Morgan McNeal

09/20/15
Dietetics Capstone
J. Shank

Self-Assessment SWOT Assignment

Objective: I am seeking to work in a long term care facility working as a Registered Dietitian,
specialized in the area of Oncology.

Strengths
What do you do well?
What unique resources can you draw on?
What do others see as your strengths?
1. I use my time wisely and stay fully

2.

3.

4.

5.

dedicated towards completing any task

that Im given within my environment.
I have a strong passion about nutrition
and the well-being of others, therefore
I am able to provide feedback in a
confident manner and build a
trustworthy relationship with everyone
I counsel.
I have completed about 70+ hours
interning within a clinical setting
under the supervision of a Registered
Dietitian. Therefore I have
experienced working with patients one
on one in a hospital setting by
counselling them based on their
current health needs.
By working with patients within a
hospital setting, I was able to learn
how to assess the needs of every
patient accordingly, what signs to look
for when it comes to diagnosing
nutritional risk, and how to present
nutritional counselling into a patients
overall treatment plan.
People among me have said on several
occasions that I aim to please
everyone that comes into my life.
Thereby, a long term care facility
would be most meaningful to me
because I want to make a difference in
peoples life, and be able to see the
difference come alive.

Opportunities
What opportunities are open to you?
What trends could you take advantage of?
How can you turn your strengths into
opportunities?
1. Attend networking events hosted by
school and local organizations. For
instance the Nutrition club and
Academy meetings.
2. Apply my passion for nutrition and
treating cancer patients along with my

Weaknesses
What could you improve?
Where do you have fewer resources than
others?
What are others likely to see as weaknesses?
1. I could improve on not letting others
bring my confidence level down. For
instance, on a few occasions, I have
felt that someone didnt want my help
or was being negative towards
accepting my help, therefore it caused
me to lose my confidence and draw
back from them.
2. I could improve on being more
assertive with others to a certain
degree. There are times when I
hesitate to address the issues that
concern me the most, thereby I lose
out on opportunities and the ability of
gaining self-respect form myself and
others around me.
3. Although I have completed a series of
internships involving Community
Nutrition, Food Service and Clinical
Nutrition, as well as numerous
volunteering hours found within the
local community, in the end I do not
have as much volunteering experience
as other may possess.
4. Since I strive to always please others
and meet their needs, if I find that
their needs are unattainable; such as
their physical health is untreatable, it
can affect my emotions and selfconcentration within the work force.
5. On rare occasions, other have seen
that I can get caught up on
concentrating more on the big picture
of a task or assignment, instead of
focusing on every factor that is
involved. For instance, I pay close
attention to the future instead of the
present.
Threats
What threats could harm you?
What is your competition doing?
What threats do your weaknesses expose you
to?
1. Since the career of being a Registered
Dietitian is becoming more popular
and familiar throughout the society,
the job outlook and internships for this
career are being more competitive.
2. Since a weakness of mine is a lack of

Reflection Paper

One of my primary goals in life is to work in a long term care facility working as a Registered
Dietitian, specialized in the area of Oncology. Thereby, I hope to one day earn my credentials as
a Board Certified Specialist in Oncology (CSO) and contribute to fighting the constant battle
against cancer. In order to reach this objective I have set for myself, there are a few factors that
can help me attain this goal and others that can suppress me from achieving it at all. For instance,
by taking several personality tests, determining my overall personality style, and completing a
SWOT analysis about myself, have each contributed towards showing me the areas that I need to
improve on and also what advantages I can bring into the career of a Registered Dietitian.
To begin, my journey of determining what my strengths and weaknesses are within a
workplace, I took five different personality tests, such as assertiveness, concentration and focus
skills, time management, healthy lifestyle, and self-control and self-monitoring questionnaires.
As a result, the tests exposed that I am not assertive with others or with colleagues in a
workplace setting. I tend to hesitate from addressing issues that concern me the most and
consequently, since I dont use the voice I deserve to have with other people, I lose respect. On
the other hand, I was found to have a strength in concentration and focus skills. This skill will
definitely help me be able to complete tasks from start to finish, without falling prey to

