Brag Document: write your own

A quick guide for you to start your own Brag Document

Have you ever struggled to remember all the awesome things you've accomplished at work? Or maybe you feel like your efforts aren't getting the recognition they deserve? Well, I've experienced both struggles and felt like my hard work was in vain sometimes, and then I discovered the brag document. It's not a magical solution, but it sure helps a lot.

What is a Brag Document? #

It's a personal repository of accomplishments, skills, contributions, and anything else that shows how great you are at what you do. Whether it's completing a project ahead of schedule, getting praised by colleagues, or learning a new skill, it all goes in the brag document.

Why you need one #

When it comes time for performance reviews or job interviews, you'll have all the evidence you need to show why you're the best person for the job. Before having one, I would have to try really hard to remember what I did, and I most likely left out lots of cool stuff because I didn't remember them.

It also helps to visualize your own progression and set personal goals for professional growth. Even when I didn't get a raise or promotion, I still felt good about myself by reflecting on everything I have achieved during a period of time.

How to make your own Brag Document #

Creating one is easy, but keeping it updated requires some discipline. You can use a digital tool or even just a good old-fashioned notebook. I have used Notion and Google Docs. An advantage of keeping it digital is the ease to share with your manager and other peers. Sharing is a great way to get feedback, be reminded of things that you wouldn't otherwise register in the brag document, and also see all the amazing things you and other people are achieving.

When it comes to keeping it up to date, a good practice is to set aside some time every week to update it with new achievements, skills, and others. I reserve half an hour a week to do so.

What goes in it? #

Your brag document is your own and should be structured in a way that works for you and highlights your history. But I'm the type who likes a template to guide me, and if you would rather have one too, I definitely recommend checking out Julia Evans' "Get your work recognized: write a brag document" post. It has a brag document template with examples.

I will also share the template I'm currently using with some fictional examples. The template is yearly and has been effective for me:

# (Your name)'s 2024 Brag Document

## Goals

### Year goal

- Get to the next level on the career ladder

### Q1 Goals

- Improve app performance by reducing p90 LCP from 3s to 2s
- Learn a new programming language

### Q2 Goals

...

---

## Projects

### Project X

- Delivered 20 technical debts in one month, while also delivering product stories
- Optimized the CI/CD pipeline, reducing the average time from 11 minutes to 5 minutes

...

---

## Tools

### Some Experimentation Tool

- Implemented the tool in 3 projects, enabling the growth team to run 22 different A/B experiments in Q1

...

## Collabs and mentoring

- Worked with Team Delta to plan and deliver the new notifications central
- Mentored a junior software engineer by having weekly 1-on-1 sessions and specific pair programmings

...

---

## Acknowledgements and feedback

- Attach or quote some received feedbacks.

...

---

## Design & Docs

- Links to RFCs (Request For Comments) and Docs you have written or contributed to

...

---

## Learnings

- Completed a course on Clean Code and Clean Architecture
- Read "The Staff Engineer's Path" book

...

I hope these examples give you a good idea of how to fill in your own brag document. Remember, it's crucial to include real data and personalize it to reflect your achievements accurately.

Share your successes #

Once you've got your brag document set up, don't be afraid to show it off! You can use it during performance reviews, bring it along to job interviews to prove you're the perfect fit for the role, and share it with teammates to celebrate your achievements together!