Definition:
A personal statement is a brief summary of you for the purpose of mentioning and highlighting your skills and expertise.
It is used in various situations like applying for a job or university where your personal details are required by the readers for selection purposes.
Length:
The length of a personal statement should not be more than 150 words. It is a summary not an essay so try to make it short, precise and to the point.
The content:
The personal statement should include the answers of following questions:
- Who are you and what is your field of expertise?
- How can you support the requirement of the job? What are your relevant skills and qualifications?
- What are your career plans and goals for the near and far future?
Beginning:
While starting a personal statement, give a quick introduction of yourself like “I am an engineering major with practical skills of development in software applications”. Write some main details of yourself so that the reader will get the idea of who you are.
Tense usage:
While writing a personal statement, try to use present tense however you can use other tenses also. Keep one thing in mind that whatever tenses you will use, make it consistent throughout your content to show consistency and flow.
Some tips:
Follow some tips and guidelines while writing a personal statement:
- Make an outline draft of how you are going to present yourself? And note it.
- Take enough time to make your personal statement so that afterwards you will not regret about something which you could have added if you have spent some time thinking upon it.
- Find suitable words and expressions; don’t use casual and irrelevant language.
- Highlight your skills and strengths; mention them with regard to the requirements of the reader.
- Be honest and true while writing; don’t use false and misguiding information which later you will regret.
- Proofread and resolve mistakes and errors.
- Send the personal statement via email or other medium for the selection purpose.
