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Create ResumeA strong CV personal statement should quickly tell a recruiter what you do, what level you operate at, what value you bring, and what type of role you are targeting. It is not a life story, a motivational speech, or a list of nice personality traits. In the UK, your personal statement sits at the top of your CV, so it has one job: help the reader understand your professional relevance before they scan the rest of your experience.
I see candidates waste this section by writing things like “hardworking team player with excellent communication skills”. That tells me almost nothing. A good personal statement gives me context. A great one makes me think, “Right, I understand this candidate already.”
A CV personal statement is a short professional summary at the top of your CV. It usually sits underneath your name and contact details, before your work experience, education, or key skills.
Its purpose is to position you clearly.
That word matters: position.
A personal statement is not there to decorate your CV. It helps recruiters and hiring managers understand how to read the rest of your application. It gives them the lens.
For example, if you are applying for an entry level marketing role, your personal statement should not vaguely say you are “passionate about business”. It should show your interest in marketing, any relevant projects, transferable skills, and the kind of role you are now targeting.
If you are an experienced project manager, your personal statement should not read like you are open to absolutely anything with the word “project” in it. It should highlight your delivery environment, stakeholder level, project scale, methodology, and commercial impact where relevant.
The common mistake is thinking a personal statement should make you sound impressive. It should make you sound relevant.
That is the difference.
When I read a CV personal statement, I am not looking for poetry. I am looking for useful signals.
Recruiters usually scan quickly because they are trying to answer a few immediate questions:
What does this person actually do?
Are they at the right level for this role?
Do they have relevant industry, function, or technical experience?
Are they making a logical move?
Is the rest of the CV worth reading properly?
That may sound blunt, but it is how screening works. Nobody sits there lovingly decoding vague paragraphs. If your statement makes the recruiter work too hard, they will usually move on to your job titles, dates, and experience instead.
A strong CV personal statement gives the reader enough confidence to continue.
A weak one creates confusion, or worse, sounds like every other CV in the pile.
The best personal statements usually include:
Your current role, target role, or professional identity
Your relevant experience level
Your core skills or specialisms
Your industry or sector knowledge, if useful
One or two strong value points
A clear direction for the role you want next
It does not need to include every detail. The rest of the CV can do that.
Think of it as the opening argument, not the full evidence file.
A UK CV personal statement should usually be three to five lines, or around 50 to 100 words.
That is enough space to give context without turning the top of your CV into a wall of text.
I usually advise candidates to keep it tight because recruiters do not read CVs like books. They scan, compare, filter, and shortlist. If your opening paragraph is too long, the important information gets buried.
A good personal statement should feel sharp and intentional. Not cramped, not robotic, but controlled.
Too short:
“Hardworking graduate looking for an opportunity in finance.”
This is too vague. It gives no evidence, no direction, and no useful positioning.
Too long:
A six paragraph explanation of your career journey, personal values, motivation, communication style, and future ambitions.
This usually creates the opposite problem. The reader has to dig for relevance.
A better version sits in the middle:
Good Example:
“Finance graduate with strong analytical skills, internship experience in accounts administration, and a solid understanding of financial reporting, Excel, and data accuracy. Now looking for an entry level finance assistant role where I can support reporting, reconciliations, and month end processes while continuing to build practical accounting experience.”
This works because it tells me what the candidate has, what they want, and why the move makes sense.
A strong personal statement is built around relevance, not self praise.
The easiest way to write one is to answer four questions:
What is your professional identity?
What experience or skills make you relevant?
What kind of role are you targeting?
What value can you bring to that role?
For most candidates, the structure looks like this:
Professional identity: who you are professionally.
Relevant proof: your experience, skills, sector knowledge, achievements, or training.
Direction: what role or environment you are now targeting.
Here is the recruiter reality: if you do not give your CV a clear direction, recruiters may create one for you. And they may get it wrong.
A vague personal statement can make a strong CV look unfocused. I have seen candidates with excellent backgrounds undersell themselves because their opening paragraph sounds like they copied it from a template in 2011 and hoped nobody would notice.
Your statement should sound like a real professional summary, not a personal branding exercise gone rogue.
Below are practical CV personal statement examples for different career stages and situations. Use them as models, not scripts. The best version will always be tailored to your role, level, and target job.
