What do you do if your performance evaluations aren't helping your career advancement as a systems engineer?

1 Identify the gaps

The first step is to understand why your performance evaluations are not helping your career advancement. Is it because of the evaluation criteria, the feedback process, the expectations, or the communication? Are you clear about what your manager and stakeholders are looking for, and how they measure your success? Are you getting constructive and timely feedback that helps you improve and grow? Are you setting realistic and relevant goals that align with your career aspirations and the organization's vision? To identify the gaps, you need to review your past evaluations, ask for clarification, and seek feedback from multiple sources.

2 Showcase your value

The next step is to showcase your value as a systems engineer. This means highlighting your contributions, achievements, and impact on the projects and systems you work on. You can do this by documenting your work, creating portfolios, writing case studies, giving presentations, or sharing best practices. You can also demonstrate your value by taking on new challenges, solving problems, innovating solutions, or leading initiatives that benefit your team, department, or organization. You can also showcase your value by networking with other systems engineers, mentors, sponsors, or influencers who can support your career development and advocate for you.

3 Expand your skills

Another step is to expand your skills as a systems engineer. This means keeping up with the latest trends, technologies, and standards in your field, and learning new skills that can enhance your performance and career prospects. You can do this by taking courses, certifications, workshops, webinars, or online resources that can help you update your knowledge and skills. You can also expand your skills by joining professional associations, communities, or events that can offer you opportunities to learn from experts, peers, or mentors, and to exchange ideas, insights, or feedback.

4 Negotiate your growth

The final step is to negotiate your growth as a systems engineer. This means communicating your career goals, expectations, and needs to your manager and stakeholders, and asking for the support and resources you need to achieve them. You can do this by preparing a career development plan that outlines your strengths, areas of improvement, short-term and long-term goals, and action steps. You can also negotiate your growth by requesting more feedback, coaching, mentoring, recognition, or rewards that can motivate you and help you advance. You can also negotiate your growth by exploring new opportunities, roles, or projects that can challenge you and help you grow.

5 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?