How to Use Your Mid-Year Review to Set Up Your Next Raise

Most women show up to performance reviews and respond. Here's how to show up and propose — and why it's the difference between waiting for a raise and building the case for one.

I want to talk about something that happened to me this week that changed how I think about performance reviews.

I had my mid-year review on Tuesday. It went well — but not because I got great feedback (though I did). It went well because for the first time, I didn't just show up and listen. I showed up with a plan.

Here's what I mean.

The passive review trap

In the past, my performance reviews have always felt passive. My manager books time, I show up, I hear what they think, I nod, I leave. Maybe I walk away feeling good, maybe I don't — but either way, nothing changes. No seeds planted. No trajectory shifted.

Sound familiar? I lived in this trap for years.

The thing is, a performance review isn't just a report card. It's one of the few structured moments in your career where you have your manager's full attention and a legitimate reason to talk about your future. Most of us let that window close without doing anything with it.

What I did differently this time

At my company, before your manager books review time with you, you're asked to fill out a self-assessment — what you've accomplished, how you'd rate yourself, and what you want to achieve in the next six months.

I listed AI skill-building as something I wanted to pursue.

My manager noticed. He came into the review already thinking about how to support it. And instead of a passive check-in, we had a real conversation about where the company is investing, where I want to grow, and what a tangible project might look like.

By the end of the conversation, he had offered to bring me into meetings outside my day-to-day scope and suggested we find a side project I could work on — something that would give me hands-on AI experience and produce something concrete to point to at year-end.

I left that meeting and immediately started working on a proof of concept brief.

Why this is actually a raise strategy

Here's what I realized: the raise conversation at year-end goes better when you've spent six months creating evidence.

A well-timed mid-year review plants the seeds. Here's how:

Field notes

Name the skills you're actively building. If your manager doesn't know what you're working on, it doesn't count. Visibility is part of the work.
Propose a project that proves them. Ambition is easy to claim. A concrete proposal turns it into something your manager can say yes to — and remember.
Get your manager invested in your growth. When they're rooting for your project, they're rooting for you. That matters when it's time to make the case for a raise or a new opportunity.
Make it easy to say yes at year-end. Plant the seeds now. The December conversation goes better when you have something to point to.

The mindset shift

Most women show up to performance reviews and respond.

The ones who earn more show up and propose.

That's it. That's the whole thing. You don't need a perfect track record or a flawless six months — you need to walk in knowing what you want and having done the work to articulate it.

In the past my reviews were passive. This time I came in with a plan.

That's the energy we're bringing to every review from here on out.

That's this week's entry. If you read all the way down here, go add one line to your self-assessment before you close the tab. Future you is counting on it.

Until next time,

xo, Tomi