personal statement cv for school leaver

CV personal statement examples

17 eye-catching examples + writing guide

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If you want to secure job interview, you need a strong personal statement at the top of your CV.

Your CV personal statement is a short paragraph which sits at the very top of your CV – and it’s aim is to summarise the benefits of hiring you and encourage employers to read your CV in full.

In this guide I have included 17 CV personal statement examples from a range of professions and experience levels, plus a detailed guide of how to write your own personal statement that will get you noticed by employers

CV templates 

17 CV personal statement examples

To start this guide, I have included 10 examples of good personal statements, to give you an idea of how a personal statement should look , and what should be included.

Note: personal statements are generally used by junior candidates – if you are experienced, check out our CV profile examples instead.

Graduate CV personal statement (no experience)

Although this  graduate has no paid work experience, they compensate for it by showcasing all of the skills and knowledge the have gained during their studies, and demonstrating how they apply their knowledge in academic and personal projects.

When you have little or no experience, it’s important to draw out transferable workplace skills from your studies and extracurricular work, to showcase them to employers.

Graduate CV personal statement (part time freelance experience)

This candidate has graduated with a degree in biochemistry but actually wants to start a career in digital marketing after providing some digital freelance services to fund their studies.

In this case, they haven’t made much mention of their studies because they aren’t relevant to the digital marketing agencies they are applying to. Instead they have focused their personal statement around their freelance work and passion for the digital field – although they still mention the fact they are degree educated to prove their academic success.

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School leaver CV personal statement (no experience)

This candidate is 16 years old and has no work experience whatsoever, but they compensate for this by detailing their academic achievements that relate to the roles they are applying for (maths and literacy are important requirements in finance and accountancy roles).

They also add some info on their extracurricular activities and school work-placements, to strengthen this student CV further.

    Top tips for writing a CV personal statement

• Thoroughly research the jobs and companies you are planning to apply for to identify the type of candidate they are looking for – try to reflect that in your personal statement
• Don’t be afraid to brag a little – include some of your most impressive achievements from education, work or personal life
• Focus on describing the benefits an employer will get from hiring you. Will you help them to get more customers? Improve their workplace? Save them time and money?
• If you have no work experience, demonstrate transferable workplace skills from your education, projects, or even hobbies

School leaver CV personal statement (part time experience)

Although this person has only just left school, they have also undertaken some part-time work in a call centre alongside their studies.

To make the most of this experience, they have combined their academic achievements with their workplace exposure in this personal statement.

By highlighting their GCSE results, summer programme involvement, work experience and expressing their ambitions to progress within sales, this candidate really makes an appealing case for hiring them.

College leaver CV personal statement (no experience)

This candidate has left college with good grades, but does not yet have any work experience.

To compensate for the lack of workplace exposure, they have made their A level results prominent and highlighted skills and experience which would benefit the employers they are targeting.

Any recruiter reading this profile can quickly understand that this candidate has great academic achievements, a passion for IT and finance and the ability to transfer their skills into an office environment.

College student CV personal statement (freelance experience)

As this student has picked up a small amount of freelance writing work during their studies, they have made sure to brag about it in their personal statement.

They give details on their relevant A level studies to show the skills they are learning, and boost this further by highlighting the fact that they have been applying these skills in a real-life work setting by providing freelance services.

They also include key action verbs that recruiters will be looking for , such as creative writing, working to deadlines, and producing copy.

Academic CV personal statement

Aside from junior candidates, the only other people who might use a personal statement, are academic professionals; as their CV’s tend to be more longer and detailed than other professions.

This candidate provides a high level overview of their field of study, length of experience, and the roles they have held within universities.

School leaver CV personal statement with and sports experience

Although this person has no work experience, they are still able to show employers the value of hiring them by selling their other achievements and explaining how they could benefit an organisation.

They expand on their sports club involvement to demonstrate their teamwork, leadership skills, communication and motivation, which are all important traits in the workplace, and will be looked upon favourably by recruiters and hiring managers.

They also draw upon their future plans to study business studies and take a part time job, to further prove their ambition and dedication.

