As your job responsibilities increase, you could face challenges with productivity and career growth. Whether you’re an employee or running your own freelance gig, these challenges can occur. However, by following the SWOT analysis steps mentioned in this article, you can overcome such challenges.

A personal SWOT analysis will help you to pick the right job or project for increased productivity. Subsequently, you’ll see yourself prepared for the next level of career or business expansion.

The Importance of Personal SWOT Analysis

Visualization of human brain and question

To get to the next career level in a company or expand your freelance business, you need to keep up the productivity while accepting extra tasks. You can only sustain the pace of productivity when your approach is scientific.

SWOT analysis is the scientific method that helps businesses increase their productivity and growth. It’s also similarly effective when you need to understand individual capabilities.

A SWOT analysis report will help you undertake those tasks that you can complete at a higher productivity rate. You’ll also grow advanced skills and more confidence to move yourself to the next level.

The Process of Personal SWOT Analysis

There are two phases for preparing a SWOT analysis report. During the first phase, you need to find out the followings that are related to the next career level or freelance expansion:

1. Strengths

List down the strengths that distinguish you from your competitors. Domain-specific strengths will accelerate project productivity. It’d help if you try to answer the following questions:

  • What educational qualifications and professional certifications do you own?
  • Are you an expert in any trending technology skill or technique?
  • Do you possess any novel project strategy that’ll add value to the company or client?
  • Which reputed companies or clients have you served?
  • Do you have extensive networking in your domain?
  • Are you able to manage a team endowed with mission-critical projects?

Related: Online Strengths Tests You Can Take to Identify Your Strengths

2. Weaknesses

To be able to increase productivity and accomplish professional goals, you need to find out your weaknesses. Try answering the following questions to list your weaknesses:

  • Do you lack any trending technical or soft skills that could block your path to a promotion or freelance gig expansion?
  • Do you have any habits like procrastinating, being unable to follow established processes, reporting late at work, etc., that could negatively impact your profession?
  • When communicating with a group of people, do you feel a lack of confidence?
  • Is there any shortcoming in your educational background which could make you feel insecure at work or while handling a freelance project?

3. Opportunities

It’s time to list opportunities that will give a push to grow your career or freelance gig. Knowing your opportunities help you to boost productivity at the professional level. Make a list of the answers to the following questions:

  • Do you feel that the latest advancements in your domain are more beneficial for you than your competitors?
  • Do you think acquiring new skills will give you an edge over the others in your industry?
  • Is there a need for skilled employees or freelancers that nobody else can fill?
  • Are there any free or paid webinars that you should attend to stay updated about the industry trends?
  • Do you feel like you can volunteer for a complex project that no one else would want to?
  • Do you think you can spare some time to offer free services to freelance clients to attract their attention?

Related: Legitimate Work From Home Jobs You Can Get Hired for Today

4. Threats

Threats are the external factors that have the potential to reduce your productivity. As a result, you may lose a promotion or a freelance contract deal with a big firm. Find out possible threats and list them by answering the following key questions:

  • Are you trailing behind the ongoing technological advancements in your domain as you lack one or many technical skills?
  • Is there any colleague or fellow freelancer in your team who is troubling and making your task harder?
  • Is there any competitor who is delivering better work than you?
  • Are any of your personal traits hindering your growth?
  • Do you feel that the extinction of old technologies and the emergence of new technologies are threatening your career or freelance work?

How to Create a SWOT Analysis

Once you create a list of the above questions and their answers, it’s time to draw the SWOT analysis report. Follow the below-mentioned steps in the Creately app to create the SWOT analysis chart:

1. Sign-up for free from Creatly.

An image showing the Creately editor home page

2. Click on the Template icon on the left-side panel of the Creately app home page.

An image showing several SWOT template in Creately

3. Search for SWOT and select the template that you prefer.

4. Use Ctrl+Scroll Wheel to zoom in and zoom out.

5. Press the Spacebar and drag the canvas using the left-mouse button.

6. Now, replace the texts from the template with your questions and answers.

Visualization of a SWOT analysis chart

7. You can double-click on any text to bring up the text formatting box.

8. Text formatting box allows you to modify text color, size, type, hyperlink, alignment, etc.

Pros of Personal SWOT Analysis

Illustration of likes and computer

SWOT analysis helps you to use your strengths to take advantage of the new opportunities. Your strengths also enable you to become more productive at work and combat external threats. You can also take action to get rid of your weaknesses. Here are some benefits of SWOT analysis:

1. Personal SWOT analysis is applicable in many situations. For example:

  • Preparing for a job interview
  • Making a strategy for a freelance project proposal
  • Face the performance review board for promotion

2. The SWOT analysis is a technical chart about individuals or businesses. However, you don’t need extensive training to create one. If you’re aware of the domain and your aspirations, you’re good to go.

3. You’ll need to integrate professional qualitative and quantitative data when creating a SWOT analysis. The amount of research that you need to handle will increase your data analysis skill.

Cons of Personal SWOT Analysis

Visualization of dislike and computer

At times, there could be no results in terms of productivity or career growth from SWOT analysis. It could happen due to the following disadvantages of SWOT analysis:

  1. The analysis could increase ambiguity in decision-making when you find one factor is contributing element in both weakness and strength.
  2. The input data of the SWOT chart should be relevant, reliable, and comparable. If there is any bias during data collection, you may not see an expected outcome.
  3. SWOT analysis functions based on the known factors. If there is any lack of domain research, then unknown factors could impact the end result.

Level Up Your Personal Growth

Follow the personal SWOT analysis steps mentioned in this article to draw your individual SWOT analysis. This personal and professional capabilities study is not a time-consuming task. There are many free-to-use apps and tools to automate the analysis. A well-researched SWOT analysis will help you in leveling up professional productivity as well as your career.