How to Conduct a Personal Swot Analysis

Image Posted on November 18, 2015 Updated on November 18, 2015

personal swot analysis

SWOT analysis is a useful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for identifying both the Opportunities open to you and the Threats you face. – Mindtools

SWOT analysis was first devised as a business tool in the 1960s, commonly used for business planning, new market/business development, and new product or service launch – generally, organizations use it to assess themselves and their competitors and to formulate their strategies. Today! more people (entrepreneurs, job seekers etc.) are conducting personal SWOT analysis to determine where their particular skills are most likely to fit in, in the professional world.

swot-analysis What SWOT stands for | Credit: Shutterstock

The purpose of a personal SWOT analysis

There are several reasons why we need personal SWOT analysis. For example, in a business context, the SWOT analysis enables businesses to identify both internal (Strengths & Weaknesses), and external (Opportunities & Threats) influences. It’s primary objective is to help business develop a full awareness of all the factors, positive and negative, that may affect the business.

On the other hand, a personal SWOT analysis is essential in personal development, it helps you understand what you are best at, and the areas you need to improve upon to become the best version of yourself. It’s a crucial step for making yourself more appealing to your customers or employer. So whether you are transitioning from entrepreneur to employee, starting your own business, or planning to climb the career ladder; a personal SWOT analysis can help:

Boost your self-image.
Set a course for your career
Take advantage of opportunities available to you
Identify your short-term and long-term goals, and help you set actionable plans to achieve them.

How to conduct a personal SWOT analysis

Here are the steps to perform a personal SWOT analysis. (You will most definitely find these very useful if you carry out these tasks honestly and realistically):

Strengths:

This part looks at what you do well and where your skills and talent stands out. Questions to ask include:

What do you do better than anyone else?
What sets you apart from others, such as education, certifications, experience, lifestyle?
What do other people around you see as your strengths?
What are the positive things people say about you when they meet you the first time?
What special traits and attributes do you possess?
What values and ethics set you apart from your peers?
What advantages can you offer an organization?

When looking at your strengths, think about them from both an internal perspective, and from the point of view of your friends, families, customers and competitors (if you currently run your own business).

For instance: here’s a short list of my strengths:

Creative and innovative

Creative writing skills – can prepare any business writing of all kinds

Capable of studying and transferring knowledge

Strong project management skills

Great public speaking and presentation skills

Capable of studying and understanding business concepts, and any book on any subject

and last but not the least, I am

Determined, focused, ambitious, resilient confident and a risk-taker – hence why I’m an entrepreneur

2. Weaknesses:

A personal weakness is an area of opportunity for growth, these are things you could improve upon. For example, some people are disorganized, and uncomfortable speaking in public. These are weaknesses that can really hinder one from growing or succeeding in the professional world, whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur. Questions to consider are:

What would other people see as your weaknesses?
What are the negative things people say about you when they meet you the first time?
Do you have a weak network of connections that will hurt your chances of succeeding or finding work?
What negative feedback about your personality or work habits have you received?
Do you have any negative online identity that may stop people from identifying with you, buying into your business or employing you?
Does any part of your education or training need improving?
What could you improve about yourself?

Again, consider this from an internal and external basis, and be honest to yourself. As a guideline to conducting yours, here’s a short list of REALLY embarrassing weaknesses I discovered and worked on when I conducted my personal SWOT analysis:

Perfectionist – I’d often miss deadlines as a resultBad at staying in touch
Hate failing at anything – took it really bad and personal
Workaholic – didn’t know when to stop, would work all night all day
Unnecessarily shy – not capable of speaking in a small group or large group.

Interestingly, this last point is my strongest point now. As a result of the personal SWOT assessment I conducted few years ago, I found out that the only problem I had which hindered me from moving forward and getting my dream jobs, was the fear of public speaking. I worked on it, attended presentation skills training – now! I speak at any occasion irrespective of the size of the crowd.

This is why answering these questions honestly and realistically can help you become the best version of yourself. Answering it falsely can really harm your image and chances. It’s best to be realistic now, and deal with the unpleasant habits as soon as possible.

3. Opportunities

For this part, you should look at your strengths and ask yourself whether these opens up opportunities you can take advantage of. You can also look at your weaknesses and ask yourself if you could open up opportunities by minimizing or eliminating your weaknesses. I use ‘minimize’ because I want to be realistic, the truth is it may take a while to totally eliminate your bad habits (weaknesses). It is a process that requires focus, hard work, determination, and a conscious mind – there are no magic tricks or words for it. For instance, I went on training to improve my public speaking skills – that’s a process.

Questions to ask include:

What good opportunities can you spot?
Is there a new demand for a skill or trait you possess?
What is the state of the economy, is your industry growing?
What interesting trends are you aware of?
Is there new technology in your industry?
What changes are taking place in the industry?
Are there certain job openings that can’t be filled by other job seekers?
Have customers and clients given you feedback about new services you could provide?

4. Threats

This part takes into account the external factors that could hurt your chances of improving yourself, moving forward to starting your own business or getting a new work. Questions to ask include:

What obstacles do you currently face at work or in business?
Is there strong competition for the types of jobs for which you are best suited?
Is there strong competition for the products/services you are currently providing or planning to launch?
What are your competitors doing?
How easy is it to enter the industry you’d like to start a business in?
Is changing technology threatening your position?
Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?
Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business or your ability to rise in your company or get work?
Is your industry changing directions, which you are not ready for?
Are there new professional standards and industry practices you cannot meet?
Is there any new technology that will hurt your chances of finding work or remaining competitive in your industry?
do you have any family obligations that will reduce your chances of finding work or starting your own business?

A Personal SWOT Example

To help you understand what a personal SWOT analysis look like, here’s an example of a personal SWOT published on a training and job site Mindtool. This is a SWOT analysis for Carol, an advertising manager.

Strengths

I’m very creative. I often impress clients with a new perspective on their brands.
I communicate well with my clients and team.
I have the ability to ask key questions to find just the right marketing angle.
I’m completely committed to the success of a client’s brand.

Weaknesses

I have a strong, compulsive need to do things quickly and remove them from my “to do” list, and sometimes the quality of my work suffers as a result.
This same need to get things done also causes me stress when I have too many tasks.
I get nervous when presenting ideas to clients, and this fear of public speaking often takes the passion out of my presentations.

Opportunities

One of our major competitors has developed a reputation for treating their smaller clients poorly.
I’m attending a major marketing conference next month. This will allow for strategic networking, and also offer some great training seminars.
Our art director will go on maternity leave soon. Covering her duties while she’s away would be a great career development opportunity for me.

Threats

Simon, one of my colleagues, is a much stronger speaker than I am, and he’s competing with me for the art director position.
Due to recent staff shortages, I’m often overworked, and this negatively impacts my creativity.
The current economic climate has resulted in slow growth for the marketing industry. Many firms have laid off staff members, and our company is considering further cutbacks.

The Outcome

As a result of performing this analysis, Carol takes the bold step of approaching her colleague Simon about the art director’s maternity leave. Carol proposes that both she and Simon cover the job’s duties, working together and each using his or her strengths. To her surprise, Simon likes the idea. He knows he presents very well, but he admits that he’s usually impressed by Carol’s creative ideas, which he feels are far better than most of his.

By working as a team, they have a chance to make their smaller clients feel even better about the service they’re getting. This takes advantage of their competitor’s weakness in this area.

Infographic to help you perform your personal SWOT analysis

Personal SWOT analysis – making the most of your talents and opportunities (External Link)