Personal statement... what should this actually include?

[Matt..]

I'm in the process of applying for a position with a large organisation. The position is within IT as a senior/lead developer. I haven't applied for a job in nearly 9yrs, and have only worked in relatively small business before. It's not easy to remember how all this works.

There is a "person specification" with the ad, and it states I should write a personal statement to address this, up to 5,000 characters. What do companies normally actually expect from this? Is it purely a filtering method? and should I actually go anywhere near 5k characters? am I over thinking this (almost certainly!).

[Matt..]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

5000 characters. Not words.

5k characters is approx 1 page. To me it seems too much, and currently I have half a page that mainly goes through a little of my career history and what I've brought to my current position.

[Matt..]

I've found out I can go direct and bypass the online application. Therefore I don't need to do this personal statement. Seems a little easier this way!

[Matt..]

I got an invite to interview

Now I'm panicing a little as I wasn't really expecting that as I don't meet all of the requirements in the job description. This should be clear from my CV though.

It's quite a stretch to get the position, but it would be perfect for me career wise. It's just quite scary after so long in the same company and with never having been through a formal interview process before.

Does anyone have any advice in situations like this? I have been going through story ideas for the behavioural interview, and have some insider tips on what the rest of the process will include. Should I be up front in saying that I don't have all the experience, but am very much heading in that direction, and have transferable skills? (it should be clear to them that this is the case as my CV doesn't highlight all the skills they advertised as wanting).

I fully suspect they have limited numbers of applicants for the position as the vast majority of people qualified in what they want are contractors earning hugely more than is being offered. I suspect there are maybe up to 5 people being interviewed.

[Matt..]

DanL said:

Finally, remember - pretty much no one has the full shopping list they're looking for, as people generally move across and up. If you already had the complete skill set, you'd already be doing the job elsewhere and just moving for money... Not a compelling reason to hire someone!

A very good and understandable point.

I suspect that being in a single company for so long has knocked my confidence in going for other opportunities to a certain degree. However, my loyalty should be a strong point with this particular position, and the people interviewing me have been in the business for a long time, and have progressed upwards within.

I have almost resigned myself to the fact that I'm not suitable, but the interview should be great experience for me. I need to get away from those thoughts somewhat.

[Matt..]

MitchT said:

Indeed ... "If you were an animal what kind would you be and why?"

The recruitment process includes a behavioural interview. So I fully expect that to be them asking me for stories on certain things. Should be fun :/

[Matt..]

I missed out

It was a fairly formal and long process. It was 3.5hrs of assessments.

I'd say I've learnt a lot from the process, and I'll know far more of what to expect. I suspect not having done an interview for nearly 10yrs didn't help my case