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Writing the Perfect Personal Statement
- By jameswalsh
- Published 08/22/2007
- College/University
- Unrated
Personal Statement – Getting Started
A personal statement is a self-appraisal essay where you justify yourself as the best choice for a course that is being offered at a university or an employment opportunity with a firm.
The purpose of a personal statement is to present your self to a potential employer or a director of a programme in a university in the best possible manner. It is like presenting the crux of your autobiography in 10 seconds. Apart from adjudging your skills in writing, it tests your ability to give what is required within a short span.
You may wonder as to why one would ever want a personal statement when your resume speaks well for itself about your accomplishments. It so happens that there is a huge number of applicants for a particular opportunity. Providing an opportunity for all the applicants, who are more or less equally talented and qualified, will not be feasible. Hence, the idea of a personal statement arose. This process provides selectors to offer courses or employment opportunities to candidates who have the real passion to go out and accomplish something.
Personal Statement Characteristics
A perfect personal statement needs to fulfil certain basic characteristics for it to qualify with the panel of selectors.
A Written Portrait: Your statement should present a colourful picture of your self in various capacities and position. You can present them a picture of yourself as an individual, as a student or as an accomplisher in life that sets you apart from others.
An Autobiography in Short: You can always outline your story focussing on your past stand and why it would be important for you to take up this opportunity to make a difference to your career and life as a whole.
Your Priorities: This is a personal mission statement that reflects your goal in life. It tells more on your ambitions and is an indicator of how focussed you are with your goals and priorities.
Attention Grabber: The personal statement is a first point of contact with your selectors. It is nothing short of a personal elevator speech which should entice them to consider you even in the first place.
What a Personal Statement is Not?
A
Resume: While you always have curriculum vitae to speak at length of your accomplishments, a personal statement works outside this framework. It is more like speaking your heart out to someone on what you are and where you are destined to go. You can add a personal touch to it by talking at length of your dreams and how you wish to achieve them.
Your Personal Diary: If every page of your personal diary were to feature in your personal statement, then you have a different name for it – a full-fledged autobiography. You just need to represent the events that are woven around your dreams and accomplishments.
Are Personal Statement Institution-Specific?
Writing a personal statement for applying to a course has always not been so easy. If you ever thought a personal statement to be a one-page self-bragging essay, then you are mistaken. This is not an essay that you wrote about yourself at high school.
Educational institutions have a firm stand on the kind of candidates that they want for their courses. Not all of them qualify for these opportunities. These institutions have their own way of gauging the potential of the candidate through their own means. And a common tool used for the purpose is the personal statement.
Each university has a specific format for the personal statement divided into various sections. Each section would be custom-designed to judge a particular aspect of the potential candidate. This can either end up as a trap or as an elevator depending on how you answer them.
Personal Statements – The Final Countdown
While writing a personal statement, utmost care needs be taken to ensure that yours is not an overstatement. You should not brag on subject matters like an expert. That makes you sound like you are over-qualified for the position. On the other hand, if your personal statement is an understatement, you might equally foil your chances of making it. Striking right on the target is the real challenge which decides your chances of being selected as the eligible candidate.
James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are a UK or Overseas student applying for a place in a UK University, to stand out from the thousands of others, it is essential to have striking Personal Statement, for more information and professional guidance, see http://www.personal-statement.co.uk
A personal statement is a self-appraisal essay where you justify yourself as the best choice for a course that is being offered at a university or an employment opportunity with a firm.
The purpose of a personal statement is to present your self to a potential employer or a director of a programme in a university in the best possible manner. It is like presenting the crux of your autobiography in 10 seconds. Apart from adjudging your skills in writing, it tests your ability to give what is required within a short span.
You may wonder as to why one would ever want a personal statement when your resume speaks well for itself about your accomplishments. It so happens that there is a huge number of applicants for a particular opportunity. Providing an opportunity for all the applicants, who are more or less equally talented and qualified, will not be feasible. Hence, the idea of a personal statement arose. This process provides selectors to offer courses or employment opportunities to candidates who have the real passion to go out and accomplish something.
Personal Statement Characteristics
A perfect personal statement needs to fulfil certain basic characteristics for it to qualify with the panel of selectors.
A Written Portrait: Your statement should present a colourful picture of your self in various capacities and position. You can present them a picture of yourself as an individual, as a student or as an accomplisher in life that sets you apart from others.
An Autobiography in Short: You can always outline your story focussing on your past stand and why it would be important for you to take up this opportunity to make a difference to your career and life as a whole.
Your Priorities: This is a personal mission statement that reflects your goal in life. It tells more on your ambitions and is an indicator of how focussed you are with your goals and priorities.
Attention Grabber: The personal statement is a first point of contact with your selectors. It is nothing short of a personal elevator speech which should entice them to consider you even in the first place.
What a Personal Statement is Not?
A
Your Personal Diary: If every page of your personal diary were to feature in your personal statement, then you have a different name for it – a full-fledged autobiography. You just need to represent the events that are woven around your dreams and accomplishments.
Are Personal Statement Institution-Specific?
Writing a personal statement for applying to a course has always not been so easy. If you ever thought a personal statement to be a one-page self-bragging essay, then you are mistaken. This is not an essay that you wrote about yourself at high school.
Educational institutions have a firm stand on the kind of candidates that they want for their courses. Not all of them qualify for these opportunities. These institutions have their own way of gauging the potential of the candidate through their own means. And a common tool used for the purpose is the personal statement.
Each university has a specific format for the personal statement divided into various sections. Each section would be custom-designed to judge a particular aspect of the potential candidate. This can either end up as a trap or as an elevator depending on how you answer them.
Personal Statements – The Final Countdown
While writing a personal statement, utmost care needs be taken to ensure that yours is not an overstatement. You should not brag on subject matters like an expert. That makes you sound like you are over-qualified for the position. On the other hand, if your personal statement is an understatement, you might equally foil your chances of making it. Striking right on the target is the real challenge which decides your chances of being selected as the eligible candidate.
James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are a UK or Overseas student applying for a place in a UK University, to stand out from the thousands of others, it is essential to have striking Personal Statement, for more information and professional guidance, see http://www.personal-statement.co.uk
