CV Personal Statement Examples (& How to Write One)

A CV personal statement is a 3–5 sentence introduction placed at the top of your CV that outlines your skills, achievements, and qualifications targeting a specific company or role.

It’s useful if you don’t have experience, but you can also use it if you have experience to highlight your enthusiasm for the role or company.

Despite being at the top, save writing your personal statement ’til last so that you have a chance to reflect on your CV’s best bits once you’ve written your full CV.

Here’s where a personal statement belongs atop a CV:

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CV personal statement examples for various experience levels

Here are some CV personal statement examples tailored for users at various stages of their careers:

1. First-time job applicant

If you’re creating a CV for your first job, highlight the skills and knowledge you’ve gained throughout your education because they’ll be your main selling points as a candidate. In this example, the candidate emphasises their communication and organisation skills:

2. Current student

Creating a CV for a part-time job to support your studies or an internship to kick-start your career? Craft a personal statement for your student CV highlighting your positive qualities to make hiring managers interested in learning about you. Here is an example:

3. School leaver

When applying for jobs after secondary school or writing a school leaver CV, mention your GCSEs and A-Levels (if applicable) in your personal statement to showcase your level of training to recruiters.

The more education and training you’ve undergone, the less time and money your employer will need to invest in you.

4. Career change

Transitioning to a new career path? Here’s an example of how to write a personal statement for a career change CV. This applicant, CV Genius’s own Ethan David Lee, was a PR professional before his transition.

If you’re making a career change, explain your reasons in your career change cover letter to convince hiring managers you’re committed to the career change. Also, review cover letter examples from your target industry to see how to write yours.

5. Returning to the workforce

Life can sometimes pull you away from the workforce, whether to care for children, travel the world, or upskill at college or university. When writing a stay-at-home mum or carer CV, use your CV statement to highlight how your skills and experience remain relevant, like this:

6. Graduate

This personal statement example works well for a graduate CV because it:

1. highlights relevant extracurricular activities
2. ties the writer directly to the desired job to show hiring managers they have transferable skills.

7. Entry-level role

When applying for an entry-level position, emphasise your relevant internships or voluntary experience and highlight soft skills that demonstrate your ability to learn quickly.

Employers are more likely to take a leap of faith on quick learners because they’ll hit the ground running if hired.

Here’s an example of how to craft a personal statement on a CV if you’re an entry-level applicant:

8. Academic CV

Whether you’re applying for a student or professional role, your academic CV will require a personal statement.

If you’re pursuing further studies, emphasise your learning outcomes. For teaching roles, highlight your teaching skills and experience. And for research positions, focus instead on your research achievements.

9. 16 year old

As a teen, you’re ready to step into the working world, and your 16-year-old’s CV is your ticket in (along with your well-written cover letter of course). Start strong with a compelling personal summary to show you know how to write a formal document despite your age:

CV personal statement examples for specific jobs

Below are some more CV personal statement examples from different industries.

If you don’t find an example below that matches your exact job title, you can adjust the general writing style to suit your target role. For more inspiration, review CV examples from your field and their personal statements.

10. Administrative assistant

Applying for an administration or office management role? Here’s an example personal statement from an administrative assistant CV to guide you:

11. Nurse

Demonstrate your readiness and responsibility to care for patients with a strong opening to your nursing CV. Here’s an example personal summary for your CV:

12. Customer service rep

This customer service CV personal statement highlights the applicant’s years of experience with strategic bolding while showcasing their customer service skills:

13. Barista

Here’s a good CV personal statement to imitate if you’re writing a barista CV.

This CV opening was written by our senior staff writer, Corissa Peterson, who worked as a barista during her uni years to make some extra money.

14. Retail assistant

Here’s a personal statement example you can tailor for a retail position on your CV:

15. Engineer

This engineering CV personal statement showcases the applicant’s educational background and hard skills:

16. Project manager

Use this project manager CV statement as inspiration when crafting your own CV: It balances technical skills and project management skills:

17. Marketing

Here’s an example of how to write an effective marketing CV personal statement.

This personal statement was written by me, Samuel Johns, helping me land my current role at CV Genius. I made sure to mention my marketing and editing skills as they were mentioned in the job advert.

