Hello Reader,

The dreaded review season is here. In this post, let me share a few things (that I found the hard way) that can help you get a better performance review:

Impactful is better than shiny projects 🔨

I told my manager that I created a project involving the newest AWS Gen AI service features, mixed with Serverless and Kubernetes. And he asked me, "What was the impact?". That's when I realized my mistake. Doing shiny projects was cool in my mind, but unless it achieved the goal of the business or made an impact towards that goal, it's not equivalent to a great review. Try cutting-edge stuff with keeping your customer in mind, and highlight in your year-end achievements how it reduces time to market, churn, increases productivity, revenue, etc. Don't do shiny stuff just for the sake of doing it.

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It's your responsibility to inform your manager of your achievements 🎯

You think of your managers as your protector, the guardian angel, almost like a work parent! As parents ask about and remember your achievements, you expect your manager to do the same. In reality, managers are employees, too, trying to grow. It's not realistic to expect them to be emotionally invested in you as much as you expect. When I was delivering critical projects, I thought surely my manager knew all the great work I had been doing. Only to find out he only knew a fraction of it. Ideally, you keep your manager informed about big projects and YOUR contribution throughout the year, but if you haven't, start now and don't wait till the review day.

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A bad review is not the end of your career 📈

Yes, I have received bad reviews in my career, for the reasons I mentioned above, and sometimes just for round robin (The manager told me I got Top Talent a year before, and he can't give it to me again this time, so I should accept this average rating). And I thought my career was over. I have found Seneca's quote "We suffer more in our mind than in reality" very true. Your career is more than this one review. We veteran Amazonians like to say, "Work backward from your customer." YOU are the most important project of yours. Hence, work backward from your career goals. If your 2-year goal is to learn Cloud and switch projects or companies, this review can't stop you from achieving your goals. My students and I are living proof of that.

Question for you - what other year-end performance review improvement tips you have found that can help others? I will share the good ones in a future newsletter, giving you a shoutout!

If you have found this newsletter helpful, and want to support me 🙏:

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Keep learning and keep rocking 🚀,

Raj