History graduate CV personal statement

This history graduate proves their aptitude for both academic achievement and workplace aptitude by showcasing valuable skills from their degree and voluntary work.

They do this by breaking down the key requirements for each and showing how their skills could be beneficial for future employers, such as listening, communication, and crisis management.

They also describe how their ability to balance studies alongside voluntary work has not only boosted their knowledge and skills, but also given excellent time management and organisational skills – which are vital assets to any employer.

Law graduate CV personal statement

This legal graduate makes the most from their work university work placements by using it to bulk out the contents of their CV personal statement.

They include their degree to show they have the necessary qualifications for legal roles, which is crucial, but more importantly, they showcase how they applied their legal skills within a real-life work setting.

They give a brief overview of the types of legal professionals they have been working alongside and the type of work they have been carrying out – this is all it takes to get the attention of recruiters and show employers they have what it takes to fulfil roles in the legal sector.

Medical student CV personal statement

This medical student proves their fit for the role by showcasing the key skills they have gained from their studies and their work experience placements.

In just these few sentences, they are able to highlight the vast amount of experience they have across different disciplines in the industry, something which is particularly important in the medical sector.

As they have not graduated yet and are still studying, they have provided proof of their most recent grades. This can give the recruiter some indication as to the type of grade they could be graduating with in the near future.

Masters student CV personal statement

This masters student has started by specifying their area of study, in this case, accounting, and given details about the specific areas of finance they are most interested in. This can hint towards their career goals and passions.

They have then carefully listed some of the key areas of accounting and finance that they are proficient in. For example, business finance, advanced corporate finance and statistics.

They have also outlined some of the transferable skills needed for accounting roles that employers will be looking out for, such as communication, attention to detail and analytical skills.

Finance student CV personal statement

As this finance student has recently undertaken some relevant work experience, they’ve made sure to shout about this in their personal profile.

But more than this, they have included a list of some of the important finance skills they gained as a result of this work experience – for example, financial reporting, processing invoices and month-end reconciliations.

Plus, through power words and phrases such as ‘prevent loss’ and ‘ improve upon accuracy and efficiency’, they have also showcased how they can apply these skills in a workplace setting to benefit the potential employer.

Internship  CV personal statement

This digital marketing professional has started their personal profile by outlining their most relevant qualifications and work experience, most notably their freelance role as a content manager.

They have also provided examples of some of the key marketing skills that potential employers might be looking for, including very detailed examples of the platforms and tools they are proficient in – for example, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest.

They have then closed their statement by giving a detailed description of the type of role or opportunity they are looking for. In this case, an in-house position in a marketing company.

Graduate career changer personal statement

Switching careers as a graduate can be tough. Especially when it comes to writing a personal statement that will attract employers in your new chosen field.

This candidate is looking to move from history teaching into journalism, so they have created a statement which briefly mentions their current workplace, but mainly focuses on highlighting transferable skills which are relevant to journalism. They achieve this by discussing the writing skills they use in their current role, and mentioning their hobby of writing – including some publications they have been featured in for extra brownie points.

Business management graduate personal statement

This business management proves their ability to work within a junior business management position by swiftly highlighting their impressive degree (to ensure it is not missed) and summarising some of the real-life experience they have gained in management during their university placements and volunteering. They do not let their lack of paid work experience, stop them demonstrating their valuable skills.

PhD graduate

PhD graduate roles attract a lot of competition, so it’s important that your CV contains a personal statement that will quickly impress and attract recruiters.

This candidate provides a short-but-comprehensive overview of their academic achievements, whilst demonstrating their exceptional level of knowledge in research, languages and publication writing.

By highlighting a number of skills and abilities that are in high-demand in the academic workplace, this CV is very likely to get noticed and land interviews.

How to write a personal statement for your CV

Now that you’ve seen what a personal statement should look like and the type of content it should contain, follow this detailed guide to one for your own CV – and start racking those interviews up.

Guide contents

What is a CV personal statement?

