My favorite time of year is rolling around (and no, it’s not the holidays with their nauseatingly excessive tinsel-before-turkey consumerism). I’m talking about the time for end-of-year progress reviews. They’re those agonizing, mandatory, and often confusing reams of paper we’re forced to suffer through.

Many times you’ll find yourself nervously wringing your hands wondering what’s going to be on the form that determines whether you get a 1.63% raise or a 1.67% one. Once you get your review, I’m sure you’ve wondered more than once if you received someone else’s because nothing on the form looks remotely familiar.

Ah yes... the joys of working in Corporate America.

But you don’t have to subject yourself to this pain. You actually have a tremendous say in what ends up on that form, but you’ve likely been too lazy or timid to take advantage of the opportunity. There’s one very easy way to ensure you get a fair review that shows you in the best light possible:

Write it yourself.

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