CV - Personal Statement?
Discussion
I recruit people fairly regularly (though not in your industry) and I have seen more and more of these over the years. In general, they are bland, facile, buzzword-laden nonsense, utterly interchangable between the CVs of any two people on roughly similar career paths. You very, very rarely see one that actually has anything distinctive to say about the author, but I tend to miss those as I don't read them anyway.
Just once, I would love to see someone have the stones to write one that goes like this:
"Poorly organised slacker with authority issues and a real talent for failing to overcome inertia seeks position of limited responsibility and indistinct measurement. I bring a wide range of partially-developed skills, few tested in any sort of depth, and a ludicrously inflated sense of self-worth. I enjoy working as part of a team, so long as I can share, delegate or evade real accountability, yet share in any rewards going. References available."
They would get an interview from me!
ps: Pothole - writing about yourself in the third person is pompous, lacks warmth, and is commonly considered to be one of the first signs of megalomaniac delusions (c/f Bonaparte, Napoleon).
pps: Ali D - you seem to have constructed half-a-dozen near-sentences there, not one of which uses any personal pronouns at all! Robotic, but no evidence of delusional megalomania, I suppose.
Just once, I would love to see someone have the stones to write one that goes like this:
"Poorly organised slacker with authority issues and a real talent for failing to overcome inertia seeks position of limited responsibility and indistinct measurement. I bring a wide range of partially-developed skills, few tested in any sort of depth, and a ludicrously inflated sense of self-worth. I enjoy working as part of a team, so long as I can share, delegate or evade real accountability, yet share in any rewards going. References available."
They would get an interview from me!
ps: Pothole - writing about yourself in the third person is pompous, lacks warmth, and is commonly considered to be one of the first signs of megalomaniac delusions (c/f Bonaparte, Napoleon).
pps: Ali D - you seem to have constructed half-a-dozen near-sentences there, not one of which uses any personal pronouns at all! Robotic, but no evidence of delusional megalomania, I suppose.
Edited by ajcj on Wednesday 24th November 14:08
ajcj said:
pps: Ali D - you seem to have constructed half-a-dozen near-sentences there, not one of which uses any personal pronouns at all! Robotic, but no evidence of delusional megalomania, I suppose.
The poor sentence construction is done on purpose so I could get lots of key words in without it being too long as no-one reads them properly. The lack of personal pronouns is also done on purpose - I'm in effect telling them what to think without the obvious 3rd person wording. Have I thought about this too much or not enough? Edited by ajcj on Wednesday 24th November 14:08
It helps of course to have a decent CV underneath this!
Ali_D said:
ajcj said:
pps: Ali D - you seem to have constructed half-a-dozen near-sentences there, not one of which uses any personal pronouns at all! Robotic, but no evidence of delusional megalomania, I suppose.
The poor sentence construction is done on purpose so I could get lots of key words in without it being too long as no-one reads them properly. The lack of personal pronouns is also done on purpose - I'm in effect telling them what to think without the obvious 3rd person wording. Have I thought about this too much or not enough? Edited by ajcj on Wednesday 24th November 14:08
It helps of course to have a decent CV underneath this!
So what's the difference between a "personal statement" and a covering letter?
I always like to receive CVs with a covering letter detailing exactly how certain experience/accomplishments will help in specific scenarios within my businesses.
This shows that the candidate has actually taken the time to research what we do, think about challenges they may face in the role and offer suitable reasons for their employment.
I opened a CV the other week written in the 3rd person; thought very much like the poster above that it was a sure sign of a megalomaniac who thought a little too highly of themselves. I got shot down for mentioning this in the Employment forum; apparently it's quite common!!!!
I always like to receive CVs with a covering letter detailing exactly how certain experience/accomplishments will help in specific scenarios within my businesses.
This shows that the candidate has actually taken the time to research what we do, think about challenges they may face in the role and offer suitable reasons for their employment.
I opened a CV the other week written in the 3rd person; thought very much like the poster above that it was a sure sign of a megalomaniac who thought a little too highly of themselves. I got shot down for mentioning this in the Employment forum; apparently it's quite common!!!!
