Students: It's time to SWOT yourself

Ever heard of a SWOT analysis? (If your answer to this is something like, “Why no, Hannah, I’ve never heard of such a thing,” please follow this flowchart made for your convenience.)

They aren’t just for evaluating companies or clients – they’re a good tool for evaluating yourself as an internship candidate as well as determining what industry would be a good fit for you. If you did answer “no” to the above question, never fear – MindTool.com explains it well here.

If you’re in the market for an internship, here are some tips on how to analyze yourself:

Strengths: The answer to the question, “What are your strengths?” should be as much of a no-brainer as someone asking your name. But you don’t have to wait for someone to ask – put your strengths in your Twitter/blog bio or list them in your cover letter.

Having a hard time articulating your strengths? Put yourself in my stilettos (or the less-fabulous shoes of the internship coordinator that will be interviewing you) and think about the skills you would look for if you were the one doing the hiring.

Another trick: Examine the internship description and figure out which requirements apply to you and why (but be honest, or we’ll find out). Or ask yourself:

• What do you do better than anyone else you know?
• What would we be missing out on by not hiring you?

Weaknesses: I’ll be frank: If I hear one more canned response about how your weakness as a perfectionist is also one of your greatest strengths, I might scream (and that’d be awkward for everyone within earshot). Clearly, don’t tell me you can’t meet deadlines or you’re more concerned about your Twitter followers than completing assignments, but try a compromise: Tell me how you recognize that x is your weakness but that you’re implementing a y approach to turn it into a positive.

For more guidance, see the Harvard Business Review’s tips on answering what they call the worst interview question.

Opportunities: Now that you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, it’s time to fit the pieces together. What positions are out there that would play up your strengths? Which ones can help you work on your weaknesses?

Other questions to ask yourself:

• How can you leverage yourself using social media, a blog or a personal website?
• How can your professors, fellow students, advisors or professionals in the industry help?
• How can you stay ahead of your competitors? What are they not doing that you can take advantage of?

Threats: You know that one kid who’s always answering questions first in class or buttering up the professor? She’s probably annoying – but there’s a good chance she’s also got her act together and has the ability to beat you out for that position you’ve got your eye on.

Internships can get cutthroat, and unfortunately, there usually aren’t enough to go around. Know how you measure up against the competition:

• Ask your professors for the top five students in your class they’d hire. Are you one of them? What are the others doing better than you?
• Stalk students (in the most non-invasive, uncreepy way) from nearby schools on social media. What are they tweeting about? Do they have a website or blog? Who are they connecting with?
• Find out which students professionals in the industry keep up with on social media. How can you learn from what they’re doing? (Read: Learn from, not copy.) 

Think your strengths or weaknesses would be a good fit for Bohlsen Group? Check out our internship opportunity here. (And start thinking how to minimize those who could be a threat!)

Comments

[Swot]

Interesting to run the SWOT analysis on oneself as the analysis itself is created for organizations and businesses... The only downside is that people are more flexible than businesses; thus today I may not have any strengths to become a doctor but tomorrow I will..