Making your CV stand out from other job applicants can be tough but if you know how to write a personal statement, then you have a better chance of landing the job of your dreams.
Every potential employer wants to know how you can be a great asset to their company.
How can you convince your prospective employer that you are the best person for the job even before you meet them with your CV?
I understand that creating a good CV requires hard work and great attention to detail. You have the experience, skills and educational qualifications, but you want the recruiter to know the value that you can add to the company, but how?
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This is where you will need a personal statement to come through for you on your CV. I know you may be like;
“Do I need a personal statement on my CV when my experiences and skills are boldly written on my CV?”
Yes! You need a personal statement to quickly tell your prospective employer about the special talents, skills, and experience that you are bringing into the job.
According to statistics, employers spend only 6 seconds reading a CV. This means that you have just 6 seconds to prove to the employer that you are the best fit for the job, and this is what a personal statement does for you.
So, are you ready to see how you can take charge of your job search? Let’s get started then.
Before we get into it, let us take a look at everything we are going to learn from this guide:
You can write a personal statement following these steps:
A personal statement is a piece of writing usually not more than 2 or 3 paragraphs that appears at the top of your CV that gives a summary of who you are, your skills, your achievement, experience, your career goals and finally; the reason for your application.
You can write an amazing CV, but not having a personal statement on your CV or having a poor one can make your CV not get the attention that it should get. A personal statement is what captivates the recruiter’s attention to your CV.
Just like an elevator pitch, a personal statement allows you to convince the recruiter that you are the best person for the job even before they decide to read your CV.
A personal statement helps you take charge of your application. If your personal statement is good, the recruiter will likely read your CV; and if your personal statement is bad, well your CV might just get trashed.
This is how a personal statement looks.
You may think that there is no need to add a personal statement to your CV since you already have your experience and skills clearly stated on your CV.
Yes, your experience and skills have already said so much about you to the employer, but to what extent?
Just like we said earlier that recruiters spend 6 seconds looking at your CV. So, you have to decide if you want your CV to get lost in the pile, or give them a reason to continue reading with your personal statement.
If your aim of writing a CV is to eventually land the job of your dreams, then you should consider attracting the interest of the employer with your personal statement.
If you are still not sure why you should write a personal statement on your CV, then you can take a look at the following reasons why you should add a personal statement on your CV;
A personal statement will help you project your skills and unique abilities that make you the best person for the job to the recruiter at a glance.
Even if your skills and experience are stated on your CV, the personal statement is what the recruiter will likely see first. And if your personal statement is interesting enough it will capture the attention of the recruiter.
Why do you write a CV in the first place?
You write a CV to convince your prospective employer that you are the best person for the job, showing your skills and experience.
So, you are marketing yourself to the recruiter with your CV, right? So, if your CV is a marketing tool, why don’t you take advantage of that and market yourself to the recruiter.
Adding a personal statement to your CV will help you utilize the functionality of your CV as a marketing tool.
If you are a fresh graduate with little or no formal work experience, then you can take advantage of the personal statement to share some of your informal experiences with the recruiter.
You can share some of the strengths and experiences that you must have acquired during your stay at the university that will convince the recruiter that will be great at the job.
4. It helps your application stand out.
Having a personal statement on your CV can come in handy when you are applying for a competitive job.
If you are applying for a competitive job, it means that there are thousands of other people that are applying for the same job, so what do you have to do? Stand out!
Employers often flip past CVs without even reading them especially when they have a lot to attend to. Recruiters will likely flip past your CV unless they can spot that competitive advantage.
Adding a personal statement to your CV helps you quickly present your competitive advantage to your prospective employer.
5. It gives the recruiter an idea of you.
If you are a recent graduate and yet to discover your career path or want to get an internship position in no specific field, then you should consider adding a personal statement on your CV.
Showing your unique skills and ambition in your personal statement can give the recruiter an idea of what you would likely fit into.
Now, I guess that you are ready to start adding a personal statement on your CV. Just before you start writing your personal statement you have to make sure you are writing a good one so you don’t stand the risk of making a wrong impression on your potential employer.
Want to write an awesome personal statement? You don’t have to worry, I will show you all you need to know to create an amazing personal statement for your CV in this article.