Cv personal statement or cv profile, personal statement format, what to include in a cv personal statement.

• Personal statement mistakes

How to write persuasively

A personal statement is a short paragraph at the top of your CV which gives employers an overview of your education, skills and experience

It’s purpose is to capture the attention of busy recruiters and hiring managers when your CV is first opened – encouraging them to read the rest of it.

You achieve this by writing a tailored summary of yourself that explains your suitability for the roles you are applying for at a very high level, and matches your target job descriptions .

One question candidates often ask me is , “what is the difference between a personal statement and a CV profile?”

To be honest, they are almost the same – they are both introductory paragraphs that sit at the top of your CV… but there are 2 main differences

A personal statement tends to be used more by junior candidates (graduates, school leavers etc.) and is relatively long and detailed.

A CV profile tends to be favoured by more experienced candidates , and is shorter in length than a personal statement.

Note: If you are an experienced candidate, you may want to switch over to my CV profile writing guide , or example CV profiles page.

To ensure you grab recruiters’ attention with your personal statement, lay it out in the following way.

Positioning

You need to ensure that your personal statement sits at the very top of your CV, and all of it should be totally visible to readers, without the need to scroll down the page.

Do this by reducing the top page margin and minimising the space taken up by your contact details.

This will ensure that your whole personal statement can be seen, as soon as your CV is opened.

We have a Word CV template which can help you to get this right.

Size/length

Your personal statement needs to contain enough detail to provide an introduction to your skills and knowledge, but not so much detail that it bores readers.

To strike the right balance, anything between 8-15 lines of text is perfect – and sentences should be sharp and to-the-point.

As with the whole of your CV or resume , your personal statement should be written in a simple clean font at around size 10-12 to ensure that it can be read easily by all recruiters and employers.

Keep the text colour simple , ensuring that it contrasts the background (black on white is best) and break it into 2 or even 3 paragraphs for a pleasant reading experience.

It should also be written in a punchy persuasive tone, to help you sell yourself and increase your chances of landing interviews , I cover how to do this in detail further down the guide.

Quick tip: A poorly written CV will fail to impress recruiters and employers. Use our quick-and-easy CV Builder to create a winning CV in minutes with professional CV templates and pre-written content for every industry.

Once you have the style and format of your personal statement perfected, you need to fill it with compelling content that tells recruiters that your CV is worth reading.

Here’s what needs to go into your personal statement…

Before you start writing your personal statement, it’s crucial that you research your target roles to find out exactly what your new potential employers are looking for in a candidate.

Run a search for your target jobs on one of the major job websites , look through plenty of adverts and make a list of the candidate requirements that frequently appear.

This research will show you exactly what to include in your personal statement in order to impress the recruiters who will be reading it.

Education and qualifications are an important aspect of your personal statement, especially if you are a junior candidate.

You should highlight your highest and most relevant qualifications, whether that is a degree, A levels or GCSEs. You could potentially go into some more detail around modules, papers etc. if they are relevant to the roles you are applying for.

It’s important that you discuss the experience you have gained in your personal statement, to give readers an idea of the work you are comfortable undertaking.

This can of course be direct employed work experience, but it doesn’t have to be.

You can also include:

• School/college Uni work placements
• Voluntary work
• Personal projects
• Hobbies/interests

As with all aspects of your CV , the content should be tailored to match the requirements of your target roles.

Whilst discussing your experience, you should touch upon skills used, industries worked in, types of companies worked for, and people you have worked with.

Where possible, try to show the impact your actions have made. E.g . A customer service agent helps to make sales for their employer.

Any industry-specific knowledge you have that will be useful to your new potential employers should be made prominent within your personal statement.

For example

• Knowledge of financial regulations will be important for accountancy roles
• Knowledge of IT operating systems will be important for IT roles
• Knowledge of the national curriculum will be important for teachers

You should also include some information about the types of roles you are applying for, and why you are doing so. Try to show your interest and passion for the field you are hoping to enter, because employers want to hire people who have genuine motivation and drive in their work.

This is especially true if you don’t have much work experience, as you need something else to compensate for it.

