What is a CV personal statement?
Your personal statement or CV personal profile is the first thing a recruiter reads when they look at your CV. In simple terms, it’s a short paragraph of 3-4 sentences which introduces your experience, key skills, area of expertise, and results you can accomplish or have accomplished in your career to date.
As 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. Shocking, we know!
To make things easier, we’ve put together a guide to personal statements for CVs, including supporting statement examples, tips and some vital dos and don’ts for your own CV profile.
Personal statement CV examples
Art teacher CV - personal statement example
Professional Art Teacher focused on maximising student educational potential by applying diverse instructional strategies and classroom management techniques. Gifted in lecturing students, facilitating discussions, and planning hands-on activities to enhance learning.
1/12
Web designer CV - personal statement example
Seasoned graphic artist and web designer bringing 8 years of experience applying technical and creative abilities to diverse customer projects. Highly effective at collaborating with artistic, project, production and administrative leadership to complete tasks according to budget and schedule goals.
2/12
Personal trainer CV - personal statement example
Health and fitness professional who is driven to teach and inspire clients to reach their personal fitness goals through a combination of proper diet, tailored exercise regimes, rest and stress management. Caring, compassionate and outgoing with a strong reputation for maintaining long lasting professional relationships with clients.
3/12
Radiographer CV - personal statement example
Proactive Radiographer with extensive experience across a diverse range of general and specialist examinations. Offering expertise in X-ray and ultrasound processes, with maintained CPD to offer comprehensive, thorough, accurate radiology services.
4/12
Software engineer CV - personal statement example
Results-oriented software engineering professional with 8 years’ expertise in building secure applications. An excellent team player with a positive attitude. Seeking a role building web and mobile applications for a well-established software company.
5/12
Babysitter CV - personal statement example
Enthusiastic Babysitter experienced with children ages 6 months to 10 years old. Able to watch up to 5 kids at once. Certified in first aid and CPR.
6/12
Sales assistant CV - personal statement example
Highly experienced Sales Assistant with expertise in store opening and closing procedures, money handling, and merchandising. Able to manage all tasks with efficiency and accuracy. Proficient in monitoring security and serving diverse customer needs.
7/12
Human resources officer CV - personal statement example
Detail-orientated Human Resources Officer with 12 years of experience in human resources. Adept at double-checking logistics with a talent for accurate evaluations and effective time management. Successful at quality assurance and complex problem-solving.
8/12
Digital marketing manager CV - personal statement example
Decisive Marketing Manager with 12 years of experience driving company growth through creative and innovative strategies. Resourceful team leader skilled at analysing market trends and customer needs to develop highly effective and targeted marketing campaigns.
9/12
Bookkeeper CV - personal statement example
Experienced Bookkeeper with a history of financial statement preparation and servicing accounts. Adept at writing detailed reports and budgets, completed detailed financial analysis and planning strategically for top client services.
10/12
Head bartender CV - personal statement example
Outgoing Bartender highly skilled in mixing and serving drinks in high-volume establishments. Established positive rapport with customers whilst maintaining productivity. Experienced, qualified mixologist with in-depth knowledge about high-end service standards and laws regarding serving alcoholic beverages.
11/12
Barber CV - personal statement example
Proficient Barber versed in hairstyles, cutting techniques, and shaving customers. Collaborative team player with strong communication and relationship building abilities.
12/12
Tips on your personal statement for a CV
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!
What to include
The experience section of a CV shows what the applicant has done in past roles. The skills section of a CV shows what an applicant has. Then, your personal statement gives the hiring manager insight into who the applicant is. For example, in addition to listing “data analysis” in the skills section, the applicant might be described as “data-driven” in their CV personal statement.
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.
How to start a personal statement
The first sentence of your CV’s personal statement establishes the years of experience you have and your career focus. It starts to build the foundation of who you're as an individual in the workplace.
Let’s look at some supporting statement examples for the first sentence:
Nurse “Energetic registered nurse with 10 years of experience caring for the elderly in care home environments.”
Electrician “Licenced electrician with over 15 years of hands-on experience leading large-scale, commercial electrical projects.”
Entry-level candidate “Confident and enthusiastic worker with assured customer service skills and a deep passion for the transport industry.”
What to include in the middle sentence of a personal statement
Your personal statement’s middle sentence will paint a picture of the things you’ve achieved in the past or are performing currently. Giving recruiters this information offers them a window into your capabilities.
Here are some CV personal statement examples demonstrating that:
Nurse “Maintained medical needs for 20 residents, leading in times of high-stress, administering high-level medical care to all individuals.”
Electrician “Responsible for Hightrees development which was given an industry award for low energy consumption.”
Entry-level “Exceptional communication and PR skills honed while editor on engineering faculty newspaper during university.”
How to end a personal statement
Your statement’s closing sentence is all about your unique skill set, including hard (learned) and soft (personality-based) skills, as with these examples of personal statements for CVs:
Nurse “Cool and calm at all times, ready to handle medical emergencies.”
Electrician “Offering both practical and strategic project management skills.”
Entry-level “Hard-working and diligent with outstanding attention to detail.”
Why not have a go at creating your statement now with myPerfectCV?
Personal Statement for CV: Dos and Don’ts
DO
- 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.”
DONT
- Exceed 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!
- Tell 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.
- Include jokes While you want to inject some personality into your CV personal statement, humour and jokes will undermine your professionalism, and may even offend.
- Forget 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.
- Copy 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.
- Make 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.
Create the perfect CV personal profile and get seen!
The key to a robust personal statement for a CV is to include as much information as clearly and as briefly as you can. With a perfect CV profile in place, you can be sure recruiters will want to keep reading your application.
Hopefully, our tips and CV personal profile examples have given you a better idea for your own CV’s personal statement. The next step? Head on over to our CV builder and choose a CV template to start building your detail-packed personal statement and get your CV placed on a recruiter’s ‘interested’ pile. Good luck!
