how to write a good personal statement for nhs job

• HealthJobs Ltd
• 27 June 2018

How To Write A Personal Statement For Your Next Job In Healthcare

• Matt Farrah Nurses.co.uk Co-founder / Co-owner
• Save for later

An excellent personal statement is the key to success in every healthcare job application you make and in this article we look at the steps to follow in order to create the ideal one.

If you’ve written a personal statement before for a previous job application or university course application, you can use ideas and themes from that but you can’t simply use the same one again.

A personal statement must be tailored for each situation, and when you’re applying for healthcare jobs you need to tailor it according to the person specification and job description of the vacancy you’re interested in.

Start with a brainstorm of ideas

If you try to sit down and write your personal statement from scratch by starting with the first sentence, you could find your finished personal statement has no coherence and does not follow a logical order.

By brainstorming your ideas first you can prioritise the points you want to make and assemble all the evidence you want to mention that will back up the claims you’re going to make.

In order to avoid repetition in your personal statement, pick out a couple of points you want to make in your opening statement that really establish you as a serious contender for the job; for example, your qualification or current employment.

Then move on to the centre section where you should elaborate on the all the reasons why you are perfect for the job! Use the person specification and job description from the vacancy advert as a reference and try to check off the points you’re making with the requirements of the employer.

Your closing section should summarise the main points you want the employer to remember you for, especially your professional expertise if you applying for a doctor job , dentist job or any other senior healthcare professional job.

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Put words around your ideas

As you begin to put your ideas into sentences, be mindful of the length of your personal statement. It’s easy to write too much, but you are more likely to be successful if you are succinct and coherent.

It’s essential as you’re writing that you use a variety of examples from your experience to illustrate each point you’re making because you want to demonstrate the range of your experience.

It will also help to make your personal statement as memorable as possible because the employer will have a really good insight into your history and how your experience can make you ideal for their job vacancy.

Proof-read and edit your personal statement several times

When you think you have your personal statement completed go back and proof read it to spot any spelling errors, and to check that the information you have given is accurate.

Your personal statement forms part of your job application so you can be sure that when you apply you are required to confirm all information is correct to the best of your knowledge.

Whether you’re an experienced healthcare professional in a particular field, or you’re applying for your first healthcare assistant job , the personal statement is an essential part of the job application.

It’s your only opportunity to talk directly to the employer before they decide whether or not you are suitable for the job and therefore should be offered an interview.

Try to imagine the questions they will be asking themselves when reading your personal statement and provide clear, concise answers to as many of those questions as you can anticipate.

Once your personal statement has secured you an interview, you'll be wanting advice on how to smash your interview, right? Take a look at how to successfully prepare for interviews in healthcare to find out how to do just that.

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About the author.

I believe people working in healthcare should be able to choose to enjoy work. That is, choose an employer who reflects their values and provides them with a sustainable career. This leads to better patient care, higher retention rates and happier working lives in this most important employment sector.

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Making successful applications

Once you have successfully found a position you wish to apply for, you need to make sure your application does you justice and provides you with the best possible chance of getting an interview. This means reading the job description and person specification and taking time over your application demonstrating your skills and experience.

How good a match are you?

All employers will be judging how well your application matches the 'person specification' for the position you are applying for. The applicants who closely match the person specification will be the ones that are shortlisted for interview.

To stand the best chance of receiving an invitation is to demonstrate that you do have the skills and experience as stipulated within the person specification and provide clear examples within the supporting information section.

Never submit the same application form twice. Always adapt it to show how you meet the person specification of the particular post you are applying for.

Complete all the parts of the form

Read the instructions within the advertisement and application form very carefully and make sure that you complete all the sections of the application form. The information you give in the 'application for employment' section will be used to decide if you should be shortlisted for interview.

The 'personal information' and 'monitoring information' sections will not be used for shortlisting, but will be kept for administrative purposes only.

Provide good supporting information

The 'supporting information' section is your opportunity to sell yourself therefore make sure you use it to your advantage. You can include any information here that has not been covered elsewhere on the form. Demonstrate why you would be suitable and how you meet the person specification. You need to convince the recruiter that you have the required skills, knowledge and experience and that they should be inviting you for an interview.