CV personal statement mistakes

The things that you omit from your personal statement can be just as important as the things you include.

Try to keep the following out of your personal statement..

Irrelevant info

Any information that doesn’t fall into the requirements of your target roles can be cut out of your personal statement. For example, if you were a professional athlete 6 years ago, that’s great – but it won’t be relevant if you’re applying to advertising internships, so leave it out.

Generic clichés

If you are describing yourself as a “ dynamic team player with high levels of motivation and enthusiasm” you aren’t doing yourself any favours.

These cliché terms are vastly overused and don’t provide readers with any factual details about you – so keep them to a minimum.

Stick to solid facts like education, skills , experience, achievements and knowledge.

If you really want to ensure that your personal statement makes a big impact, you need to write in a persuasive manner.

So, how do you so this?

Well, you need to brag a little – but not too much

It’s about selling yourself and appearing confident, without overstepping the mark and appearing arrogant.

For example, instead of writing.

“Marketing graduate with an interest in entering the digital field”

Be creative and excite the reader by livening the sentence up like this,

“Marketing graduate with highest exam results in class and a passion for embarking on a long and successful career within digital”

The second sentence is a much more interesting, makes the candidate appear more confident, throws in some achievements, and shows off a wider range of writing skills.

Quick tip: A poorly written CV will fail to impress recruiters and employers. Use our quick-and-easy CV Builder to create a winning CV in minutes with professional templates and pre-written content for every industry.

Your own personal statement will be totally unique to yourself, but by using the above guidelines you will be able to create one which shows recruiters everything they need.

Remember to keep the length between 10-20 lines and only include the most relevant information for your target roles.

You can also check our school leaver CV example , our best CV templates , or our library of example CVs from all industries.

Good luck with the job hunt!

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• CV and Cover Letter
• How to write a school leaver...

How to write a school leaver CV (with template & example)

8 min read · Updated on November 07, 2024

Thinking about stepping into the world of work?

As a student or school leaver, you're probably wondering how to write an impressive CV that will help you onto the career ladder. Don't fret – even if you have no previous work experience, you can write a CV that showcases your skill set. Read on to find out how to write a school leaver CV, what to include and exclude, along with a template and example to use as inspiration.

What is a school leaver CV?

A school leaver CV is a document that provides a brief account of your education, qualifications, and employment or volunteer experience. Whether you've completed year 11 with GCSEs, or college with a BTEC, GNVQ, A Levels, or Highers and Advanced Highers, you need a CV.

As a current student or recent school leaver, you may have limited professional experience. However, qualifications, skills, and voluntary work can be used on your CV to demonstrate your competencies when applying for your first job, apprenticeship, or internship.

What to include in a school leaver CV

The format of a CV is flexible. After all, every person and their experiences are unique, so the document structure must be malleable. However, there are essential elements to include in your CV that prospective employers expect to see and that you can leverage as a school leaver. They include:

Contact information (or CV header )

Personal statement

Competencies and skills

Work and voluntary experience

Hobbies and interests

How to write each section of your school leaver CV

Ready to put pen to paper? To help increase your chances of success in securing your first job, follow these steps to create your school leaver CV:

1. Contact information

Every CV starts with your contact information, not the title “CV” or “Curriculum Vitae.” The information to include is your full name, location, phone number, and email address. If you have a link to your LinkedIn profile , a website or a professional online portfolio , you can add that too.

2. Personal statement

Next on your CV is a personal statement, which is also known as a professional summary or personal statement. Note that this is not the same as a personal statement written as part of a university application. 

Your personal profile is a short paragraph consisting of two or three sentences summarising who you are, your relevant qualifications or experience, and your job goals. For example, as a school leaver, you may write that you have recently completed school and are looking to take your first steps in a particular industry.

3. Competencies and skills

Following your personal statement is a section designed to highlight your most relevant competencies, skills, and achievements. 

Use bullet points to list between six and nine of your most impressive abilities and achievements that are relevant to the role you're applying for. They could be hard skills from particular classes, such as IT, or soft skills you have cultivated throughout your education.

