reflecting on your strengths and areas for improvement.

Example: "After my performance review, my manager commended my analytical approach but highlighted the need for more effective data visualization. By teaming up with a colleague who excels in data science, I improved my reporting technique. I then presented to the leadership team for the first time on June 1.”

Set goals

Write down your future objectives and plan the steps to achieve them.

Example: "My career goal is to become a people manager. To gather experience, I volunteered to establish a cross-departmental process for collecting leadership feedback and conveying it to the Scrum team. This experience allowed me to network with other leaders and improve my project and stakeholder management skills.”

Personal Reflections

Reflect on what motivates you and how you balance work and personal life.

Example: "I've found that my involvement in local community service not only enriches my personal life but also brings a fresh perspective to my role. Organizing a successful charity run last month and sharing the experience with my team has fostered stronger connections with my colleagues and created a more positive atmosphere at work.”