SWOT Analysis
for business & work
Use this worksheet to take stock of where you stand professionally — in your current role, your career, or a side project. Honest reflection beats hopeful guessing every time.
No. 01 — Context
Useful for B1+ business English · works at any career stageWhat is a SWOT?
SWOT analysis comes from corporate strategy — but it works just as well at the individual level. It splits your professional situation into four clear quadrants: two about you (strengths and weaknesses) and two about your environment (opportunities and threats). Use it to plan a career move, prepare for a review, or just get clearer on where you are right now.
The skills, experience, and qualities that set you apart at work.
The gaps and habits that hold you back — the ones you’d rather not name.
Trends, networks, and openings you could move into.
Forces that could derail your plans — the market, the company, your competition.
No. 02 — The worksheet
Click a quadrant. Be specific.
All four corners are visible. Tap any letter to open its questions in the worksheet below. Your answers stay on this page — nothing is sent anywhere. When you’re done, print the page or save it as a PDF for your records.
Strengths — what you bring to the table
Skills, achievements, and the qualities others rely on you for.
Weaknesses — the honest list
This stays on your screen. Specifics beat generalities.
Opportunities — doors that are already open
Look outwards: industry, network, tools, timing.
Threats — what’s outside your control
Naming a threat doesn’t make it bigger. It makes it manageable.
No. 03 — Pay attention
A few things to watch out for.
Be ruthlessly specific.
“I’m a good communicator” is meaningless. “Three of my last five client meetings ended in a follow-up call” is data.
Inside vs. outside.
A weakness is yours to own (poor delegation). A threat is environmental (your industry is automating). The fixes are completely different.
Pair Ws with Os.
For each weakness, find an opportunity that addresses it. That’s the move that turns a SWOT into a plan, not a journal entry.
Watch for false strengths.
“I work long hours” is a habit, not a strength. “I deliver complex projects on time without burning out the team” — that’s a strength.
Don’t catastrophise threats.
List them, sure — but stop after five. Anxious lists become longer than useful ones.
Bring it to your next 1:1.
A SWOT in your manager’s hands is a career conversation. Without it, you’re just hoping they’ve noticed.
No. 04 — What next
Now turn it into a move.
- Pick one square that, if you acted on it, would change the most. Trying to fix all four at once is how SWOTs end up in a drawer.
- Write one concrete action per quadrant. “Take the Coursera course on negotiation by month-end.” “Email three contacts about the new role.” Vague intentions don’t count.
- Set a deadline. Without a date, a plan is just a wish. Put it in your calendar before you close this page.
- Find one accountability partner. A peer, a mentor, your manager. People who know your plan tend to remember it for you.
- Review every quarter. Career SWOTs go stale fast. Set a recurring 30-minute slot to revisit and update yours.
A career rarely changes because of one big move. It changes because of one honest assessment, followed by one small action, repeated until something shifts.