Employee Self-Evaluation Form

This free employee self-evaluation form is for managers to hand out before a performance review. The employee rates their own work, lists their biggest achievements, names what was difficult, and proposes goals for the next period. It uses the same areas and 1–5 scale as our performance review template, so you can read the two side by side. Below the download there are self evaluation examples for every section, for employees writing their own.

What you get

A five-page PDF and an editable Word file, sized for US Letter paper:

• Pages 1–2: the blank self-evaluation form to print or fill in.
• Pages 3–4: the same form completed by a bookkeeper at a fictional bookkeeping firm, so employees can see what a good self-evaluation looks like.
• Page 5: notes for the manager and the employee, with links to the sources.

Page one has the employee, manager and dates, a short “how to answer” box, and the self-ratings table. The table covers eight areas on a 1–5 scale, with a column for one example per area. It ends with the employee’s biggest achievements. Page two covers what was difficult and what they learned, what would help, a goals table, space for anything else, and signatures. In the Word version you can rename the rating areas to fit the job.

What a good self-evaluation includes

• Examples, not adjectives. “Closed every month by the 10th” says more than “hard-working”.
• Honest ratings. A mix of scores, each with proof, is more believable than straight 5s.
• Results. What happened because of the work: time saved, customers kept, errors cut.
• One thing that was difficult, and what changed because of it.
• A clear ask. Training, tools or time with the manager.
• Goals with a measure and a date, so they can go straight into the review.

How to use a self-evaluation form

1. About two weeks before the review, give the employee the form, the return date and the meeting date.
2. Tell them it’s their view, in their own words, and that honest answers help more than modest or inflated ones.
3. When it comes back, read it before you finish your own ratings.
4. Note where your rating and theirs differ by two or more points. Start the meeting there.
5. Use their goals and requests as the starting point for the goals on the review.
6. File the self-evaluation with the review in their personnel file.

Completed example

The example is filled in by a bookkeeper at a fictional bookkeeping firm. She rates herself a 4 in most areas, a 3 for job knowledge and communication, and a 5 for month-end close, with a short example on every row. Her achievements: 6 new clients, every month closed by the 10th, and a checklist that cut her close from three days to two. Under “what was difficult” she owns a sales tax return filed a day late, and says what she changed. Her three goals each have a measure, the support she needs and a date.

Self evaluation examples

Short, specific answers work best. Adapt these to your own job:

• Achievement: “I took on 6 new clients and still closed every month by the 10th.”
• Achievement: “I cut the time to restock the floor after a delivery from 3 hours to 2 by reorganizing the back room.”
• Strength: “I trained two new hires this spring, and both now run the register alone.”
• Strength: “Customers mentioned me by name in 9 online reviews this year.”
• Teamwork: “I covered a coworker’s clients for three weeks in July with no missed deadlines.”
• Area to improve: “I filed one tax return a day late in March. Every due date now goes in the shared calendar.”
• Area to improve: “My job notes sometimes miss details, so I’m using the checklist on every call.”
• What would help: “A short course on the new scheduling software, and a monthly check-in until I’m confident.”
• Goal: “Build routine estimates without help by March 31, measured by 8 of 10 done alone.”
• Summary: “A strong year. I grew my client list and kept quality high. Next year I want to take on sales tax work alone.”

For more wording, our performance review phrases list 120 short phrases by skill and rating level. Many work just as well in the first person.

How to write your own self-evaluation

Start with a list of what you did this period: projects, numbers, thank-you messages, problems you solved. Pick the two or three that mattered most and write one sentence on each, with the result. Rate each area honestly and back each rating with one example. Name one thing that was hard and what you did about it. Finish with what would help you and where you want to go next. Keep it to the facts; your manager will ask about the rest in the meeting.

When a self-evaluation raises a concern

Sometimes an employee uses the form to raise discrimination or harassment, or to ask for an accommodation. Treat it like any other complaint or request and act on it. The EEOC lists raising these as protected activity, so nothing that follows should look like punishment (EEOC: Retaliation). With 15 or more employees, keep the form with the review for at least a year (29 CFR 1602.14).

Not sure how to handle something an employee wrote? That’s what hrsupport.io is for: HR answers for your state, with the law behind every answer.