SWOT for STUDENTS: Plan to Succeed This Semester

The consultants at Success Labs frequently recommend that teams get together and complete a SWOT exercise in order to assess their capacity to take on challenges and opportunities. The idea is to fully understand how your strengths and weaknesses interact with the tasks you’re taking on – so that you are in a better position to seize opportunities and sidestep threats.This process is relevant to anyone pursuing a challenging task, whether that’s launching a product or taking a full load of classes. As a student, I think it’s important to periodically check in with yourself and actually write down how your strengths will help you achieve your goals – and how your weaknesses might present a barrier to success. This SWOT matrix for students will help you complete that check-in, AND better prepare you for the exciting year ahead.These days, we know more than ever that NO one knows what a new year will bring. Put yourself in a position to be proactive and accomplish your best work by filling out this matrix:

DOWNLOAD THE STUDENT SWOT MATRIX

STRENGTHS

Your strengths are the skills you will rely on to rock your classes, attack the job search, or pursue any other challenge this year will bring. In filling out this part of the SWOT matrix, ask yourself- What do I do really well? What strengths do I bring to my classes/work environment? What are my unique resources/advantages?

WEAKNESSES

For students, some common weaknesses might include procrastination, taking on too much, not asking for help or asking enough questions. Now is the time to understand what lack of skills these weaknesses expose, so that you know to work on these skills when you graduate and enter the workforce. Ask yourself questions like – What weaknesses did last year expose? Where am I struggling with resources/capacity? What will I need to improve to be able to succeed in my goals?

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities are so exciting, but can be overwhelming if you aren’t confident in your ability to rise to the occasion and really seize what this year will have to offer. That’s why it’s important to take the time NOW to visualize those opportunities, and picture how your strengths and weaknesses will impact these events. Think about what you can see happening this semester – What am I most excited about this year? Which creative and innovative ideas can I act on? How can I deploy my strengths effectively?

THREATS

Threats will look different depending on your circumstances and environment, but typically include some external force that will negatively impact your ability to seize opportunities and achieve your goals. If you think about the stresses of being a student, and juggling everything on your plate, that is likely where you are most vulnerable to threats. Ask yourself – Where am I most vulnerable to stress/overwhelm? How do these stresses harm my ability to achieve my goals?That’s it! You will also want to conduct a mid- or end-of-semester check-in to see how you utilized your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to achieve your goals. Your SWOT will change constantly – after all, one benefit of operating with more awareness is that you will see your strengths grow, new weaknesses exposed, and different opportunities and threats emerge. As you move through stages of life this matrix will undoubtedly look very different; but YOUR ability to plan and prepare for each new stage will make all the difference.Emily is a member of the Greater Baton Rouge chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, and plans to sit for the SHRM-CP exam before she graduates in May 2022. Emily currently serves as Success Labs’ Summer Leadership Development Intern. Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to grow leaders, build teams and drive results through great people strategy. Contact us to get proactive about expanding your company’s potential, and stay up-to-date with our latest news and leadership development updates here.