Plan Your Job and Career With a SWOT Analysis

When you work through a SWOT analysis, you’ll better understand how you can impact external factors in your career by highlighting or developing your skills.

How Does a SWOT Analysis Work? (Template)

Break your brainstorming and analysis into four distinct sections: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Although a traditional SWOT analysis comprises a large square broken into four separate segments, you can also create four lists. The key is to create them independently but in a way that allows you to analyze correlations between them.

Strengths

As the name implies, this is what you’re good at. However, digging deeper into your strengths is vital to career success. In the context of your job search, it’s your on-the-job experience, certificates, and education. Along with all of those hard skills, list out your soft skills.

Include anything that sets you apart or might give you an edge over the competition. If you’re drawing a blank, think back to previous performance reviews or feedback from professors, previous managers, or coworkers. That should give you a good starting place for your list.

Perhaps you’re an excellent communicator, able to articulate complex ideas in a way anyone can understand. Or, maybe your project management skills have kept your previous teams on track and under budget. These experiences, skills, and talents make you a catch for employers.

Brainstorming questions:

• What top three skills help me approach projects uniquely from others with the same title?
• What tasks or situations have made me feel the most confident and effective?
• What personal qualities do my bosses and coworkers acknowledge or praise (team leadership, innovative thinking, attention to detail)?
• What accomplishment am I most proud of in my career?

Weaknesses

Avoid spiraling into self-criticism. Consider your weaknesses in the context of a future job or promotion you’d like. Be honest about where your skills lie and where they need improvement in order to achieve your goals.

Brainstorming questions:

• What skills do I feel less confident in, but need to advance in my field?
• Have I received feedback from colleagues, supervisors, or clients about specific aspects of my work that need improving?
• Are there recurring patterns in my professional life that lead to being overwhelmed?
• What gaps in my education, certification, or professional development do I need to address?

No one’s perfect, and recognizing areas for improvement is good. Perhaps you need help with public speaking or getting too anxious when it’s time to present in a meeting. Or, maybe you’ve received specific feedback, such as your writing could be more transparent, or you can only progress once you become proficient in specific software.

Your weaknesses might not be interpersonal. They could be qualifications you need, such as specific software or certification. These aren’t failures but areas where you can grow.

Opportunities

At first glance, your opportunities overlap with your weaknesses. But they’re two very distinct categories. Opportunities refer to external factors that you don’t control. You’ll add potential careers and positions that you might pursue. That could be a company whose products or mission aligns more closely with your interests.

You may be tech-savvy with a passion for helping others. Have new digital tools created opportunities in health or finance that weren’t there before? This could be a perfect niche for you to explore.

On the other hand, it could be a more lucrative salary or flexible schedule that you’re after. Maybe technology is advancing and creating growth in a specific area of your job. Are there new roles opening up because of that? Those are opportunities for your job search and your career.

Brainstorming questions:

• Are there any projects or initiatives your team hasn’t approached yet but would be a great fit?
• What industry advancements are happening that you could lean into and help your team embrace?
• Is there growth potential on the horizon due to company expansion or retirement? How do you set yourself up for promotion when those opportunities arise?
• Is there a specific aspect of your role that you really enjoy? How could you set yourself up for a career move where you can focus more heavily on that aspect?

Threats

When assessing threats in the context of your job search or career plan, consider all of the factors beyond your control. Analyze industry trends, job market competition, technological advancements, or economic conditions. Although you can’t eliminate these external factors, you can develop strategies to mitigate their impact on your career path.

Brainstorming questions:

• Is your company considering a merger or acquisition that could limit your momentum?
• Are technology advances significantly impacting your industry, possibly leading to fewer high-quality positions?
• Has your life situation or health impacted your ability to fulfill your duties?
• Does your current situation lack opportunity for growth?

Economic factors, like local and national financial concerns, are well outside your control. As you craft your job search and overall career plan, strategize effectively to weather any threats.

Apply SWOT Analysis in Your Job Search

Once you’ve got a target, you can create a plan to get there. Consider how your experiences align with your target and what development you need, and plan to meet any external threats you listed.

Self-awareness is powerful! But you still need to take action on your findings. Create an actionable plan using SMART goal-setting — make your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely (SMART).

Break down larger tasks into smaller, more approachable tasks to build momentum.

If you need help building a clear path from where you’re at to where you want to be, consider working with a mentor or career coach to help you strategize. Remember to put a placeholder on your calendar for each quarter to reassess your SWOT analysis and adjust as needed.

Using a SWOT analysis to help you create a clear pathway is an innovative way to take a step back and strategize your career moves. It can offer a powerful insight that enables you to navigate the job market with more focus, intention, and confidence. So, roll up your sleeves and start SWOT-ing your way to a successful career!