Quick answer
The CAIP Framework: Context, Action, Impact, Proof
The CAIP Framework is a simple way to turn everyday work into useful career evidence by recording the context, what you did, the impact it had and the proof that supports it. Context sets the scene, Action says what you personally did, Impact says what changed, and Proof is what would convince someone who was not there.
Published by Look At You Go. Last updated 24 September 2026. Examples are illustrations, not real user records.
The four parts
Context. What was the situation? One sentence is enough. Without it, a reader cannot tell whether the result was hard.
Action. What did you do, in your own words. Use "I", not "we", so your part is clear.
Impact. What changed because of it. A number if you have one, a before and after if you do not.
Proof. Where someone could check it: a report, an email, feedback, a dashboard. This is the part most people skip, and the part that wins the argument in a review.
Examples
Delivery lead
Context: A project had fallen behind schedule.
Action: You reorganised delivery across two teams.
Impact: The backlog reduced from 240 items to 80.
Proof: Delivery metrics and stakeholder feedback.
Customer support
Context: Complaints about late refunds were rising.
Action: You rewrote the refund checklist and trained the team on it.
Impact: Average refund time dropped from nine days to four.
Proof: Ticketing system report and a note from your manager.
Software engineer
Context: The nightly build failed about twice a week.
Action: You found the flaky tests and rebuilt the pipeline stage that ran them.
Impact: No failed nightly builds in the following six weeks.
Proof: CI history and the merged pull request.
A template to copy
Date: Context: Action (what I did): Impact (what changed): Proof (where to check):
CAIP compared with STAR
STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is built for answering interview questions after the fact. CAIP is built for recording work as it happens, and adds Proof, because evidence you cannot point to tends to be dismissed in performance reviews and pay conversations.
Where to use it
Use CAIP entries in your performance review or appraisal, a promotion case, a pay rise or raise request and CV or resume lines. The longer walkthrough is in the career evidence guide to CAIP.
Look At You Go uses the same four parts: you talk for about 90 seconds a week, and it sorts what you said into context, action, impact and proof, then asks for the missing piece.
You did the work. Keep the evidence. LAYG turns a 90-second weekly check-in into a dated record you can use for all of this.
Try the 90-second check-in