CV & Cover Letter AdviceUncategorised

How to Write a Personal Profile for your CV

Tess,   13th December 2018

How to Write a Personal Profile for your CV

A personal profile is essentially the introduction to your CV. It acts as an insight into what you’re all about. This is your golden opportunity to promote yourself, so make it count!

If you think of the back of a DVD case, or the blurb of a book, you will find that the small paragraph you read, will determine whether or not you make a purchase. This is the same for your personal profile on your CV; if it doesn’t catch the attention of the reader, they will most likely not bother reading the rest.

In this article we will list the things you need to do when writing your personal profile…

Keep your Personal Profile Brief:

You want the hiring manager to be won over in the opening paragraph. You should be able to tell them in a few lines; who you are, your skills, strengths and why you’re relevant to the job role you are applying for. Keep it to 4-6 lines and try not to waffle as people will switch off. You know yourself better than most so you just need to tell a potential employer why you’re the right person for the job.

If you’re a modest person who struggles with this, talk to your partner, friends or family and ask them to best describe you. This is often a good way to give a true account of yourself.

1st Person vs 3rd Person:

There is a lot of controversy around writing your CV profile in the 1st or 3rd person. Our advice is to go with what you are most comfortable with. The most important thing is for you to give a good account of yourself that makes you sound appealing and relevant to the job you are applying for.

Whatever you do though, don’t go between writing in the 1st person, to writing in the 3rd person. Be consistent.

Check your Grammar:

Lastly, make sure you triple check for spelling and grammatical mistakes. Quite often when we are concentrating on the content, we can lose sight of the errors. Hiring managers will instantly decline applications with poor grammar, so make sure you don’t fall at the first hurdle. Spell checking your CV is vital but I would recommend getting a friend to cast their eyes over the profile content just in case you’ve missed something.

If you need any further help with writing your CV, then check out our FREE guide. Or, if you’d like to discuss any of the job roles we have available, email: hello@gbsolutions.co.uk