A personal profile statement, also known as a summary of qualifications, or career summary, is essentially a covering letter in miniature.
And just like your cover letter, it is intended to attract instant attention to your most compelling skills and qualities as they pertain to the roles you are attempting to target.
Appearing at the very top of your curriculum vitae, either on its own or immediately following your career objective statement, your personal profile may prove the only section of your document to be reviewed in full by potential employers. For this reason, it is imperative for you to
write a personal profile that immediately commands the reader's interest, then maintains their attention throughout—right up until your concluding statement.
Putting together an engaging and informative summary of qualifications takes time, effort, and a flair for pleasing prose. Without these elements firmly in place, the end result can do more harm than good.
At the most basic level, you need to make plain the sector of employment in which you operate, describe the pertinent aspects of your professional experience, and strongly convey the unique expertise and understanding that make you supremely suited to the role in question,.
'Goal-orientated fundraising director, adept at not-for-profit initiatives. Proven ability to husband complex, resource-intensive project budgets for both limited and multi-million dollar projects. Respected leader, equipped with powerful communication, coordination, and analysis skills. Fully committed to providing and implementing dynamic, compelling solutions to the ongoing objectives of the charitable organisation.'
This example profile is exactly what potential employers are looking for. It clarifies the applicant's career objective within the first few words of the introductory sentence, and immediately supports this statement with solid evidence of the abilities and attributes essential to a position within the non-profit sector. It succinctly highlights the candidate's prior responsibilities, practical skills, and personal traits in a simple, straightforward, and arrestingly effective manner.
Here, the employer is given a strong reason to read on: if this is the candidate's personal summary, then what must the remainder of their curriculum vitae be like?
You'll notice that each sentence is original. Your career summary needs to sell you, so vague and generic phrases such as 'I am a team player who can also work on my own initiative' and 'I have good verbal and oral communication abilities' simply won't suffice.
Ask yourself this question: What is it about you—and only you—that specifically sets you apart from other applicants who have similar backgrounds? What are your most salient characteristics? How can you help the employer unlock their corporate career objectives, both in the short and long terms?
Now that you understand what a personal profile statement is, what it does, and how it should appear in a general sense, all that remains is for you to prepare one yourself.
To begin, place yourself in the employer's shoes: What experiences, skills, and traits would they prize most? The core function of your personal profile is to communicate your responses with clarity and precision. To that end, be sure to:
—Tell the reader who you are, e.g. 'Visionary designer', 'Target-driven sales manager', 'Acclaimed analyst' etc.
—Showcase your functional attributes, e.g. 'Well-versed in all aspects of customer conversion and accounting.'
—Garnish with desirable personal traits, e.g. 'A genuine desire to achieve, excel and evolve within the performing organization.'
—Include
t
wo or three skills
related to the job you are targeting e.g. time management, interpersonal relations.
—Mention accomplishments and a notable project, although listing these in a separate Achievements section often has more impact.
—Cite positive performance appraisals, special awards, and internal promotions—all of which are signifiers of success.
Ask not what the employer can do for you, but what you can do for the employer. Talk of salaries, perks and your hopes for professional advancement should not appear in your summary of qualifications, since they suggest to readers that your goal is to become a beneficiary of the firm, rather than contribute to its productivity and profitability. Of course, this may be exactly what you want to achieve, but private aspirations for fame and fortune are ambitions best kept quiet.
If your target job is an obvious progression from your current employment, then your inclusion of a personal profile negates the need for a career objective statement. For instance, someone who self-identifies as a 'Passionate art historian' has made their career trajectory quite unambiguous.
On the other hard, if the vacancy you are aiming for bears little or no resemblance to the job you did previously, then crafting a powerful career objective is essential.
There are two ways you can go about adding a career objective to your personal profile statement. The first is to simply incorporate it directly into main body of your text:
'Expert administrator now seeking to harness 20 years' expertise in recruitment, employee relations, and personnel management within a human resources capacity. Enthusiastic for this exciting career change goal, and eager to proactively spearhead the long-term success of a HR department in the telecoms industry.'
The other option is to prepare a stand-alone objective, no longer than a single sentence, that contextualises both your qualifications summary and curriculum vitae as a whole. With this completed, you need only take care to describe yourself using a trait (as opposed to a job title) at the beginning of your profile. This means that our art historian could refer to himself as a 'craft specialist' or 'dedicated worker'. Both phrases serves the same goal: to deflect attention from an irrelevant post and redirect attention to the role at hand.
SUMMARY: An effective personal profile sparks interest, telegraphs skills most relevant to the role, and provides a brief overview of your career trajectory to date. It may include or be complemented by a decisive career objective statement.