distractions around me. My results also indicated that I possess good time management
techniques and skills. I believe that time managing is very important to use in life, because it can
help you complete tasks efficiently and most of all on time. Lastly, my results showed that I live
a healthy lifestyle and I have very good self-control and self-monitoring qualities. I was not
surprised by my results for these two tests because I have an incredible passion for nutrition,
therefore I am not only amazed by everything it can bring into someones life, but I choose to
live by its values that can make your daily life healthier. As for self-control and self-monitoring, I
have always been one that doesnt have to watch my temper or worry about what I might say to
someone. I have always been able to hear people out in every situation and also be able to read
peoples feelings, as well as my own. This attribute is very important within the workplace
because conflicts can arise anywhere and it is up to you on how you choose to handle them. For
example, my future boss and colleagues would not want me to scream at a patient for not
listening to me, but be able to actually put myself in my patients shoes and hear all their concerns
head on. A Registered Dietitian works with many types of people on a daily basis and they need
to be able to have good communication skills, in order to get their treatment plan to work
properly. All in all, I want to work in a long term care facility because I want to get to know my
patient for more than just a day or a couple hours. I want to be able to create a relationship with
them that includes trust and honesty. Above all, each of these skills can make or break you within
this career field, thus I need to work on being more assertive with people, in order to earn respect
from my colleagues, respect for myself, and most importantly to help be the voice of my patient
or client when they need me to be.
Additionally, after taking those previous personality tests, I went on to determine what
personality style I am overall. As a result, I am an introvert because I am not a big speaker in

front of a group of people, therefore I tend to just listen during lectures and then apply them into
my own work at home. At home is where I apply what I learned within a classroom setting and
come up with questions for myself to ask at the next class meeting, usually within a one on one
session with the teacher. In addition, I am an introvert because I am constantly setting goals for
myself and making lists of each goal that I need to attain within a certain period of time. Each
goal also comes with a plan and a repercussion for not meeting that goal within its time frame.
Overall, I am an introvert because I tend to stay to myself in certain scenarios and I make
agreements with myself, in order to achieve goals. Furthermore, I found out that I am not only an
introvert, but I also fall within close resemblance to the personality style entitled ESFJ. To
explain, I find myself to be responsible, friendly, and sympathetic towards others. When I meet
new people or am with people I know, I always present myself to be nice and understanding. I
want others to know that I am there for them if they need advice or someone to talk to. This is a
great attribute to have especially when you are a Registered Dietitian. RDs need to earn that
trust with their patients, and these qualities will develop that trust. In addition, I work hard to
achieve harmony because I always want people to be happy, no matter what situation arises for
them during their lifetime. I want others to remain calm and positive, therefore I strive to help
them stay confident throughout all ordeals that can arise. As mentioned previously, I have a
strong attitude set towards pleasing everyone that comes into my life. As a result, I try to avoid
conflict, overlook my own needs, and have difficulty saying no to others. Although, I am able to
work well with others in a group setting, I sometimes find it to be a challenge to openly express
my concerns or provide criticism towards anothers work or ideas. In the end, my inability to say
no to other people ends up backfiring against my own feelings and it is something I need to work
on, especially so it will not hold me back from living the life I have set for myself. The only

