How Do You Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses?

I am fast-approaching the three-month mark in my new job. Can you believe it? I sure can’t! Anyways, I signed on at a lower salary with an agreement to a “90-day growth incentive program,” which essentially means I will be eligible for a higher salary if I sufficiently add value within my first three months with the company. I’m crossing my fingers for both a salary bump and a title promotion.

Prior to the performance evaluation meeting in early March, I’ve been asked to fill out a survey with my “strengths” and “opportunities for improvement.” I’ve been taking notes on my accomplishments, quantitative value added and ways in which I’ve supported my colleagues. I have until Tuesday to complete this form.

I’ve never been with a company that holds a formal performance review process, so I’m a bit nervous about highlighting my achievements without going overboard and laying our my weaknesses along with solutions for improvement.

I’m planning to:

• Map my accomplishments to my job description, emphasizing the ways in which I am exceeding expectations
• Pair solutions with my highlighted opportunities for improvement to convey that I’m actively working towards self-guided improvement
• Express openness to both positive and critical feedback, and reiterate any offered suggestions to confirm understanding
• Be honest and transparent about what I’ve achieved and what I believe I’m capable of

Thankfully, I have a wonderful and supportive boss who has had nothing but good things to say about me across the last few months! While I feel confident that the evaluation will go well, I want to offer as many tangible reasons as possible to receive increased pay. I took a big step backward in accepting this position because I recognize the long-term potential with the company. I am confident that I’ll attain management within my first year and continue up the ladder from there. But first, I need to ace this review!

Have you been involved in a employment performance evaluation before, either as the manager or subordinate? If so, what has stood out as the best (or worse) attitude, answer or approach to the evaluation?

What are the most impressive strengths? Would you focus exclusively on quantitative results or add in soft skills, such as teamwork? What is the best way to frame weaknesses as future improvement areas?