Personal SWOT Analysis to Assess and Improve Yourself
- What is SWOT analysis
- How to do a personal SWOT analysis
- Blank personal SWOT analysis template
What is a SWOT analysis?
SWOT stands for:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
You can use it to assess yourself, compare yourself to your peers/competitors and also use it to find career growth opportunities.
How to do a personal SWOT analysis
How a SWOT Can Help You Find Your Dream Job
List down the “strengths”
The first step is to list down your strengths. Knowing these will help you to be more confident in an interview or when looking for a job promotion. Because you have listed down things beforehand you’ll have an easier time recalling things as well. Here are few questions to ask yourself when filling this part.
- What are the professional qualifications/certifications you have that makes you stand out from the rest?
- Can your expertise in some area make a difference to the organization?
- What projects/campaigns have you completed successfully?
- Do you have powerful industry contacts ? Especially useful in areas like advertising, marketing, and insurance.
- What other skills make you stand out from the rest? For examples things like leadership and dedication to work.
- What do others think as your strengths?
Important: The “stand out from the rest” part is very important in SWOT. For example in a software company having a degree in software engineering is not a strength, because everyone else has one. Masters in mathematics might be a different story.
Know your “weaknesses”
The second step is to identify your weaknesses. As I mentioned before SWOT is used by individuals to assess and improved themselves. Identifying weaknesses is the best way to improve them.
This also helps you to be prepared to answer or counter them if they come up during an interview or performance review. Ask yourself these questions when filling this.
- Do you have the necessary skills/qualifications to be successful in your current or future roles?
- Do you have bad habits? For example frequently getting late, poor communication skills, bad time reporting etc.
- What other traits can you improve to be more efficient?
- What do others think as your weaknesses? Even if you don’t consider it as a weakness.
Important: Be honest and realistic when answering the questions. After all, it’s a self-assessment which only you will see. Use it as a stepping stone for future improvements.
Find matching “opportunities”
We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work – Thomas A. Edison
Opportunities come in different shapes and forms. Sometimes opportunities past by you without you even noticing them. So here are few things to be on the lookout for.
- Are there any significant changes/advancements in your industry that you can take advantage of?
- Has new technology or industry trend emerged that you can make use of future?
- Is a new position advertised in your company that matches your skill set? Or did a position became vacant?
- Is there a new project in your organization that you can join which will benefit your career
- Can acquiring new skills give you a competitive advantage? For example in the airline industry knowing another language to your mother tongue is an advantage.
The list of questions can go on and on. The most important thing it to be one the lookout for opportunities.
Important: It’s great if an opportunity matches your strengths. But sometimes great opportunities arise in areas that don’t match your skill set. Do consider the pros and cons before disregarding them.
Be aware of “threats”
When doing a personal SWOT analysis you need to think of yourself as a company or a product and assess yourself against others. This way it makes it easy for you to identify threats. So here’s how to identify threats.
- Is one of your peers doing a better job than you in a similar role? Are both of you fighting for the same promotion?
- Is popularity of new technologies or demise of old technologies threatening your career? For example, it is common for software engineers careers to become stale because they didn’t spend the time to learn the latest technologies.
- Are your personal traits hurting your career advancements?
- What are the obstacles that prevent you from achieving your targets? Could be at work or in your personal lives.
Identify the threats and try to eliminate the ones you can.
Important: When it comes to eliminating threats one of the easiest to fix is negative personality traits. Get professional help if necessary. For example, if time management is an issue you can hire a productivity coach.
Blank Personal SWOT Analysis Template
Now you know how to do it, it’s time to create your own personal SWOT analysis diagram. If you prefer to create it online ( so you can access it anytime, anywhere ) just click on the following blank SWOT template. It will open in a new window inside our diagram editor.
Blank SWOT template for self-assessment