Personal Statement?

[Penny31]

Hi

I’ve been with the same company for 15 years, but now it’s time to move on. I’ve started applying for some jobs and for one application it asks for a personal statement.

Can someone give me some advice in what that should include please?

Thank you

Generally (in the absence of any guidance saying differently on the advert or employers recruitment site) it is essentially a slightly longer and more detailed cover letter. So it should start with a brief paragraph or 2 about you, why you are applying and what you bring to the role (not repeating your whole CV/employment history but drawing out the key points that relate to this role).

Then you should look at the person specification for the role if one is provided, or if not then the description of the person they are looking for and 'must haves' in the advert. Address each 'essential' point or essential competency- I do them one by one in a headed paragraph for ease. Write a couple of hundred words per point, using examples to demonstrate how you meet that competency. It's a PITA if they have included loads of essential criteria (public sector jobs are notorious for doing this), so many you'd need to write a dissertation to cover them all, in which case I pick out what seem to be the most important ones, but generally try and cover everything they've asked for. The whole thing should normally be no more than 2-3 A4 sides in normal type font

Hope that helps!

Thank you. That’s really helpful. It’s a lot longer than I thought it should be so I’m pleased I asked! The examples I’ve seen online are only a paragraph or two, so I’d have been seeing myself short if I’d followed that advice.