Personal SWOT Analysis
Click HERE for printable copies of the Personal SWOT Analysis, Career Planning, and Action Planning forms.
In a SWOT analysis, “SWOT” stands for “strength, weakness, opportunity and threat.”
A SWOT analysis is a tool to provide insight and direction for personal development and career planning. Your focus should be on leveraging strengths.
How to perform a personal SWOT analysis
When conducting a personal SWOT analysis, first set a goal.
- Do you want a new job or a new responsibility in your current position?
- Are you looking for personal growth or to go in a different direction?
With your goal in mind, ask yourself questions about each of the four areas. It is important to be as honest as possible with your answers.
Try to see yourself from the standpoint of a colleague and view any feedback with objectivity. Self-awareness in the form of others’ assessments is a key data source to balance your own personal perspective
Strengths – the traits or skills that set you apart from others.
- In what areas do I naturally excel?
- What skills have I worked to develop?
- What are my natural-born gifts?
- What do I do better than most people do in my position?
- What do other people see as your strengths?
- What have you been recognized or rewarded for?
Be careful to identify unique attributes as much as possible. If many of the people in similar positions are very knowledgeable in marine construction that should be considered more of a qualification than a unique strength.
Weaknesses – the areas you need to improve because they could cause career setbacks.
- What are my negative work habits and traits?
- Does any part of my education or training need improvement?
- What would other people view as my weaknesses?
- What could you improve?
- What do you try to do that you just cannot seem to master?
- What do others around me see as weaknesses?
The emphasis here is on candid, accurate assessments. Better data leads to better decisions, and this may be the section that is most challenging to get right. Better to face these realities up front – knowledge is power!
Opportunities – the external factors you can leverage to get a promotion, find a new job, or determine a new career direction.
- What is the current state of the economy?
- Is my industry growing?
- Is there new technology in my industry to learn?
- In what ways can you most effectively leverage your strengths?
- What are some current opportunities for you to learn and grow?
- What are some potential opportunities for you to learn and grow?
- Are your best opportunities going to be found in your current organization? Profession? Industry?
Here is where your creative juices are tested. Finding connections between your strengths, weakness and opportunities will surface suitable career objectives, a reasonable path to those objectives, and the development you intend to pursue to make them a reality.
Threats – the external factors that could hurt your chances of attaining your goal.
- Is my industry contracting or changing direction?
- Is there strong competition for the types of jobs for which I am best suited?
- What is the biggest external danger to my goal?
- What external trends do you see having an impact on your career path?
- What weaknesses must be addressed before your career can move forward?
- What obstacles have other people faced with similar career plans or objectives?
Threats lose much of their anxiety-producing and derailment capability if you plan accordingly. You may not be able to control them, but if you anticipate them effectively, they can be managed to your benefit.
Personal SWOT Analysis
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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Threats
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Opportunities
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Career Planning
Provides guidance for you, your managers and the company relative to your interests.
Not an absolute commitment or final plan.
| Position/Title | Why this position interests me/benefits me | Time Frame | |
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
Positions of potential interest that I would like to know more about.
Compensation
- What are the compensations implications of the positions above?
- Near term
- Long Term
- How much of a factor is compensation in my overall career plan?
- What are my long term financial goals?
Action Planning
As your career interests become clearer, you should identify development objectives.
Consider that most personal development comes through on-the-job experiences, but they often occur more painfully without some planning.
You are ultimately the owner of your personal career planning, but often times a manager’s involvement is needed to approve expense, time off or feedback on the merits of your development plan.
| Action Item/ Expected Results | Responsibility (Self, Manager, Shared) | Time Frame | |
| Knowledge of the Business/Industry | |||
| Professional/Technical Development (certifications, functional expertise, project management. etc.) | |||
| Personal Development (communication skills. Interviewing skills, feedback, etc.) | |||
| Other
|