Imprints Personality Development Program

Personal SWOT Analysis

Making the Most of Your Talents and Opportunities.
"Chance favors the prepared mind."
– Louis Pasteur
You are most likely to succeed in life if you use your talents to their fullest extent. Similarly, you'll suffer fewer problems if you know what your
weaknesses are, and if you manage these weaknesses so that they don't matter in the work
you do.
So how you go about identifying these strengths and weaknesses, and analyzing the
opportunities and threats that flow from them? SWOT Analysis is a useful technique that helps you do this.
What makes SWOT especially powerful is that, with a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities that you would not otherwise have
spotted. And by understanding your weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats that might otherwise hurt your ability to move forward.
If you look at yourself using the SWOT framework, you can start to separate yourself from your peers, and further develop the specialized talents
and abilities you need to advance your career.
How to Use the Tool
Strengths
Most people look at their strength in terms on their abilities, experiences and knowledge acquired. It is far more than these. You strengths can
come from your family background, personal traits such as a sense of humor or a personal moral code and even physical strength that allows you
to work for long hours.
Knowing your strengths takes time since everyone has latent talents that come to light only in specific circumstances. Also a strength is not always
a strength. It depends on the circumstances. For example a tightly focused single minded approach to problem solving is a good approach when
working alone, but will not pay dividends when working as part of a team.
Questions to know your strength:
 What advantages do you have that others don't have (for example, skills, certifications, education, or connections)?
 What do you do better than anyone else?
 What personal resources can you access?
 What do other people (and your boss, in particular) see as your strengths?
 Which of your achievements are you most proud of?
 What values do you believe in that others fail to exhibit?
 Are you part of a network that no one else is involved in? If so, what connections do you have with influential people?
 Work Experience
o Education, including value-added features
o Strong technical knowledge within your field (e.g. hardware, software, programming languages)
o Specific transferable skills, e.g., communication, teamwork, leadership skills
 Communication: Speaking effectively
o Writing concisely
o Listening attentively
o Expressing ideas
 Research and Planning: Creating ideas ; Gathering information; Solving problems ; Setting goals ; Analyzing
 Human Relations: Developing rapport
o Being Sensitive
o Listening
o Conveying feelings
o Providing support for others
o Motivating
 Sharing credit Organization, Management and Leadership: Initiating new ideas; Handling details
o Coordinating tasks Work Survival: Being punctual
o Managing time
o Attending to detail
o Meeting goals
o Enlisting help
o Accepting responsibility
o Setting and meeting deadlines
o Organizing
o Making decisions.
Imprints Personality Development Program
65, Lal Niwas, Sardarpura, Udaipur - 313001, E-mail- imprintspdp@gmail.com
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 Personal characteristics (e.g., strong work ethic, self-discipline, ability to work under pressure, creativity, optimism, or a high level of
energy
o Good contacts/successful networking
o Interaction with professional organizations
 What does the person like to do?
 What areas of the roles does the person do well?
 In what areas of the role does the person naturally get into more detail, often exhibiting an innate understanding of the technicalities of
the work?
 What unusual skill/s does the person bring to the job?
 What unique resources does the person draw on?
 What are others likely to see as strengths?
 What particular needs of the organization are met?
Examples of a person’s strength’s
 I'm very creative. I often impressing 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
Similarly, personal areas of weaknesses can be deduced by asking questions such as:
 What does the person dislike?
 What areas of the role does the person perform poorly?
 What areas of the role does the person prefer to either work at a task level, or prefers to remain at a high level?
 Where does the person have fewer resources than others?
 What are others likely to see as weaknesses?
Weaknesses like fear can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Keep your mind on them, and that's what you get. It can result in creating poor self-
image, negative attitude and consequently poor performance. Working on improving a weakness may at best prevent failures, but it's only in
developing strengths that success can be attained.

