As I’ve mentioned, I just passed the one year mark as a full time employee with Tripepi Smith. Well, tomorrow my boss and I are going to visit a client at 1, so he proposed we meet early for lunch to discuss my first year with the company.
“Sure,” I said, and then got the Google calendar invite for a lunch that is slated to last an hour and a half. The restaurant is only five minutes from the place our meeting is after, so I got to thinking, what are we talking about for 85 minutes?
Not one to wonder in silence (or at least, without writing) I drafted a long email asking what to expect, and how to prepare. I wanted to be able to organize my thoughts, maybe make lists of my accomplishments this past year, my goals for the future. You know, that kind of corporate stuff people do.
This is what he wrote back (copied directly)
no prep. we can talk about where things are at and where they are going.
I swear, if he hadn’t blocked out an hour and a half I would think I was getting laid off. Am I being paranoid?
You have to admit, that’s pretty vague. Where things are and where they are going…
So naturally, I’ve been googling phrases like “employee annual performance review,” and journaling away my ideas, just to be prepared for any question he can throw at me. I’m probably being really over the top about it, but this seems like a real opportunity to discuss what I feel I’m doing well, and what I could do better. If I don’t prepare, I’ll be driving home tomorrow night kicking myself for all the things I forgot to say (which is hard to do while you’re driving).
Also, I will admit, this is the first time I’ve had a performance review (aside from a very awkward hour spent in the back room at a Starbucks in San Francisco with a male supervisor who had a crush on Daniel). I have always worked freelance, or temped, or waitressed while working freelance/temp. I’ve never been a corporate type. This is all very new to me. Until I googled the topic of performance review, I didn’t even know that this was the time of year that employees sometimes (usually?) get raises. That’s a thing.
Anyhow, I’m nervous. And I’m trying not to be nervous which just makes me anxious. Which just leads me to drink. Just kiddding. Kind of.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Leave a Reply