Producing a personal SWOT analysis

As you saw in the previous video, SWOT stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

The analysis involves asking questions designed to assess personal skills and abilities, identify areas of weakness, explore opportunities that may be opening up and identify actual and potential threats to career advancement.

Examples of questions to ask in relation to these areas can be found below:

       Strengths :                                                                             

• What do I do better than others?
• What qualifications and/or skills do I have?
• What specialist knowledge and/or interests do I have?
• What do others see as my strong points?

Weaknesses:

• Are there any gaps in my knowledge and experience?
• What aspects of my work do I find most difficult or frustrating?
• What factors have limited my progress or held me back?

Opportunities:

• What forthcoming changes within my organisation or externally might provide openings for me?
• What suitable vacancies are available?
• Which trends could I take advantage of?

Threats:

• What forthcoming changes in my organisation or industry might affect my position?
• What potential problems do I face?
• What competition are you up against from others?

Try SWOT analysis yourself

Please use this framework – a downloadable copy of which is provided below – to put together (in your learning log) a personal SWOT analysis, identifying:

• The assets you feel you currently have and/or the things you feel you currently do well (your strengths)
• The areas in which you’d like to further develop your skills and/or which you feel less confident in? (your weaknesses
• Any potential changes in your environment that might open up new doors for you or which you might be able to actively seek out (potential opportunities)
• Any potential barriers you feel might hinder your future career progress (potential threats)

An important element of the personal development process is being open to feedback from your own observations and from others, and using that feedback to develop yourself further. With this in mind, and to help ensure your end result is as comprehensive as possible, you may find it useful to seek the help of a colleague or mentor to help you with the construction of this – someone who can suggest any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats to this that you might otherwise have missed.