Personal Statement for CV: Examples & Tips | myPerfectCV (2023)

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Your personal statement or CV personal profile is the first thing a recruiter reads when they look at your Curriculum vitae.

As it is your opening paragraph, it’s vital that the personal statement for your CV draws recruiters in and gains their interest. Many recruiters will only read your CV personal statement and decide if you sound like a suitable candidate before reading anything else.

This guide will provide you with:

• Personal statement examples
• Personal statements tips
• Personal statement for a CV: Common mistakes
• Frequently Asked Questions about Personal statement for CV

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CV personal statement examples

• Art teacher
• Web designer
• Personal trainer
• Radiographer
• Software engineer
• Babysitter
• Sales assistant
• Human resources officer
• Digital marketing manager
• Bookkeeper
• Head bartender
• Barber

Personal statement for a CV: Tips

Many people freak out when thinking about their CV personal profile because it’s the bit where they have to “think” the most. We have good news - there’s a straightforward approach to writing a personal statement on your CV that ensures you include all the best bits of your career and make the right impression!

• Stay concise

  The most important tip we can give you is not to go overboard. You want to keep your CV personal statement clear, fluff-free, and above all else, factual.

• Use the third person

  Another top tip: write in the third person and drop all pronouns (I, me, he, she, they, them). It’s acceptable to write in the first (I), but trust us, using the third person sounds more professional. All our personal statement CV examples will show you how to draft your statement in the third person.

• Three simple sentences

  Personal statements and CVs use an abbreviated sentence structure, which allows you to fit more information into limited space. We recommend following this format:

  • Sentence 1 (Who you are): Opening statement including years of experience and career focus.
  • Sentence 2 (What you can achieve): Results you can, or have accomplished.
  • Sentence 3-4 (How you can achieve it): Your unique skill sets or areas of expertise.

• Sound confident

  Proudly highlight your true capabilities - it's essential to present your achievements in your CV personal statement. This isn’t the time to downplay the importance of your experience and skills. Remember: this might be all the recruiter reads about you - make it interesting!

• Mention numbers

  Whether you’re in a sales career or not, numbers help to show recruiters how much you're capable of in your CV’s personal profile. How many people you’ve managed. How many facilities you’ve run. How many awards you’ve won. Quantifying your experience with numbers is only ever a positive - do it wherever you can.

• Use adjectives

  All good personal statement examples are descriptive. Give your CV personal profile the energy it deserves by using adjectives to describe yourself and your abilities. A dull statement that reads like a list won’t turn heads.

• Be clear and concise

  As with our CV profile examples, the ideal length for a personal statement is 50 to 200 words maximum. Note how this accountant’s statement concisely details their fundamental skills, relevant work experience, and future aspirations in a short paragraph:

  “Dependable accounting professional acknowledged for reliability, integrity, and quick-learning ability. Highly skilled with an eye for identifying and correcting errors. Brings enthusiasm for solving client’s challenges and providing first-class financial services.”

• Use short, punchy sentences.

  Keep a neutral tone, taking care not to write in the first person. You can see how it’s done in this excerpt from one of our personal statement CV examples:

  “An ambitious and talented professional with a proven academic background in science and valuable experience in teaching and lecturing. Possess first-class academic written skills and is also an effective verbal communicator.”

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Personal statement for a CV: Common mistakes to avoid

• Exceeding 4 sentences

  Though it can be tempting, keep the personal statement on your CV to a maximum of 3-4 sentences, depending on sentence length. You want to grab the hiring manager’s attention - but not bore them!

• Telling the recruiter what you're looking for

  It can be very tempting to write sentences like “seeking a new role in a fast-paced environment where I can thrive.” Why not? Because that’s what a cover letter is for, and also it’s just a waste of space where you could be talking about your capabilities and achievements.

• Including jokes

  While you want to inject some personality into your CV personal statement, humour and jokes will undermine your professionalism, and may even offend.

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• Forgetting to use the spell-checker

  There’s nothing more off-putting for a recruiter than reading personal statements for CVs that are littered with spelling and grammar mistakes. Take a moment to check over what you’ve written before hitting the ‘save’ button.

• Copying someone else’s personal statement

  If you’re stuck on what to write or are short on time, it may be tempting to copy a friend’s or a colleague’s personal statement, or follow personal statement CV examples a bit too closely. Don’t do it — a recruiter may notice that what's written in your personal statement doesn’t reflect what’s in your CV. This could lead them to reject your application.

• Making it difficult to find

  As with our CV examples, a personal profile should sit at the top of the CV between your contact details and work experience.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Personal statement for CV

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