I was asked by my boss to send him an email with a list of my accomplishments...

So recently I have cracked the case of the workstations failing to apply their patches here. This morning, my boss walks up to me and says that he would like for me to come up with a list of accomplishments and email it to him. He also made it clear that he needs it by tomorrow. I'm not sure what this means, but I am having a hard time thinking of "Accomplishments"... Sure I have resolved some hard problems but to me it seems like its all in a days work. What types of things would you guys list if asked this?

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Comments

gbdavidx

Do you work on a ticket system? I would include how many tickets you close weekly, stats, ect.?

Essendon

Stuff like "Implemented TMG 2010" or "Achieved 100% SLA on incoming tickets" or "Upgraded HP Data Protector from v6.2 to v7.01" would make the list of accomplishments. Fixing a user's account lockout/roaming profile/meeting room issues, even hard ones, wouldnt make it to that list. I'd personally like to put them in there, but they dont fit the description of accomplishments. So you are going to have to not put them in there.

powerfool

If he is doing it because he seems pleased with your work, I would think that he is looking to build a case for a bonus, raise, and/or promotion. I would not waste time with this.

krjay

Your boss wants to give you a raise/bonus and needs to justify it to his superiors. It's tough for us to tell you what you've accomplished but I would highly recommend you put some effort into it and get it to your boss in the time frame he wants it. Also if you keep your resume updated you might be able to pull from that to get some ideas

dave330i

Your department doesn't require a weekly or monthly status report? Easy to pull accomplishments off of them.

NetworkVeteran

gbdavidx wrote: »

Do you work on a ticket system? I would include how many tickets you close weekly, stats, ect.?

Yup, that's not bad! Anything that helps the bottom line, especially where you went above and beyond the call of duty, and sets you apart from your co-workers. I'd probably reserve one of your 3-5 bullets for eduction/certifications.

J_86

Sounds like he recognizes you're doing a good job!

I would list a few thing that you think make you stand out from your coworkers, like the issues with workstations not updating for example.
Have you done any projects? Implemented or upgrade anything? Learned a new skill (on the job or self study) that would be beneficial to your position?

RoyalRaven

Wouldn't say its always a great thing to be asked this. It can often mean someone above your boss has no clue what you or your group do and what value you add to the organization. Especially if it needs done timely, you may have a VP or CIO trying to get a feel for the group with forthcoming changes/cuts on the horizon.

Zartanasaurus

RoyalRaven wrote: »

Wouldn't say its always a great thing to be asked this. It can often mean someone above your boss has no clue what you or your group do and what value you add to the organization. Especially if it needs done timely, you may have a VP or CIO trying to get a feel for the group with forthcoming changes/cuts on the horizon.

The downside to not doing it seems significant in either case.

Make a list of major system-wide problems you've fixed, projects you've led, new services you've stood up (well the services that were successful and people liked at least), etc.

Akaricloud

On a related note: I've found it best to keep a running list of accomplishments as you accomplish them. Not only is it good when you want to justify a raise or promotion but it can be great to have when searching for new jobs as well. It's great to have all of your accomplishments in front of you and speak about a few of them during an interview.

CodeBlox

There are no weekly or monthly reviews. Currently, I am one of two System Admins for our institution and one of the things I did end up listing was that I got control over the Network team tickets from the helpdesk and reduced them down to 4 (currently) and that I had been in interaction with users on those. They went unmanned for a little while. Lately it's been busy, really busy. I believe I can get all workstations for the enterprise patched this weekend

About7Narwhal

I think it is a good thing! Yeah, it could be that someone simply doesn't know what you do, but that is unlikely. I just submitted my MCTS cert to work and my bosses boss indicated he will be making time to meet with me. Who knows, maybe raises are on the horizon for us!! Even if that isn't the case, I'll take an attaboy any day.

RoyalRaven

Yeah my previous post is quite pessimistic as I'm currently in an org that is seeing a lot of turnover and angst against management. Good leaders (and very talented employees) depart and their replacements are at a loss of what to do and scrutinize everything. I actually just had to do this and I don't expect anything coming from it. The main point was "do this soon"...not "take your time".

Having a running tally of accomplishments is always a good thing as everyone else mentioned. Being prepared for any outcome will always be the best course of action and will take less time to to put together if needed. It was pretty funny when a newly assigned manager asked for this and I supplied it in minutes. Already was done from the last person to ask right before!

ptilsen

Almost definitely a good thing. If he were asking for a list of what work you'd done -- subtly, yet hugely different from what you've accomplished -- you'd be wise to worry. It sounds more to me like he needs your help making the case to give you a raise or promotion. Find and send him your top accomplishments ASAP, though don't rush and miss anything. It definitely seems like something good is about to to happen.

CodeBlox

So today I was asked to provide an updated resume within the next week to my boss from since I started working with the company. Not sure if it continues to sound like a good or bad thing.

MiikeB

Sounds like you might be up for a promotion.

I was going to say, for accomplishments just be sure not to put:

"Successfully left on time every day"

"Never missed a break"

"Managed to handle all personal calls for the day within my 8 hour work period"

gbdavidx

keep us posted - sounds like it!

Rosco2382

I actually just had to do something similar on the 6th of this month. It netted me a 6.65% raise. I was excited because the norm for my company is normally 3-5%. I was a little nervous when asked to do this, especially recently our department has been slow with projects being pushed back due to financial constraints.