You can include, among other things, details about:

• your duties and responsibilities;
• your skills, knowledge and/or experience which is relevant to the post;
• identify any employment gaps;
• voluntary work you have accomplished;
• research, publication and/or presentation experience.

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• About Nurses.co.uk
• 06 May 2020

What your nursing personal statement should say about you

• Claire Carmichael Registered Nurse
• Save for later
• Johanna Mancelita

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This is a question I asked myself when I wrote my nursing personal statement: ‘What do they want from me? What do they really want to hear?’.

You can write as much or little as possible on a personal statement (within the given word count), but what you write has to count - I’d say it was more about quality over quantity with this one.

But hopefully, I can give you some good quality information to help you write the perfect statement to bag you that interview and hopefully, the job!

Firstly, every statement should be unique to the role you’re applying for; so, remember to change it for every time you apply for a new job.

Secondly, always look at the Trust’s values, person specification and any other information they have uploaded for you; this is going to tell you what they are expecting from you to guide you to write your statement.

You will need to follow their essential and desirable criteria and give examples of how you have achieved these.

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Now, what do most Trusts look for?

From my experience they want you to be the 6 Cs of Nursing; Care, Compassion, Commitment, Courage, Competence, Communication.

So, you have to demonstrate this within your statement along with some nice key themes such as; being empathetic, maintain dignity, being patient centred and showing trust - Trust values are normally built on these.

Furthermore, Trusts will want to provide the best care possible to patients and they want to see how you meet this through your statement and then in your interview.

Is at the heart of nursing and the care you provide should help to improve an individual’s health and wellbeing.

They might also want to see that you genuinely care about other people and helping out.

This is how care is given which is based on empathy, dignity and respect.

This refers to the commitment to paitients and their individual care and overall experience.

This helps you to do the right thing at the right time.

It also enables you to speak up when needed.

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However, everyone will be writing the same skills and experience (more than likely), so you also want to add something to make yourself stand out from the crowd .

Your statement should show you as a person and not just a generic piece of writing of what you can and can’t do.

Moreover, you need to shine, show that personality and passion through your writing.

Some personal statements I have been asked to read, have genuinely given me goose bumps, because you can feel that passion through the page, it’s lovely.

Nonetheless, I know it can be quite hard to get your head in the right place to do this.

Something I do, is, close my eyes and visualise the place, time, experience that I want to talk about.

I put myself back into that place and how lovely it made me feel at the time, which brings back those feelings and I will start writing.

Your statement should also show how committed you are to nursing and your long term goals should incorporate this.

Trusts want to see you are in it for the long run, not just a quick job fix at the time.

Some other things that would be worth mentioning are:

Multi-professional working

How you can effectively work within the multi-disciplinary team and build good relationships with other professionals.

Give examples of how you have done this and why it has benefited your team.

Administering medication safely

How you avoid drug errors?

What thing’s do you do?

This will show you are practising safely and will continue to do so when working for the Trust you’re applying for.

Accurate record keeping

However you have kept records whether it is paper and pen or on a computer you have to show how you did this and how you maintained confidentiality.

You need to show that you can write legible and accurately, which is why you need to get someone to proofread your personal statement just in case too!

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What to include in your nursing personal statement

How to write a great nursing personal statement.

Whether you’re applying for a university course, a Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship (RNDA) or a new role as a Nursing Associate, a well-written nursing personal statement can help your application stand out from the crowd. Here’s what to include in your personal statement to boost your chances of getting to the next stage in your nursing career.

What is a nursing personal statement?

A personal statement is a step in the application process that helps you sell yourself to the recruiter. It sits somewhere between a CV and a cover letter and is the place to highlight your suitability and show your enthusiasm for a new role. A good personal statement is one that summarises your skills and experience while making them relevant to the role you are applying for. But it’s also the place where you can let some of your personality come through, helping you to stand out to a recruiter. You can discover more about the nursing application process in our blog and   

What to include in your nursing personal statement?

1.reveal a personal anecdote .

As well as highlighting your suitability for a nursing role, a personal statement is the chance for you to show a bit of your personality to the hiring team. Give examples of personal stories that motivated you to pursue a career in nursing. If you’ve got first-hand experience of the nursing profession or another relevant occupation, include it here. 

