Brag document examples
The best examples all show one move: a task rewritten as impact. Once you see the pattern, you can apply it to anything you do.
The best brag document examples all show one move: a task rewritten as impact. "Ran the migration" becomes "retired the legacy system across four teams, unblocking a year of stalled work." Once you see the pattern, you can apply it to anything you do.
Before and after
Each pair below keeps the work identical and changes only the telling — from effort to consequence:
| Task (before) | Impact (after) |
|---|---|
| "Fixed bugs" | Cut customer-reported defects 30% by reworking the validation layer |
| "Helped with onboarding" | Wrote docs that cut new-hire ramp from three weeks to one |
| "Did design reviews" | Standardized review criteria now adopted by the whole design org |
| "Worked on the API" | Cut p99 latency from 800ms to 180ms, improving every downstream team |
- Verbs of effort: worked on, helped with, was involved in
- Responsibilities instead of results: "responsible for X"
- Adjectives with no number: "significantly improved"
- Lists of activities with no consequence attached
- A consequence: what changed, for whom, how much
- A number where you have one; a clear scope where you don't
- "Unblocked four teams" — impact without a percentage
- One honest, specific line per win
The pattern underneath
Every strong line answers the same three-part question: what changed, for whom, and how much? Activity describes your effort; impact describes the consequence of that effort. A committee can only promote on consequence — effort is assumed.
You don't need a number for every line, but you do need a consequence. Where you can't quantify, name the scope: who it affected and how widely. "Unblocked four teams" is impact even without a percentage.
How to prioritize your examples
- Lead with the lines that map to your next level's criteria.
- Favor outcomes with a number or a clear scope over vague wins.
- Keep one strong example per signal rather than ten weak ones.
- Honesty over inflation — exaggerated claims fall apart in calibration.
How Workfied helps here
Workfied does this reframe for you. You say what happened in plain words — "helped onboard the new hire" — and it phrases the impact, dated and ready: "cut new-hire ramp from three weeks to one." So you collect strong examples all year instead of inventing them the night before. Built for you, never your company. Encrypted in transit and at rest.
Evidence
Include vs cut
Cut the verb of effort ("worked on"). Keep the consequence ("cut X by Y"). That single edit is the whole skill.
Workfied house view
The mechanism
Activity describes effort; impact describes consequence. Committees promote on consequence — effort is assumed.
Workfied house view
The pattern
Every strong line answers what changed, for whom, and how much. If it doesn't, it's a task, not an example.
Workfied house view