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How To Write About Work Experience In Your Personal Statement
Written by:
Max Stevens
Administrator
We get it – you’re dying to include your work experience in your personal statement, but how do you write about work experience in your personal statement ? Work experience is an essential component of your personal statement . It shows that you are passionate and knowledgeable about your chosen course. Some courses require prior work experience before you can apply.
So if you’re looking for a way to showcase your work experience, this blog post is just what you need. Learn how to write about work experience effectively in your statement to help you stand out from the crowd and get into the university of your dreams.
Check The Course Requirements For Work Experience
Some courses require you to have work experience before applying (e.g. medical courses.) You may need to complete a certain number of working hours before you’re eligible. It’s best to check out the course requirements before writing your work experience personal statement. If you’re thinking of applying to medicine then check out our medical personal statement advice , likewise with our how to write a law personal statement .
With that said, other courses don’t require work experience. But it does elevate your personal statement if you have relevant work experiences to share.
Examples Of Work Experience
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to writing your work experience personal statement is determining whether an activity counts as “work experience” or not. Here are examples of work experience you may need to include:
- Extracurricular Activities
These are activities that are not included within your formal curriculum. Being a member of the sports team, debate club, Red Cross, or theatre group are good examples.
- Formal Work Placements
Formal work placements are exposures to real-world experience. These are often required as part of your curriculum.
- Volunteer Work
There are tons of volunteer work you could’ve participated in. Maybe you helped out at animal shelters, environmental conservation activities, or feeding programs.
- Part-Time Jobs
Part-time jobs are significant for your work experience personal statement. Working as a customer service agent, freelance writer, or salesperson at a local store demonstrates a sense of responsibility on your part. Mention what’s relevant to the course you’re applying for! Competitions. Look out for competitions in areas that interest you, for example, design, writing, maths, or business.
- Personal Projects
Your personal projects reflect what you love doing. That’s why there’s a high probability they’re related to the course you’re applying for.
If you love coding, you may have built websites. Love writing? Maybe you’ve set up your own blog! Write them down in your work experience personal statement.
- Leadership Positions
If you occupied leadership positions in your organisations relevant to your chosen course, mention them! Universities are on the lookout for motivated individuals willing to take responsibility.
The list of work experiences to include in your personal statement hopefully helps, but make sure to check out our what not to put in a personal statement .
Writing down your leadership positions can take your work experience personal statement up a higher notch.
State Your Work Experience
You now have a solid idea of relevant work experience you need to include in your personal statement. But how will you present it? Here are questions to eliminate writer’s block:
Make good use of these starters to kick off your writing. Brainstorm all relevant details of your work experience. We’ll sort them out later. And, if you’re wondering how to start a personal statement then wonder no more!
Discuss What You Learned, And Why It’s Essential
After stating the facts about your work experience, it’s time to get to the heart of the matter. You are writing your work experience personal statement not to brag about your achievements, but showing why you’re serious about your course .
That’s why discussing what you learned is essential. Beyond your role, share what insights you’ve gained that helped shape your character.
If you’re not sure how to start, let these questions unknot your ideas:
- How did this position impact you?
- What are the primary skills you’ve gained that are relevant to your course?
- How does this experience influence your decisions in pursuing your study goals?
- How does this experience relate to your general ability to succeed in your course?
- What are the major lessons you’ve learned that are helping you grow as an individual person ?
- What is your biggest takeaway from this position?
- Are there significant interactions that impacted your desire to take the course?
After answering these questions, craft a powerful paragraph that demonstrates how deep your understanding is.
The more interesting facts you share about yourself, the better. Bring your work experience personal statement to life with vivid details that convey essential ideas about who you are.
Ideas For Essential Skills
You may be unaware of skills you possess that are relevant and essential for your course. To make sure you won’t forget to mention them, here are skill ideas common across fields:
- The ability to communicate to higher-ups, colleagues, and clients
- Perseverance amidst challenges
- A sense of duty and obligation
- Eagerness to serve the community, especially the marginalised
- Critical thinking skills to overcome setbacks
- Initiative to work independently
- Knows how to work in a team setting
- Shows energy and enthusiasm to
- Motivation to work hard and do well
These are some of the common skills valuable across several fields of study. Among these, which describes you most? Go ahead and write about it!
