Doing a self-analysis is not really as easy as it may sound. I mean how often does one sit down and try to think about what their strengths or weakness are, or what makes them unique?? Well, the answer is not very often. But when sitting down to do just that I came up with some things that surprised even me.
Strengths
Everybody has certain qualities about themselves that they feel add value to them as a person, as a friend, or as an employee. When thinking about my strengths as an employee, there are many qualities that I have that would be considered assets. These include my intelligence, my ability to learn things quickly, my determination, and my willingness to be a team player. While yes, I can be a leader, and an effective one at that, it is always important to do what is best your team, whether that be leading the group or following the herd.As a friend, the fact that I am quick to forgive and have a sense of humor makes me easy to get along with. If I get into an argument with someone, I will be over it almost before the argument is even over. It's not that easy to get under my skin because I myself am such a kidder.
As a person, another strength of mine is that I am a good listener. This is a quality that helps me out in many facets of my life. Whenever I have a friend that needs someone to talk to I am always a good sounding board. I pay close attention and try to give thoughtful insight to my friends’ problems or concerns. This quality is something that will also help me out in the business world. I am not the kind of person that you need to tell something to twice; when someone is talking to me, I pay close attention, and make sure that if I don't understand anything I ask for clarification.
Lastly, everyone has a strength they see as their best quality, their strong suit, if you will. For me, I see myself as someone who is hardworking and that really takes pride in the work that I do. Whenever something is asked of me, whether it be an assignment for school, a task at work, or just something my parents have asked me to do around the house, I always try and put 100% effort into the things that I do. I mean, if you’re not going to do something to the best of your abilities, why bother doing it at all?
Weaknesses
As nobody in the world is perfect, everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses as well. While it's never fun to examine one's foibles, here are some of mine. To begin with, I have a very quick temper. This is something that drives me crazy and is constantly interfering with my relationships, especially with my mother. I have a tendency to snap at people and oftentimes they get offended when I really don't mean anything by it. It's just sort of how I respond sometimes.Two attributes that make life a lot harder for me than it needs to be are my laziness and my procrastination. If I have an assignment that is not due until Friday, I probably won’t really even start looking at it till about Thursday. This is totally counterproductive and all that it does for me is increase my stress level.
Another weakness I see in myself is that I have a short attention span. I tend to move very quickly from one activity to another, not really getting that involved in anything. This sort of prevents me from having great passions in my life as many other people do, because I don’t stick with many things for the long haul.
A last weakness, and the area where I feel the most improvement is needed, is my lack of self-confidence. This attribute tends to dampen many parts of my life. Whether it be me sitting in class not raising my hand because I feel that my ideas are inferior to those of my peers, the twisting, aching feeling I get in my stomach before I give a presentation, or just when I am out on the town and don't go up to an attractive girl to talk to her because I don't feel confident enough to do so. Lacking in self-confidence holds me back from more fully enjoying my life.
External Analysis
While doing an internal analysis of yourself is a bit on the tricky side, getting other people to tell you what they REALLY think about you is not a cakewalk either. You have your own ideas about yourself, but in reality the only thing that really matters is how other people perceive you. When interviewing my friends and family it was very interesting to learn what they had to say about me, and note some of the trends that emerged.
Strengths
A trait that most people saw as strength of mine is that I am a logical thinker/good problem solver. As you may not know, I am an Environmental Science Major getting a Minor in Business. Ever since I was in middle school, math and science have been my strong subjects, and I credit this to the fact that that is just how my brain works.Also, many people saw me as mechanically inclined. Whenever my Dad is doing work around the house, anything from fixing the kitchen sink to changing the fixtures in our lampposts outside, I am always nosing around and happy to help with any task. I love working with my hands and trying to fix things, partly because they both come so naturally to me. In middle school I took a shop class and a metals class because I love building things.
A last trend that was present, and what some people said was probably my best personal trait, is my loyalty. I stay true to the things and the people that are important to me including my friends, family, teams, and fraternity brothers in both the good times and the bad. Even if sometimes the things that I do may seem ridiculous, I do them readily for the people that I care about.
Other strengths that were seen less consistently, but just good qualities that came to some people's minds when thinking about me were that I am compassionate, helpful, creative, and a good friend.
Weaknesses
Everybody who knows me knows how much I procrastinate, which was universally stated as a weakness. Ask any of my roommates from school and they will tell you from first hand experience how many times they see me rushing around at all hours of the night trying to get an assignment done that I have just started.Another weakness that many people recognized was my lack of self-confidence. Some people see me as shy, and timid about sharing my ideas within a group. Others have noticed my extreme discomfort when I am speaking publicly, as when giving a presentation in class. It was also noted that I tend to check things over and over to be sure I got everything right.
Also, some people said that I was stubborn and argumentative. A lot of people won’t even argue with me because it is fruitless; they see me as too unwilling to change my mind and realize there is no sense in arguing with me because it is pointless.
A few people said that I was hard to get motivated. I wonder if that isn’t a piece of the procrastination pie.
Congruence??
There was considerable congruence between what I stated as my weaknesses and the weaknesses that others saw in me as well. It is quite clear that I constantly procrastinate. Take this midterm assignment for example. I have had since the beginning of this class to work on this assignment, and yet, I waited until two days before it was due before even starting it. Now, since I really do put a lot of effort into almost everything that I do, I don't think that I will have an inferior product because I have procrastinated; it just makes me feel a lot more stressed out that I am sort of pressed for time when I wait so long to do things. My lack of self-confidence was also seen by myself and my outside raters. As these two traits are probably my most significant weaknesses, it makes sense they were identified both internally and externally.
Where the congruence lacked was in my strengths. It appears as though the attributes about me that I value are different than the attributes that others value in me. Perhaps this is because my outside raters identified more extrinsic characteristics that make me a more valuable friend/teammate/co-worker to them, whereas I identified characteristics that I feel are intrinsic to who I am as a person but that may be less obvious to an observer.
I would reposition myself by trying to utilize some of the strengths that other people saw in me, and also by dealing with some of the identified weaknesses so that they are no longer weaknesses. I would set up schedules for myself, and include milestones for when I want to get things done by to help me stay on track and reduce the amount of stress I have through minimizing my procrastination. I would try to be more open to new ideas because being stubborn is not a good quality to have anywhere, especially in the workplace where it is essential to collaborate and talk problems through together. Improving my self-confidence could prove to be more difficult because I am a shy person by nature. I could start off by trying to put myself out there more often in the first place. I should start raising my hand in class and voicing my ides because I should know that I am intelligent and that my ideas are really just as valid anyone else's. I need to learn to trust myself more.
Feature-Benefit
When looking through the endless possibilities of products to purchase at any store, how does anyone make up their mind about what to buy? In order for your product to be chosen, it has to stand out from all the others and be seen as superior in some way. This same concept applies when companies are looking through the stacks upon stacks of resumes they receive, trying to decide which applicant they want to interview for a job. Here's how I stack up. I am a team player. I work well in groups, can assume a leadership role when needed, and am great at collaboration. I take great pride in the work that I do. Whenever I am given a task to complete, my employer will know that it is going to be done properly and to the best of my ability. I am a quick learner. When I have to learn a new task or take on some new responsibilities at work, my employer will not need to waste a lot of time or resources training me; I am very able to learn on the job as we move forward. I am a good listener. This allows me to process information rapidly and without the need for endless repetition. Lastly, I am a good problem solver. I can think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to problems that others may not see. The brand that I am trying to sell potential employers is called JTK, and this has been a little taste of what they will get if they invest in me.
