Personal SWOT Analysis is necessary to prepare your Curriculum Vitae

Strengths

Internal positive aspects that are under control and upon which you may capitalize in planning

 ·Work Experience
 ·Education, including value-added features
 ·Strong technical knowledge within your field (e.g. hardware, software, programming
languages)
 ·Specific transferable skills, e.g., communication, teamwork, leadership skills

Communication: Speaking effectively

 Writing concisely
 Listening attentively
 Expressing ideas

Research and Planning: Creating ideas ; Gathering information; Solving problems ; Setting
goals ; Analyzing

Human Relations: Developing rapport

 Being Sensitive
 Listening
 Conveying feelings
 Providing support for others
 Motivating

Sharing credit Organization, Management and Leadership: Initiating new ideas; Handling
details

Coordinating tasks Work Survival: Being punctual

 Managing time
 Attending to detail
 Meeting goals
 Enlisting help
 Accepting responsibility
 Setting and meeting deadlines
 Organizing
 Making decisions.
o 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
 Weaknesses

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

Opportunities

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

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
The SWOT Matrix Model

Internal
Negative
Strengths Weaknesses or
Positive potential
Opportunities Threats to be
negative
External

 
An Alternative Matrix:
  Strengths Weaknesses
  Offensive - Defensive -
make the most watch competition
Opportunities of these closely
  Adjust -
Survive -
restore
Threats turn around
strengths
go to top

 
Definition
A process generates information that is helpful in matching an organization
or group’s goals, programs, and capacities to the social environment in
which it operates.  Note that in itself is only a data capture - the analysis
follows.

 
Strengths

 Positive tangible and intangible attributes, internal to an organization.

 They are within the organization’s control.

.
Weakness

 Factors that are within an organization’s control that detract from its
ability to attain the desired goal.
 Which areas might the organization improve?

.
Opportunities
  External attractive factors that represent the reason for an
organization to exist and develop.
 What opportunities exist in the environment, which will propel the
organization?
Identify them by their “time frames”

.
Threats

 External factors, beyond an organization’s control, which could place

the organization mission or operation at risk.
 The organization may benefit by having contingency plans to address
them if they should occur.
 Classify them by their “seriousness” and “probability of occurrence”.

5 common mistakes in dng swot analysis

The SWOT analysis is one of the most common diagnostic tools used in
business. Its four simple perspectives provide a framework which is easy to
follow and yet the tool is so often misunderstood.

SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

The Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors, the opportunities and
threats are external factors. Some advocate the use of PRIMO-F to identify
Strengths and Weaknesses and PESTLE for external factors…

so PRIMO-F + PESTLE = SWOT

 
Simple rules for a successful SWOT analysis

 Be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your organization

 The Analysis should distinguish between where your organization is
today, and where it could be in the future.
 Be specific. Avoid grey areas
 Always analyse in relation to your competition i.e. better than or worse
than your competition
 Keep your SWOT short and simple – but only as short and simple as
the application or situation demands – it is about ‘fitness for purpose’
 Avoid unnecessary complexity and over analysis
 There is little point in listing an Opportunity (O) if the same
opportunity is available to competitors
  It is pointless to say you have Strengths (S) if your competitors have
the same

  

The Top 5 mistakes:

1. An unclear goal
2. Maintaining too narrow of a focus
3. Neglecting input from others
4. Performing an analysis only once
5. Reliance on SWOT as a holistic diagnostic strategy

A concise SWOT Analysis

Keep your SWOT analysis short and focused. If it becomes too long-winded,
you’ll soon forget some of the more important points and it will become less
effective in the long term.

Great SWOT Strengths

When considering your SWOT strengths, it’s all too easy to congratulate
yourself and identify what you think it is that makes you great. Instead, flip
the coin and consider what it is that your customers do/will think are your
strengths.

Few Weaknesses

Having written a long list of SWOT based strengths for your organization, it’s
also very easy to become a bit jaded and quickly fly over your weakness,
without a critical eye. As a result, count up the number of SWOT based
strengths, and then write twice as many weakness. This will force you to
take a deeper look at the areas that you need to improve.

Opportunities

By considering your SWOT analysis based opportunities, you get to play god
with your future. It’s all too easy to look at opportunities with rose-tinted
glasses and predict opportunities that don’t actually exist. Instead, look at
the opportunities that are available to you today.

Threats
Again, as with SWOT weaknesses, when you consider your SWOT threats,
you have to take a cold hearted look at some of the things that you’d
probably rather ignore.

Conclusion

The SWOT is a valuable tool that in the right hands and with the appropriate level of effort can
provide a valuable insight into current and future strategy.

