Personal SWOT Analysis

Discover new opportunities.

Manage and eliminate
threats
SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique
for identifying Strengths and
Weaknesses, and for examining the
Opportunities & Threats you face.

Used in a personal context, it assists

you to develop your career in a way
that takes best gain of your abilities
and opportunities.
What makes SWOT particularly
powerful is that with a little thought, it
can assist you & reveal chances that
you are well placed to take advantage
of.

And by understanding your

weaknesses, you can manage and
eliminate threats that would otherwise
catch you unawares.
 Strengths
• What advantages (for example, skills,
education or connections) do you
have that others don't have?
• What do you do better than anyone
else?
• What personal resources do you
have access to?
• What do other people (and your boss
in particular) see as your strengths?
Consider this from your own
perspective, and from the point of view
of the people around you.

And don't be modest; be as objective

as you can. If you are having any
difficulty with this, try writing down a
list of your characteristics. Some of
these will hopefully be strengths!
In looking at your strengths, think
about them in relation to the people
around you

Example - if you're a great

mathematician
& the people around you are great at
math, then this is not likely to be a
strength in your current role, it is likely
to be a need.
 Weaknesses
• What could you improve?
• What should you avoid?
• What things are the people around you
likely to see as weaknesses?
• Again, think this from a personal &
external basis: Do other people perceive
weaknesses that you do not see? Do co-
worker constantly out-perform you in key
areas? It is best to be realistic now, and
face any unpleasant truths as soon as
possible.
 Opportunities
• Where are good opportunities facing you?
• What are exciting trends you are aware
of?
• Useful opportunities can come from :
• Changes in technology, markets and your
company on both a broad and narrow
scale;
• Changes in govt policy related to your
field;
• Changes in social patterns, population
profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.; or
• Local Events
A useful approach to looking at chance
is also to look at your strengths and
ask over yourself whether these open
up any chance.

Alternatively, look at your weaknesses

and ask yourself whether you could
open up opportunities by eliminating
them.
 Threats
• What obstacles do you face?
• What are the people around you doing?
• Is your job (or claim for the things you do)
changing?
• Is changing technology threatening your
spot?
• Can any of your weaknesses badly
threaten you?
• Carrying out this analysis will be
illuminating - both in terms of pointing out
what needs to be done, and in putting
problems into perspective.
 Business SWOT Analysis
Discover New Opportunities.
Manage and Eliminate Threats
What makes SWOT mainly powerful is
that, with a little thought, it can help
you uncover chances that you are well
placed to exploit.

And by understanding the weaknesses

of your business, you can manage &
eliminate threats that would otherwise
catch you unawares.
More than this, by looking at yourself
and your competitors using the SWOT
frame, you can start to craft a plan
that helps you distinguish yourself
from your competitors,

so that you can compete successfully

in your market.
 Strengths
• What benefits does your company
have?
• What do you do better than anyone
else?
• What unique or lowest-cost resources
do you have access to?
• What do people in your market see as
your strengths?
• What factors mean that you "get the
sale"?
Consider this from an internal
perspective, & from the point of view
of your customers and people in your
market. Be realistic: It's far too easy to
fall prey to "not invented here
syndrome".

(If you are having any difficulty with

this, try to write down a list of your
qualities. Some of these will hopefully
be strengths!)
In looking at your strengths, think on
them in relation to your competitors

Example, if all your competitors

provide high quality products, then a
high quality production process is not
a strength in the market, it is a
necessity.
 Weaknesses
• What could you improve?
• What should you avoid?
• What are people in your market likely
to see as weaknesses?
• What factors lose you sales?
Again, consider this from an internal
and external basis: Do other people
seem to perceive weaknesses that you
do not see?

Are your competitors doing any better

than you? It is best to be realistic now,
and face any unpleasant truths as
soon as possible.
 Opportunities
• Where are good opportunities facing you?
• What are exciting trends you are aware of?
• Useful opportunities can come from:
• Changes in technology and markets on
both a broad and narrow scale
• Changes in govt policy related to your field
• Changes in social patterns, population
profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.
• Local events
A useful approach to look for
opportunities are to look at your
strengths & ask yourself whether these
open up any opportunities.

Alternatively, look at your weaknesses

and ask yourself whether you could
create opportunities by eliminating
them.
 Threats
• What obstacles do you face?
• What is your competition doing that you
should be worried about?
• Are the required specifications for your
job, products or services changing?
• Is changing technology threatening your
position?
• Do you have bad debt or cash-flow
problems?
• Could any of your weaknesses seriously
threaten your business?
Carrying out this analysis will be illuminating
- both in terms of pointing out what needs to
be done, and in putting problems into
perspective.

Strengths and weaknesses are often

internal to your organization.
Opportunities and threats often relate to
external factors. For this reason the SWOT
Analysis is called Internal - External Analysis
and the SWOT Matrix is sometimes called an
IE Matrix Analysis Tool.

You can also apply SWOT Analysis to your

competitors.