Demonstrate Understanding Of The Course You’re Applying For
Your work experience should deepen your understanding of the course you’re applying for. Dig deeper and reflect on these points:
- How is your course making a positive change in the world? If you’re eyeing health-related courses, explain how health workers significantly impact people’s lives. Do you want to apply for education-related courses? Relay a story of how significant educators in your life changed you for the better.
- Mention the gaps and problems you see in the field. Do you see a severe lack of health facilities? Perhaps you’ve witnessed the challenges teachers and professors experience in the education system.
- What do you plan to do about it? Demonstrate that you’re applying for your chosen course because you want to help solve the problems that you see. Convince the admissions board that you’re the person for the course by writing about your desire to be an agent of change!
Reach Out To People Who’ve Been Where You Want To Be
To enhance your work experience personal statement, reach out to people who’ve been where you want to be. University students and practising staff are the perfect individuals you can approach.
Set appointments with them and ask them about their experience. What is it like to be in their position? What are the challenges that they see? What are they doing to improve their field of study?
Best of all, solicit advice on how to write your work experience personal statement. What skills do the admissions boards search for?
Then go back to your personal statement and write about your new connections. Mention how their insights and advice shed greater light on how your work experience will help you succeed in your course.
Do this, and you’re guaranteed to show a richer work experience personal statement.
Read Up On The Current Situation Of Your Chosen Field
Soak up knowledge on the current challenges and breakthroughs of your chosen field. Read journal articles, news websites, and featured stories. You can also visit blogs written by practitioners or university students.
Make sure to cite authoritative sources and figures when discussing the status quo. Then weave the information back to your work experience.
Do you have similar experiences with the figures you’ve mentioned? Have they discussed situations you experienced yourself? How are you making a difference in the field? Will your perspective matter?
What a perfect way to build credibility for your work experience personal statement!
Check Out Work Experience Personal Statement Examples
You now have a rich draft of your work experience personal statement. But you’re unsure of how to word and structure it.
Why not check out work experience personal statement examples on the web? Examine how they presented their experiences and insights. Make sure to read as many examples as you can.
Choose your top 3 favourites and save them in your documents. If you’re short of ideas, go back to them. Don’t forget to highlight paragraphs, sentences, and words that inspire you.
Be Authentic And Vulnerable
Don’t be afraid of being vulnerable in your work experience personal statement. The admissions board needs to know if you are genuinely passionate about this course or not, so don’t hold back!
But remember to stay authentic. Don’t overdramatise mundane events. State events as they happened, and share your realisations as they are. Authenticity is a precious factor!
Action The Above To ‘Work’ On Your Personal Statement
With the suggestions mentioned above, you’ll be able to craft a more compelling and impactful work experience personal statement. Understand that this is YOUR story. Don’t copy others’ work experience personal statements.
Make your own angle and spin, and rest assured that the admissions board will want to read about YOU in your chosen course!
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COMMENTS
Jennifer Herrity Updated July 31, 2023 A personal statement, also sometimes known as a professional statement or resume summary, is one of the most important documents you will write when applying to schools or jobs. An exceptional personal statement can increase your chances of admission or getting a job offer.
Back Table of Contents 1 Check The Course Requirements For Work Experience 2 Examples Of Work Experience 3 State Your Work Experience 4 Discuss What You Learned, And Why It's Essential 5 Ideas For Essential Skills 6 7 8 Read Up On The Current Situation Of Your Chosen Field 9 10 Be Authentic And Vulnerable
1. The general, comprehensive personal statement: This allows you maximum freedom in terms of what you write and is the type of statement often prepared for standard medical or law school application forms. 2. The response to very specific questions:
Here are examples of prompts or questions you may encounter: How are you unique in a promising way that can make your application memorable? What is something that you're proud of? What life lesson brought you a unique degree of wisdom that set you on this path? What part of your history do you wish you had the chance to explain?
It sums up your experience, goals and skills with confidence. Think of your resume's personal statement like an extended tagline for your career. A resume personal statement should include: Between 50 and 200 words in 3 - 4 sentences. Your title or function, for example "Junior developer" or "Passionate hospitality manager".
For a university application, discuss what parts of the program or school align with your passions. Your university introduction should be a full paragraph. 2. Expand on relevant skills, interests and experiences. The body of your personal statement lets you share more about your relevant skills, interests and experiences.