attribute that I do not possess as an ESFJ personality type is that I dont express strong opinions
in a bossy, domineering way in order to help people. Instead, I choose to listen to all of their
concerns and then provide advice that is offered in a calm voice.
Furthermore, by using the SWOT analysis, I was able to unquestionably see what strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats I currently possessed. As a matter of fact, the greatest
strengths that I can put forth towards attaining my objective is being able to use my time wisely
and remain fully dedicated towards completing any task that Im given within my environment.
While growing up and on several occasions in present day, I have been told by others that I
always aim to please everyone that comes into my life. Thus, by working with patients in a long
term care facility would be most meaningful to me, because I want to be able to truly make a
difference in someones life, and be able to see the difference come alive. In addition, since I
have previous interning experience working alongside an RD in a hospital setting, it sets me
apart from others who may not have that kind of involvement yet. To explain, I have been able to
look at patients charts, ask them questions related to their diet and current health status, perform
nutrition counselling techniques with patients, and also assist in writing up a nutrition care plan
for the patients as well. This experience was eye opening and helped broaden my knowledge
immensely towards what expectations a RD must fulfill on a daily basis. In all honesty, hands on
experience is immensely different from learning within a classroom setting and it has improved
my overall strength as a student. Alternatively, my weaknesses that I discovered about myself are
as follows: I tend to lose confidence in myself, Im not assertive enough with others, and I can
get caught up in pleasing others that I end up ignoring my own wants and needs. To clarify, on a
few occasions, I have felt that someone didnt want my help or was being negative towards
accepting my help, therefore it caused me to lose my confidence and draw back from them. This

weakness may cause me to not be able to help one of my patients if they refuse to take my help.
Thus, I need to not let others bring me down and this can be fixed with my other weakness,
assertiveness. Being assertive with others needs to stay professional, as well as courteous, but
will generally help me explain my own concerns to a colleague or patient. It can help them
understand my side of a situation or problem, while keeping my confidence level up. Another
weakness that can suppress my ability towards reaching my objective, is that I may have
completed an AS in Dietetic Technician and completed a Community Nutrition, Food Service,
and Clinical Nutrition Internship, but I still do not have as many volunteer hours or participate in
extracurricular activities as other students or competitors may have completed. Although, the
internships that I have completed, before entering this program can be a great advantage for me
not only in the classroom, but can open up many opportunities for me in the work field. My
hands on experience can help build up my resume and increase my chances of earning an
internship at a hospital or possible job too. Other opportunities that are open to me, in order to
attain my goal are to start attending more networking events within the area or at my school. I
could also begin researching and applying for Nutrition and Dietetics Internships that are
Distance Programs with an essential focus towards treating cancer patients. Lastly, there are
several threats that can keep me from reaching my dream, such as the area of Dietetics is
becoming more popular and well-known throughout the world, therefore the competitiveness
within the field is increasing. This can cause internships, volunteering opportunities, and jobs to
be more challenging to receive or earn in the long run. With that being said, this level of
competiveness can threaten my confidence level and cause me to think I dont deserve it as much
as others around me. Another threat that can arise is that some students are going to get their
Masters degree with an internship, instead of completing an internship and only earning their

Bachelors in Nutrition and Dietetics. This is another factor that can separate you from your
competition with this career field.
To sum up, I strive to learn everything I can about nutrition and on a daily basis I become
more infatuated with its meaningful impacts that it can have on someones life. Now I know that
everyone has strengths and weaknesses that make them different from other people in the world,
but it is up to the actual individual to turn those weaknesses into strengths and make their
strengths stand out from others. Opportunities and threats will come and go as you continue
towards attaining the goals you set for yourself. As for me, I need to keep in mind that I work
hard at reaching my goals by concentrating highly on them and time managing everything that
goes into accomplishing them. My enamored passion for nutrition and helping everyone that
crosses my path is what I use to keep my drive on attaining my CSO credentials as a RD. In
order to make that dream happen for myself, I need to work on my confidence level and
generally just start having a voice. I need to start feeling and acting that I deserve all of these
rewarding opportunities, just as others do. In the end, all I can do is work on fixing my
weaknesses, continue to build up my resume, and apply for internships and job opportunities. As
a result, this will help me build up a social network and put all my assets forward in order to
achieve my lifetime dream of working as a RD CSO, working at a long term care facility.