Writing a personal statement

A personal statement should be a positive summary of you and your motivations for applying for an opportunity. It's an important section in this type of application form and will take the most amount of time to complete. This section normally appears with a large text box after you have filled in your basic information.

It is a good idea to draft your personal statement in a separate Word document. This enables you to keep a copy which will be important to reflect on should you be invited to an interview. It also enables you to proofread your work to check for spelling and grammar. If possible get someone else to proofread your personal statement.

Try to write concisely. Don’t make the statement too long with superfluous detail, but neither should it be too short. There should be enough to ‘sell’ yourself, without boring them. Stick to a word count if there is one.

How to structure your personal statement

When presented with an empty text box, it can be difficult to know where to start. If you are not given specific instructions about content, you should always aim to include the following:

Why them?

Describe what motivates you and attracts you about the opportunity. Show that you have a realistic understanding of what is involved and can draw parallels with positive experiences you have already had, even if these have been in different settings.

Your background research will enable you to demonstrate your motivation more effectively. By knowing more about them you will have more to talk about, and will therefore be more effective in specifically evidencing your motivation and your understanding of the opportunity and the company. For example, their projects, values or personal development opportunities may have taken your interest. Whatever captures your attention, try to be as specific and authentic as possible. Generic statements do not tend to work well here.

Why you?

Many recruiters use the person specification as a selection tool when reviewing your statement. For this reason, it is important that you evidence their criteria as clearly as possible. To achieve this you could:

• Use the key competencies as sub-headings to signpost the recruiter to the relevant information
• Theme different key competencies into separate paragraphs. Ideally, order these paragraphs in the order that they appear in the person specification so that it is easy for the recruiter to follow
• Theme key experiences in separate paragraphs in order of relevance, e.g. a paragraph on your education, then your projects, then your work experience etc. Clearly demonstrate the relevant skills and experiences when describing these experiences.

If there isn’t a formal specification available, then write it against the competencies that they say they are looking for in the advert or from wider research.

You may find the STAR structure useful to refer to when presenting examples to demonstrate a competency:

Situation – Provide some brief details about the situation so that the reader can understand the context of the example
Task – Explain the objective/purpose, i.e. what you were aiming to do
Action – Describe what you did and summarise your actions
Result – Finish with the outcome. Show that you met your objectives and, if appropriate, comment on what you learnt from the experience

This is the opportunity for you to demonstrate your relevant skills, attributes and specific knowledge, so make sure you sell yourself.

Things you haven’t had chance to tell them about in other parts of the form

You might also use this section to set out experiences that you feel are of ‘secondary’ importance, i.e. things that are still relevant but which you haven’t written about elsewhere in the form. For example, you might write about interests, leisure pursuits or volunteering that are not directly relevant to the job but where you have developed some pertinent transferable skills.

You could also use this section to explain how you coped with any setbacks and refer to qualities such as determination and persistence. This can be helpful to explain re-sits, changing courses, lack of relevant experience or time gaps. Write positively about the experience, for example, what you learnt from it and what you have done to address the issue since then, if applicable.

End with a closing paragraph

Try to end on a high note with a positive concluding statement. You could reiterate your motivation and commitment.

Key tasks

1. Before writing your personal statement, make sure you have done your research into the opportunity and reflected on how you meet the requirements. For further information on how to do this, see Preparing to write an application form

2. Draft your personal statement in a separate document. This enables you to keep a copy of your responses, which will be important to reflect on should you be invited to an interview. It also enables you to proofread your work to check for spelling and grammar. It is also a good idea to get someone else to check your application for you.