Let’s get into it;
PS: Having a great CV is wise, but arming yourself with all the job search tools you need is smart. Learn about all you need to land a job here.
The first step to writing a good personal statement is to first understand the job that you are applying for. Understanding the job description and the recruiter’s expectation for that position will help you craft a personal statement that will directly appeal to the employer.
Carefully reading the job description will help you understand what the employer looks forward to seeing in the potential employee.
Take note of the words that were used in the job description and use it to form your personal statement. You should also research the company to understand their core values.
Your personal statement should be able to tell the recruiter who you are (professionally) in clear terms. This should appear in the first sentence of your personal statement.
To effectively tell the recruiter who you are, you can think about your current position and make a list of things that you do in your job. You can also do this for your previous experiences.
You can include the things that you are passionate about or the things that you love most about your profession and the valuable qualities that you.
Now that you have understood what a personal statement is, and why it is important, I think it is time for you to know how to write a good personal statement that will land you a job.
When you are writing your personal statement, you should know that your personal statement is your elevator pitch. It is like answering the question; “Tell me about yourself?”, “Can we meet you?”, “why should we hire you?”.
So, see how you can go ahead to write an amazing personal statement following these steps:
Talking about who you are can look like this:
“As a resourceful and successful digital marketing professional with more than 6 years of experience specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) and a passion for digital marketing that makes it easy for me to help individuals and brands gain an online presence.
From the example above, you can see that any recruiter that looks at this personal statement will immediately understand who the person is and even what the person does.
The next thing for you do after telling the recruiter who you are is to present your strength, values, and achievement that are in line with the job description that makes you the best person for the job.
This part will allow you to show the recruiter what relevant value you will be bringing to the table.
It is also good for you to include the important requirement that is specified in the job description in your personal statement to give the recruiter the idea that you are the best person for the job.
If for example, the job description specifies certain skills or educational qualifications that a candidate should have, you should not forget to add that you possess those skills or qualifications. This helps to send the right message to the recruiter.
The second part of your personal statement can look like this:
“With a comprehensive knowledge of the digital marketing strategies and search engine optimization skills I have been able to develop strategies and processes for optimizing digital products that I utilized in my current job.
As a result of my expertise, I have been able to build SEO strategies that can help businesses improve their online visibility which will also increase revenue in the long run”.
In the last part of your personal statement, you should be able to state what your career goals are. The recruiter needs to know what is next after your skills and experience.
The recruiter also wants to know why you are applying for the job. You should be able to tell the recruiter why you are interested in the job, what you look forward to achieving with the job, and why you are interested in the organization.
Make sure that this part of your personal statement is short, straight to the point and reaffirming.
The concluding part of your personal statement should be something like this:
“I am currently looking for an SEO specialist role where I can open myself up to bigger challenges and also deliver great with result utilizing my skills and experience.”
No doubt, these tips will help you write a great personal statement, but it is good you know how to structure your personal statement in a way that it appears professional.
I know that writing a personal statement may seem daunting, but since you already understand how to write a personal statement on your CV, you will just need to understand some basic structures you need to follow to create a good personal statement.
Your statement should follow the normal essay format, which means that it should have an introduction just like every other essay you write.
Your introduction should explain who you are and what you do, but make sure it is short and straight to the point.
You can just use this structure to frame your personal statement:
The introductory part of your personal statement basically asks the question; “What interests you about your career?” Once you can answer this question correctly, then you have successfully written a good personal statement introduction.
The main body of your personal statement should show your preparedness for the job. This paragraph should show what skills, qualifications, abilities, and values that you tend to add performing the job.
This paragraph should include the following:
The main paragraph (s) should answer these questions;
a. Why are you the best person for this job?
b. Why should we hire you?
c. What experience are you bringing into this job?
d. Can you tell us about a project that you have done?
e. What unique skills do you have that makes you the best candidate for this position?
Just like you write a conclusion when you are writing an essay, you should also write a conclusion for your personal statement.
The conclusion for your personal statement should be short and precise. It should state your reason for the application. Your conclusion should include the following:
You can use these tips and questions to structure your personal statement. I understand that a lot of emphases is placed on experience. If you don’t have any experience, you can also talk about your achievements and educational qualifications.
Your personal statement should look like this, answering the basic personal statement questions like; who are you? why should we hire you? why do you want to work here? etc.
