Hi all, I need all your help in writing a personal statement. I am a mature student and I have been on a career break to raise a family. I have never written a personal statement but I have to write one desperately to get an admission into a masters programme in Health Promotion. My backgroung is the physical sciences but I Would like to have a change in career. I will appreciate any help , samples etc as I learnt that an oustanding personal statement is the main requirement for getting on this programme. I really want to get back to college in September.'
Thank you.

This might help:
http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/how-to-write-a-personal-statement-for-your-cv

Hope this helps...

http://www.toughbiz.com/2011/05/how-to-write-sexy-business-proposals.html

Hey guys ! What do you usually write in a personal statement if you are also submitting a research statement, where you explain why your experience makes you a good fit for the position?

In many example statements it seems that the people just write their CV as an essay. If so, how honest can you be in this statement? I don't really want to make up any stupid story of how I saved a bird's life as a kid and decided to study medicine. However, I have the feeling that in almost every statement this is the case and that recruiters want to read thes stories. What if you were not thinking about a PhD in e.g. immunology since you were 5 years old ? What if there were no life changing events, no diseased relatives or whatever that made you major in that particular field but just curiosity? I am somehow having a hard time to explain why my personal background makes me a good fit. It just doesn't. My research background does.

Although there are lots of articles and help guides out there on the internet, I've recently written a personal statement which was needed to get me onto my PhD course and I didn't find them all that useful. Many are either ridiculous or quite sterile (the ones I read anyway!).

I think the main thing is to first look at what they're asking for. Here's an adapted version of what they asked for when I applied which you can use as a framework: "Your personal statement should clearly communicate why you are interested in [blank], state what interests you about [blank], clearly articulate how your prior experience or qualifications provide a good foundation for [blank], state what new skills and expertise you hope to develop through [blank] and tell us why you are motivated to conduct [blank]." If you break that down into sections, you have the framework for a personal statement which could be applied to most.

For me, to make your statement stand out, you need to really show why you're applying. Are you passionate about the subject? If so, say that, describe that and use language that conveys your passion for the topic. Some elements of a personal statement have to relay some info from your CV but not all of it.

Dunham - your research background is your personal background! You did that research because you were interested in it (I presume) so therefore it's your personal background! I've never included any life-changing stories in it.

It's quite a hard one to explain without examples so I'm not sure if I will have been any help at all but I hope so. Good luck!

p.s. I had to do all of that in 500 words so it is possible!

Thanks a lot !

I think the problem for me is that I don't want to be redundant. They also ask you to write about your motivation for the project in the research statement (where you also describe the future prespective, what you hope to achieve etc. ), which limits the personal statement mainly to personal information that might be beneficial for a PhD or that makes you the ideal PhD student.

This can be a bit of an odd one.

One of the CDTs that I applied for earlier in the year asked for a personal statement. Turned out that everybody else at the interview had basically put the CV in to essay form, per your original post, Dunham. Thing is, the rest of your application pretty much covers off that stuff, right?

So I pondered this one over with my supervisor, and she gave me the best advice I've ever had when it comes for applications: your research IS going to be personal, so make a statement. JennyPenny's views above struck a chord when I read them, as this is the same thing I was told. So, I took my research proposal (which wasn't explicitly asked for this CDT interview process) and gave it a very personal edge, threw in a touch of character and reference to some outside interests, drivers, motivators.

Seemed to work a treat, anyways: starting there in September.

Comparing the various other applications I submitted to various institutions, the research statement was always more of a synopsis (2000-3000 words) of the intended work, so that gave more scope over to making the personal statement shorter and a little more flowery.

Guess it depends as much on who's reading your statements as anything else. My advice would be to shower them with your drive to study in the field, to do things people have never done before. If you've got an enthusiasm and passion to do that, it will hopefully shine through in your writing. You can always spend the first ten minutes of the interview getting to know each other... Hell, you might even talk about your mutual love of Discworld (yeah... that ACTUALLY happened in one of my interviews). End of the day, if I was in the recruiters shoes, yeah, I want someone who can gel with my team; however, I'd be just as interested in knowing you have the drive and stamina to do the work.

The only thing I know for sure, after the old application process, is this:

It's never the same thing in any two different institutions.

Feel free to drop me a P.M. if you want to shoot the breeze over this. I found it a nightmare, personally.