I was a student for many years (5 years of undergrad, 2.5 years of grad school), and I became very comfortable with always being able to look at the syllabus and my grade and know what I needed to do and how well I was performing. Work isn’t like that. Like I think is normal, I get a performance review once a year. I find this unsettling, because even though I come in and do decent work, I still often feel like I’m doing something “wrong” and worry that I’m secretly on the cusp of being fired. Folks who have maybe been working for longer than I have, how do you feel and stay confident in your work?
Unfortunately performance reviews are basically made to make you feel that way and to have them prepared for just that. Its not completely intentional but most bussinesses have layoffs on a regular basis (at least in tech) some just go to where they keep a core and contract out a lot. Those layoffs hit leadership to on top of people leaving since loyalty works both ways. This causes what you do to change from when they set your goals at the begining of the year to what you are doing at the end. Most managers should sorta realize that and take you into account. If my reviews are not positive I take that to mean the company does not like my work and a sign to look for someplace that needs my skillset more.