If you have read these tips, then you may ask yourself; “How do I even start to write a personal statement for my CV?”
Well, you are just a few reads away from knowing how you can start writing your personal statement.
Since you now know what a personal statement is, how to write a personal statement, and the structure of a personal statement.
Now, it is time for you to put your knowledge into practice by knowing how to start writing your personal statement.
If you get confused anytime you want to write a personal statement on your CV or if this is your first time, then you will find these personal statement introduction examples helpful.
To start writing your personal statement, you should know that it is important for you to open your personal statement with an introduction that will capture the attention of the recruiter and keep them glued to your CV.
To start your personal statement, you can follow this structure to have a good introduction:
With these structures and the personal statement examples above, writing the introductory part of your personal statement will be much easy for you.
You know that everything that has a beginning must have an end, right? So, in our context of writing a personal statement how can you end your personal statement?
If you have started your personal statement already, then you have done the most difficult aspect of the job. Drafting the end of your personal statement is easy, all you need to do is to follow these guidelines to help you draft an interesting personal statement ending.
To help you end your personal statement professionally, you can take a look at these personal statement ending examples:
Since you now know how to start and end your personal statement, it is good that you know what to include and what you should not include in your personal statement.
Let’s take a look at some pieces of information you need to include in your personal statement.
When you are writing your personal statement, you should bear in mind that there some information that will form the building block of your personal statement.
This information will have to be included for you to create a perfect personal statement:
Quick Tip: Before you even start writing your personal statement, you should take the time to read the job description and make a list of things that the employer wants to see in the prospective job seeker. To get better information, you would have to research the role and even the company.
Include the following information in your personal statement:
Your education, qualification, and certification are vital aspects of your personal statement. If you are a fresh graduate or applying for an entry-level position with no experience, it is from your education and qualification that the recruiter will be able to tell if you are the best person for the job.
I know that you will still talk about your education on your CV, but when you are talking about your education, qualification, or certification in your personal statement you should mention your highest qualification that makes you the best person for the job.
If you are applying for an entry-level position, you can include your course description, that is if it is closely related to the job that you are applying for.
Your experience is like the core aspect of your CV. You must include the experience that you have acquired in your personal statement so that the recruiter can see at a glance the job that you are most suited for.
The following can form your experience:
Quick Tip: when you are talking about your experience in your personal statement, make sure your experience is related to the job that you are applying for.
When you are talking about your experience, you can talk about the skills and abilities that you used in your previous jobs to achieve success.
Your skills are another important aspect of your personal statement. Adding your skills to your personal statement will show the recruiter what you are capable of doing.
When you are including your skills to your personal statement, you should be careful to add skills that will help you perform the role better.
For example, if you are applying for a graphic design role, you can add skills like; Illustration skills, Photo editing skills, copywriting skills, etc.
When you are writing your personal statement, you should be able to show the reason you are applying for the job. You should also show the reason why you have chosen that career.
This will help you show interest and passion about what you do or the career path that you are about to go into.
Your objective or reason may not sound important, but it is important because employers look forward to hiring passionate and driven individuals.
If you don’t have work experience, then this aspect of your personal statement is important.
Your education, qualification, and certification are vital aspects of your personal statement. If you are a fresh graduate or applying for an entry-level position with no experience, it is from your education and qualification that the recruiter will be able to tell if you are the best person for the job.
I know that you will still talk about your education on your CV, but when you are talking about your education, qualification, or certification in your personal statement you should mention your highest qualification that makes you the best person for the job.
If you are applying for an entry-level position, you can include your course description that is if it is closely related to the job that you are applying for.
Experience
Your experience is like the core aspect of your CV. You must include the experience that you have acquired in your personal statement so that the recruiter can see at a glance the job that you are most suited for.
The following can form your experience:
Quick Tip: when you are talking about your experience in your personal statement, make sure your experience is related to the job that you are applying for.
When you are talking about your experience, you can talk about skills and abilities that you used in your previous jobs to achieve success.
Your skills are another important aspect of your personal statement. Adding your skills to your personal statement will show the recruiter What you are capable of doing.
When you are including your skills to your personal statement, you should be careful to add skills that will help you perform the role better.
For example, if you are applying for a graphic design role, you can add skills like; Illustration skills, Photo editing skills, copy writing skills etc.