2.Highlight your qualifications

To become a Registered Nurse , you need certain academic qualifications, such as GCSE English and maths, and A-Levels that usually include a science. Even if you’ve been working as a nurse for some time, it’s important to include all your qualifications. That also includes any nursing degrees or apprenticeships that you have undertaken. You might be aiming for a role as a Nursing Associate , for which you will need GCSEs in maths and English or Functional Skills Level 2 in maths and English. Some employers will also ask for a level 3 qualification. You’ll also need to show that you can study for a foundation degree level and complete the Nursing Associate Apprenticeship programme.

3.Sell your soft skills

Think about the transferable skills that you possess that apply to a career in nursing. For example, being highly organised; an ability to be collaborative and work as part of a team; empathy, compassion and an enjoyment of working with people. Try to give examples of times when you’ve demonstrated these soft skills and explain how they relate to a career in nursing.

4.Experience counts

If you’ve had work experience in an area that’s directly related to the nursing profession then include it here. If you are a Healthcare Assistant, for example, then there’s an obvious link to nursing, and you can read more about how to transition from being a Healthcare Assistant to a nurse in our blog. But even if you haven’t got healthcare experience, there’s likely to be something that you have done that has helped you to develop skills that would be useful to nursing. For example, working in retail will have given you transferable skills such as teamwork and dealing with people. You could also sign up for useful courses such as a St John’s First Aid course or similar.

5.Be passionate 

Enthusiasm is infectious, so let your passion for a career in nursing shine through in your nursing personal statement. While hiring teams will have certain boxes to tick (such as your qualifications), showing how committed, dedicated and passionate you are about a career in nursing might just give you the edge over other candidates. For inspiration about why you want to work in healthcare , take a look at our blog and let that passion come through. 

6.Show awareness of healthcare issues 

Any recruiter will be impressed if you can demonstrate knowledge and a broader understanding of the nursing industry. It highlights your commitment to your chosen career path and a willingness to engage with the nursing profession. Research topical healthcare trends and think about your response to current healthcare affairs. In your nursing personal statement, explain how all of this has influenced your decision to work in nursing. 

Need more help to write your nursing personal statement?

At Safehands Recruitment, we have a team of specialist advisers who can guide you through the process of writing a great nursing personal statement. Get in touch to speak to one of our team and together, we’ll make sure your nursing application stands out from the crowd .

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Sample Supporting Statements

For Students and Newly Registered Nurses, Nursing Support Workers, and Nurses and Midwives.

The supporting statement is the most important part of your job application. This is effectively where you convince the employer that you're the right person for the job and explain why they should hire you.

This page offers sample supporting statements and a tutorial to help you. we can also offer feedback on your supporting statement via email..

Different employers will have different instructions or expectations with regards to supporting statements, but generally they'll be looking to see if you're applying for the right reasons and that you meet the essential criteria. If you haven't already done so, read the general advice on writing job applications first. To help give you an idea, have a look at our sample supporting statements which have been written to correlate to a sample Person Specification. In particular, pay attention to the way the sample supporting statements:

• Cover all the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification
• Use examples or evidence to demonstrate how the criteria is met
• Follow the order of the Person Specification as much as possible.

The samples should be used as a guide only. Your own supporting statement should be structured around the job and person specification you're applying for. You may also want to watch the Supporting Statements tutorial below.

• Apply for jobs that are right for you
• Never write a 'one size fits all' supporting statement
• Explain why you want the job, showing your passion/interest and motivation
• Demonstrate how you meet all the essential criteria from the person specification using examples or evidence
• Demonstrate how you meet any organisational/trust values if there are any
• Imagine you're being asked the question, "Why should we hire you?"
• Run a spelling and grammar check

Supporting Statement Tutorial Preview

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Career resources for Healthcare Assistants, Assistant Practitioners, Nursing Associates and Support Workers.

Resources to help you write your first nursing CV or job application, and tips on how to stand out at interview.

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• Making a Successful Application

Using the supporting information section to your best advantage

This section is critical to complete well. It’s your chance to really sell yourself as a suitable applicant and get that invitation to interview.

As an external applicant you have up to 1500 words for this section to persuade and influence the recruiting manager that you could do the job and that you deserve an interview.

So how do you do this?

By tailoring your application i.e., by matching your skills, knowledge, and experience to the job requirements. You need to connect your current and past work experience to the requirements of the role you are applying for. This means you can’t just cut and paste any old thing. You need to make it specific to the job in question.

