A personal statement is a brief summary usually given to prospective students or employers to stand apart from the competition. It is usually a written description of a person’s achievements, interests, or passion. It is often included as part of an application for a job or a place at a university or college.
When writing your personal statement, there are some important factors you need to consider. Neglecting these factors can jeopardize your hope of getting a job or getting admission of your choice. Here some basic things to know when you are working on your essay.
A personal statement is usually included in CV's and applications to convince your employer or admission officer. It allows you to sell yourself to the employer in a short and clear paragraph by highlighting your skill and experiences, and why you should be chosen among the hundreds of people that have also submitted their application. In fact, it is an opportunity to convince your reader or employer to want to read more of your CV.
• Length: The length of your personal essay ideally should not be more than 150 words. It should occupy four to five lines of your CV. Anything more than this will only take up space unnecessarily and make your CV look unprofessional.
• Questions Your Personal Statement Should answer.
For your personal statement to be perfect, the following questions should be answered in it.
A) Who are you?
B) What do you offer?
C) What are your career goals?
The answers to these questions should be easily found in your personal statement. To ensure that all these questions are found in your statements, make an outline that clearly shows all these points and write your statement based on these outlines.
When writing the personal statement, there are some common errors you should avoid. Some of these errors include:
A) Excessively long or short personal statements
150 words is the perfect word length for your statement. Making your personal statement longer or shorter than that can be quite unprofessional.
B) Including negative information in your personal statement
Although, it is advised that you should maintain a high level of honesty while writing your personal statement, do not put negative information in your statement, as this might backfire. Put honest and positive information that you think will boost your chance of being selected as the most qualified candidate to fill the position in question.
C) Writing a confusing Statement.
Another mistake people make is making your statement confusing. The personal statement should be clear and straight to the point. Do not try to impress by writing long boring and unnecessary sentences, you might just end up confusing your employer and losing the job you dream of.
When writing your personal essay, there are some Do's and Don't's you should consider when writing. These will determine the quality of your essay and how far your essay will go generally. These important rules are listed below.
1) Try as much as possible to grab the reader’s attention by being professional polite and positive throughout your statement. You should try to keep your statement short and clear. Doing this will give your reader the impression that you are serious and that you understand the task ahead of you.
2) Include a brief overview of all your work experiences or history in your statement. Show your key skills and how your skills match up to the job description. Also, try to let the employer know what you can add to the company’s growth.
3) Use the language of your job description. This shows that you have read the job description thoroughly and that you have a comprehensive understanding of what the role requires.
1) Include unnecessary personal information.
Information such as your marital status, relationship status should not be included in your statement. This type of information has no relation as to your capability for the role, thus is useless to the subject matter.
2) Include anything negative, most especially your flaws.
This is just like you telling the employer reasons why he should not hire you. You need to present yourself as good as possible and try to remain as optimistic as possible. Also avoid being flamboyant as much as possible as most of the time, being flamboyant does not impress anyone.
3) Make claims that you can’t defend with evidence.Your employer may ask you about such claims.
Finally, after completing your personal statement, it is very important you get someone to proofread your statement one again. Ensure that you do not take your statement to more than two to three people and more than that can cause you to be confused. Read your statement aloud to them and let them make the necessary corrections. You can also read successful personal statements on the internet, and try to compare those great statements to yours.
If you follow these tips above and you dedicate enough passion and time to your statement — you are on your way to writing a great personal statement and getting the job of your dreams.
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