Track "little victories" at the office

Every so often while at the office, a little bit of magic happens in my day.  A disaster is averted, I have good facetime with senior management or bring a new idea to the table that is met with enthusiasm and a sense of urgency from co-workers.  It's those little things about your job that count. 

When you have a few extra moments at your desk, quickly summarize those "little victories" at the office in a Google doc so you have an accurate record of how it went down.  Especially for interns and young professionals looking to move up in the professional world, this will benefit you when it comes time for your review or if a new opportunity arises.

  1. Updating your resume: If you take note of your shining moment relatively soon after it occurs, you will be able to recall the specific details later on when you go to update your resume.
  2. Applying for jobs:  Having an accurate detail of all the times you went above and beyond your call of duty will help you craft an exciting story for your cover letter and initial correspondence with recruiters and hiring managers so you capture their attention.
  3. Interview talking points: These situations are good points to discuss during an interview when the "Tell me about the time when you..." questions come up. See example below.
  4. Talking points for your review:  Bring your list of honorable moments with you to the review with your boss.  Instead of trying to remember details, you can focus your attention on measuring results and analyzing your performance.  Bonus points for being prepared and selling yourself.  You might get the promotion you have been wanting!

The important thing to take away from this is to write it down play-by-play the same day it occurs.  Get in the mindset and build a new good habit.  This eliminates unneccessary work later.  Write it out using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method that you use when answering behavioral interview questions. For ongoing projects, set reminders to update your journal when progress has been made.  This will help you analyze the results more meaningfully.

Interviewer: "Tell me about a time when you dealt with a difficult co-worker..."

You: "Well...

(Situation): A tight deadline was approaching for XYZ project and I had not heard back from the necessary people.

(Task): I needed to get creative for XZY project from my co-worker.

(Action): I followed-up with my co-worker, asked if they needed help with anything to meet their deadline.

(Result): Worked together with co-worker and effectively managed the tight deadline, which ultimately lead to a 50% increase in pageviews for the month of November."

Interviewer: "Yay, you're awesome. When can you start?"