Self-Evaluation Samples to Use When Writing Your Own

If it’s time to do a performance review for yourself, you should check out our self-evaluation samples first! It can be intimidating to put into words how you feel you’re performing at work because you don’t want to seem too boastful while still exuding confidence!

In order to find the right balance in your self-evaluation, it’s important to use the right wording throughout. Keep reading to get tips on what to include and some great samples of phrases to include in your own performance review!

Self-Evaluation Sample Questions – What Topics Should You Cover?

When you’re putting together your self-evaluation, you need to cover the right areas of your work performance. While every company handles reviews differently, there are still some topics that are most commonly discussed during performance reviews.

Self-Evaluation Sample Questions – Job Description

It’s a good idea to start with your job description laid out clearly. This can help make sure that you and your management team are both on the same level of understanding about your role and responsibilities.

Consider these questions:

• What would you say is your main responsibility?
• Have your responsibilities changed since your last evaluation?
• Do you regularly perform tasks that aren’t included in your job description?
• Are there elements of your job responsibilities you wish to change?

Self-Evaluation Sample Questions – Performance

One of the largest parts of any self-evaluation is looking at how you are performing in your daily tasks. It’s important to be honest about how you feel you’ve performed, and this means talking about what you’ve done well and what you can improve on.

When putting together this part of your evaluation, ask yourself these questions:

• How do you ensure all your responsibilities are taken care of?
• What successes have you had since your last evaluation?
• What areas of your job do you think you can improve your performance on?
• How have you helped your team?

Self-Evaluation Sample Questions – Objectives

The next part of your performance review should include talking about what you want to see happen in the coming period until your next review. It’s important to be clear about your requests and expectations, as this is a perfect time to express any concerns or feedback you have for your supervisor.

These questions should help get you started:

• What objectives did you reach since your last review?
• Are there objectives that you didn’t reach? If so, why didn’t you?
• What objectives would you like to work towards in the next period?
• Do you need additional resources to reach your goals?

Self-Evaluation Sample Answers

Now that you have some starting points on topics to talk about, you’re on your way to a successful self-evaluation. However, you also have to answer the proposed questions in the right way.

You want to exude confidence when you’re talking about your strengths while also showing a willingness to learn, grow, and adapt. The same can be true about your areas that need improvement. You don’t want to sound like you’re beating yourself up. Instead, you want to be clear about your plan for how to improve in the area.

We’ve pulled together some self-evaluation sample answers and phrases to consider for various topics. If you’re having trouble getting your point across clearly and professionally, consider these examples!

Self-Evaluation Sample Answers – Communication

If communication is an area that you are strong in, check out some of these options for expressing that:

• I am able to clearly express my expectations to teammates and management.
• I practice tact when providing feedback or dealing with unpleasant situations.
• I am able to share my thoughts and ideas with everyone in the room, regardless of the group size.
• I make sure you quickly communicate any changes that come up in a project.
• I take the time to make sure my co-workers know they’re doing a good job.

Self-Evaluation Sample Answers – Performance

Since performance is a large part of your evaluation, you want to highlight it correctly. Be as specific as possible using data and examples of where you truly shine. For a starting point, consider these phrases:

• I have no problem offering my assistance in jobs that go beyond my stated job duties when I see a need.
• I am always challenging myself to do better than I have in previous periods.
• I value my job and put all my effort into doing a great job every day.
• I consider myself a team player more than an individual worker, always providing answers and solutions when those around me need them.

Self-Evaluation Sample Answers – Innovation

Being able to adapt and change in the work environment is a great trait to have. Even better, when you’re the one proactively suggesting changes that better the company as a whole, that deserves to be recognized.

If innovation and creativity are areas you excel in, consider explaining that through statements similar to these:

• I am always looking for ways to help streamline our processes.
• I love looking for unique solutions to issues by approaching every concern with a fresh perspective.
• I excel in team collaborations where our goals are brainstorming and problem-solving.
• I do my best to consider all perspectives of a challenge to find a solution that will benefit everyone involved.
• I adapt quickly when there are changes or roadblocks in my way during a project.

Self-Evaluation Sample Answers – Growth

No one wants to stay in one place in their job. Even if you’re happy in your position, there are ways you can still grow and develop into a better worker. If your strong suit is seeking out ways to develop in your position, make sure you highlight that in ways like these examples:

• I am always setting personal goals for myself and pushing myself to reach or exceed them.
• I often look for opportunities to grow my knowledge in my field, either through courses or with other people.
• I have a long-term goal for my career here, and I’m always working towards it.
• I love learning something new and make it a priority to do so regularly.

Self-Evaluation Sample Answers – Areas for Improvement

As mentioned earlier, part of your self-evaluation is considering areas of your job that you can perform better in moving forward. It’s important to word these elements correctly in a way that showcases your willingness to improve.

Consider these self-evaluation samples of how to express your shortcomings:

• I do well communicating in smaller groups, but I struggle to do so clearly in a larger group.
• I tend to stick with what I know works well instead of looking for innovative ways to approach my work.
• I find myself too shy to share the great ideas I come up with in brainstorming sessions.
• I like to try to complete tasks on my own, which causes me to be less likely to ask for help or delegate tasks when I should.

Self-Evaluation Samples – Tips You Should Consider

Now that you have some examples of what to say in your evaluation, you need to take what you’ve learned and make it personal. In order to clearly communicate your thoughts, it’s important that you take the time to consider how each topic relates to your personal position.

Consider these tips to make our self-evaluation samples more personal for you!

Take a Self-Evaluation Sample and Include Data

If you found that one of the samples we provided related to your performance, take it and reword it to include data specific to your performance. When you include real-life numbers in your evaluation, it will make for a much more impressive report to your management.

Pull your personal metrics from the period you’re evaluating and then compare them to the metrics from the period before. If you’ve improved in an area, show the numbers! If you’ve declined in an area, be transparent about your data and then provide ideas for how to improve your numbers going forward.

Use a Self-Evaluation Sample, then Mention an Example

If you’re talking about how you’re a great team player, it will make a bigger impact if you give a relevant example showing that trait. Mention a time that you stayed late to help your co-worker finish a project, even though your part was already finished.

Anyone can say they have a positive trait in the workplace, but if you want to truly prove that in your self-evaluation, giving times that you’ve put the trait into practice can help you do that!

Takeaway

Self-evaluation samples can be a great place to start when you need to assess your performance at work. However, it’s up to you to take what you’ve read here and develop it into a full evaluation. Take the time you need to develop a well-rounded evaluation of your work. Don’t try to rush and put it together right before it’s due.

We hope that the tips we’ve provided here, mixed with our self-evaluation sample questions and answers, have given you a great starting point. When you put what you’ve learned to work, you will be prepared with a thorough, professional, and impressive self-evaluation!

The eLeaP People Success Platform, which includes a continuous performance management system provides organizations with powerful options to attract and retain high-caliber team members.