When you are writing your personal statement, you should be able to show the reason you are applying for the job. You should also show the reason why you have chosen that career.
This will help you show interest and passion about what you do or the career path that you are about to go into.
Your objective or reason may not sound important, but it is important because employers look forward to hiring a passionate and driven individual.
If you don’t have work experience, then this aspect of your personal statement is important.
While you are creating your personal statement, you must know what you should include for you create a perfect personal statement and things that you should do away with.
Let’s take a look at what you should add and what you should avoid.
Since you now understand what you should do when you are writing your personal statement and what you should not do, then it is time for you to know how to format your personal statement in a way that it will look clean and easy to read.
Let’s dive in;
The appearance of your personal statement can go a long way to determine if the recruiter will love to continue reading your CV.
To be sure you are increasing the chances of getting your CV read by the recruiter, you have to format your personal statement.
See how you can format your personal statement;
You need to position your personal statement in a way that the recruiter will be able to see it as soon as they open your CV, instead of having to make the recruiter manually scroll down to find your personal statement.
You can reduce the margin of your document to make sure your personal statement is in the right position.
In as much as it is good that your personal statement provides enough information as to why you think you are the best person for the job, you should avoid writing a long personal statement.
Your personal statement should be between 8 – 14 lines or a maximum of 150 words.
When you are writing your personal statement, make sure your style of writing is simple. Regardless of the writing style that you choose to adopt, make sure what you are writing is clear and easy to read.
Make sure you choose a simple font type like; Times New Roman, Arial, etc. Your font colour should also be simple and not too loud or sharp. Colours like gray and black are perfect.
It is good for you to adopt a persuasive style when you are writing your personal statement since you are going to be selling yourself to the recruiter.
We have gone a long way with the process of learning how to write a personal statement. Have you ever wondered about the difference between a personal statement and a personal profile?
Maybe not, so do they mean the same thing or are they different? Let’s find out
A personal statement is a piece of writing on your CV that tells your prospective employer that you are the best person for the job. Showcasing your skills, strengths, and abilities that are relevant to the job.
While a personal profile could also be known as a CV summary. The personal profile is the opening statement of a CV that outlines your characteristics, your qualities and your experience that makes you the best person for the job.
The fact is that the personal statement and personal profile are almost the same because they are both introductory statements.
The major differences between the personal statement and personal profile are:
Now that you understand the difference between a personal statement and a personal profile, have you thought about the difference between a personal statement and a CV objective? Let us get into it.
I am sure you must have seen the word “Objective” on peoples’ CVs and now you are learning about personal statements and you are trying to place the difference between both of them.
Even if they both appear at the top of the CV and emphasize why a candidate is the best person for the position, they are also different.
While the personal statement tells your employer who you are, your skills and strength that are relevant to the position that you are applying for, and also emphasizes that you are the best person for the job.
The CV objective talks about your career goals. Just as the name implies, it has to do with the objective and reason you are applying for the job.
The CV objective could be as simple as showing where you have been in your career and where you hope to go in your career especially with the job that you are applying for.
Quick Tip: Many people have concluded that CV objectives are no longer necessary on a CV. Even if adding an objective to your CV is an outdated practice, you can still decide to add them if it focuses on your skills and abilities.
Do you still need help with writing a good CV? Then join MyJobMag FREE online CV clinic by clicking on the image below:
Even if you have been unemployed for a while, you can still write an interesting personal statement. You just have to be careful not to focus on the fact that you have been out of work for a while.
You should focus on the skills and experience that highlights you as the best person for the job. You can make up for the fact that you were unemployed for a while by stating some volunteering jobs, courses or training that you did during this period.
Having a gap in your CV is not something that you should be so worried about. Employers understand that people can be out of jobs.
This example will help you frame your personal statement if you are unemployed:
“Vibrant Sales Executive with over eight years’ experience in the manufacturing industry. I have a proven track record of success which includes leading a team of 20, developing sales and marketing strategies that increased the company revenue by 20% in 1 year. Now I am looking at getting a job in an IT company where I can practice my digital marketing skills.”
If you are a fresh graduate without tangible work experience, you can still use your personal statement to prove to the recruiter that you are the best person for the job.
As a graduate, your personal statement should serve as the headline of your CV. Which means that it should get the attention of the recruiter.