Top tip: Tailoring this CV section to each position, as it's often the first thing a hiring manager reads. If your points align with the role requirements and the potential employer's needs, you'll create a powerful first impression.

4. Education

Since you're a school leaver, your education is very important and is likely to be a stronger representation of your skill set than your work experience. This is especially true if you're applying for your first job. As a result, it should be the next section on your CV. Here's a quick breakdown of how you can optimise this section: 

Use reverse chronological order: Detail your educational history from GCSE level onwards, working in reverse chronological order . For each institution, include the school name and bullet point the name of the qualifications you gained there, along with the grade. If you're awaiting results, you can add predicted grades and the expected date of completion. 

Prioritise your highest qualifications: If you're attending college, summarise your GCSEs in one line as your college-level qualification is more advanced and therefore a more accurate representation of your current competency level. However, we would recommend mentioning Maths and English GCSE grades as they're often a prerequisite for many jobs. For example, “9 GCSEs including grade 6 in English and Maths.” 

Add awards and memberships: If you've received academic awards, were a member of any clubs, or took part in extracurricular activities, you may choose to list them in this section too. Alternatively, you can list them in a dedicated awards section or your hobbies and interests section.

5. Work and volunteer experience

If you have some work or volunteer experience, no matter how brief, it could be a great addition to your CV. However, if you don't, you can skip this section.

Listing relevant work experience is very similar to your education section, whereby each experience is listed in reverse chronological order, detailing the company name, your job title, employment dates, a brief overview of your role to add context, and a bullet-point list of key achievements.

To ensure that your listed experience strikes a chord with the prospective employer, review the job description and identify key requirements and phrases that align with your own experience and be sure to reference them. 

6. Relevant hobbies and interests

Include this section especially if you're writing a CV for a school leaver with no experience. While a hobbies and interests section is optional when writing a CV for a school leaver, it can be used to leverage your candidacy and show off your personality.

Hobbies and interests that relate to key requirements listed in the job description and showcase your work ethic would be a good addition to your school-leaver CV. For example, playing football would suggest you possess motivation and teamwork abilities and can work under pressure.

If you're not sure whether you should add a hobby or interest, always ask yourself, “Will adding this help me to get the job?” If the answer is no, it's okay to leave it out.

How to format a school leaver CV

By this point, you should feel ready to write your CV. Here are a few formatting tips and tricks and general guidelines when writing a school leaver CV:

Headings: Use clear headings for each section of your CV to make the document easily digestible.

Font type: Contemporary, simple font types are better as they create a modern and clean read.

Font size: Keep body text between 10 and 12 point font and headings between 14 and 18.

Length: Your CV should be two pages maximum . As a school leaver, it could easily be one page.

Spacing: Standard 1.15 spacing is your best option on a CV.

Margins: 2.5cm margins are standard, but you can decrease them to 1.5cm if you want to fit your CV nearly onto one or two pages.

File type: The best CV file type is a Word document, as it will maintain formatting and an ATS will be able to read it accurately. 

Bonus: what not to include on a school leaver CV

There are a few details that you don't need to list on a school leaver CV. They include:

Referees: You don't  need to add the line “references available upon request” at the end of your CV, as asking for references is standard recruitment practice and employers know you will have them available.

Headshot: You do not need to add a photo of yourself to your CV. While commonplace in other countries, it is not a requirement in the UK due to anti-discrimination legislation.

Protected characteristics: You do not need to include sensitive information, such as age, race, religion or belief, marital status, sexual orientation, sex or gender reassignment, or disabilities as they are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 .

CV template for a school leaver or student

School leaver CV example

To help guide you, here's an example CV for a school leaver in the UK:

Ready to craft your CV?

Writing an interview-winning school leaver CV can be daunting, but it's definitely achievable. If you lack the professional experience, remember to lead with your hobbies and interests while weaving in the appropriate skills throughout your CV. Follow our step-by-step guide and use the provided template and example to guide you along the way.

