Start Bragging to Advance Your Career

Start Bragging to Advance Your CareerStart Bragging to Advance Your CareerChronicle your professional accomplishments to manage your career.Whether youre updating your resume, preparing for salary negotiations, or are in need of a pick-me-up after a bad day at work, a brag sheet is a useful document to own.In its simplest form, a brag sheet is a place where you record all your professional accomplishments and contributions. Some people store this information in a Word document, while others prefer amobileformat such asEvernote. Whatever format you choose, here are five tips to help you build a powerful brag sheet that can help you advance your career.Be results-orientedWhen chronicling your accomplishments, think in terms of results. What was the outcome of your actions? Did you reduce costs, increase productivity, improve customer ratings or grow schlussverkauf? Quantify your accomplishments whenever possible. Even if you cant think of numbers, try to think in terms of better, faste r and cheaper. What was the tangible benefit of your major contributions?Capture the little detailsInclude relevant details such as dates, locations, and the names of the people and organizations that were involved in work. When you look back at your sheet a year later, you wont remember all those details without some help. Add in client reviews, customer testimonials and other kudos youve received from colleagues and your manager.Dont become stagnantRemember, your brag sheet is a living document and should be updated on a regular basis. If you assume new responsibilities at work, receive a great performance review or finish a project, pull up your brag sheet and add these new events. In addition, carve out at least an hour each quarter to review your brag sheet and evaluate your short-term career goals.Brag with your bullet pointsYour brag sheet will become a valuable resource when its time to update your resume and prepare for interviews. Identify the accomplishments and contribut ions that are most relevant to your career goals and use those to craft the bullets under each of your previous roles. Structure the bullets to highlight the results of your actions. For example, Reduced costs 27% annually by consolidating vendor contracts in purchasing department.Prepare for negotiations with data.Its much easier to negotiate with confidence when youre armed with data. First, use resources such asSalary.comand competitive analysis tools like Ladders Scout, to determine the average salary range for your job. Then review your brag sheet. You dont have to bring a print-out of your brag sheet to your meeting, but you should be able to cite some recent accomplishments that demonstrate the value you bring to the organization.Take some time this week to develop your own brag sheet your career will thank you