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Writing a Strong Personal Statement for Your CV

A personal statement, otherwise known as a personal profile, professional summary or CV summary, is the opening paragraph which sits at the top of your CV. It is a short introduction which informs recruiters who you are, showcases the skills and qualities you possess and provides a brief overview of your career history. Including a personal statement in your CV can help you stand out from the competition and grab the attention of recruiters.

Do you need to include a personal statement in your CV?

On average, recruiters spend 5-7 seconds scanning your CV which is not a lot of time to impress them. Many CVs consist of generalised lists that say nothing about the candidate or why they’re applying for the job. By adding a personal statement to your CV, you stand out from the crowd and show recruiters a bit of your personality.

Personal statements can be particularly handy for competitive industries or for jobs where there are many candidates. As recruiters have to browse through many CVs, they may just skim over yours, unless there is something to grab their attention.

They’re also useful if you have a broad career history. A personal statement can tie those disparate experiences together and help prospective employers understand how your skills match their desired criteria.

On the other hand, if you have little to no experience, it may be best to save this space for a CV objective . While it shares similarities with a personal statement, a CV objective is usually only one to two sentences in length and focuses more on your career goals.

Tips for a powerful personal statement

Keep your personal statement short

The ideal personal statement captures your experience and skills in no more than 50-200 words. Consider it the written equivalent of an elevator pitch, designed to spark your recruiters’ interest so that they’ll want to read the rest of your CV. As you’ll have plenty of space in your cover letter to elaborate on any points, your personal statement should only provide recruiters a quick summary of your career history.

Write using ‘I’ statements

Your personal statement is about yourself, so make it personal! Writing about yourself in the third person, i.e. “he” or “she” can sound pretentious and come across as distant.

When you write in the first person, using ‘I’ statements, you add a personal touch to a CV which may otherwise consist of bullet-point lists. That doesn't have to mean starting every sentence with ‘I’, for example, you could write:

‘As a qualified project manager, I have consistently delivered complex projects within demanding time constraints.’

Identify your skills and achievements

When writing a personal statement, the tendency is to include generic statements which could describe any candidate. To help make your personal statement unique to you, start by identifying your skills and achievements.

One of the best ways to do this is to think about all the jobs you’ve had and ask yourself what difference you made to each employer. You could also dig out past reviews and appraisals to identify the objectives/skills for which you received positive feedback.

Tailor your personal statement to each job application

In the same way that you would tailor your CV to each job you’re applying for, you’ll also need to tailor your personal statement. Look at the desired experience, skills and education in the ‘Requirements’ section of the job description and draw on examples of how you meet each criterion from your career history.

Structure your personal statement

Many people struggle to write a personal statement. The important thing to remember is that you don’t have a lot of space to go into detail. To give your personal statement some structure, it can be helpful to break it down into the following three sections:

This section allows the recruiter to quickly identify your background and industry experience. For example, you may state that you’re:

‘A recent graduate with a 2:1 in Modern Foreign Languages from the University of Sussex seeking a role in…’

Next, you’ll need to hone in on what you can offer your prospective employer. Here, you’ll want to highlight skills and achievements relevant to the job description and to back these up with examples.

If you don’t meet all the criteria for the role you’re applying for, you may want to draw attention to transferable skills which demonstrate why you’re a suitable candidate. For example:

‘Having lived and worked abroad, I am fluent in French and German , and can confidently use my language skills in a professional environment.’

The last section of your personal statement should conclude with your career goals and reaffirm why you’re applying for the role. For example, it may read:

‘I am seeking a role in the translations industry that complements my language skills.’

Don’t use cliches or buzzwords

Avoid using jargon or buzzwords . There’s a reason that it’s called a personal statement! If you write that you’re a good team player, you have a strong work ethic or you’re an effective communicator, it’ll be more difficult to stand out from the crowd.

These are just empty phrases that don’t really tell recruiters who you are or what you can do. Instead, provide examples of how you’ve worked well in a team or communicated effectively. If you wouldn’t describe yourself as a ‘team player’ in real life, don’t do it in your CV.