To get the attention of the recruiter, you can start by talking about what the recruiter cares about rather than what you want to achieve. It is easy for you to get the recruiter’s attention when you talk about something they can relate with.
Example:
"An acdemically and commercially sharp product designer and engineer with a passion for developing and designing innovative products that save time and make the users’ lives easier.
I have a proven ability in the researching and development of new products that are designed to meet the needs of both users and the environment, with an in-depth knowledge of the principles of product design and engineering, along with product-based practical knowledge of product development process.
I am an expert in the use of Adobe In-Design, AutoCAD, Auto Desk, and Inventor Software along with a robust understanding of joinery and engineering techniques. I am due to get a BSC in Product Design and have extended Level 3 diplomas in mechanical engineering, with a covered range of associated disciplines in product designing and engineering principles."
If you are changing your career from one job field to the other, you can write a personal statement that will aid your transition process.
If you are changing your career from customer service to human resources, for example, you should include skills that you can transfer from your previous role to the new role.
Example:
“Experienced customer service manager with over 5 years of working experience in conflict resolution, interpersonal relationship, recruiting and training new customer service staff. I have successfully managed large teams of customer service executives over the years reducing recruitment costs and ensuring effective onboarding process for new intakes.
I am passionate about employee engagement and retention. I am currently looking for a role in Human Resources to build on my passion and skills.”
If you are a student, you can write a personal statement that will help you get an internship or IT position. When you are writing your personal statement as a student, you should tell the recruiter when you want the job.
Employers also look forward to hiring students that are enthusiastic about learning and what they can offer the company in the future.
Example:
“I am a resourceful student with a passion for technology and design. During my second and third year at the university, I won the university technical award for my university. I am interested in pursuing my engineering career that is why I want to take up an internship position in an engineering firm.”
Since we have looked at different personal statement examples for different categories of people, so we will take a look at personal statement examples for different job roles.
“Qualified accountant with a good understanding of accounting processes. Strong finance skills combined with my ability to analyze and use accounting soft wares. I have over 5 years of experience in developing budget management and cost-saving practices.
I have always used IT to propel my accounting skills, and now I am looking for an accounting role in an IT company where I can broaden my IT experience to help me perform my accounting duties better.”
“Proactive marketing executive with over 6 years of increasing sales and revenue through offline practices, PR, and digital marketing. I have strong research skills and abilities that have equipped me with the ability to build marketing strategies that I used in my previous job to increase sales by 20% in one year.”
“A friendly customer service executive with over 4 years’ experience in solving problem and building a great relationship between customers and the brand. I am a resourceful person that learn and study a lot which helped me discovered ways to discover online strategies to engage customers and meet their needs.
My excellent customer service skills have won me several awards in my previous employments. Aside from the awards I have won, I have had several pieces of training on customer service practices. Now, I am looking for a position to take on more responsibilities.”
“I am a growth-oriented teacher that finds passion in helping people grow by identifying their educational needs and being resourceful about how to meet their needs. I have excellent people management skills that I have acquired in the process of teaching in a different environment and teaching different people.
I have developed modules and lessons to help people with classroom management and class control. Now I am looking for a teaching role that offers more responsibilities”
“I am an adept medical doctor with over 4 years of experience in general medicine and emergency. I am dedicated to making sure that my patients get the best experience which is what inspires me to learn and research ways to handle emergency cases and sick people generally.
My focus on patient experience has won me the award of ‘best doctor of the year’ three times in a row. I have also built a strong passion for teaching and supervising medical trainees. I have trained over 100 interns during residency that helped me build my people management skills.
Now, I am looking to work in a specialist hospital where I will be exposed to more challenges that are within my area of specialization.”
“I am an organized human resources officer with 5 years of experience in recruitment, onboarding, and employee retention. I am a resourceful and ambitious person that has consciously developed myself to be able to manage different people.
I am skilled at employee retention which I have recorded great success over the years. I am currently looking for a human resource manager position in a recruitment firm where I can practice my passion in full."
Conclusion:
Your CV personal statement is an integral part of your CV. It can determine if your CV will be read at all or if it will join the others in the pile.
Learning how to write a stunning personal statement is worth investing your effort on, how knows? It might land you the job that you have been waiting for.
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