Managing Change - Expert Coaching and Development
  • Home
  • Our Services
    • Development >
      • Executive Coaching
      • Leadership Coaching & Development
      • Programmes >
        • Leadership Development Programmes
    • Transitions >
      • Career Coaching
      • Parental Leave Coaching >
        • Maternity Coaching
        • Paternity Coaching
      • Outplacement >
        • The Programmes
    • Assessment >
      • Psychometric Instruments
  • About Us
  • Our People
    • Credentials
    • Sarah Jaggers
    • David Bredin
    • Simon Foster
    • Christine Peck
    • Darren Perks
    • Annabel Purves
    • Lesley Trenner
    • Roberta Bantel
    • Mark Powell
  • Our Clients
    • Testimonials
  • Contact Us
  • News and Views

How to Write Effective CV Profile Statements

25/2/2014

0 Comments

 

CV writing is a tedious business for most of us. It is not always easy to capture and articulate all of our achievements and attributes which promote us to would-be employers to best advantage. Even more difficult for many is writing the ‘Profile’ or ‘Personal Summary’ section. Many of the CVs I am asked to review have Profiles which are very weak, in that they give a very unclear or incomplete picture of the candidate, or worse, don’t include a Profile at all. So what’s the deal with Profile statements?

Your Profile statement is an important part of your CV and a key selling point. It is your opportunity to summarise your skills, attributes and experience in a way that clearly illustrates why you are ideally suited to the job and the organisation for which you are applying.

​In earlier articles I have stressed two points:
1. That your CV is a marketing document and is written to show how you meet the employer’s needs not how the employer should meet yours; and
2. That the top third of the first page of your CV is a key position – i.e. if it is sufficiently interesting and relevant the reader will read on.

Typically, and ideally, your Profile should follow your contact information at the top of the first CV page. It should clearly describe:
  • who you are: eg “As a highly motivated, energetic finance director, I have…”
  • what you do and what value you can bring to the organisation, eg “a proven track record of analysing, evaluating and managing company acquisitions…”
  • your career objective eg. “looking for a position within a professional services organisation in which I can add commercial and strategic value and further develop my professional skills”.

The Profile should provide the reader with an accurate, comprehensive and punchy ‘picture’ of you. The statement should be brief (between 50 and 150 words in length) and should read smoothly without excessive use of the personal pronoun (“I”). A concise, well written summary should leap out at the reader and motivate them to read on.

Think about what you can do for the employer. For example if you start by saying “I am looking for a position in which I can utilise my communication skills and progress my career” it says something about your needs but is not focused on what the employer wants or needs. Ensure that you focus on the job, its requirements and what you have to offer first. For this reason you will see that your summary should be updated (albeit slightly) for each job you apply for, along with the rest of your CV.

Finally I suggest you write your Profile statement last to ensure that it effectively summarises all the points you have included in your CV; this nicely signposts the reader to what will follow.

​If you would benefit from help with your CV or career management, do give us a call.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Anxiety
    Appraisal
    Authentic Leadership
    Breaking Through
    Career Coaching
    Careers
    Coaching Psychology
    Communication
    CVs
    Diversity And Inclusion
    Emotional Intelligence
    Employee Engagement
    EQ
    Executive Coaching
    Feedback
    Feedback Culture
    Imposter Syndrome
    Job Interviews
    Job Search
    Lawyer Survey
    Leadership
    Leadership Development
    Leadership Development Programme Model
    Learning And Development
    Management Development
    Managing Change
    Maternity Coaching
    Meetings
    Motivation
    Parental Leave
    Performance
    Positive Psychology
    Psychometrics
    Redundancy
    Resilience
    Returning To Work
    Strengths
    Stress
    Transactional Analysis
    Women Leaders
    Working Mums

    Archives

    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    RSS Feed

Picture


Managing Change (Cambridge) Limited

t: 01223 655667       e: enquiries@managingchange.org.uk

Copyright © 2016 - 2019 Managing Change (Cambridge) Limited. All Rights Reserved.

GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Our Services
    • Development >
      • Executive Coaching
      • Leadership Coaching & Development
      • Programmes >
        • Leadership Development Programmes
    • Transitions >
      • Career Coaching
      • Parental Leave Coaching >
        • Maternity Coaching
        • Paternity Coaching
      • Outplacement >
        • The Programmes
    • Assessment >
      • Psychometric Instruments
  • About Us
  • Our People
    • Credentials
    • Sarah Jaggers
    • David Bredin
    • Simon Foster
    • Christine Peck
    • Darren Perks
    • Annabel Purves
    • Lesley Trenner
    • Roberta Bantel
    • Mark Powell
  • Our Clients
    • Testimonials
  • Contact Us
  • News and Views