Good Example:
“Recent business management graduate with strong research, analytical, and presentation skills developed through academic projects, part time work, and a final year dissertation focused on consumer behaviour. Confident using Excel, PowerPoint, and data led insights to support decision making. Now seeking an entry level business analyst or commercial support role where I can apply structured problem solving in a professional environment.”
This works because it does not pretend the graduate has years of experience. It uses what they do have: academic projects, transferable skills, tools, and direction.
Many graduates make the mistake of trying to sound senior. Recruiters are not expecting you to have led transformation projects across three continents. They are looking for potential, clarity, effort, and evidence that you understand the type of role you are applying for.
Weak Example:
“I am a motivated and enthusiastic graduate with excellent communication skills and a passion for success. I work well independently and as part of a team and am looking for an exciting opportunity.”
This could belong to anyone. That is the problem.
Good Example:
“Reliable and motivated school leaver with strong organisation, customer service, and teamwork skills developed through school responsibilities, volunteering, and part time retail experience. Confident speaking with customers, handling tasks accurately, and working in busy environments. Looking for an entry level customer service or administration role where I can build practical workplace experience and contribute positively from day one.”
This example is realistic. It does not oversell. It shows maturity, reliability, and a sensible target.
For school leavers, employers often care about attitude, reliability, communication, and basic work readiness. That does not mean writing “I am hardworking” and hoping for the best. It means giving small but useful proof.
Good details to include if relevant:
Part time work
Volunteering
School leadership responsibilities
Customer facing experience
Organisation and punctuality
IT skills
Interest in the role or industry
A school leaver personal statement should be simple, but not empty.
Good Example:
“Customer service professional with six years of experience handling high volume enquiries, resolving complaints, and supporting customers across phone, email, and live chat. Strong communication, problem solving, and case management skills, with recent training in HR administration and employment law basics. Now seeking an HR assistant role where I can transfer my people focused experience into employee support, onboarding, and HR operations.”
Career change personal statements need to do one very important thing: connect the dots.
Hiring managers are not always imaginative. That sounds harsh, but it is true. If your experience is in one field and your target role is in another, you need to show the bridge.
Do not just say you are “looking for a new challenge”. That phrase usually means nothing. Explain why your previous experience is relevant to the new direction.
Weak Example:
“I am looking to change careers and would like an opportunity in HR. I am passionate about people and keen to learn.”
This may be honest, but it is too thin. Passion is not enough. The recruiter needs to understand transferable value.
Good Example:
“Operations manager with over ten years of experience improving service delivery, team performance, and process efficiency across fast paced retail and logistics environments. Skilled in workforce planning, supplier coordination, KPI management, and operational problem solving. Known for bringing structure to underperforming processes and supporting teams through periods of change. Now seeking a senior operations role with scope to improve performance, service standards, and commercial outcomes.”
This works because it shows level, environment, capability, and value.
For experienced professionals, the personal statement should not read like a personality profile. At this level, hiring managers want to know what problems you solve.
Are you good at scaling teams? Fixing broken processes? Managing stakeholders? Improving retention? Delivering projects? Reducing cost? Building client relationships?
The more senior you are, the more your personal statement should move away from generic skills and towards business impact.
Good Example:
“People focused team manager with eight years of experience leading customer service teams, improving performance, and coaching staff in target driven environments. Strong track record of reducing escalations, improving team productivity, and building consistent service standards. Comfortable managing rotas, performance conversations, reporting, and stakeholder expectations. Now looking for a management role where I can strengthen team capability and improve operational results.”
This is stronger than simply saying “experienced manager with leadership skills”.
Management is not a personality trait. It is a set of responsibilities and outcomes. Hiring managers want to know what kind of manager you are and what you have actually managed.
A manager personal statement should usually include:
Team size or management scope, if relevant
Performance or operational focus
Coaching and people development
Stakeholder management
Reporting, targets, or service delivery
Type of environment
The phrase “natural leader” is rarely useful. Show leadership through the work.
Good Example:
“Organised administrator with four years of experience supporting office operations, document management, diary coordination, data entry, and customer communication. Confident using Microsoft Office, CRM systems, and internal databases to maintain accurate records and support smooth day to day processes. Looking for an administration role where I can provide reliable operational support, improve task flow, and help teams stay organised.”
This is clear and practical.
