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Though the
requirements differ from application to application, the purpose of this type
of writing is to represent your goals, experiences and qualifications in the
best possible light, and to demonstrate your writing ability. Your personal
statement or application letter introduces you to your potential employer or
program director, so it is essential that you allow yourself enough time to
craft a polished piece of writing.
1) PREPARE
YOUR MATERIALS
Before you sit
down to write, do some preparation in order to avoid frustration during the
actual writing process. Obtain copies of documents such as transcripts, resumes
and the application form itself; keeping them in front of you will make your
job of writing much easier. Make a list of important information, in particular
names and exact titles of former employers and supervisors, titles of jobs you
have held, companies you have worked for, dates of appropriate work or
volunteer experiences, the duties involved etc. In this way, you will be able
to refer to these materials while writing in order to include as much specific
detail as possible.
2) WRITE A
FIRST DRAFT
After you have
collected and reviewed these materials, it is time to start writing. The
following is a list of concerns that writers should keep in mind when writing a
personal statement/application letter.
Answer the
Question:
A major problem for all writers can be the issue of actually answering the
question being asked. For example, an application might want you to discuss the
reason you are applying to a particular program or company. If you spend your
entire essay or letter detailing your qualifications with no mention of what
attracted you to the company or department, your statement will probably not be
successful. To avoid this problem, read the question or assignment carefully
both as you prepare and again just prior to writing. Keep the question in front
of you as you write, and refer to it often.
Consider The
“I” Problem:
This is a personal statement; using the first person pronoun “I” is acceptable.
Writers often feel rather self-conscious about using first person excessively,
either because they are modest or because they have learned to avoid first and
second person (“you”) in any type of formal writing. Yet in this type of
writing using first person is essential because it makes your prose more
lively. Using third person can result in a vague and overly wordy essay. While
starting every sentence with “I” is not advisable, remember that you and your
experiences are the subject of the essay.
Avoid
Unnecessary Duplication: Sometimes a writer has a tendency to repeat information
in his or her personal statement that is already included in other parts of the
application packet (resume, transcript, application form, etc.). For example,
it is not necessary to mention your exact GPA or specific grades and course
titles in your personal statement or application letter. It is more efficient
and more effective to simply mention academic progress briefly (“I was on the
Dean’s List“ or “I have taken numerous courses in the field of nutrition”) and
then move on to discuss appropriate work or volunteer experiences in more
detail.
Make Your
Statement Distinctive: Many writers want to make their personal statements
unique or distinctive in some way as a means of distinguishing their
application from the many others received by the company or program. One way to
do this is to include at least one detailed example or anecdote that is
specific to your own experience—perhaps a description of an important family
member or personal moment that influenced your decision to pursue a particular
career or degree. This strategy makes your statement distinctive and memorable.
Keep It Brief: Usually, personal
statements are limited to 250–500 words or one typed page, so write concisely
while still being detailed. Making sure that each paragraph is tightly focused
on a single idea (one paragraph on the strengths of the program, one on your
research experience, one on your extracurricular activities, etc.) helps keep
the essay from becoming too long. Also, spending a little time working on word
choice by utilizing a dictionary and a thesaurus and by including adjectives
should result in less repetition and more precise writing.
Personal
Statement Format
As mentioned
before, the requirements for personal statements differ, but generally a
personal statement includes certain information and can follow this format (see
following model).
Introduction
Many personal
statements begin with a catchy opening, often the distinctive personal example
mentioned earlier, as a way of gaining the reader’s attention. From there you
can connect the example to the actual program/position for which you are
applying. Mention the specific name of the program or company, as well as the
title of the position or degree you are seeking, in the first paragraph.
Detailed
Supporting Paragraphs
Subsequent
paragraphs should address any specific questions from the application, which
might deal with the strengths of the program/position, your own qualifications,
your compatibility with the program/position, your long-term goals or some
combination thereof. Each paragraph should be focused and should have a topic
sentence that informs the reader of the paragraph’s emphasis. You need to
remember, however, that the examples from your experience must be relevant and
should support your argument about your qualifications.
Conclusion
Tie together the
various issues that you have raised in the essay, and reiterate your interest
in this specific program or position. You might also mention how this job or
degree is a step towards a long-term goal in a closing paragraph. An
application letter contains many of the same elements as a personal statement,
but it is presented in a business letter format and can sometimes be even
shorter and more specific than a personal statement. An application letter may
not contain the catchy opening of the personal statement but instead includes
detailed information about the program or position and how you found out about
it. Your application letter usually refers to your resume at some point.
Another difference between a personal statement and an application letter is in
the conclusion, which in an application letter asks for an interview.
3) REVISING
THE PERSONAL STATEMENT/APPLICATION LETTER
Because this
piece of writing is designed to either get you an interview or a place in a
graduate school program, it is vital that you allow yourself enough time to
revise your piece of writing thoroughly. This revision needs to occur on both
the content level (did you address the question? is there enough detail?) and
the sentence level (is the writing clear? are the mechanics and punctuation
correct?). While tools such as spell-checks and grammar-checks are helpful
during revision, they should not be used exclusively; you should read over your
draft yourself and/or have others do so.
SAMPLE
As a child I
often accompanied my father to his small coin shop and spent hours watching him
work. When I was older, I sometimes set up displays, waited on customers, and
even balanced the books. This experience instilled in me the desire to own and
manage my own business someday, yet I understand that the business world today
is more complex. This complexity requires more education, and with that in
mind, I am applying to the Master’s of Business Administration program at
Indiana University Bloomington (IUB).
In addition
to my helping out in my father’s business, I have had numerous other work
experiences that further enhance my qualifications for this program. My resume
enumerates the various positions I have held at Kerasotes Theaters, Chili’s
restaurants, and Indiana University’s new Student Recreational Sports Center
(SRSC), and what all of these positions have in common is an emphasis on
serving the public effectively. Further, as an assistant manager at the
Showplace 11 and a staff coordinator at the SRSC, I have gained valuable
expertise in managing employees and creating work schedules. Both of these
positions have allowed me to develop my sales and people skills, which are
extremely important in an increasingly service-driven marketplace.
Not all of my
work experience has been as a paid employee. Part of my volunteering experience
at Middleway House, the local battered women’s shelter, involved extensive work
on computers, including word processing, organizing databases and creating
spreadsheets. Also, I recently participated in an internship program for
academic credit with the Eli Lilly corporation in the personnel division. As a
management intern, I was able to watch the workings of a major corporation up
close and would like the opportunity to combine my experiences with the
theoretical background available in the MBA program at IUB, with its emphasis
on computers, marketing and human resources.
My successful
internship is one element of my overall academic success as an undergraduate
here at IUB, yet I have also made time for a variety of extracurricular
activities, including working for my sorority and competing in intramural
basketball. My positive experiences here have resulted in my desire to stay in Bloomington to continue my academic endeavors; furthermore, continuing my education here
would allow me to make important business contacts, with the career goal of opening
my own computer consulting firm in the Midwest.
(Based
on: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/personal_statement.shtml
)
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Personal Statements and Application Letters