Make your personal statement easy to read

While your personal statement should be short, it should also be easy to read. Don’t make it another bullet-point list like the rest of your CV, but at the same time, avoid boring the reader with a mini-biography of your entire career history.

Recruiters have little time to spare and don’t need to know the ins and outs of every job you’ve ever had. Use specific keywords from the job description, include specific examples to help recruiters understand why you’re the right candidate and save details for your cover letter or interviews.

Proofread your personal statement

It’s worth proofreading your personal statement to catch any spelling or grammar mistakes and to make sure it flows well. Your personal statement is the first impression recruiters will have of you. If it’s littered with mistakes, it conveys a lack of attention to detail and doesn’t bode well for the rest of your CV.

You not only want to impress recruiters with your achievements but also your writing skills. A well-written personal statement demonstrates that you have good communication skills (without buzzwords!), and more importantly, ensures that recruiters won’t discard it at first glance.

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Graduate CV Personal Statement

Stephen Rooney Jun 17, 2019

Your personal statement is an important part of your CV. It’s one of the first things a potential employer or recruiter will see. So, to keep them interested, take a look at our guide for crafting the perfect graduate CV personal statement.

What is a personal statement on a CV?

A personal statement is a paragraph of around four to five sentences that appears at the top of your CV, just below your contact details. The purpose of this is to concisely tell a possible future employer or a recruiter:

Writing a personal statement may seem like a difficult task, especially as a graduate, when you have little experience, but it's not as hard as you think. We always recommend tailoring your personal statement to the job you are applying for. We show you how to make a strong CV personal statement in this artical.

How long should a personal statement be for a job?

Personal statements are all about getting the necessary information across with brevity. You need to keep it concise and straight to the point. A personal statement should be no longer than 150-200 words, or no more than four or five sentences. You may feel that you need to convey more information than you can summarise in this amount of words, however, this is best saved for the cover letter, where you will have more space to go into details about your skills and experience and why you are a great fit for this specific role.

Who you are?

How you write your personal statement is up to you, you can write it in third or first person, but do not mix the two; keep it consistent.

You should start off by saying who you are, which may look something like this:

“I’m a recent graduate with a 2:1 in Biochemistry from Bangor University, seeking a graduate role in …”

We recommend including your grade if it enhances your CV. If you don't think it's necessary or you need the space to highlight your skills, leave your grade out, as the person reading your CV can find it in the education section. You can also leave out the institute you studied at if you need this space for other important information, as this will also appear further down the CV.

What you can offer the employer?

The next couple of lines should be about your relevant experience. Make a song and dance about any skills that are highly relevant to the role you are applying for; remembering to always tailor your personal statement to the specific job. Once you have outlined your relevant skills, you’ll need to show when you've used those skills. For example:

“During my time at university and my year in industry, I developed excellent time-management skills, work well under pressure and detail orientated. As well as the above skills I have experience of working in a highly regulated laboratory environment”

Top tip: Use terms that employers or recruiters may be searching for. For example, if you're a computer science graduate and have experience with C++, make sure this is stated in your personal statement, as well as in the skills section of your CV.

Your career goals

For graduates, this can be tricky, especially if you are not sure which road you want to take. However, you don't need to panic and show an employer a 10 or 20-year career goal. No one is expecting you to have mapped out your life. You can, however, show what your short-term goals are and detail the skills you would like to develop if you were successful in getting a position in the organisation you are applying for. For example:

“I am looking for a new opportunity in an innovative company, where I can use and develop both my soft skills and technical skills, whilst using and continuing to expand my knowledge of biochemistry. “

How to write a personal statement when you don’t have any work experience

If you are entering the world of work after university, but do not have any work experience, don’t worry; there are transferable skills you’ve learnt while in university or in your extracurricular activities.

If you completed a STEM subject degree, it is likely you will have gained some technical skills as well as soft skills. Soft skills that employers are looking for include

During your university degree or in any extracurricular activities, you will have used some, if not all, of these skills. In your personal statement, cover letter and CV, you need to demonstrate when and how you have used the skills that employers are looking for. They don't necessarily need to be directly related to work.

