SWOT Analysis: The How-To Guide in Getting a Job
“Get ready to be immensely inspired.”
I am a senior at UTSA with a double concentration in Professional Writing and Classics. I currently host a food blog, coffeeanddoughnuts.net/, in which I put out content on easy-to-do recipes for novice and home experienced cooks. Further, I leave an in-depth review of what the food is like, what I think could be improved, and things not to do. Additionally, I also write for Medium and StudyBreaks.
Now that the bio is out of the way, let me share with you some harsh reality. Before even dipping your toes into the professional writing field, understand you will not start out at a high paying job, or even writing for that matter. You may become an editor, or graphics designer/web content designer (which I highly recommend as it has become an apparent requirement with professional writing). I also suggest doing some research on companies you wish to write for because you may not know if their views align with yours, and if you want to be someone who aligns with their views. From researching companies and finding out how to make the most ideal resume to sell yourself to conglomerates, I highly recommend making a SWOT analysis.
A SWOT Analysis stands for, Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. As Shaw (2017) defines it, “SWOT can help you better understand how to play your strengths and manage your weaknesses, as well as uncover opportunities for growth and eliminate threats that could keep you from moving forward.” SWOT is useful for businesses to identify internal strength and weaknesses and on individuals who are wanting to climb the company chain or seeking a new career. I will be using my own SWOT analysis to demonstrate the effectiveness as well as how it should be conducted.
Strengths.
Some questions to ask when filling out the “strength’ box is,
· How does your education, skills, talent certifications and connections set you apart from your peers?
· What would your boss or coworkers say are your strengths?
· What traits define you as a professional or individual?
· What achievements are you most proud of? (Shaw 2017)
Using these questions, I knew right away one of my strengths: voluptuous intellect. Yes, a voluptuous intellect. Aside from my self-love, pairing voluptuous to intellect is always bound to gain your readers attention. My point here is that when conducting your SWOT analysis, be trendy with your phrasing. It will not only encourage self-confidence, but it will also show employers that you have spunk, self-confidence, and charisma. Additionally, if you can back up your intellect by actually showing you are an intellect, then by golly, you have a home-run.
Think of strengths as trying to sell yourself to your employer. This box is a crucial and vital part to your SWOT. Knowing that, I knew that I needed to create interesting phrasing that will get me through the door. Next, we have Weaknesses.
Weakness
Be honest with yourself. Do not try to sugar coat yourself. Crucial note: if you cannot realize your own weaknesses, you will most likely not grow any further. Some questions to consider when filling out the weakness portion:
· Where is your education, training, or skills lacking?
· What do you avoid because you lack confidence?
· What are your negative work habits and personality traits?
· What would your boss or coworkers say are your weakness? (Shaw 2017)
My biggest weakness is that I am extremely egotistical. I can’t explain it. I like to be right, knowledgeable and narcissistic like Socrates. Though, much to my dismay, I am discovering more and more how much I do not like Socrates. Additionally, believe it or not, I am self-conscious (another weakness). I tend to put up a façade of confidence when I am gaining self-approval from others. But I am aware of this flaw and am continuously working on it- 360 feedback. The 360 feedback is giving/receiving feedback from yourself and peers and learning how to adapt and better them.
So, the point of weakness, is to be brutal to yourself. Expose your flaws and deal with them. By doing so, you can accomplish awareness, and work on your issues. Fun fact: working on your issues increase your success rate of getting a job! How you might ask? Well, to put simply, you will not be able to show your flaws at work/interview, since you are aware of your weaknesses. Next, is opportunities.
Opportunities
The key to thinking about opportunities lies in the name itself.
· What trends are affecting your industry?
· In what areas is your industry growing?
· How could new technology help you advance?
· How could your connections help you? (Shaw 2017).
This is where you want to be thinking, what exact career field you want to be in. Doing so will help you narrow or widen the scope of opportunities that lie ahead for you. On the SWOT chart, opportunities and strengths are connecting factors. I would like to stress the importance of the last question. Connection is vital no matter what job you apply for, especially when you are a graduate fresh out of college. Connections are what keep businesses running. For me, an opportunity that is always present is building connection. Some ways I recommend building connections is social media and job fairs. Let’s begin with Social Media.
Social Media
It is 2019 people. If you do not have social media, well, I have no words for you. Social media is the very definition of connectivity. Websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are perfect for building connections in the professional world. Further, LinkedIn is a must have when searching for your conglomerate job. LinkedIn allows employers to see who your connections are (pun not intended), previous work history, resume, etc. LinkedIn is the go-to social media for adults.
Facebook is another great outlet. Not quite for searching for jobs, but to advertise and brand yourself. When employers look at your Facebook, they will pay attention to how you brand yourself. Appearance matters. So, when people tell you, “be careful what you post,” listen to them. In sum, social media helps you build connections with other like-minded individuals, and has a guaranteed success for helping you apply to jobs.
Job Fairs
Job fairs are the go-to place to build clout. It allows the applicant to scope out the area of who’s hiring, what the company is all about, benefits, pay, etc. It also presents the company to get a good look at you as well. Perfect chance for both parties to sell themselves. Job Fairs are also the perfect opportunity to underline your values and ideological commitments. In other words, what company’s ideological commitments/core principles align with you commitments/core principles.
Finally, I will introduce the last segment of SWOT analysis: Threats.
Threats
Threats are factors that pose as an inhibition to getting jobs. Threats coincide with weaknesses. Some possible threats of mine are competitive field and lack of experience. I went about asking myself these questions:
· What obstacles do you currently face in your career?
· Who is your competition?
· How is your job or industry changing in ways that could affect your advancement?
· Will new technology or required certifications slow your progress? (Shaw 2017)
This one may be a bit tough to think about, since it is hard to imagine threats in a job you don’t yet have. How I approached my threats were combining them with my weaknesses to figure out what external threats could affect my internal threats.
I hope this memo finds as much use and guidance for you as it did for me. Follow these steps in creating a SWOT analysis and you can guarantee a job will be waiting for you.