For admin roles, hiring managers often care about accuracy, reliability, systems, communication, and whether you can keep things moving without creating chaos. I say that with love, because good administrators quietly save teams from absolute nonsense every day.
The mistake many candidates make is underselling admin work as “general duties”. Be specific. Administration is not just “helping in the office”. It can involve coordination, compliance, records, customer handling, scheduling, reporting, and process discipline.
Good Example:
“Customer service advisor with five years of experience handling enquiries, resolving complaints, processing orders, and supporting customers across phone, email, and live chat. Skilled at staying calm under pressure, explaining information clearly, and managing high volume workloads while maintaining service quality. Now looking for a customer support role where I can improve customer experience and contribute to strong service standards.”
This works because it balances soft skills with actual customer service activity.
Customer service personal statements often become painfully generic. “I enjoy helping people” is fine, but it is not enough. Employers want to know what kind of customers, channels, systems, queries, and pressure you have handled.
A better customer service personal statement includes:
Communication channels
Complaint handling
Query types
Order processing or account support
Systems used
Service quality or targets
Pressure and volume
That gives the recruiter something real to work with.
Good Example:
“Sales professional with seven years of experience building client relationships, managing pipelines, and delivering revenue growth across B2B technology and professional services. Skilled in prospecting, consultative selling, CRM management, negotiation, and account development. Strong record of converting complex opportunities by understanding client needs and creating commercially relevant solutions. Now seeking a business development role focused on long term client growth and revenue performance.”
Sales CVs need evidence. A personal statement can set the scene, but the rest of the CV must support it with numbers, targets, revenue, conversion, deal size, or client outcomes.
Recruiters are careful with sales CVs because many candidates use impressive language without proof. “Results driven sales expert” is easy to write. Showing pipeline ownership, revenue performance, market knowledge, and client development is more convincing.
Weak Example:
“I am a confident sales person who enjoys meeting targets and working with customers. I am ambitious and looking for my next opportunity.”
It is not terrible, but it is forgettable.
Good Example:
“Digital marketing executive with four years of experience supporting SEO, paid social, email campaigns, content planning, and performance reporting across ecommerce and consumer brands. Confident using GA4, Meta Ads Manager, Mailchimp, Shopify, and keyword research tools to improve campaign visibility and engagement. Now looking for a marketing role with greater ownership of campaign strategy, reporting, and growth activity.”
Marketing personal statements need to avoid vague creativity.
Hiring managers want to know what you can actually do. Content? Paid media? SEO? Email? Brand? Analytics? CRM? Events? Social? Campaign management?
“Creative marketer” is not enough. Modern marketing hiring is often skills based, tool based, and results aware. The clearer you are about your specialisms, the easier it is for recruiters to match you to the right role.
Good Example:
“Part qualified finance professional with five years of experience supporting management accounts, reconciliations, invoice processing, month end reporting, and financial data accuracy. Confident using Excel, Sage, and ERP systems to maintain reliable records and support reporting deadlines. Now seeking an assistant accountant role where I can continue progressing towards qualification while contributing to accurate financial operations.”
Finance personal statements should be precise.
Hiring managers in finance usually look for accuracy, systems knowledge, reporting exposure, qualification status, and understanding of deadlines. If you are part qualified, studying AAT, ACCA, CIMA, or ACA, make that clear where relevant.
Do not waste the opening lines saying you have “a passion for numbers”. That phrase has been dragged through enough CVs. Show practical finance exposure instead.
Good Example:
“IT support technician with three years of experience providing first and second line support across Windows, Microsoft 365, Active Directory, hardware, networking, and ticketing systems. Skilled at troubleshooting technical issues, supporting users remotely and onsite, and documenting resolutions clearly. Now looking for an IT support role with scope to develop further in infrastructure, cloud services, and systems administration.”
IT personal statements need to be technically specific without turning into a keyword dump.
Recruiters need to know your support level, technologies, systems, user environment, and direction. Hiring managers need to see whether your experience matches the technical reality of the role.
A vague IT statement can make you look less capable than you are. A clear one helps the reader immediately understand your fit.
Good Example:
“Compassionate healthcare assistant with four years of experience supporting patients with personal care, mobility, observations, record keeping, and daily living needs across residential and clinical settings. Confident working as part of multidisciplinary teams, following safeguarding procedures, and maintaining dignity, safety, and confidentiality. Now seeking a healthcare assistant role where I can provide reliable patient centred support in a busy care environment.”
