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Your own words
Write your self-review with AI and still sound like yourself
Paste your rough notes, have AI ask you three questions before it writes, tell it never to invent numbers, and cut every word you'd never say out loud.
The short answer
Paste your rough notes about the year into ChatGPT or another chat tool. Tell it to ask you three questions before it writes anything. Tell it to write in plain, first-person language, and never to invent a number: wherever a number belongs, it writes [ADD NUMBER]. Answer the questions honestly, fill in the real numbers yourself, and cut every phrase you'd never say out loud. That's a self-review that sounds like you and is true.
Why AI self-reviews sound like robots
Ask a chat tool to "write my self-review" and you get "spearheaded cross-functional initiatives to drive impact." It doesn't know what you did, so it fills the gap with polished filler. Worse, it may add numbers that sound good, "improved efficiency by 30%," that nobody can back up. Your manager can tell.
Floor vote
What's hardest about writing a self-review?
One vote per device. Change it any time.
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Step 1: Dump your notes, messy is fine
Before you open the chat, spend ten minutes collecting what you actually did. Look at:
- Your calendar for the year.
- Emails you sent that you were proud of, or that thanked you.
- Projects, problems you fixed, people you helped.
- What was hard, and what you'd like to learn next.
Write it as a list. Half sentences are fine. If your company has rules about AI tools, check them, and leave out anything confidential.
Step 2: Let it interview you first
Paste the notes and send:
Here are my rough notes for my self-review. Before you
write anything, ask me three questions that would help you
understand what I did and why it mattered. Wait for my
answers.
The questions are the useful part. They pull out the details a review needs, like what changed because of your work, and you answer them in your own words.
Step 3: Set the rules, then let it write
After you answer, send:
Now write my self-review in first person, in plain
language. Use only what I told you. Never invent numbers:
write [ADD NUMBER] where a number belongs. Don't use these
words: spearheaded, leveraged, synergy, drove impact,
passionate. Keep each section short.
Robot | You
Robot
Spearheaded cross-functional initiatives that drove a 30% efficiency gain.
Vague, and the number is made up.
You
I took over the Friday schedule in March and fixed the double-bookings. It now takes [ADD NUMBER] hours a week instead of a whole day.
Specific, and you fill in the real number.
Step 4: Make it true and make it yours
- Replace every [ADD NUMBER] with a real number, or delete the sentence.
- Read it out loud. Cut anything you'd be embarrassed to say to your manager's face.
- Keep one honest line about what didn't go well and what you're doing about it. That reads as confident, not weak.
If the draft flatters you too much, ask it to point out where you're overstating. Here's how to get ChatGPT to stop agreeing with you.
What not to hand over
Your review is about you, but your notes may mention coworkers, customers, or company numbers. Leave out names and anything you wouldn't share outside work. You can add specifics back in your own document.
Field check
Field check
Three questions. Honest answers. No score sent anywhere but this page.
01 / 03
Did you collect rough notes before opening the chat?
Short close
Paste rough notes, let it ask questions first, ban made-up numbers, and cut the buzzwords. Fill in the real numbers yourself. Every line should be something you can stand behind.
Keep these
The working rules
AI writes in a polished voice that isn't yours, and it guesses numbers. Then: Paste rough notes; Let it ask questions first; Mark numbers [ADD NUMBER]; Cut what you'd never say.