Among the finest items of recommendation Maddie Machado obtained from a former boss at Microsoft was to maintain monitor of all her profession wins.
Machado would log “anytime I did a great job, anytime I made somebody’s life simpler, anytime I received kudos” first in a Microsoft doc, then a operating e-mail draft and now in a slide presentation. She calls it a “brag doc” and says she’s used it in each interview for the final 10 years.
Machado, 35, is a reverse recruiter and founding father of SkillScript, a resume platform, in Tampa, Fla.
The idea of documenting your career wins is not new, however her methodology categorizes 4 particular features of your skilled success:
- What I am good at: What roles and obligations come naturally to you that is tougher for others? What duties are you continuously complimented about? These are your “company superpowers,” Machado says.
- What I ship: This part ought to spotlight the impression of your distinctive abilities, Machado says. For instance, should you’re actually nice at cross-functional collaboration, you doubtless ship environment friendly groups and nice communication. Consider it this fashion, Machado says: “What’s one thing that would not have occurred should you weren’t there? Or what’s one thing that would not have occurred in addition to it did should you weren’t there?”
- What I am most happy with: These are the “distinctive” accomplishments the place you went above and past, Machado says. A few of her favourite guiding questions: Did you save the corporate cash? Did you make the corporate cash? Did you save the corporate time? Did you create a course of enchancment that created extra effectivity? Suppose massive image when it comes to your impression in your workforce and the enterprise.
- Why they need to rent me: Lastly, once you’re making ready a brag doc for a brand new job, tailor this part to exhibit your alignment with the function, the workforce and the corporate you are making use of to. Analysis the corporate’s mission and tradition and present how you would be a great match. For instance, if the corporate is thought for shifting quick, that is the time to inform them that you just work greatest that method, too. Your elevator pitch right here ought to present that “not solely would you be a great match technically, however you are additionally a great match for the corporate as a complete,” Machado says.
Higher than a resume or cowl letter: ‘Nobody’s studying cowl letters’
Machado says having a brag doc readily available may help you community and will make an even bigger impression than a standard resume or cowl letter.
“Nobody’s studying cowl letters,” Machado says. “Even once I was a recruiter for therefore a few years, I can rely on perhaps one hand what number of instances I really learn a canopy letter.”
A brag doc, in the meantime, is “a time so that you can toot your personal horn,” Machado says. “It is arduous to see in your resume the quantity of impression and the issues that you just really owned and are literally happy with.”
It additionally exhibits off a very powerful features of a candidate a hiring supervisor desires to know, Machado says, primarily based on her time working with hiring managers at firms like Meta and LinkedIn.
Hiring managers will typically already know what you do day-to-day in your function, Machado says, however are on the lookout for what you may carry to a brand new firm and issues that can make them suppose, “Wow, take a look at what she did there. Think about what she may do right here,” she says. “And that is what your brag doc is doing.”
A brag doc is a helpful useful resource to connect to your utility, to comply with up with a hiring supervisor on LinkedIn after you have utilized for a task, and even to cold-message somebody to community, Machado says. It will not essentially get you the job straight away, nevertheless it may get you within the hiring pipeline that a lot quicker.
Then, use it to arrange for interviews and negotiate a robust supply, Machado says.
“It is good to have the ability to remind your self what you have achieved up to now, whether or not it is massive or small, and likewise have the ability to share with different individuals,” she says.
Are you prepared to purchase a home? Take Smarter by CNBC Make It is new on-line course How to Buy Your First Home. Knowledgeable instructors will assist you to weigh the price of renting vs. shopping for, financially put together, and confidently navigate each step of the method—from mortgage fundamentals to closing the deal. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory low cost of 30% off $97 (+taxes and costs) by means of July 15, 2025.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get suggestions and methods for achievement at work, with cash and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to attach with specialists and friends.
