Write your Personal Statement

Tips for writing a personal statement

Your personal statement is a great way to show your passion for your chosen position and let the College know you are a strong candidate. You can demonstrate your strengths, the skills and experience you have that you will bring to the role.

PLAN BEFORE YOU WRITE

Avoid the temptation to just start writing. Before you begin, briefly outline the points you want to make in your personal statement, and make sure you’re answering the questions; what, why and how. What do you want to achieve in the position? Why are these your goals – how will they benefit the College community? How do your skills and past experiences prove you can achieve this?

A good way to do this is to come up with several key skills you have that you think will be relevant to the position and your goals, and then provide examples of how you have demonstrated these skills.

STRUCTURE

Careful structuring will make your personal statement appear professional. To do this, separate it into paragraphs, making sure to include an introduction and conclusion. Each paragraph should discuss a different topic so that your personal statement reads in a clear and fluid way.

For example

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Paragraph 2: Your area of interest

Paragraph 3: What you would like to achieve in the role

Paragraph 4: Skills that you have gained from relevant experiences and activities

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

SHORT N' SWEET... 600 WORD LIMIT

Personal statements have word limits, so be succinct and direct. Make your introduction clear and to the point, and interesting. Try to avoid cliches such as ‘I have always wanted to do this…’

Include relevant information only. It’s great if you’ve done lots of co-curricular activities but remember to relate them back to the position and the skills you gained – if they aren’t relevant, don’t include them. It can be tempting to try and include everything you’ve ever done but being selective is much more effective.

PERSONAL TONE

Try to inject something of your own personality into your writing. Chances are there will be a number of applications from others to read through and it is engaging for the reader to hear your ‘personal voice’ in the statement.

CONCLUDE EFFECTIVELY

Decide what your main message is in your personal statement and reaffirm this in your conclusion.

PROOFREAD YOUR STATEMENT

Avoiding spelling mistakes or punctuation errors demonstrates your care and attention to detail. Ensure you have adhered to the word limit.