Healthcare personal statements should balance compassion with competence.
Employers need to trust that you understand responsibility, safeguarding, confidentiality, teamwork, and patient dignity. Warmth matters, but so does reliability.
Avoid writing only about wanting to help people. That is important, but healthcare hiring also involves risk, safety, compliance, and consistency.
Not every candidate fits neatly into a job title. Sometimes your situation matters just as much as your profession.
Good Example:
“Experienced administrator returning to the workforce after a planned career break, with a strong background in diary management, data entry, customer communication, and office coordination. Confident using Microsoft Office and internal systems to support accurate records and smooth processes. Now looking to re establish my career in an administration role where I can bring reliability, organisation, and practical office support.”
A career gap does not need a dramatic explanation in the personal statement. Keep it calm and factual. You do not need to over apologise. Employers mainly want to know whether you are ready, relevant, and realistic about the role.
Good Example:
“Motivated entry level candidate with strong organisation, communication, and problem solving skills developed through education, volunteering, and part time responsibilities. Confident working with people, learning new systems, and completing tasks accurately. Looking for an entry level administration or customer service role where I can build professional experience and contribute with a reliable, positive approach.”
When you have no formal experience, do not pretend you do. Focus on transferable evidence.
Recruiters can usually tell when candidates inflate basic experience. It is better to be honest and targeted than vague and overconfident.
Good Example:
“Customer service professional returning to work after a career break, with previous experience handling enquiries, resolving complaints, updating customer records, and supporting busy service teams. Strong communication, organisation, and problem solving skills, with confidence using digital systems and learning new processes quickly. Now seeking a customer support role where I can rebuild career momentum and deliver reliable service.”
This works because it acknowledges the return without making the gap the whole story.
A return to work statement should focus on readiness, relevant previous experience, and the role you want next.
Good Example:
“High performing customer service advisor with strong product knowledge, consistent quality scores, and experience supporting new starters with systems, call handling, and service standards. Confident managing complex customer queries, spotting process issues, and helping colleagues improve performance. Now seeking a team leader opportunity where I can contribute to coaching, service improvement, and day to day team support.”
For promotion focused CVs, the personal statement should show evidence of already operating slightly above your current role.
Hiring managers often ask, “Has this person already shown signs they can handle the next level?” Your statement should answer that.
Most poor personal statements fail for the same reasons. They are not badly written in a grammar sense. They are badly positioned.
Weak Example:
“I am hardworking, reliable, and enthusiastic with excellent communication skills.”
This tells me nothing specific.
These words are not banned, but they are weak when they stand alone. Recruiters see them constantly. The problem is not that they are false. The problem is that they are unsupported.
Better approach:
Connect traits to work activity.
Good Example:
“Reliable customer service advisor with experience handling high volume enquiries, resolving complaints, and maintaining accurate customer records in busy contact centre environments.”
Now the statement has context.
A personal statement that tries to fit every job often fits none.
Candidates sometimes write broadly because they do not want to limit themselves. I understand the instinct, but it usually backfires. If your CV says you are looking for “a challenging role in any industry where I can use my skills”, the reader still has to work out where you actually fit.
Recruiters are not mind readers. Helpful, because that would make interviews even more awkward.
Be clear about your target direction.
You can still adapt the statement for each role. In fact, you should.
Your personal statement should not summarise every job you have ever had.
It should highlight the most relevant pattern.
For example, if you have worked in three admin roles, you do not need to list all three employers in the statement. Instead, summarise the strongest common thread: office coordination, stakeholder support, document control, data accuracy, or customer communication.
The detail belongs in your experience section.
Phrases like “I work well under pressure” are only useful if the role clearly involves pressure and your CV proves it.
Better wording would be:
Good Example:
“Experienced in handling high volume customer queries, urgent complaints, and time sensitive order issues while maintaining clear communication and accurate records.”
That shows pressure without just claiming it.
Your CV personal statement is not a mini cover letter.
Do not write:
Weak Example:
“I am applying for this role because I believe your company would give me the opportunity to grow and develop my career.”
That belongs more naturally in a cover letter or application question. Your CV statement should focus on your professional fit, not the employer’s generosity.
