It’s the middle of June and we’re approaching Q3. Can you tell me what you’ve done this year? How about last quarter? 2 months ago? The first half of your internship? Last week?

Whether you’re starting a job/internship search or just finishing up a big project, you should always be cataloging your accomplishments.

If you can’t articulate your contributions and why they matter, it’ll be hard to have productive 1:1s, update your résumé, or communicate your experience during interviews.

If you can’t remember last quarter, start by looking up old tickets. This will give you a concrete list of projects that you’ve worked on, how they aligned with your goals, and why they were important to the business.

Next, think about how you’d explain each project to someone outside your team. That person could be technical (hiring managers, professors, classmates) or non-technical (investors, CEOs, sales, your parents). This will help you tailor your message to different audiences.

And remember, it’s not just about the code you’ve committed; catalog what you learned and the mistakes you made along the way.

For interns, we recommend doing this every month. For full-timers, at least quarterly. With a regular cadence, you’ll always be prepared for what comes next!