To save you any doubts, submit your CV for a free review and our experts will tell you if you're on the right track to job search success.

This article was originally written by Laura Slingo and has been updated by Charlotte Grainger.

Recommended reading:

How to write a CV for a 16-year-old (with examples)

How to write a CV for a job with no experience

How to write a personal statement for a CV

Related Articles:

Understanding OTE: meaning, types & salary examples

Character reference: example, template & writing tips

Writing a Europass CV: how it differs from a standard CV

See how your CV stacks up.

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School leaver CV example

As a school leaver you might not have much in the way of work experience but it's important not to sell yourself short when applying for a job. Take a look at our example school leaver CV to find out how to present yourself in the best light

Ellie Johnson 15 That Street, Thistown, XY99 9XP [email protected] 07777 888999

I'm planning a business degree, either part-time through an apprenticeship or on a full-time course. My aim is to go into finance. An online business summer school showed me what a vast and varied world this is. During my work experience, I saw how different jobs fit together in a finance department and how a company plans its finances and runs its business systems in the short, medium and long term. My part-time job at Big Stores gives me practical experience in a small branch of a large organisation.

Education and Qualifications

Thistown Central Academy - A-levels (2022)

Business A, Maths B, Computer Science B

GCSEs - Grades 9-4 (2020)

English  Language, French, Spanish, PE, Art and Design, Computer Science, History, Maths, Combined Science                 

Employment and Work Experience

Big Stores Minimart (2021 - present)

Starting as a shelf stacker I progressed to till operator and am now a team leader. I contribute to:

• Staff shift pattern, including early mornings and lates, making sure all areas are covered
• Security of premises, sometimes unlocking and locking up, including cash handling
• Customer service, including complaints and returns
• Monitoring sell-by dates and minimising waste, reordering and stock control.

Thistown College Business and Finance Summer School (July 2022)

Five-day online programme covering:

• Business models, economic theory and concepts, marketing and business strategy
• Seminars with business leaders
• Group work presentation on a business case study.

Thistown Engineering Ltd, Finance Department (July 2021)

Two weeks work experience in the finance department of a local SME:

• Helping with the migration of financial information across IT systems, using my IT skills
• Spending a day in different areas of the department, including shadowing the finance director.

Year 13 Charity Rep on School Council (2021-2022)

Working with reps from other year groups to organise the school’s charity fundraising. I was involved in:

• Getting suggestions from my year group about charities to support and which events to run
• Planning events and organising volunteers to help
• Being responsible for cash during events
• Reporting back to the Head after each event (what we learned, how would we do it next time).

References available on request

Please be aware that this is an example. Use it as a template to help generate ideas and structure your own CV but avoid copying and pasting. Your own CV needs to be original and tailored to the job you're applying for.

As a school leaver you might not have a lot of experience to flesh out your CV with, but employers don't expect someone who's just left school to have a massive amount of experience so don't worry about the length of your CV. Most CVs are two pages long but as a recent school leaver yours might only be one. As you gain experience, you'll be able to add to it.

Your personal profile should sit at the top of the page. Use it to summarise your 'best bits' - and tailor it for each application. It can be easier to write this after you've set out the other information so if you're struggling come back to this last.

As always, presentation is important so don't leave a couple of lines trailing onto another page. You can adjust the spacing, font size, margins etc depending on whether you have a lot to squeeze in, or less to say, which might need spacing out to fill the page.

Make sure every word counts and that all the relevant information is there. If you don't include it, no-one will know about it. However, it's just as important to consider what to leave out. Ask yourself 'Will this help me get a job?'   Include relevant hobbies, for example, caring for a family member on a nursing application or DIY projects for a construction apprenticeship. Socialising with friends is best left off. We all enjoy that, but it's unlikely to get you a job.

It's important to try and show what you've gained from your experiences, rather than just listing what you did - remember to relate the skills and knowledge you've gained to the job you're applying for.

Find out more

• View all example CVs .
• Discover  how to write a CV .
• Learn how to avoid the  top 7 CV mistakes .
• Take a look at how to write a personal statement for your CV .

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