Some of the replies on PH show the difference in approaches by the various recruiting people – hence, CV format and content can be very subjective.
If you can get the attention of reader within 1st half of 1st page – s/he may read the rest?
Personal statements, I like and if in the 3rd person, make no difference.
Personal Statement and Covering Letter differ: the former is generic in the body of the CV whilst latter should be specific for the advertised role and generally on a separate sheet with specific requirements of (advertised) role listed point for point against your applicable skill set.
If you can get the attention of reader within 1st half of 1st page – s/he may read the rest?
Personal statements, I like and if in the 3rd person, make no difference.
Personal Statement and Covering Letter differ: the former is generic in the body of the CV whilst latter should be specific for the advertised role and generally on a separate sheet with specific requirements of (advertised) role listed point for point against your applicable skill set.
Ali_D said:
Go on then - mine's much longer and has formatting on the real thing!
Personal statement
Qualified accountant with big four and a wide range of industry and public sector experience who thrives on the challenges of working in a changing environment and strives to have an immediate impact on profitability, process and culture.
Enjoys managing projects, either in a team environment or on own, particularly working with non-financial senior management. Significant experience in evaluating and improving business processes and in the design and development of management information systems that add value to the business user.
Key strengths
• Understanding how the business works and using this knowledge to develop better processes and more relevant management information.
• Enjoys working with and helping develop team members.
• Communicating complex financial ideas to non-finance professionals and showing how these concepts affect the business.
This seems to have worked for me so far but always interested in feedback!
Beautifully written but it's just your opinion of yourself.Personal statement
Qualified accountant with big four and a wide range of industry and public sector experience who thrives on the challenges of working in a changing environment and strives to have an immediate impact on profitability, process and culture.
Enjoys managing projects, either in a team environment or on own, particularly working with non-financial senior management. Significant experience in evaluating and improving business processes and in the design and development of management information systems that add value to the business user.
Key strengths
• Understanding how the business works and using this knowledge to develop better processes and more relevant management information.
• Enjoys working with and helping develop team members.
• Communicating complex financial ideas to non-finance professionals and showing how these concepts affect the business.
This seems to have worked for me so far but always interested in feedback!
I'd want to see an example of how and where (i.e. what company) you delivered each of these attributes so well.
Ali_D said:
Pothole said:
Ali_D said:
Pothole said:
" particularly working with non-financial senior management"
because they never question your jargon filled 'explanations' like financially qualified SM would do?
In the world of accountancy being able to talk to people don't don't understand accruals etc is a big seller. The thing with all these personal statements is they should be aimed at the person who is doing the recruitment - mine will be read by a Finance Director, they'll be able to see I can do numbers from my previous roles, what they will be interested in is can I communicate with the business.because they never question your jargon filled 'explanations' like financially qualified SM would do?
I was also trying really hard to make a serious point as when I can be bothered to reply to a thread its normally with a piss take. hmmph
ajcj said:
ps: Pothole - writing about yourself in the third person is pompous, lacks warmth, and is commonly considered to be one of the first signs of megalomaniac delusions (c/f Bonaparte, Napoleon).
Writing about oneself, surely? I wouldn't want to be interviewed by anyone with common considerations in any case!Edited by ajcj on Wednesday 24th November 14:08
V8mate said:
Ali_D said:
Go on then - mine's much longer and has formatting on the real thing!
Personal statement
....
Beautifully written but it's just your opinion of yourself.Personal statement
....
I'd want to see an example of how and where (i.e. what company) you delivered each of these attributes so well.
Ali_D said:
V8mate said:
Ali_D said:
Go on then - mine's much longer and has formatting on the real thing!
Personal statement
....
Beautifully written but it's just your opinion of yourself.Personal statement
....
I'd want to see an example of how and where (i.e. what company) you delivered each of these attributes so well.
I even go so far as to put key words in bold so that the document can be scan read to demonstrate my skills within seconds.
V8mate said:
I even go so far as to put key words in bold so that the document can be scan read to demonstrate my skills within seconds.
Funnily enough I interviewed someone yesterday who had employed this very trick. It fooled me. Enough to give him an interview. After less than 10 seconds I concluded that he had harvested the words in question from google and the CV was about as truthful as any one of Jane Austin's novels. As was the supposed MBA ...
