A Personal SWOT Example
What would a personal SWOT assessment look like? Review this SWOT analysis for Carol, an advertising manager.
Strengths
- 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
- 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.
Opportunities
- 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
- Simon, one of my colleagues, is a much stronger speaker than I am, and he's competing with me for the art director position.
- Due to recent staff shortages, I'm often overworked, and this negatively impacts my creativity.
- The current economic climate has resulted in slow growth for the marketing industry. Many firms have laid off staff members, and our company is considering further cutbacks.
As a result of performing this analysis, Carol takes the bold step of approaching her colleague Simon about the art director's maternity leave. Carol proposes that both she and Simon cover the job's duties, working together and each using his or her strengths. To her surprise, Simon likes the idea. He knows he presents very well, but he admits that he's usually impressed by Carol's creative ideas, which he feels are far better than most of his.
