1 Understanding your strengths and areas for development

Figure 2 Athlete looking in the mirror

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A female athlete looking in the mirror and tying a hair band.

Figure 2 Athlete looking in the mirror

In today’s competitive market, having a clear understanding of your own employability skills and how they stack up against the demands of the industry is crucial. One effective tool that can aid in this self-assessment process is the SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis enables you to identify and evaluate the internal and external factors that impact your employability. By examining your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you gain valuable insights into areas where you excel, areas that need improvement, potential avenues for growth, and challenges you may face (Carlson, 2016).

Activity 1 Empowering your employability: a SWOT analysis

Timing: Allow approximately 25 minutes

This activity is broken down into two parts:

1. Watch the video below to gather insight into what a SWOT analysis is and how you can complete one.
2. Complete a SWOT analysis based on your skill set. You can either write some notes down on paper or if you type ‘SWOT analysis template’ into your web browser, you will find various templates that you could print off and use.

Download this video clip.Video player: Video: SWOT analysis

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Transcript: Video: SWOT analysis

NARRATOR

[MUSIC PLAYING] So what is a SWOT? A SWOT analysis is an effective process that typically, businesses and companies use to analyse themselves and their competitors, and formulate their strategies. SWOT is nothing but an acronym for Strengths and Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

This important exercise can be very helpful for us individuals. Whether you’re looking for a new job, or trying to climb the corporate ladder, or working on your life goals, a personal SWOT analysis can help you achieve your goals. It’s a creative method of self-assessment to help you assess where your life or career is, and where it could go.

To conduct a personal SWOT analysis, ask yourself questions about each of the four areas being examined. Answer honestly. Honesty is crucial or the analysis will not generate meaningful results. With that in mind, try to see yourself from the standpoint of a colleague or a bystander, and view criticism with objectivity. Don’t limit yourself to the strengths that you’re currently exhibiting in your life or in your job.

List all of your strengths, even the ones that have been dormant for a while. And pay particular attention to the things that you have that your peers don’t. How are you different, unique, and special?

[MUSIC PLAYING] The next step is weaknesses. This part examines the areas in which you need to improve, and the things that will set you back in your life and your career.

[MUSIC PLAYING] For the opportunities section, look at the external factors that you can take advantage of to pursue your goals and dreams, be it at work or be it in your life.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Finally, look at any threats to your career or life growth. This part takes into account the external factors that could hurt your chances to attain your goals.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Once you have filled out the matrix, there are two ways to analyse the information and build a strategy, matching or converting. Matching means connecting two of the categories to determine a course of action. For example, matching strengths to opportunities shows you where to be aggressive and take action. On the other hand, matching weaknesses to threats exposes those areas you should work on or situations to avoid, and lets you know where to be more defensive of your position.

To convert is to turn negatives into positives. In other words, converting your weaknesses into strengths or threats into opportunities. This can mean, growing a skill set through education or maybe finding a creative way to feature a weakness as a strength.

Once the personal SWOT analysis is complete, it is crucial to follow through on the insights you uncovered. SWOT analysis can fail to be effective if it’s simply treated as a laundry list without any tie-in to how the elements identified in the analysis can be put into play.

For example, how can the identified strengths move the needle in the endeavor to achieve a key goal? Or how can one navigate a potential threat once it is identified so as to ensure no ground is lost? The best outcome is to take action and succeed in the opportunities you have identified. This can benefit you on a personal and a professional level, and set you apart from your peers and colleagues.

Now there are a variety of SWOT templates out on the internet. But if you’d like a copy of the template that I use personally along with the personal example, and the comprehensive list of questions that you could ask yourself in each of the quadrants, do leave a comment with your email address. And I’ll email them out to you.

End transcript: Video: SWOT analysis

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Video: SWOT analysis

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Comment

We hope that this activity has helped you feel more empowered, giving you the confidence to take charge of your career path. It’s about making informed choices that enhance your chances of getting a job. Self-assessment tools, such as SWOT analysis and others, are vital components of personal growth and should be periodically revisited to monitor progress. It is worth noting that these self-assessment practices are not limited to professional development alone; they can be applied in other settings. Redirecting your attention to your involvement in sport, can you see how this task could be used to optimise your performance?