Template
Brag Document and Promotion Case Template for Notion
Career Growth Tracker
Career Growth Tracker is a Notion template for building a promotion case as you go. You log each accomplishment when it happens, tag it to the criteria for the level you're going for, and record the scope it reached: your team, your org, or the company. Each criterion then shows whether you've demonstrated it, are still building it, or have a scope gap: examples, but none at the level the criterion asks for.
Built for engineers, designers, product managers, researchers and analysts whose next level depends on a written case, by a former CX/UX researcher in big tech, now a strategist for early-stage startup teams.
$29 · Works on the free Notion plan
Buy on Notion MarketplaceWhy promotion cases fall short
You won't be passed over for doing too little. You'll be passed over because everything on your list was the size of the job you already have.
Promotion cases don't fail on volume. They fail on scope. You list four accomplishments against "drives impact beyond your immediate team," and all four happened inside your own team. The committee reads four examples of the level you're already at.
The other failure is memory. Most cases are written in the week before the deadline, from whatever you can still remember, which favors the last few months and loses the numbers from everything before them.
Career Growth Tracker is built around both problems.
What's inside: three connected databases
Criteria
The bar for the level you're going for. Paste in your own career ladder and set the scope each criterion demands: team, org or company. The Gaps First view lists every criterion with a scope gap or no evidence yet, and the Packet view collects the criteria you've demonstrated, which is what you'll actually submit.
Evidence
One row per accomplishment, logged when it happens rather than the week the case is due. Each one is tagged to the criteria it supports, with the number it moved, the scope it actually reached, and who saw it. The By Scope view shows the shape of your year: if the Team column is tall and the Org column is empty, that's the diagnosis. The Unclaimed view lists work you logged but never matched to a criterion, which is often where the best forgotten evidence is.
Conversations
What your manager actually said, and what they committed to, written down on the day. The Owed a Follow-Up view lists commitments past their follow-up date.
Comes with a worked example, a fictional senior engineer's year, so you can see every view working before you add your own.
How Readiness works
Every criterion carries the scope it requires, and every piece of evidence carries the scope it reached: team, org or company. Readiness compares them.
| Verdict | Rule |
|---|---|
| ✅ Demonstrated | 3 or more examples, at least one at the required scope |
| Building | 2 examples, at least one at the required scope |
| Thin | 1 example at the required scope |
| ⚠️ Scope gap | Examples exist, but none reaches the required scope |
| ⚠️ No evidence yet | Nothing linked yet |
Scope is checked first. Four team-level examples against a criterion that needs org-level reach show as a scope gap, not as demonstrated. That's deliberate: four examples feel like progress, and that feeling is what keeps people from seeing the gap until the case comes back.
Scope gap is the state you can't see in your own work, because every example on the list really happened and really mattered. It just happened at the level you already have.
To score your case as a whole, including written feedback, manager alignment and sponsorship, use the free Promotion Case Readiness Check.
Who it's for
- Engineers, designers, product managers, researchers and analysts whose next level depends on a written case rather than time served.
- Anyone with a promotion cycle in the next six months who wants the evidence collected before the deadline, not reconstructed during it.
- Managers who want to run one per report. Duplicate the page for each person.
Who it isn't for
- People at companies where promotion is based on tenure rather than a written case.
- Managers looking for a performance review system for the whole team. The Performance & Feedback Tracker is built for that.
Questions about promotion cases
What is a brag document?
A running record of your work and its results, written as it happens so nothing is lost by review time. A good one records outcomes rather than activity ("cut deploy time 40%," not "worked on CI") and notes who saw the work. Career Growth Tracker is a brag document tied to your level's criteria, so it also shows what's missing.
How do I build a promotion case?
Start with the written criteria for the level you want, then match evidence to each one. Check two things: that every criterion has examples, and that the examples reach the scope the criterion asks for. Fill the gaps with your manager's help before the cycle, not during it.
What does "operating at the next level" mean?
Doing work at the scope the next level requires, usually before you have the title. In most career ladders the jump is about reach: from impact within your team to impact across an org or the company. More work at your current scope rarely counts.
How do I keep track of what my manager promised about my promotion?
Write it down on the day: what was said, what was committed, and when you'll follow up. Commitments made in conversation fade fast, and a dated note is much easier to raise later than a memory. The Conversations database and its Owed a Follow-Up view are built for this.
Can managers use Career Growth Tracker for their reports?
Yes. Duplicate the page once per report and fill in each person's criteria. Each copy stays separate, so you can share one with its report without exposing the others.
Does Career Growth Tracker work on the free Notion plan?
Yes. It works on the free plan, on web, desktop and mobile. It's a one-time purchase on the Notion Marketplace.
Get Career Growth Tracker
$29, one-time · Works on the free Notion plan
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Related
- Promotion Case Readiness Check (free tool): score your case on five factors in about two minutes.
- Performance & Feedback Tracker: the manager's side, for tracking feedback and reviews across a team.
- All templates for people managers
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