 What tasks do you usually avoid because you don't feel confident doing them?
 What will the people around you see as your weaknesses?
 Are you completely confident in your education and skills training? If not, where are you weakest?
 What are your negative work habits (for example, are you often late, are you disorganized, do you have a short temper, or are you poor
at handling stress?
 Do you have personality traits that hold you back in your field? For instance, if you have to conduct meetings on a regular basis, a fear of
public speaking would be a major weakness.
 Internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you may plan to improve
 Lack of Work Experience
 Low GPA, wrong major
 Lack of goals, lack of self-knowledge, lack of specific job knowledge
 Weak technical knowledge
 Weak skills (leadership, interpersonal, communication, teamwork)
 Weak job-hunting skills
 Negative personal characteristics (e.g., poor work ethic, lack of discipline, lack of motivation, indecisiveness, shyness, too emotional
Examples:
 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.
Again, consider this from a personal/internal perspective and an external perspective. Do other people see weaknesses that you don't see? Do co-
workers consistently outperform you in key areas? Be realistic – it's best to face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.
Opportunities
Now, once these Strengths and Weaknesses have been defined, the next step is to look at opportunities. Opportunities come out of the specific
strengths of the individual as well as the role that the person is expected to play. Some pointers that help identify opportunities are:
 Considering the strengths, what areas of the current role, and other related roles can the person play well?
 Are there other processes in the business model where the individual's strengths can be leveraged?
 What trends can the individual help the organization take advantage of?
Imprints Personality Development Program
65, Lal Niwas, Sardarpura, Udaipur - 313001, E-mail- imprintspdp@gmail.com
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 When deciding the performance targets for the individual, stretch goals that centre on a person's opportunities which are likely to
energize and excite the individual.
Positive external conditions that you do not control but of which you can plan to take advantage
 Positive trends in your field that will create more jobs (e.g., growth, globalization, technological advances)
 Opportunities you could have in the field by enhancing your education
 Field is particularly in need of your set of skills
 Opportunities you could have through greater self-knowledge, more specific job goals
 Opportunities for advancement in your field
 Opportunities for professional development in your field
 Career path you've chosen provides unique opportunities
 Geography
 Strong network
 What new technology can help you? Or can you get help from others or from people via the Internet?
 Is your industry growing? If so, how can you take advantage of the current market?
 Do you have a network of strategic contacts to help you, or offer good advice?
 What trends (management or otherwise) do you see in your company, and how can you take advantage of them?
 Are any of your competitors failing to do something important? If so, can you take advantage of their mistakes?
 Is there a need in your company or industry that no one is filling?
 Do your customers or vendors complain about something in your company? If so, could you create an opportunity by offering a solution?
 You might find useful opportunities in the following:
 Networking events, educational classes, or conferences.
 A colleague going on an extended leave. Could you take on some of this person's projects to gain experience?
 A new role or project that forces you to learn new skills, like public speaking or international relations.
 A company expansion or acquisition. Do you have specific skills (like a second language) that could help with the process?
 Also, importantly, look at your strengths, and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities – and look at your weaknesses, and
ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating those weaknesses.
 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
When looking at threats, ask:
 What areas of the current role are likely to be compromised if the individual is put under stress?
 What skills is the employee lacking?
 What are the impediments to gaining more skills?
 What trends could cause harm?

 Negative external conditions that you do not control but the effect of which you may be able to lessen
 Negative trends in your field that diminish jobs (downsizing, obsolescence)
 Competition from your cohort of college graduates
 Competitors with superior skills, experience, knowledge
 Competitors with better job-hunting skills than you
 Competitors who went to schools with better reputations.
 Obstacles in your way (e.g., lack of the advanced education/training you need to take advantage of opportunities)
 Limited advancement in your field, advancement is cut-throat and competitive
 Limited professional development in your field, so it's hard to stay marketable
 Companies are not hiring people with your major/degree

 What obstacles do you currently face at work?

 Are any of your colleagues competing with you for projects or roles?
 Is your job (or the demand for the things you do) changing?
 Does changing technology threaten your position?
 Could any of your weaknesses lead to threats?