If you do have some work experience, even if it’s not relevant to this role specifically, make sure you mention this in your personal statement. For example, it might have been a part-time job whilst studying, or during holidays, working in your family business or volunteering.

Don’t forget about optimising your CV for online searches

In the digital age, most jobs are advertised online, and it's also where employers and recruiters look for potential candidates. Millions of people have LinkedIn accounts and have uploaded their CVs to various job websites. So, how do you stand out, by ‘keyword-optimising' your personal statement and CV?

Often, potential employers and recruiters will use role-related keywords to search for candidates on LinkedIn and job websites. Generally, recruiters are looking to fill a graduate job that requires certain skills or qualifications. So, if you are a biology graduate and a job requires DNA extraction skills, which you have, then make sure you add this information to your personal statement so that you will appear in searches that match this term. It’s important to research the accepted industry terms that relate to your skills, so you stand the best chance of high search visibility.

For more CV advice, take a look at our in-depth guides on how to write a graduate CV and how to find a graduate job . If you want insights into what recruiters are looking for, read our post on 5 things recruiters look for on a graduate CV

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Best CV Personal Profile Examples

What is a CV personal profile?

A personal profile, also known as a CV summary, is the opening statement of your CV. It is a short introduction which outlines your personal characteristics, telling the prospective employer what kind of a person you are, the attributes and qualities that you possess and the work experience that you have.

How to write a CV profile statement from scratch

When writing your personal profile, ensure it is:

Short (no more than 6 lines);
Relevant to the job you are applying for, and;
Contains some real-world examples .

Be bold, be confident and talk about yourself in a positive way.

Your personal profile is not the place to be humble; it is your chance to be noticed and tell the potential employer exactly who you ‘really’ are and what you can do for them.

Warning: Do not go ‘over the top’ and give the impression that you are either very arrogant or simply too good to be true! Keep it balanced and realistic, bearing in mind the needs of the employer.

Click here if you want to see a bad example of a personal profile.

What information to include on a personal profile

The purpose of your personal profile is to concisely present your skills, qualities, work experience, and your career goals and ambitions. Consequently, you can mention anything from the following categories when constructing your personal profile:

Personal Qualities

Self-motivated
Having an eye for detail
Management skills
Communication skills
Problem-solving skills
Design skills
5 years experience in …
Excellent track record of …
Extensive background in …
Previous work experience in …

An ideal statement should have at least one example for each of these three categories.

How long should my profile statement be?

There are no set rules about the length of a personal profile, however, it is highly recommended to keep it ideally within the 50/80-words boundary (no longer than six lines). The reason for this is because employers, in the first instance, tend to scan CVs rather than extensively read it. Keeping it short and to the point increases the chances that they will actually read it.

Furthermore, as the total length of a CV is only 2 A4 pages long, having a short statement frees us valuable space for other key sections of your CV such as the work experience, education and skills sections .

Winning personal profile CV examples from all job sectors

Business management cv profile.

The candidate mentions their key personal skills and qualities that are relevant and important when managing a business.
The candidate mentions their relevant work experience in the field, indicating that they are able to work within multiple job sectors.

IT CV profile

The candidate correctly highlights their areas of expertise, such as designing websites, networking and managing databases. It is clear from these examples that the individual has a broad understanding of IT and would be able to work on a wide range of IT projects.
The candidate reassures the prospective employer that although they are working in a very technical field, they have the ability to work with a wide range of people. Interpersonal and communication skills are key to any job.

Student CV profile

The above personal statement is clear and informative, making it clear that the applicant is a student, currently completing their university degree, and are looking to work part-time in the industry.
It is always a good idea, as the candidate has done in this example, to clearly mention your availability for work and also the reasons for why you are seeking work. “Making money” is not a good enough reason for an employer to give you a job. The candidate has mentioned that they wish to put into practice what they have learned and make a positive contribution to the employer.

HR CV profile

The candidate highlights that they have previous work experience in Human Resources (HR), making them familiar with the payroll systems and employment law. Additionally, they indicate some personal qualities (such as interpersonal skills and being sensitive to people’s privacies) which would be highly beneficial for the role that they are applying for.