I also mentioned my proficiency in French because I work on our French sister site.

18. Teaching assistant

Write a CV for teaching assistant roles with a personal statement like this one that highlights a record of coaching students through their Key Stage 2 Standardised Assessment Tests:

19. Accountant

Here’s a great example of an accounting and finance CV personal statement that showcases the applicant’s accounting skills and years of experience:

20. Cleaner

Emphasise your professional demeanour and past recommendations in your personal statement. This’ll help you make your cleaner CV stand out by making it clear to employers you’re ready to succeed in the role, as the example below does:

21. Data analyst

This data analyst CV personal statement showcases the applicant’s analytical skills, including their SQL expertise and proficiency in data modelling:

22. Police officer

An effective police CV statement showcases your experience while seamlessly incorporating Police Force terminology to demonstrate your understanding of ‘The Job.’ Here’s an example to guide you:

23. Primary teacher

When writing your teaching CV, include your teaching qualifications and subject specialisations to immediately let employers know you’re qualified:

24. Delivery driver

Need a concise CV personal statement? Learn from this delivery driver CV example that highlights the applicant’s time management skills and educational background in just three sentences:

25. Software engineer

Highlight your technical skills when crafting an IT-focused CV to demonstrate the key skills hiring managers are looking for. Here’s an example:

How to write a CV personal statement

Follow these three steps to learn how to write a statement for your CV:

1. Start with your professional experience or education

Start your personal statement with a sentence that highlights your professional experience and includes an adjective that sums up a key trait of yours, like ‘Dedicated’.

This opening strategy is an effective way of immediately grabbing attention.

For instance, if you’ve got three years of experience as a barista, here’s how you could start a personal statement for a similar role:

Hardworking barista with 3 years of experience in a customer-facing role.

If you lack formal work experience, highlight your highest level of education and any work placements you’ve completed. This structure helps you show that although you don’t have formal experience, you do have the training:

Motivated sixth form leaver with three A-Levels and a week’s work placement at Barclays in Warwick.

2. Add key skills and accomplishments

Use the second sentence to highlight one or two standout achievements or key CV skills that align with the job description.

Be selective with the information you include here. Your aim is to hook the employer by illustrating the positive contributions you could make to their team if hired. Here’s a great example from a customer service representative’s CV:

Skilled at resolving customer complaints with a 100% client satisfaction rate.

Add an extra sentence if you’d like to provide more details about your achievements, capabilities, or any special licences or qualifications you hold.

3. End with your career goals

Conclude your personal statement with a sentence that summarises your most relevant career goals and directly targets the company and role. Use the company’s name and the job title here to personalise your CV for the position.

Customising your CV for the role shows you’ve thoughtfully considered the company’s needs and are serious about the opportunity.

Here’s an ideal final personal statement sentence for a retail position:

Seeking to apply my recognised interpersonal skills and provide customers with great service in the retail assistant role at River Island.

4 tips for making a job-winning personal statement

Here are four tips to refine the structure and wording of your CV personal statement to maximise your chances of securing an interview:

1. Write your personal statement last

Although your CV’s personal statement appears at the top of the first page, it’s best to write it after completing the other sections. Here’s why:

Including only the most relevant information in your personal statement is vital, as it engages the reader and encourages them to explore the rest of your CV.

Even our CV builder needs to create the rest of your CV before it has an idea of what to put in your personal statement, so take a lesson from the tools specifically made to create convincing CVs.

Completing the other sections first helps ensure you’ve identified the career details most likely to impress the recruiting manager for the role you’re applying for.

2. Keep it short

Not sure how long your CV personal statement should be? Keep it under 100 words for readability, ensuring it includes all key details and job-specific CV keywords from the job advert, while staying concise. That’s key because hiring managers don’t have all day to review CVs.

3. Include numbers

Include specific metrics, such as ‘received 100% customer satisfaction rates in feedback surveys,’ in your CV personal statement to give employers a clear idea of the performance they can expect from you.

Without numbers, your CV won’t tell employers anything that sets you apart from other contenders.