Oli.
zcacogp said:
V8mate said:
I even go so far as to put key words in bold so that the document can be scan read to demonstrate my skills within seconds.
Funnily enough I interviewed someone yesterday who had employed this very trick. It fooled me. Enough to give him an interview. After less than 10 seconds I concluded that he had harvested the words in question from google and the CV was about as truthful as any one of Jane Austin's novels. As was the supposed MBA ...
Oli.
People can lie on their CVs however they're laid out.
V8mate said:
That doesn't make the practice of highlighting key words wrong, though.
People can lie on their CVs however they're laid out.
I really don't like highlighted key words for a variety of reasons. Mainly it's because I will choose what is relevant rather than someone telling me what they think is relevant. Each to their own though and it certainly wouldn't make me disregard a CV. What it (and lots of comments on here) shows is we all have different likes and dislikes with regard to CV's. People can lie on their CVs however they're laid out.
V8mate said:
Ali_D said:
V8mate said:
Ali_D said:
Go on then - mine's much longer and has formatting on the real thing!
Personal statement
....
Beautifully written but it's just your opinion of yourself.Personal statement
....
I'd want to see an example of how and where (i.e. what company) you delivered each of these attributes so well.
I even go so far as to put key words in bold so that the document can be scan read to demonstrate my skills within seconds.
I'd bin a CV that had highlighted words on it. I'm quite capable of reading without that s
te.The rise of the personal statement is perhaps something to do with the near ubiquity of Higher Education Qualifications becoming an expectation for nearly any serious role and consequently the completion of UCAS or predecessor bodies application forms...
Add in the fact that some employers now insist on the completon of a standardised format of application to enable the demographic information to be hidden for 'equality' purposes and things only HR and Occ health need to be see to be collated and seperated ( also to evidence the above equality comments) which often contains a 'supporting information' area with a substanial amount of blank space to fill ...
Add in the fact that some employers now insist on the completon of a standardised format of application to enable the demographic information to be hidden for 'equality' purposes and things only HR and Occ health need to be see to be collated and seperated ( also to evidence the above equality comments) which often contains a 'supporting information' area with a substanial amount of blank space to fill ...
spikeyhead said:
V8mate said:
Ali_D said:
V8mate said:
Ali_D said:
Go on then - mine's much longer and has formatting on the real thing!
Personal statement
....
Beautifully written but it's just your opinion of yourself.Personal statement
....
I'd want to see an example of how and where (i.e. what company) you delivered each of these attributes so well.
I even go so far as to put key words in bold so that the document can be scan read to demonstrate my skills within seconds.
I'd bin a CV that had highlighted words on it. I'm quite capable of reading without that s
te.Bear in mind, also, that many recruiters, even those operating in specialist fields, often actually have little knowledgeo their subject matter and are looking for words which are familiar to them or which may have appeared in the client's specification. You're simply helping them join up the dots.
agent006 said:
Evening gang,
I'm just re-doing my CV. Last done about 4 years ago. I'm reading a lot of advice about including a small Personal Statement as a kick off. Sort of a "Hey, I'm this this and this, aren't I great" few lines.
This wasn't around last time I did my CV. Is it something that you (as an interviewer, for an IT role) would welcome or would I look like a jumped up mobile phone salesman?
If you are going for a "Management" opportunity - avoid the word "I" - remember - there is no "I" in team or the word "we".I'm just re-doing my CV. Last done about 4 years ago. I'm reading a lot of advice about including a small Personal Statement as a kick off. Sort of a "Hey, I'm this this and this, aren't I great" few lines.
This wasn't around last time I did my CV. Is it something that you (as an interviewer, for an IT role) would welcome or would I look like a jumped up mobile phone salesman?
khushy
Apart from the professional and educational history, I just add one thing to fill in some more information about me, which is the phrase "Boxing Blue". It seems to serve pretty well to explain a bit more about me, my interests and my attitude.
That, alone, got me in front of the head of HR for my first banking job, and has opened many doors since.
That, alone, got me in front of the head of HR for my first banking job, and has opened many doors since.
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