SWOT for your career

Today Qreer would like to suggest you an effective instrument for your career development. In fact, SWOT-analysis (S – Strengths, W – Weaknesses, O – opportunities, T –Threats) is broadly used in various aspects of business. Most of time it is applied to organizations, however, we propose to look at this method from the angle of your own professional effectiveness and growth.
You might take a piece of paper right now and divide it into 4 squares.

Let’s start with your Strengths. Think of your strong points – your best technical skills, unique professional knowledge, your greatest personal characteristics. This should be something you are sincerely proud of, something you have deep self-respect for. Your strengths is something you might want to teach others. Basically, this is something that gives you a feeling of career stability.
Ask yourself: What do my colleagues appreciate most of all in me as an engineer/researcher/programmer/manager? Which professional achievements do I have?

Now, let’s shift to your Weaknesses. Here we encourage you to be as honest as possible with yourself. The better you describe your weaker sides, the stronger you will become in the future. It help you to look at yourself from another point of view and, thereby, to build up a plan for improving your professional profile.
Ask yourself: What am I mostly anxious about at work? What am I criticized for?

Next, let’s have a look at the Opportunities. Think about all possible (and even seeming to be impossible!) opportunities that this world holds for your career development. New learning opportunities (enrolling in a new master/PhD program, short-term course or just a workshop etc.), networking (visiting job fairs, industry events), social media usage (upgrading your LinkedIn profile and joining new groups, for example) and so on and so forth.
Ask yourself: What can I do to highlight my strengths? How can I prove my competence to my supervisor/colleagues/recruiters?

The last thing left to consider is your Threats. Think of everything you do not fully understand, but what worries you with regard to your career and current/potential future job. Just write it all down. This is stuff you need to research. Things you are concerned about might turn to be not that dangerous as you thought.
Ask yourself: Who are my competitors? What can negatively influence my work performance?

So, here we go. What should you do with this information you have written down?
1. Your Strengths is what you should use, your professional assets.
2. Your Weaknesses is your potential for development.
3. Your Opportunities are beneficial circumstances and your possible actions in accomplishing your career goals.
4. Your Threats is what you should eliminate.

We hope it helps you in getting closer to your dream job!

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Keywords: SWOT, self-assessment, engineering, technology, science, job search, jobs, European, lifehack

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The career guide for engineering specialists: Conducting your personal SWOT-analysis

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