How to Write a Personal Statement for a CV (With UK Examples)

Almost every effective personal statement follows the same structure.

• Who you are: your professional identity and level. 'Qualified management accountant with eight years' experience in the manufacturing sector' does more work than 'hard-working finance professional'.
• What you offer: two or three strengths that matter for this job, backed by evidence such as an achievement, a specialism, a qualification or the scale you have worked at.
• What you want: the type of role or environment you are aiming for, phrased so that it matches the vacancy.

Keep each part to a sentence or so. If the statement runs beyond five lines on the page, it has become a paragraph that people will skip.

• Write the rest of your CV first. The statement is a summary, and it is far easier to summarise something that exists.
• Highlight the key requirements in the job advert: the job title, the essential skills and any sector knowledge requested.
• Pick the two or three requirements you can prove most convincingly and find the evidence for each in your work history.
• Draft the three parts, then cut every word that is not carrying information. Adjectives are usually the first to go.
• Check that the wording reflects the advert. If the employer calls the role 'client services manager', do not describe yourself as an 'account handler'.
• Revisit it for every application. The middle section, what you offer, is the part that changes most.

Either is acceptable in the UK, but do not mix them. The most common and most natural approach is a clipped first person that drops the pronoun: 'Experienced project coordinator with a background in construction', not 'I am an experienced project coordinator'. Avoid writing about yourself by name in the third person, such as 'Sarah is a dedicated professional', which reads oddly on a document you obviously wrote yourself.

These examples are illustrative. Use them for structure and rhythm, not as text to copy; recruiters see the same borrowed phrases repeatedly.

Experienced professional: 'HR adviser with seven years' generalist experience in the retail and hospitality sectors, CIPD Level 5 qualified. Managed a caseload of disciplinary, grievance and absence cases across fifteen sites and introduced a manager training programme on absence reporting. Looking for an HR business partner role in a multi-site organisation.'

Graduate: 'Geography graduate with a 2:1 from a Russell Group university and a year's placement in a local authority planning department, where I prepared site reports and supported public consultations. Confident with GIS software and data analysis. Seeking a graduate planner position with a consultancy.'

Career changer: 'Secondary school teacher with nine years' experience moving into learning and development. Skilled in designing curricula, presenting to large groups and measuring learner progress. Recently completed a Level 3 Award in Education and Training and delivered staff training on new assessment software. Seeking an L&D officer role.'

Returning to work: 'Administrator with ten years' experience in legal and professional services, returning to work after a career break to raise a family. Kept skills current through a voluntary role as treasurer of a community group and recent training in Microsoft 365. Seeking a part-time office administration role.'

School leaver: 'Reliable and organised school leaver with A-levels in Business, Maths and IT. Two years' weekend experience in a busy cafe, handling cash, serving customers and training new starters. Looking for a business administration apprenticeship.'

• Buzzword lists. 'Dynamic, results-driven team player with excellent communication skills' could describe anyone and proves nothing.
• No evidence. Every claim should be supported by a fact somewhere in the statement or directly below it.
• Writing about what you want and nothing else. The employer's first question is what you can do for them.
• Sending the same statement everywhere. A generic statement is easy to spot because it never mentions the sector or the role.
• Too long. Six lines or more turns into a block of text at the exact point where you need the reader's attention.
• Repeating the CV. Summarise and point to the highlights; do not list every job.
• Spelling and grammar errors. Mistakes in the first paragraph colour the reading of everything that follows.

• Is it between three and five lines?
• Does the first sentence say what you do and at what level?
• Is there at least one concrete piece of evidence?
• Does it use the language of the advert where that language truthfully describes you?
• Does the final sentence point towards this type of role?
• Is it in British English, with consistent person and tense?

If you can answer yes to all six, the statement is doing its job, and the rest of your CV can do the detailed persuading.