The short answer
A CV personal statement is two to four sentences under your name that say who you are right now, what you can bring, and what kind of role you want. Keep it short (Prospects suggests under 150 words), back up what you claim with something real, and change it for each job.
What it’s for
Whoever reads your CV usually starts at the top. The personal statement (also called a profile or introduction) is your chance to frame everything below it. It tells the reader what to look for.
It isn’t a life story and it isn’t a list of nice words about yourself. It’s a short, honest pitch: this is who I am, this is why I could do this job, this is what I’m after.
The three parts
Most good statements answer three questions, in this order.
| Part | The question it answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are | Where are you right now? | Second-year college student studying Health and Social Care |
| What you bring | Why might you be good at this? | Two years volunteering at a care home’s weekly coffee morning |
| What you want | What are you looking for? | Weekend work in a café, with a view to learning barista skills |
Put those together and you have a statement.
Here’s Jordan’s. Jordan is made up, but a lot of people are in exactly this position: studying, some volunteering, applying for a first café job.
Second-year Health and Social Care student at Kirkfield College, looking for weekend work in a busy café. I’ve helped run the coffee morning at a local care home every Sunday for two years, serving drinks, clearing tables and chatting with residents and their families. I’m keen to learn barista skills and I’m happy working early starts.
Three sentences. The reader knows who Jordan is, has a reason to believe Jordan can cope with customers and busy tables, and knows exactly what Jordan wants.
Swap claims for evidence
The fastest way to improve a statement is to find every word you’ve used about yourself and ask: what have I done that shows that?
Before
Hard-working, passionate and enthusiastic individual with excellent communication skills, looking for an opportunity to develop and grow in a challenging role.
After
Year 13 student looking for part-time retail work. I’ve worked Saturday shifts at a garden centre since last spring, helping customers find plants and keeping the outdoor displays stocked. I’m reliable with early starts and keen to learn how a bigger store runs.
Why it works Every word in the first version could describe anyone, so it describes no one. The second gives the reader a picture: the job, the place, the tasks, the attitude.
Words to be careful with, because they’re so common they’ve stopped meaning anything: passionate, hard-working, motivated, team player, go-getter, results-driven, dynamic. You’re allowed to be hard-working. Show it instead of saying it.
First person or third?
You can write “I’ve volunteered...” or the more clipped “Volunteered...”. Both are fine in the UK. What matters is picking one and sticking to it. Avoid writing about yourself in full third person (“Jordan is a hard-working student”) because it reads oddly when you’re the one sending it.
If you’ve got very little to say yet
That’s normal. Lean on what you’re studying, what you’ve done regularly, and how you want to grow. Here are three short versions for different situations:
Leaving school, no paid work: GCSE student finishing Year 11 this summer, looking for an apprenticeship in electrical installation. I’ve helped my uncle rewire his shed and enjoyed it, and I built a working circuit project for my Design and Technology coursework.
Returning after a break: Looking to return to office work after three years caring for a family member. Before that I worked on reception at a dental practice, booking appointments and handling payments.
Graduate: Recent geography graduate looking for a first role in local government planning. My dissertation used council data on bus routes, and I spent a summer volunteering with a community transport charity.
Mistakes worth avoiding
- Copying an example. Lots of people copy the same online examples, and it shows. Use examples to understand the shape, then write your own.
- Personal details. Your age, marital status or date of birth don’t belong here. The National Careers Service suggests leaving them off the CV altogether.
- Hesitant wording. “I’m hoping to maybe try...” undersells you. Say what you’re looking for.
- The same statement for every job. If you’re applying for a café and an office, the “what you bring” part should be different. See tailoring your CV.
- Promising things you can’t back up. If the statement says you’re great with customers, the interviewer will ask for an example.
It also helps you in the interview
Your statement is a rough first draft of how you’ll answer “Tell me about yourself”. If you can write it in three clear sentences, you can say it in thirty seconds. The Tell me about yourself lesson picks up from here.
Try
Build your statement
Pick one real job advert you’re interested in. Then answer each box in one sentence. Don’t worry about wording yet.
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In short
- A personal statement is two to four sentences: who you are, what you bring, what you want.
- Swap each claim about yourself for something you’ve done that shows it.
- First person or clipped style are both fine. Be consistent.
- Change the middle part for each job.
- No age, no date of birth, no copied templates.
Ready to put your statement on a real CV?
In CVBUFFED, the profile sits right under your name with a prompt and examples beside it, so you can write it once and adjust it for each application. £12.50 once, no subscription.
Build my CVSources and further reading
- Writing a personal statement for your CV Prospects
- CV sections National Careers Service
- How to write a CV UCAS
Checked against these sources on 14 November 2026. Rules and rates change: if something here looks out of date, tell us at hello@cvbuffed.com. How we check our guidance.