Manager CV profile

The candidate not only states that they have three years’ of experience in management but they also mention the positive contribution that they made to that organisation. In this case, it was a significant improvement in the performance of the team that they were managing.

Sales/retail CV profile

Just by looking at the profile statement of this individual, we can conclude that this person has thorough experience of sales and is able to handle the various aspects of the selling process. Additionally, their promotion indicates that they are a high achiever.

Teaching CV profile

In just a few lines, the candidate demonstrates a great deal of compassion, empathy and care for young people and their futures. This level of care and concern, along with an enduring passion for teaching, are the key ingredients of being successful in any teaching careers.
The candidate indicating that they are able to work with young children from all backgrounds and walks of life. This is important, especially when living in today’s multicultural and diverse societies.

Engineering CV profile

The candidate correctly highlights their previous work experience and areas of expertise. This makes them look like a very competent and accomplished chemical engineer, increasing the chances of being invited for an interview.

Designer CV profile

This is an effective statement because the candidate highlights their valuable 1st class degree in Graphic Design and previous work experience in the design industry. Additionally, the candidate makes mention of their personal qualities, such as having the ability to think outside the box, to further indicate their suitability for the job.

Hospitality CV profile

The above is an excellent example of how profile statement should be constructed; it contains references to their previous work experience in the same industry, personal qualities that are relevant to the job (e.g. having a passion for food and socialising with people) and their job achievements (e.g. winning an award). Any employer reading this statement will have to think twice before they put it in the rejection pile!

Admin CV profile

The candidate mentions their previous work experience project management and providing administrative support to businesses.
This admin personal statement clearly demonstrates that the individual is aware of all the challenges that administrators face; working in a busy working environment, handling multiple projects simultaneously, prioritising tasks and achieving the highest standard of work.

Customer service CV profile

The candidate indicates that they are able to resolve customer enquiries and complaints face-to-face, over the phone or via email. This ability enables them to work in a variety of different job settings, i.e. a call centre, on the shop floor or at a desk.
Their statement contains a tangible example of accomplishment (i.e. successfully resolving 150 customer enquiries or complaints).

Media CV profile

The candidate has included many examples of their previous work experience and competencies in the field. Any employer interested in hiring an experienced camera operator will most certainly be impressed and continue reading the remainder of their CV.

Healthcare CV profile

The candidate highlights that they are able to work with a variety of different people, something which is essential as physiotherapists will be working with people from all backgrounds and ages.
The statement includes personal qualities that are important to have as a physiotherapist, such as being caring and friendly. Although some careers advisors do not recommend generic words such as ‘caring’ and ‘friendly’, it is nevertheless recommended to include them if they truly reflect your personality and if the rest of the personal statement contains specific information which is not generic in nature.

Writer CV profile

This profile is short and punchy, increasing the chances that it will be read in full by the prospective employers
The candidate highlights their career achievements by stating that their works have been accepted and published by leading newspapers and magazines – a testimony to the high quality of their work.

Science CV profile

This statement is short and to the point; highlighting all the important information such as the candidates work experience, expertise and some personal qualities and characteristics.

Do I need to include a personal statement on my CV? No, it is entirely optional to include a personal profile on your CV. However, it is generally recommended to include one, particularly as it serves as a little “About me” section at the top of your CV. Every written document has an introduction, why shouldn’t a CV?

Can I use the first person tense in my statement? Yes, the first and third person tenses are both fine to use – but not both. Decide on the one tense and stick to it.

Where should I include the profile statement on my CV There is no fixed place in which you should put your personal profile. Some candidates place it at the bottom of their CVs. Ideally, you should position it at the top of your CV.

What is the most important thing to include on a personal profile? Real-world examples and tangible performance indicators, for example; increased sales by x percent, managed x number of people, won such-and-such awards, improved productivity by x percent, etc. These types of information are highly valuable, as opposed to saying that you are the “best salesperson in the country” and not backing it up with any evidence!

Need help with other sections of your CV?

While you’re still here – don’t forget to check out our amazing How to write a CV guide for more practical tips on writing your perfect CV or this useful resource.