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How To Write A Personal Statement
By Jason Taingahue
Learning how to write a personal statement is not as easy as it may sound. A personal statement is, at the most, a half page statement about you. It briefly explains what kind of person you are, your hobbies, likes and dislikes, how you are going to benefit the employer's company, what skills you bring with you, your educational achievements, how you relate to other people and what you are doing at the present time. It is a personal marketing statement, if you were to think of yourself as a product that you are trying to market to other people or possible employers. You could also think of it as a personal summary of yourself.
The personal statement that you write, can be as long as a page, or as small as a paragraph but it is important to write enough information in there to explain as much about yourself as possible in the smallest possible time. One has to take into consideration that whoever is reading your personal statement probably has about 5 or 6 other personal statements to look over after yours. So make sure you know how to write yours really well. The personal statement should be clear, concise and easy to read. It should capture the employer's attention right from the start and hold it until the end.
Some personal statements are presented on separate pages in a resume but most will be included on the front page of the resume and will only be a small paragraph. Most are changed to suit the position applied for and the size and reputation of the employer should also taken into consideration. So from time to time, check that what you have chosen to write does in fact reflect the position you are applying for.
The easiest way to write a personal statement is to write down all the skills that you have and your educational achievements. You can get a close friend or relative to write down what kind of person they think you are and work through that list so that you can taper down the list to a few words to add into the personal statement. You also need to really think about what kind of person you are because you have to be able to sell yourself, to a potential employer, both in person and through the personal statement.
Next, know how to set up and write your layout.
The heading for your personal statement should be slightly bigger font size and bold so that it sticks out. Keep the rest of the personal statement in a fairly normal font so that it blends into the rest of the resume. The beginning of the personal statement should include what type of person you are and how you would perform the job. The middle of the personal statement should include your educational achievements, relevant to the position you have applied for and you should end the personal statement with how any company would benefit or be better, should they choose to hire you.
The end of the personal statement that you write is important because it is likely that the last few words that you write in the statement are what are going to stick in the employers head. You want to word and write the ending so that the employer is thinking about what you just said in your personal statement, even while they are reading the next personal statement that someone else has chosen to write.
Once you have created your perfect personal statement, and made the effort to write it up, keep an original copy and change the wording to suit the position or update the statement as you up skill in the future. The good thing about a personal statement, is it is personal to you and as you change, your personal statement should change to reflect that. So in saying that, you may want to have another attempt at a later date at being able to write up a better personal statement.
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