CAREER EXERCISE – Chapter 2
One way to have a better idea of how marketing strategy works is to use it in your career planning. For example, you might conduct a personal SWOT analysis, create a career marketing plan, or simply do some environmental scanning in the general business environment and any industries in which you might like to work.
Activities
1. To begin your personal SWOT analysis, assume you have just completed your college education and are ready to apply for a job as a marketing manager of a small- to medium-sizedfirm. A personal SWOT analysis will help you determine if your current situation matchesyour overall strategy. Gather information about your strengths and weaknesses by analyzing your personal interests and learning more about your personality style. Most college placement offices have software to help students identify their interests and personality styles and then match that information to certain career paths. This type of assessment can help ensure that you do not choose a career path that is incongruent with your personality and interests.
2. Probably the hardest portion of the personal SWOT analysis will be identifying personal weaknesses. Compare the skills, abilities, knowledge, and experience you need to be a successful marketer with your personal inventory in order to identify potential weaknesses and develop a plan to minimize or overcome them. Remember that most annual evaluations will include both strengths and weaknesses, so don’t forget to include this valuable information in your analysis.
3. Identify opportunities by looking at various employment possibilities for entry-level managers at this particular time. In this part of the analysis, it helps to match personal strengths with opportunities. For example, if you have experience in manufacturing, you may choose to initially apply only to manufacturing-type businesses.
4. The last step of the analysis involves identifying potential threats. Threats are barriers that can prevent you from obtaining your goals, such as an economic recession that reduces the number of job openings for entry-level managers. By knowing what the barriers are and by assembling proactive plans to help deal with them, you can reduce the possibility that your strategy will become ineffective. Not only can focusing on a personal SWOT analysis be a practical way to prepare for an actual marketing strategy analysis, but it also allows you to learn more about yourself and your long-term plans.