Remember to consider the results of the SWOT analysis as just one tool in a
variety of analysis methods that can form together to create a more realistic
analysis of your organization

Personal SWOT Analysis

    A personal business SWOT analysis involves looking at the strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats you bring to running a business.
Each of these factors needs to be carefully considered as it applies to
your personal situation in order to assess what is the best path in
business for you. Start by making an honest list of your strengths and
weaknesses. If possible, find a friend to discuss and refine this list with
you. They may see something you don't or may be able to help you
explore other personal qualities that you had not even considered.

Opportunities and threats relate to the world you live in. While it is
important to consider what is happening in your immediate
environment, don't leave out major world trends either. For instance,
some businesses are considered more "recession proof" than others.
That may be an important factor for you. Opportunities and threats can
also be very personal. An ill parent can be a threat in that you may
have your time overwhelmed and not be able to devote time to your
business. Then again, it could be an opportunity if you decide to start a
business in adult care. You can use the threat to find a solution for
your parent as well as yourself.

Your next step is to start with writing down what you personal goals
are for the business. Are you seeking certain income level? Do you
want to grow into a major company or will something small be
sufficient? Is this a means of making money so you can do other things
or are you seeking a business that is fun in-and-of itself? Describe the
ideal business as thoroughly as you can. Make a similar lists of
strengths and weaknesses needed to run that business, and the
opportunities and threats that business might face.
 Once you have your lists, you have a clearer picture of what
possibilities are feasible. For instance, you may have strengths of a
positive attitude and artistic skills, but a weakness of disorganization.
In the adult care scenario above, you might be able to run an adult
arts/crafts day care business teaming with someone who is highly
organized since the operation of the business itself needs a high level
of organization.

Do realize that you don't have to do this alone. Your SWOT analysis
may also be used to identify what type of person you might want to
team with in starting this business. There may be other people who
have ill parents looking for a similar opportunity. Find them through
your parent's doctor or by contacting adult care agencies. Since it is
your idea, you get to be president of this business, but having others in
it with you may be just what you need to keep you going. Just like it is
nice to exercise with someone else to keep you going, it is nice to have
someone to build a business with.
SWOT Analysis

A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic
planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as
strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as
opportunities (O) or threats (T). Such an analysis of the strategic environment is
referred to as a SWOT analysis.

The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's resources
and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such, it is
instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. The following diagram shows how a
SWOT analysis fits into an environmental scan:

SWOT Analysis Framework

Environmental Scan

          / \           

Internal Analysis       External Analysis

/ \                  / \
 Strengths   Weaknesses       Opportunities   Threats

SWOT Matrix

Strengths

A firm's strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for
developing a competitive advantage. Examples of such strengths include:

 patents
 strong brand names
 good reputation among customers
 cost advantages from proprietary know-how
 exclusive access to high grade natural resources
 favorable access to distribution networks

Weaknesses

The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. For example, each of
the following may be considered weaknesses:

 lack of patent protection

 a weak brand name
 poor reputation among customers
 high cost structure
 lack of access to the best natural resources
 lack of access to key distribution channels

In some cases, a weakness may be the flip side of a strength. Take the case in which a
firm has a large amount of manufacturing capacity. While this capacity may be
considered a strength that competitors do not share, it also may be a considered a
weakness if the large investment in manufacturing capacity prevents the firm from
reacting quickly to changes in the strategic environment.

Opportunities
The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit and
growth. Some examples of such opportunities include:

 an unfulfilled customer need

 arrival of new technologies
 loosening of regulations
 removal of international trade barriers

Threats

Changes in the external environmental also may present threats to the firm. Some
examples of such threats include:

 shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm's products

 emergence of substitute products
 new regulations
 increased trade barriers

The SWOT Matrix

A firm should not necessarily pursue the more lucrative opportunities. Rather, it may
have a better chance at developing a competitive advantage by identifying a fit between
the firm's strengths and upcoming opportunities. In some cases, the firm can overcome
a weakness in order to prepare itself to pursue a compelling opportunity.

To develop strategies that take into account the SWOT profile, a matrix of these factors
can be constructed. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS Matrix) is shown below:

SWOT / TOWS Matrix

  Strengths Weaknesses

S-O strategies W-O strategies

Opportunities

S-T strategies W-T strategies

Threats
 S-O strategies pursue opportunities that are a good fit to the company's
strengths.

 W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities.

 S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its strengths to reduce its
vulnerability to external threats.

 W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the firm's weaknesses from
making it highly susceptible to external threats.