A CV personal statement stands out when it gives the recruiter useful clarity quickly.
The strongest ones usually have three qualities.
Specificity:
They name the role type, skill area, sector, system, customer group, project type, or work environment.
Evidence:
They show the basis for the claim, such as experience, achievements, training, tools, responsibilities, or exposure.
Direction:
They make the candidate’s next move feel logical.
Here is the honest truth: recruiters do not shortlist candidates because a personal statement sounds “nice”. They shortlist when the CV gives enough evidence of fit.
Your personal statement can support that evidence, frame it, and make it easier to understand. But it cannot rescue a CV that has no relevance, no clarity, and no proof.
That is why the best personal statement is not the fanciest one. It is the one that makes the reader’s job easier.
You do not need to rewrite your entire CV for every application, but you should adjust the personal statement when the role changes.
Start by reading the job advert properly. Not passively. Properly.
Look for:
Job title and level
Required experience
Core responsibilities
Systems or tools
Industry or sector language
Repeated skills
Problems the employer seems to need solving
Then reflect those priorities naturally in your statement.
For example, if a role heavily focuses on stakeholder management, reporting, and process improvement, your personal statement should not lead with “creative and enthusiastic professional”. It should highlight stakeholder coordination, reporting accuracy, and process improvement.
This is not keyword stuffing. It is relevance.
The mistake is copying phrases from the job advert without showing evidence. Recruiters can spot that quickly. If the advert says “strong analytical skills” and your statement says “strong analytical skills” but the CV shows no analytical work, the wording will not save you.
Tailoring means aligning your strongest real evidence with the role’s priorities.
Use this structure if you are stuck:
Who you are professionally:
Start with your role, target role, or professional identity.
What you bring:
Add your most relevant experience, skills, tools, achievements, or sector knowledge.
Where you are going next:
Finish with the kind of role you are targeting and the value you want to bring.
Here is the formula in action:
Good Example:
“Experienced [role or professional identity] with [number or level of experience] in [relevant functions, sectors, or responsibilities]. Skilled in [key skills, systems, or strengths] with a strong record of [value, outcome, or contribution]. Now seeking a [target role] where I can [specific contribution].”
You do not have to follow it word for word. In fact, you should not. But it gives you a structure that avoids rambling.
Here are practical templates you can shape around your background.
Template for Experienced Candidates:
“Experienced [job title] with [number] years of experience in [sector or function], specialising in [core skill areas]. Skilled in [systems, responsibilities, or strengths], with a track record of [achievement or value]. Now seeking a [target role] where I can contribute to [business outcome or team goal].”
Template for Graduates:
“Recent [degree subject] graduate with strong [relevant skills] developed through [academic projects, placement, internship, part time work, or volunteering]. Confident in [tools, tasks, or knowledge areas] and interested in [target area]. Now seeking an entry level [role type] where I can apply [specific strengths] and build practical experience.”
Template for Career Changers:
“[Current or previous role] with [number] years of experience in [transferable area], including [relevant responsibilities]. Strong skills in [transferable skills] with recent training or exposure in [new field, if relevant]. Now seeking a [target role] where I can transfer my experience in [relevant value] into [new role focus].”
Template for Returning to Work:
“[Role or professional background] returning to work after a career break, with previous experience in [relevant responsibilities]. Skilled in [key strengths, systems, or environments] and ready to contribute in a [target role]. Looking to bring [specific value] to a team while rebuilding career momentum.”
Before you use your personal statement, ask yourself these questions:
Does it clearly say what I do or what role I am targeting?
Does it include useful evidence rather than vague claims?
Does it match the role I am applying for?
Does it sound like a real person wrote it?
Can a recruiter understand my relevance within a few seconds?
Have I removed generic phrases that add no value?
Does the rest of my CV prove what this statement claims?
That last question matters most.
A personal statement should not create a version of you that the CV cannot support. If your statement says you are strategic, commercial, data led, and experienced in stakeholder management, the rest of the CV needs to show those things.
Recruiters notice when the opening paragraph makes bold claims and the experience section quietly fails to back them up.
Written by Simar Malhi, a recruiter and headhunter with international recruitment experience. I write about CVs, job applications, hiring decisions, and the reality behind recruitment processes. My goal is to help candidates understand more honestly how employers, recruiters, and hiring managers actually select candidates.
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