8/30    Dear motd career advancement specialist,
        I need to fill out a self appraisal form for my performance review.
        and I'm curious how other people approach these things. I can rate
        myself on a scale from 'Exceptional' to 'Not Performing' in several
        areas (with some guidelines provided). I'm not sure how honest to be
        and how modest (I don't want to sell myself short but I don't want to
        sound like an asshole). I've gotten good feedback from my boss in
        general and I know he's happy with my overall performance. Any advice
        is appreciated.
        \_ Here's how mine went: I put "meeting requirements" (the middle one)
           for everything but a few where i gave myself excellent, b/c i was,
           and one were i put one tick below avg b/c i was.  My boss took it,
           and one where i put one tick below avg b/c i was.  My boss took it,
           changed all of my answers to excellent, and submitted it.  Apparently
           they put both on file, but his determines the raise I ended up
           getting.  Hurray for boss, boo for stupid pointless system.
           \_ I put the best rating that I am prepared to defend. I agree
              that it is pointless.