Idealist Careers

Guide to Keeping Track of Your

Accomplishments

You know you’re awesome.

But are you keeping track of all of the

great work you’re doing?

If not, keep reading...

We’ll show why and how you should start paying

more attention to just how amazing you are.

?Why should you keep track of your accomplishments?

Of course, you’re humble and want to change the world.

But consider what a little

pride can do for your career.

You’ll have better

success stories to share during a job interview.

You’ll be able to answer

Why do you deserve it?

when campaigning for a promotion or raise.

• You’ll have a solid track record of

You’ll have a solid track record of success when

seeking support for a new project or initiative.

You’ll be able to wow your manager during

performance reviews.

You’ll have an easier time

updating your résumé.

You’ll totally impress fellow attendees

(with due modesty, of course)

at networking events.

Most importantly:

You’ll feel better about

your work.

?What kind of accomplishments

should you track?

It’s always good to

tell a story.

Use the CAR (Challenge, Action, Result )

formula to figure out your successes as they relate to your job.

What Challenge (responsibility, task, or problem)

did I have? As the Editor I was responsible for creating

engaging content for our community.

What Action did I take?

I launched a new blog to cater to our

community’s interest.

What was the Result?

(added value, positive outcome or benefit)

In five months we had over

3,000 email subscribers.

Put them all together:

Launched a new blog to better engage

our community, securing over 3,000 email subscribers in five months.

You can also keep track of praise (e.g. thank you cards and emails)

and feedback (e.g. performance reviews)

?How can you start

tracking your accomplishments?

First things first:

Track your successes regularly and in a place you have easy access to.

Some places work better for certain kinds of accomplishments.

Keep a master résumé with all of your jobs and related accomplishments.

Use LinkedIn to keep track of projects, publications, and successes.

Create a folder in your inbox just for accomplishments.

Go old school and use a folder or journal.

Use an app like WorkSmart and idonethis

Try an online portfolio like flavors.me and about.me

Use an online document system like Google Docs or Evernote

You can also use Pinterest to create an impact portfolio

!No one can keep track of your work better than you can.

Get to it! Idealist Careers Helping you find, land, and love your social impact career