The Review
Self-evaluation, a review you have to write for someone on your team, peer feedback, or a promotion case. Put your rough notes in, get lines you can paste. Free, no signup, nothing leaves this page.
Eighteen of them, because every company names these differently. Pick the ones on your form.
Rough notes are fine. Numbers help most. Set the level you think it honestly was and you get the wording that matches.
Write something under at least one heading first, even a few words.
Self-evaluation examples you can copy
Every form asks the same handful of things under different names. Here is what a usable answer looks like under each. Short on purpose: two sentences, one number, no adjectives about yourself.
Quality of work
Job knowledge
Communication
Dependability
Initiative
Quantity of work
Teamwork
Problem solving
What each rating actually means
Most companies run three or five levels with different labels. Underneath, raters are answering the same question: how much of this happened because of this person, and would it still happen without them.
| Rating | What the rater is really saying | What your evidence needs |
|---|---|---|
| Below | The job is not being done at the level the role is scoped for. | Nothing to argue here. Name it, say what changed, show the change working. |
| Meets | The job was done. Nothing broke. Nothing was carried by anyone else. | Facts and dates. Most people land here and most people should. |
| Above | Something happened that would not have happened without this person. | A number, and a thing that outlasted the task: a process, a runbook, a person who levelled up. |
The tool checks this for you. If fewer than two thirds of your points carry a number, it will tell you the evidence supports a middle rating, whatever you write in the box.
How to write a performance review for yourself
The order matters more than the words. Every strong line has three parts: what the situation was, what you did, what changed. Most people write only the middle part, which is why their review reads like a job description.
- Facts, not adjectives. "Strong communicator" is unarguable and worthless. "Ran the weekly call for eight months" is a fact your manager can repeat.
- One number per point. How many, how much, how long, how often.
- Two sentences per heading. Long reviews get skimmed and the skim takes the first line.
- Name the hard part. Work that sounds easy gets rated as easy.
- Write it so someone can repeat it. Your manager defends your rating in a room you are not in. Give them sayable lines.
Writing a review for someone on your team
Switch the tool to "someone on my team" and it writes in the third person with their name. Three rules that save managers the most trouble:
- No surprises. Nothing in a written review should be new information. If it is, the problem is the year, not the form.
- Behaviour, not character. "Commitments slipped twice without a heads-up" can be worked on. "Unreliable" cannot.
- Write the growth line as an instruction. Say what you want to see next cycle and how you will both know it happened.
Peer and 360 feedback
Peer feedback fails in two directions: too polite to be useful, or a complaint dressed as feedback. The usable version is one thing they did that helped you, with the situation attached, and one thing that would help you more next time. The tool keeps it to that shape.
Making a promotion case
A promotion case is not a better review. It answers one question: are they already doing the next job. So the evidence has to be scope that outlasted the task — something that still runs, someone who grew, a decision that held. Set the tool to promotion mode and each point comes back with the scope framing and a blank where you name what you want to own next. Fill the blank yourself; that sentence is the whole ask.
What to write when the year did not go well
Do not perform. A self-evaluation claiming a bad year was fine costs more credibility than the bad year did. Name it in one sentence, then spend the rest on what you changed and what it did.
Common questions
What should I write in my self-evaluation?
Four to six things you did, each with the situation, your part and the result. One honest gap with the action attached. One line on what you want to own next. That is the whole document.
What are good self-evaluation sample answers?
The examples above are the shape to copy, not the content — a borrowed sentence collapses at the first follow-up question. Put your own notes into the tool and it builds the same shape around your facts.
What do I put for areas of improvement?
One thing, specific enough to check in six months, paired with the action. "Better at delegating" is a wish. "I gave the reporting to Tom in September and I am doing the same with onboarding" is an area of improvement.
How long should a self-evaluation be?
Half a page to a page, two sentences per heading. If your form has a character limit, put it into the tool and it will flag anything that overruns.
Can I mention a promotion or a raise?
Mention scope, not money. What you want to own next is the promotion case. The money conversation is separate and goes better on its own — The Ticket writes that one.
Does this tool send anything anywhere?
No. It runs in your browser, there is no account, nothing is stored and nothing is sent. Close the tab and it is gone.
What is the difference between this and Work Arsenal?
This page does one job once a cycle. Work Arsenal installs into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot so your assistant already knows how you work — twenty playbooks covering reviews, interviews, negotiation and difficult messages, so you are not rebuilding the context every time.
Keep The Review free
No paywall, no account, no ads, and that is the point. If it saved you an evening, put something in the jar and it stays that way for the next person staring at an empty form.
A writing tool, not employment advice. What you submit to your employer is your call.