Imprints Personality Development Program

65, Lal Niwas, Sardarpura, Udaipur - 313001, E-mail- imprintspdp@gmail.com
 Imprints Personality Development Program
SWOT analysis
A key tool in the strategic planning process can also be applied to career planning. This tool is a marketing analysis using the SWOT technique. A
SWOT analysis focuses on the internal and external environments, examining strengths and weaknesses in the internal environment and opportunities
and threats in the external environment. Imagine your SWOT analysis to be structured like the table below:
SWOT Analysis

To construct your own SWOT analysis to set a course for your career planning, examine your current situation. What are your strengths and
weaknesses? How can you capitalize on your strengths and overcome your weaknesses? What are the external opportunities and threats in your
chosen career field?
Strengths Weaknesses
Internal positive aspects that are under control and upon which you may Internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you may plan
capitalize in planning to improve
I Work Experience Lack of Work Experience
N Education, including value-added features Low GPA, wrong major
T Strong technical knowledge within your field (e.g. hardware, software, Lack of goals, lack of self-knowledge, lack of specific job knowledge
programming languages) Weak technical knowledge
E Specific transferable skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, leadership Weak skills (leadership, interpersonal, communication, teamwork)
R skills Weak job-hunting skills
N Personal characteristics (e.g., strong work ethic, self-discipline, ability to Negative personal characteristics (e.g., poor work ethic, lack of discipline,
work under pressure, creativity, optimism, or a high level of energy lack of motivation, indecisiveness, shyness, too emotional
A Good contacts/successful networking
L Interaction with professional organizations

Opportunities
Positive external conditions that you do not control but of which you can
E plan to take advantage
Positive trends in your field that will create more jobs (e.g., growth,
X globalization, technological advances)
T Opportunities you could have in the field by enhancing your education
E Field is particularly in need of your set of skills
Opportunities you could have through greater self-knowledge, more
R specific job goals
N Opportunities for advancement in your field
A Opportunities for professional development in your field
Career path you've chosen provides unique opportunities
L Geography
Strong network
Threats
Negative external conditions that you do not control but the effect of which
you may be able to lessen
Negative trends in your field that diminish jobs (downsizing, obsolescence)
Competition from your cohort of college graduates
Competitors with superior skills, experience, knowledge
Competitors with better job-hunting skills than you
Competitors who went to schools with better reputations.
Obstacles in your way (e.g., lack of the advanced education/training you
need to take advantage of opportunities)
Limited advancement in your field, advancement is cut-throat and
competitive
Limited professional development in your field, so it's hard to stay
marketable
 Companies are not hiring people with your major/degree

Benefits of a SWOT
 It is simple and encourages collaboration among employees
 Develops strategies and strengths to achieve your goals
 Shine amongst your friends and colleagues, for best job prospects
 Indicates your present position on the path of success
 Better understand who you really are as a person
 Enhances your carrier, personality and life
 Measures your chances of reaching desired goals
 Maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses
 Explores and enhances your hard skills and soft skills
 It give you an insight into your personality traits and preferences
 Focuses your Attitudes, abilities, skills, capacities and capabilities
 Give you an insight into your personality traits and preferences
 It is both cost and time effective
 It explores and integrates information both from internal sources and from external sources and is highly flexible
 Most businesses are efficient in analyzing their internal strengths and weaknesses but are not efficient with analyzing the external
opportunities and threats and where they stand in relation to it. It is here that SWAT analysis is useful. It causes businesses to look
beyond and to strategize accordingly
 It presents information about the industry in a structured manner, and aids in the formulation of effective strategies
 Helps focus effort on areas that give competitive advantage
 Gives an insight with regard to threats and how to react proactively to them and to convert them into opportunities
 SWOT analysis also helps to leverage team dynamics because when building a team of people with identical roles, it helps to have people
with complementary SWOT profiles; thus providing for team synergy as well.
Imprints Personality Development Program
65, Lal Niwas, Sardarpura, Udaipur - 313001, E-mail- imprintspdp@gmail.com
 Imprints Personality Development Program
 It is a great team-building tool, since it involves every member of the team in the planning process.

Imprints Personality Development Program

65, Lal Niwas, Sardarpura, Udaipur - 313001, E-mail- imprintspdp@gmail.com