Navigate Your Career with Personal SWOT

In today’s article, I’d like to introduce you to a tool that will help you take a step back and look at your career journey from above: the Personal SWOT.

I first encountered this tool in one of the coaching sessions I received, and I’ve found it incredibly effective for seeing your strengths, development areas, opportunities, and threats holistically. Let’s take a closer look at it together.

🧭 What is SWOT? 

SWOT is an analysis tool that helps you understand internal and external factors, either on an individual or organizational level. It takes its name from these four headings:

• Strengths: The advantages, skills, and resources you have.

• Weaknesses: Areas for development, things you struggle with, or aspects you feel are lacking.

• Opportunities: Doors that may open for you, supportive external conditions.

• Threats: Risks, obstacles, or internal/external factors that might slow you down.

From the surveys I’ve conducted, I know that many of you experience career uncertainty. In this article, I especially invite those who want to manage this uncertainty to create their own personal SWOT matrix. 

You can fill in the four headings of the matrix using the guidance below:

💪 Strengths 

Ask yourself these questions to identify your strengths:

• What talents or skills come easily to you and are naturally used in your work? (e.g., creativity, leadership, teamwork, social intelligence, courage…)

• What qualities does your manager or team often praise you for? Which aspects of you get the most compliments?

• What strengths have supported you the most in overcoming difficult periods in your life? (e.g., hope, spirituality, perseverance, common sense…)

From your answers, pick the strengths that most support your career and place them in the “Strengths” section of your matrix. For more on identifying your strengths, you can revisit my earlier article.

⚖️ Weaknesses (Development Areas) 

What are the areas you struggle with? Which skills do you feel you lack or believe would be valuable to improve? Write them down here, then mark at least three areas you want to work on.

In coaching, we don’t see these as “weaknesses” but as “development areas”. This shift in perspective can be very empowering. So please don’t let this list demotivate you; instead, let it inspire you to grow 🤗.

🌱 Opportunities 

For this step, it’s essential to connect with your dreams and values. The goal isn’t to list all the opportunities in the world, but to focus on those that truly speak to you and that you consider important.

Ask yourself: What opportunities are available to me to live out my dreams and values?

• Global employment opportunities?

• Emerging industries?

• Accessible education or mentoring programs?

Your list can include both small and big opportunities. Use your creativity and write down everything that comes to mind. When you’re done, highlight the top three you’d like to prioritize.

🌪️ Threats 

Finally, think about the personal and environmental threats that could stand in the way of your career goals. Examples include:

• Internal: procrastination, lack of confidence, fear of uncertainty…

• Societal: economic instability, political turmoil…

• Global: artificial intelligence, climate crisis, political fluctuations…

I just wanted to let you know that the aim here is not to get caught up in these threats, but to identify them so you can manage those within your control. Once your list is complete, highlight the threats you can influence and create action plans to address them.

When you complete your SWOT, you’ll be able to evaluate yourself and your career from a much clearer and more holistic perspective. You can present your lists visually in a table or write them under each heading in bullet points.

I hope this exercise is helpful in gaining clarity for you.