In the Employment History section of your application, you will have listed your previous jobs and the main duties and responsibilities of each. This will have given you some ability to link your skill set with the job in question, by one job at a time. However, the Supporting Information section of your application is where you can sell yourself and really stand out from the crowd.

You have the freedom to organise this section how you want, so you can do this by grouping your skills and work experience into broader themes and strengths that match the job you are applying for.

Using bullet points and subheadings is good. Long paragraphs and essays are not so good. Make it as easy as possible for the recruiters to find the information you need and want them to see.

The critical thing to do here is to pay close attention to the requirements of the role you are applying for and give good examples of your achievements for each. Remember that now with NHS Jobs the shortlisting criteria are included with the advert. Recruiters will be scoring your application against these. So, make sure you cover these.

What makes a good example?

This will be covered in more detail in section 2 on Having a Successful Interview. A helpful framework to use here is the STAR example.

What is a STAR example?

STAR stands for:

• S ituation or T ask – what was the context and what were you being asked to do
• A ction – what you did to achieve this
• R esult – what was the outcome or result, e.g., money or time saved, better customer service, patient care, staff morale etc

In a good STAR example, you address all three elements concisely by writing about your previous experience.

For example:

“At Acme Ltd, as Trainee Accountant, I was asked by my manager, towards year end, to make savings from the budget. This was crucial to the business as we were overspending. I set up a team involving key people from across the business, such as department heads. I asked people to share their ideas and we then prioritised the best ones. For example, I decided to change our electricity supplier to a lower tariff and reduced our stock levels by 10% which improved our working capital. Overall, I achieved £20k in savings, almost 3% of the budget, and we hit the year-end target. My manager was really pleased, and I got a letter of recognition from the Managing Director.”

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How to write a personal statement for a NHS assistant psychologist

By jayne thompson / in family.

A personal statement, sometimes called a profile or career summary, is the section at the top of your CV or a pro-forma job application which summarises your career skills and experience and sets out your ambitions for the future. It is a standard part of any National Health Service (NHS) application. The function of a personal statement is to enable a recruiter to quickly identify whether you are suitable for interview, so it needs to be punchy. If drafted carefully, a personal statement can give your application a dynamic impact.

• A personal statement, sometimes called a profile or career summary, is the section at the top of your CV or a pro-forma job application which summarises your career skills and experience and sets out your ambitions for the future.

Get hold of the NHS assistant psychologist (AP) general person specification. This specification is common to all AP jobs across different specialities and sits alongside the job specification which differs between roles. Read the general person specification and spend some time covering off the requirements. That way you will have done a lot of the groundwork before you come to apply for specific roles. Refer to the Guide to Core Competencies published by The British Psychological Society (see Resources) for assistance.

Read the individual job specification carefully. The purpose of your personal statement is to describe how you meet the exact specifications of the job description. Describe how your skills and experience match each requirement.

Decide whether you are writing in the first or third person. There are no hard and fast rules about this and everyone has their own preference. Try writing your statement both ways to see what flows. Do not interchange the two.

• Read the individual job specification carefully.
• Try writing your statement both ways to see what flows.

Show, don't tell. Explicitly state your experience against each criteria in the job and person specification and then explain what you have learnt from your experience. Saying that you're "adaptable" is forgettable - describing a situation where you filled in a gap in a skill set at short notice is impressive. Phrases like "passionate about" and "interested in" are fluff. Chances are the recruiter will have read them a hundred times before and you don't have room to ramble.

Keep it short. While the NHS does not have a word limit on personal statements, other industries expect a good statement to have impact in just 200 words. NHS job specifications tend to be lengthy, and this requires a lengthier response, but you should still aim to deal with everything in a single page.

• Explicitly state your experience against each criteria in the job and person specification and then explain what you have learnt from your experience.
• NHS job specifications tend to be lengthy, and this requires a lengthier response, but you should still aim to deal with everything in a single page.

Proof read. It goes without saying that your spelling and grammar should be perfect. Your spell check should be in British (rather than US) English.

The personal statement is not just about previous employment experience. Include anything relevant, such as practical work you have undertaken, voluntary work, conferences you have attended, community events and articles you have read or contributed to.

Avoid tired phrases. It goes without saying that you're a good team player.