My SWOT self-analysis

1. My strengths
 1) Outgoing personality - I am an outgoing person so, I am not afraid of talking to people whom I don’t know. I am sure that it is very helpful personality since we have to talk with people confidently as well as comfortably at the first time we meet in business scene. When I was a ski coach, this personality made me act as an ice-breaker. Thus, I could have incredible relationship with my boss and other coaches.
 2) Home background - Talking about my home background, although I am not from rich family, I have gotten high-education in Korea and even I could have come to the U.S. for getting Master’s degree. Also, my parents are extremely strict about manner so that I would not have a problem when I need to communicate with people who are both younger and older.
 3) The experience studying in two countries, Korea and the U.S. - Since I came to the U.S., I have realized that there are many differences between Asian and western cultures. If I get a job in the U.S. or Korea, I will be able to choose the better way to solve problems from either Asian or Western way depending on the situation.
 4) Activeness - I like enjoying sports, playing music and going travel. I have met many different kinds of people through skiing, snowboarding and playing saxophone. During this time, I could make amazing relationship with them successfully and I realized that this personality and experience make me grow up.

2. My weaknesses
 1) Language - As everybody knows, English is an essential language. Since English has become a world wide language, so many people started learning English as a second language and I am one of them. However, it is really hard to learn another language. If we want to speak another language fluently, we need to spend a long time in the country and it usually says we need 5 to 6 years at least. I came to the U.S just one year ago and I am feeling that my English is still not enough to work as well as native English speakers. Even it is hard to understand every word that professors say in class. If I get a job right now with the English skill, I would have a problem to communicate with both co-workers and customers. Almost all my classmates have many expert experiences and bring it into classes. They could find examples of topics easily which help them to understand the class well.
 2) Not enough expert experience - They could also connect with their work and the studying in actual business scene; they could practice what they learned from classes in work place. However, in my case, I don’t have many expert experiences and also I can’t work in the U.S. with student’s Visa. It makes me difficult to participate in classes.
 3) Impatience - One of my bad personalities is impatience. Usually people say that I am nice person or I have nice personality, but when things do not go well or not smooth and quick sometimes I cannot be patient. I always regret after I calm down, but I am worried if I get angry at someone’s mistakes or late work. I will not express my anger in work place but I am sure I will be so stressed out.

3. Opportunities
 1) Korean companies’ limited age of hiring - Almost all Korean big companies have a policy that they do not hire people who are older than 28 to 30 such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG. It means that I will be able to get some advantage to get a job from those companies. Korean men must go to military service for two or three years around the age at twenty-one to twenty-two. After the military service, Korean men usually take one year break to adjust the society again by making money for tuition or studying abroad if they can. Thus, normally Korea men apply to get a job when they are about twenty-seven years old. However, in my case, I will be able to get Master’s degree when I am twenty-six years old with English as a second language and American business skills. Therefore, this would be a great advantage comparing with other Korean men.
 2) Globalization - Because of globalization, world trade is getting more important. Thus companies want to hire people who can speak more than two languages and/or have experiences in abroad. Thus, it also means that I would have advantage to succeed in business as well in the future.
 3) Boom after depression - Now we are in world-wide economical boom after depression, especially in Korea. After International Monetary Fund shock, also known as Foreign exchange shock, Korea in depression for a long time, yet now Korean economy finally started recovering. Korean started making many companies and factories in abroad, so they want highly educated people as a leader to handle the businesses in abroad. Therefore, I, the one who has degree and experience in abroad, could be one of the leaders who are more familiar with culture differences, international trade problems, and human resources.

4. My threats
 1) Eyes’ problem - I was born with extremely dry and week eyes so I had to get LASIK surgery to improve my eyesight. Now I can see things without glasses yet I am still not supposed to see things for a long time, including a computer or book. However, of course sometimes I have writing or reading assignments and then I have to use my eyes hard. I could do it, yet I feel hurt in my eyes after long time use of my eyes. I will have to use my eyes more often and longer when I start working, so I am worrying if this might bother my work in the future.
 2)Visa, family business - As an international student, I came to the U.S. with student Visa, called F-1 Visa, so I cannot work in the U.S. After I graduate from school I could get one year to work as internship, yet it is not supposed to be paid. Even if I could get a job here, I am not sure I could stay in the U.S. more than one year. Also, during internship, I still need to depend on my parents to support me. In addition, let’ say I could get a job and working Visa in the U.S., I still need to go back to Korea and I don’t know when. My family owns business and I might need to take it over in the future. Although I want to stay in the U.S. and have more experiences, if my parents ask me to go back to Korea, I might have to give up my career in the middle of working.