Key Takeaways: To write a personal statement, first brainstorm, then narrow down your ideas, and start with an intro that leads into your qualifications. Make sure to proofread your personal statement before submitting. Personal statements describe your interests, skills, and goals, with a particular focus on your passion.
Step 1: State your job title/profession. Step 2: Add the years of relevant experience you have. Step 3: Mention your values and relevant skills in the CV personal statement. Step 4: Highlight your best achievements. Step 5: State your career goals and purposes in your profile statement for CV.
1. The who When writing your personal statement, start by telling the employer who you are as a professional. Maybe you're a marketing consultant with five years of paid media experience, or maybe you're a teacher with in-depth knowledge of diverse learning styles and the Montessori method. 2. The what
Creating an effective CV takes time and close attention to detail. You've already included your jobs and experience, and now you want to allow the recruiter or hiring manager to understand the strategic value you can add.. This is when you need to utilize a personal statement at the top of your CV. How to Write a CV Personal Statement [+4 Real-life Examples]
1. Personal statement for a postgraduate programme Joan David Personal statement for master's programme in Public Policy and Administration London School of Policy 'I held my first textbook when I was a 23-year-old undergraduate. I know that's not a typical age for an undergraduate, but I wasn't a typical university student.
17 CV personal statement examples To start this guide, I have included 10 examples of good personal statements, to give you an idea of how a personal statement should look, and what should be included. Note: personal statements are generally used by junior candidates - if you are experienced, check out our CV profile examples instead.
Here's how to write a personal statement step-by-step: 1. Say Who You Are in the First Sentence. The first sentence of your personal profile must show that you're a serious candidate for the job. So, skip your zodiac sign or your favorite football team, even if they're a big part of who you are.
A personal statement is a brief personal summary outlining your skills, experience and personal attributes. Often, universities will require a longer statement than recruiters or employers, so you may want to prepare a separate statement for each and cater to any of their specifications.
Example #13 - Personal Statement for a Career Change CV. "With 10+ years extensive experience as a sales manager building high-functioning sales teams that consistently achieve budget figures. Led a 20% increase in annual renewals across the board with the growth of the sales team's talents.
Example: A highly motivated and hardworking individual, who has recently completed their A-Levels, achieving excellent grades in both Maths and Science. Seeking an apprenticeship in the engineering industry to build upon a keen scientific interest and start a career as a maintenance engineer.
PERSONAL STATEMENT TEMPLATE PERSONAL STATEMENT TEMPLATE FOR PUBLIC SERVANTS What is a personal statement and what is its purpose? personal statement allows you to demonstrate your suitability for a role by providing evidence against the essential criteria as outlined in the job description.
"Put yourself in the middle and write down your experience, skills and attributes. Do the same with the future employer in the middle, what are they looking for in the job advert? Then compare the two and build from there."
Accounting Personal Statement Example #2. Experienced and qualified Accountant with a sound understanding of financial controls and processes. A strong commercial awareness combined with the ability to analyze and produce high quality management reports to tight deadlines. Specific experience of developing cost saving practices, budget ...
The best technique in doing so is reading it out loud to hear how your writing sounds. This will help you find areas of improvement such as: Relevance. Spelling and grammar. Passive voice. Specificity. Simple and clear phrasing. Easy to understand the language.
Personal Statement Example #2: Pickleball. I've always been one to have a good attitude no matter the circumstances. Except when it comes to exercise. From dodgeball in PE class to family Turkey Trots, I'm always the first one out and the last one across the finish line.
What should a personal statement include? The personal statement should demonstrate the qualities, skills, and values that you've cultivated over your life and how those skills have prepared you for attending college. I (Ethan) have spent the last 15 years answering this question, which you can learn more about in my free 1-hour guide.
In this open-access directory of Work Experience Personal Statement examples, you are given a thrilling opportunity to explore meaningful topics, content structuring techniques, text flow, formatting styles, and other academically acclaimed writing practices.
CRediT author statement. CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) was introduced with the intention of recognizing individual author contributions, reducing authorship disputes and facilitating collaboration. The idea came about following a 2012 collaborative workshop led by Harvard University and the Wellcome Trust, with input from researchers, the ...