How to track your career while employed

Most people only think about their career when something goes wrong, a reorganization is coming or a recruiter calls. Then you start from zero: which project was that, who was that headhunter, what did you deliver last year?

The best time to organize your career is while you have a job and some calm. You build a record you can rely on the moment an opportunity appears.

Why LinkedIn and job boards don't work for this

LinkedIn is public, not private. As soon as you update your profile, add projects or switch on "Open to Work", colleagues and your manager notice. It is a shop window, not a personal file.

No place for confidential notes. Salary ranges, review notes, internal results or your honest opinion of a company don't belong on a social network.

Recruiter contacts get lost. Messages from headhunters disappear in your inbox. Two years later you no longer know who reached out, for which role or what salary range was mentioned.

Job boards are only about now. Indeed and similar sites list open vacancies. They don't remember what you achieved or who you spoke to.

What to keep track of privately

1. Your wins log (brag sheet)

Write down finished projects, results in numbers and compliments from clients or colleagues. At your review or salary negotiation you'll have concrete examples ready, and updating your CV takes minutes.

2. A discreet recruiter archive

Save who contacted you, for which agency or company, which role and which terms. You learn your market value without your employer noticing.

3. A list of dream companies

Companies you'd like to join in one to three years, with contacts and notes. When a vacancy opens, you're ready.

4. Your CV versions and documents

Keep different versions of your CV and portfolio together so you can move fast when a chance comes.

How to do it in Career Compass HQ

Under My career you log your current job and a career log that copies any achievement as a CV bullet in one click. The Premium Toolkit helps you prepare your annual review and salary talk, with internal email templates. Save recruiters under Contacts and add dream companies as applications marked "Interested". Everything is private: only you can see your data. See pricing or read how to track job applications for when you're actively searching.