Surviving Performance Review Season

December scares me every year

When performance review season rolls around, the office mood shifts. Everyone suddenly seems to be working harder. Lunch conversations turn into "what did I even do this year?" self-deprecation. I'm facing my fifth review and I'm still nervous.

My first review, I knew nothing. "I worked hard, so it'll be fine." Got a B. Expected an A. That's when I first realized working hard and performing well are different things.

The biggest mistake: not keeping records

Until my third year, I barely kept work records. When it's time to write the self-assessment, it starts with "what did I even do this year?" Digging through Slack history to write a self-assessment produces lower quality than you'd think.

From year four, I started keeping weekly work logs in Notion. Every Friday, 10 minutes to write down what I did that week and what impact it had. That alone cut my self-assessment writing time from two days to three hours.

Speak in numbers

"Improved API performance" and "reduced average API response time from 340ms to 120ms, a 65% improvement" describe the same work, but the impression is completely different. The reviewer is reading 20 self-assessments. Abstract sentences don't stick.

Until year three, I wrote things like "improved X" and "contributed to Y." Looking back, even I can't tell what I did. Without numbers, impact is invisible.

Not everything can be quantified though. Improving code review culture, building a team onboarding process. For those, you need proxy metrics like "code review response time dropped from an average of 1.5 days to 4 hours." A bit tedious, but effective.

Collect feedback throughout the year

If you suddenly ask a colleague in December "write some feedback about me," you'll get "great teammate" and nothing else. Obviously. They're writing it last-minute.

Instead, after each project ask "one thing I did well and one thing I could improve?" Do this from April and by December you'll have a rich collection of feedback.

I started this in October last year and the material was thin. This year I began in January. (Another win for documentation.)

What not to do in the review meeting

In my third-year review meeting, I said something like "nobody else would do it, so I had to." The rating didn't change, and things got awkward with my manager.

The review meeting isn't a negotiation -- it's where you receive feedback. "What can I do to get a higher rating next time?" is a much better question. If you get concrete answers, those become next quarter's goals.

But it's not as easy as it sounds. Getting a B hits emotionally first. So before every meeting I repeat to myself three times: "leave emotions at the door today."

In the end, a review is just a review

After five of them, I'm less reactive. Getting a B doesn't end the world, and getting an S (the Korean equivalent of "exceeds expectations") doesn't dramatically change next month's paycheck. (Bonus differences exist, but they're smaller than you'd think.)

Still can't take reviews lightly though. They affect promotions, salary negotiations, and references for future job applications. My conclusion is basically "don't stress too hard, but prepare honestly."

December approaches again this year. My weekly logs are solid, so it should be better than last year. Probably.