4. Use a template

To start your CV personal statement easily, copy and paste this template into your favourite CV design and replace the bits in brackets with your own details:

Mistakes to avoid when writing a CV personal statement

Here are three errors to avoid as you draft your personal statement:

1. Relying on ChatGPT

Although using ChatGPT to improve your CV can be extremely effective, you shouldn’t let AI do all the writing and editing.

Avoid relying on ChatGPT to create the first draft of your CV’s statement, as it often uses clichés that can make your statement generic, which will discourage hiring managers from reading more of your CV.

What to do instead

Start by crafting your personal statement yourself. Once you have a draft, input it into ChatGPT and ask it to refine it for flow. This allows ChatGPT to enhance readability and highlight your key achievements in a way that makes a stronger impression and that uses your own words to appear natural and non-generated.

2. Using buzzwords and clichés

CV buzzwords and clichés like ‘motivated’ and ‘dynamic’ may sound impressive, but they offer little value to hiring managers without evidence. If you’d roll your eyes when someone uses this corporate jargon, chances are hiring managers will too.

What to do instead

Demonstrate these qualities through specific examples. For instance, you could show you’re dynamic in your personal statement by writing something like, ‘Led a cross-functional team to deliver a high-impact project three weeks ahead of schedule, adapting quickly to shifting priorities and challenges.’

3. Using the same statement for every application

A rookie error is writing one generic personal statement and using it on every CV you send out.

That’s a mistake because employers can immediately tell what you’ve done.

To stand out, you need to show employers you’re genuinely excited about working for their company.

What to do instead

Tailor your personal statement by referencing the company’s specific goals and explaining how you can help achieve them.

For example:

Thrilled to support BHS in launching its new Cardiff location, leveraging my training expertise to effectively onboard and develop your new retail team.

Frequently asked questions about CV personal statements

Here are answers to five frequently asked questions about adding a personal statement to a CV:

1. Do I need a personal statement on my CV?

Yes, you do need a personal statement on your CV. (I didn’t have a personal statement on my CV for years, but when I added one, I immediately noted an increase in the number of hiring managers contacting me.)

Your personal statement gives your CV a competitive advantage by:

• summarising your experience and skills, allowing hiring managers to quickly decide if they should read further
• demonstrating that you’ve tailored your CV to meet the employer’s requirements

A CV personal statement also highlights your most valuable qualities in a spot that employers will easily notice when reviewing your application.

Although not every CV features a personal statement, we highly recommend adding one for these reasons.

Make My Personal Statement

2. What is the difference between a CV and a personal statement?

• a CV is a job application document that lists your work experience, education, and skills to help employers decide if you’re worth interviewing.
• a personal statement is the introduction of your CV. Personal statements summarise your skills, qualifications, and experience to show at a glance if you’d be a good hire.

If you’re unsure whether your CV is strong enough to secure the job, we can help you check your CV before submitting it.

3. How do you write a personal statement for a CV when you’re a teenager?

Here’s how you write a personal statement for your CV even if you’re a teenager with no experience:

• describe the skills you’ve gained in school or extracurricular activities that align with the job
• highlight relevant voluntary, internship, or part-time work experience
• mention any awards to show your ability to exceed expectations
• tailor your statement to the job advert by including the company name, desired role, and how you can contribute to its goals

Here’s a well-written personal statement from a CV for a teenager:

Enthusiastic and friendly secondary school pupil currently completing my GCSEs. Developed excellent leadership skills from my time captaining the boy’s rugby team. Skilled with numbers and received the ‘Cardinal’s Exceptional Maths Pupil’ award in June 20XX. Seeking a responsible summer role as a part-time waiter at Miranda’s Restaurant.

4. What person should a CV personal statement be written in?

A CV should be written in the first person (I, me, my) — but omit these pronouns to avoid sounding repetitive.

Instead, begin each sentence with an action verb to make your CV more engaging and emphasise your key skills and experience.

5. Does a personal statement have other names?

Yes, a personal statement has these other names:

• CV summary
• Personal profile
• About me
• CV intro or summary paragraph (casual)

Regardless of the name, it follows the same format and serves the same purpose: To provide a concise overview of your skills, achievements, and career objectives.

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