[ETR #27] 1 Sheet To Get You Promoted/Hired In 2025


Extract. Transform. Read.

A newsletter from Pipeline

Hi past, present or future data professional!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… performance reviews. Depending on your outlook on your job/org, that “wonderful” could be sarcastic.

However, if you’ve landed on your manager’s nice list, this can be the time to recap your achievements to maintain credibility and work toward the next rung on the corporate ladder.

If you’re on a small team serving demanding stakeholders it’s possible you’ve done way too much to easily recall individual achievements.

Enter the brag sheet: A 1-page document recapping your contributions, initiatives and achievements.

If you’ve heard the term, it was most likely in the context of college applications, as a prep sheet for your teachers to write nice stuff about you, aka recommendation letters.

But you can use the same template to create a record of on-the-job wins you can reference to prep yourself for any formal reviews.

I created and shared a “brag sheet” with my manager since he was on leave for most of the summer. In that situation, the doc is mutually beneficial because I maintain visibility for contributions and save a lengthy back-and-forth exchange to “get up to speed.”

My sheet was a simple Google Doc with these headings:

  • Releases
  • Maintenance
  • Bugs
  • Meetings/Support

Even if you’re not currently working in a data role, I would argue there’s definitely a benefit to recording skills, work and achievements you’re proud of.

Your sheet might include headings like:

Instead of formally presenting this doc to a hiring manager, you have an opportunity to use it as an interview aid. It’s much more natural to recite your achievements written in casual language than it is to rattle off your resume’s bullet points.

So take time to brag a bit—even if it’s just to yourself.

Links:

Thanks for ingesting,

-Zach Quinn

Extract. Transform. Read.

Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and nearly 3k learners by email, I draw on my 4 years of experience as a Senior Data Engineer to demystify data science, cloud and programming concepts while sharing job hunt strategies so you can land and excel in data-driven roles. Subscribe for 500 words of actionable advice every Thursday.

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