What’s a personal statement?
Whether you want to enhance an existing CV or you'd like to start from scratch, the best CVs contain an engaging personal statement. Personal statements are a brief overview of your professional background and serve as a brief introduction about you and your professional goals. Not only does a powerful personal statement catch the attention of employers, but it also helps you stand out from other candidates. It offers a glimpse into your personality, skills, and aspirations, giving employers an idea of the value that you can bring to the table.
We’ve created this guide to help you accelerate your career potential, and we’ll go over the following:
- How to format your personal statement and stand out from the crowd
- Personal statement examples (and what not to include on a personal statement!)
- How to get started writing your personal statement
Formatting a personal statement
Your personal statement is a summary of your career background and professional potential. How you format and present your personal statement is important, so it's essential to pay attention to both the structure and content of your personal statement to ensure it effectively showcases your skills, experiences, and aspirations. Ideally, a personal statement should be no more than 3-4 sentences, and include:
- Your current job title
- A compelling hook
- Any relevant skills
- Outstanding career facts or achievements
- Your career goals
- Your motivations for applying
Tailor your personal statement to the job description
To maximise your chances of success, your personal statement should be tailored to the job description of the role you’re applying for. This means customising your personal statement based on the requirements and qualifications outlined in the job description. Begin by thoroughly reading over the job description and identifying keywords and phrases that highlight the most essential aspects of the role. How can you include these words and phrases in your personal statement? Additionally, you might also like to explain why you are interested in this particular role and how it aligns with your career goals, values, and aspirations. By tailoring your personal statement, you can demonstrate to the employer that you possess the specific skills, experience, and attributes they are seeking in a candidate.
Where does my personal statement go on my CV?
Your personal statement should be positioned at the top of your CV, just below the header and before the employment history section. Here at cvapp.nz, all of our CV templates have been designed by professionals, so we take the hassle out of crafting a compelling personal statement. With our carefully optimised templates, you can forget about formatting issues and focus on showcasing your unique talents and leave the formatting to us.
How do I know how long my personal statement should be? Effective personal statements should be concise and consist of no more than 3-4 sentences, or approximately 200 words. A brief, well-crafted personal statement provides employers with a glimpse into your background and highlights your professional potential.
CV personal statement examples:
So, how do you write a great personal statement, anyway? Well, great CV personal statements effectively highlight a candidate's skills, experience, and aspirations and use professional, actionable language. Check out the example below from our CV template library:
“Skilled and self-motivated architect with several years of architecture and urban planning experience. Managed a diverse range of residential and commercial projects and led various teams to achieve client goals and objectives. Detail-oriented, design-savvy, and committed to complete client satisfaction.”
Here are a few more CV personal statement examples:
"Hard-working dentist with more than 5+ years of dental experience in cosmetic dentistry and dental implantation and removal. Passionate about the dental health and well-bing of patients. Completed over 100+ dental surgeries in the last four years. Focused on providing safe, high-quality care to all patients."
If you have significant experience in an industry, don’t forget to include the length of time you’ve been in the profession! By including the length of time you have dedicated to working in the field, you can showcase your level of expertise and credibility to prospective employers or clients.
"Responsible, community-minded doctor with nearly 10 years of medical experience. Skilled in patient care, treatment and after-care, as well as diagnosis and creating illness prevention plans. Strong collaboration and communication skills and committed to providing the best possible patient care. Focused on keeping the community and whānau healthy, safe and well."
This personal statement is effective as it’s authentic, focuses on the motivations and values of the applicant, and also includes the length of time the applicant has been working in the industry.
Remember: It’s important that your personal statement is authentic and comes from you. Your personal statement should be a reflection of your own career background and experiences, not a duplication of someone else's work. Never copy and paste material from someone else’s personal statement.
Check out the cvapp.nz CV library for more examples, templates and top tips from our career experts – see ya there!
