How do you document your network engineer achievements?

1 Define your goals

Before you start documenting your network engineer achievements, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and why. Are you looking for a promotion, a raise, a new job, or a certification? Do you want to improve your skills, learn new technologies, or expand your network? Having a specific and realistic goal will help you focus your documentation efforts and align them with your desired outcomes.

2 Choose your format

Documenting your network engineer achievements can be done in a variety of ways, depending on your goal, audience, and preference. For example, creating a portfolio with online platforms such as GitHub or LinkedIn can showcase your skills and accomplishments in an interactive and visual manner. A resume can be used to highlight your qualifications and value for a specific job or role, while a report can provide a detailed description of your work activities, results, challenges, and learnings. Finally, a presentation can be used to communicate your work and achievements to an audience. Tools such as PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Prezi can help you create and deliver the presentation.

3 Gather your data

To document your network engineer achievements, you need to collect and organize data that supports your claims and shows your impact. This could include metrics such as uptime, availability, throughput, latency, errors, security incidents, or customer satisfaction; feedback such as reviews, ratings, testimonials, or recognition from your manager, peers, clients, or users; and artifacts such as diagrams, configurations, scripts, code, documentation, or certificates. All of these sources provide valuable evidence that can be used to demonstrate your contributions and accomplishments.

4 Highlight your value

When documenting your network engineer achievements, you need to emphasize your value and impact, not just your tasks and responsibilities. To do this, you can use the STAR method - Situation, Task, Action, and Result - which helps you describe your achievements in a clear and concise way, using specific examples and evidence. For instance, a Situation could be the company's network experiencing frequent outages and performance issues due to outdated and incompatible devices and software. The Task could be to upgrade and standardize the network infrastructure and ensure its reliability and security. The Action could be conducting a network audit and analysis, designing a new network architecture and configuration, and implementing the upgrade project using Cisco devices and software. The Result could be that the network upgrade improved the network uptime by 99%, reduced the latency by 50%, and increased the security compliance by 80%.

5 Review and update

Documenting your network engineer achievements is not a one-time activity, but an ongoing process. You need to review and update your documentation regularly to keep it accurate, relevant, and current. You can use a schedule, a checklist, or a reminder system to help you track and record your achievements as they happen. You can also use feedback, self-assessment, or peer review to improve your documentation quality and clarity.

Documenting your network engineer achievements is a valuable skill that can help you advance your career and showcase your talents. By following these tips, you can create effective and efficient documentation that reflects your work and impact as a network engineer.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?