Writing a personal statement for your CV is (arguably) the most challenging write up of the whole CV. Essentially the personal profile, personal statement, or CV profile, whatever you want to call it, is your blurb. This is the first (and sometimes only) section a potential employer will read, and as such should be written to entice them to read on. It’s not essential but with a lot of CV’s to sift through, it’s vital that your CV stands out right from the start.
They say you should write a CV for each and every role you apply for, and this is particularly pertinent for the personal statement; work out what they are looking for by sifting through the job description or job specification, and highlight the skills and experience they are looking for, including industry, if the role you are applying for is in the Finance sector, and your statement reads as a mogul of the Energy industry, it won’t land. If your personal statement is too broad, you run the risk of looking like you haven’t done your research, or that you are just flinging you’re CV left-right and center, hoping for it to stick (we’ve all done it).
If you have been working for longer than 5 years, then your Cv should be between 800 – 1000 words, and the personal statement should be no more than 200 words. I’m not saying you shouldn’t share your ambitions with the reader but is this the best use of your word count? Probably not. As an employer, what I really want to know is, can you do the job and can you do it well?
After you have highlighted what the company are looking for, do your research. LinkedIn, news articles, glass door reviews and their own website, and answer these questions:
- What long-term and short-term goals does the company have?
- Why are they advertising for this role?
- What is the tone of their communications on LinkedIn, blogs, and their website?
Next, write a list of projects and assignments you have worked on, then highlight those that fit with what they are looking for, and directly tie into the role. Write down the keywords, and messages of the type of person they are looking for.
Now you have the skeleton of your statement, its time to begin writing. Think about what voice you want to use, first or third personal is fine, but don’t switch between.
First, introduce yourself and tell the employer who you are i.e. “A highly-skilled Physiotherapist, with 10 years experience within the field.” Then use the notes you made earlier to showcase your skills and experience, that are directly relevant to the role.
Read and re-read your statement out loud. Use sites like Grammarly to find spelling and grammar mistakes, use MS Word’s ‘Immersive reader’ feature to listen to the tone of your statement, what does it say about you? Keep to the point, and avoid using the same word repeatedly. Never use quotes and remove buzzwords, clichés, slang, and jargon.
And finally, never use ready-made answers, use examples as a guide to craft your own, but if you really want to showcase who YOU are write you own.
Good luck.