Constructing a Personal Statement

 Research into Statements:

What is a Personal Statement: A Personal Statement is a long essay like document that is used in conjunction with CVs when applying for jobs as well as applying for university. A Personal Statement for University would include details such as what makes you a good student, your interests, hobbies and ambition as well as the technical skills you have that make you suitable for course that you are applying for. A Personal Statement for a job position would include similar elements but would be tailored to suit the job role you are applying for. Your Personal Statement offers greater detail than your CV and is your opportunity to persuade recruitment managers why you are the ideal candidate for the job or course. As well as a CV and Personal Statement, a portfolio of previous school and college work may also be required for the university or job to showcase and provide evidence of the strength and skills you have outlined in your Personal Statement. 

There are many things to include in a Personal Statement as you need to include a lot of detail as much as possible but there are some important things to not in a Personal Statement like basic and general information about yourself and that is somethings like skills you have achieved or for what you already have, what you used to do to have these skills, work experience and other general information to include. If applying to University you must explain why you wish to study the subject and give a descriptive reason on why you want to study the course you've applied for and the specific reasons could be that you do things that are connected to the course or like how you wish to have a job in the industry of that course; an example of a course would be the media course and reasons would be that the person applying likes the aspects of media like Filming or Journalism for the jobs and study what is also included is your passion for this course and this needs explanations like why you have a passion for the course and a good description on what made your passion for the course come around. 

Other parts of a Personal Statement that should be included will be What type of student are you, and that will be describing things such as what are you capable of and what type skills that you have as a student and a good general description of what happens to make you this type of student whether it be theory or practical work. Secondly the achievements that you have achieved is also a good thing to include in the statement and that is because using them in the statement can make sure the ones looking at Statement can look to see if they are capable of if they are applying for their course. And Finally hobbies are an important thing to include as the reviewers what like to know what you like to do for fun and to see if it can help out in the course you applying for which can help both you and the teachers out. 

Personal Statement Examples

These Personal Statements are detailed differently because the creator/writer of this statement might have different things about themselves but each show a good detail of description of things they did such as what they did in college and other education, things about them and what makes the course they studied passionate to them, for the ones I selected I chose 2 examples of people in the media course and how each example looked different but had some similarities as well such as interests in the media industry and how each have done many projects about the industry which shows detail about what they have learned in education. 

Final Submission

I have chosen to apply to university because I wish to learn more about the media industry such as editing and creating various projects such as posters and videos. Studying media within university would help me develop my knowledge and skills in readiness for entering the professional media industry. I am passionate about creating videos to entertain the wider audience. I am inspired by those who are dedicated to their work. A university degree would also support me in building a portfolio to present to the various work industries, proving that I am capable of accomplishing types of challenges, and that I would be a great asset to their team.

I am currently studying Level 3 Creative Media at Sunderland College. Throughout this course,
I have gained experience in using various editing software such as Premiere Pro and Photoshop.
These skills will help me a lot for what I wish to achieve in the future. I have developed a
better knowledge of editing when it comes to making videos for assignments or my own projects
in my spare time. This helped me get a good grade in the first year of the course as I was
involved in a successful group project where I took the responsibility of editing and
publishing the video. I was given a brief requesting a professional video for a business.
Within my group, we discussed and agreed key roles for the personal and supported each other
in planning. My teamwork skills have improved now that I can work together with other people
in my class as a team to make a project for the course.
 
Throughout my studies and own projects, I have developed confidence within my ability and when
working with new people. This has led to me producing excellent work and has enabled me to
continue to develop. Editing skills is also what inspired me to make my own videos in future
projects and when those are getting watched by others online, I will continue to make them so
it can hopefully become a full-time job.
 
I have gained work experience at the Washington Galleries in the hospital area where I took
responsibilities such as Photocopying important papers for their company and more importantly
handing them to specific staff members so they can pass it onto the managers. I also did
Document Scanning Duties where I recorded patient's files and exported them to the databases.
This was an important job to do because it showed me what happens in the industry about how
hospital workers record files for patients. Within this work experience role, I developed
excellent communication and time management skills as I was required to learn about the role
and tasks on the spot. This meant I had to interpret tasks very clearly and be able to adapt.
I also developed confidence within a professional workplace and successfully working within a
busy environment.
 
I am kind and caring when talking to people and I always put a smile on my face when meeting
new people, to build positive and professional relationships. Throughout my studies, I have
proven that I am hardworking. For example, in ensuring I am organized to meet deadlines with
thoroughly completed assignments. I have also proven this when creating my own projects
outside of college. I try to be empathetic when listening to people talking about their
concerns to try to help them feel more positive and give advice and alternatives to help.
 
I am very enthusiastic in applying to higher education to develop my skills and experiences
towards achieving in the media industry. I will continue to be a passionate and reliable
student.

Evaluation

The main strength of my personal statement is the level of detail I have provided for each section. I focused on my key strengths and I have described my media specific experience that I have developed whilst studying at college. I have also shown my ambitions for the future and shown what I wish to do for a chosen career and included features in what that career will be about. I have also included information such as my previous work experience and college work as those were the important sections to include in my Personal Statements when applying for university to show desirable transferrable skills. Another strength was the explanation of what a Personal Statement is used for and why it is useful as well as its main purpose. 

The areas I need to develop include adding more description about myself and in general about personal experience as there seems to be a small amount of that in the Personal Statement and adding more would be more efficient for the University to acknowledge what had happened in my past life, what also I think should be improved is the further explanation of the skills I have developed as I am sure I have gained more skills then I thought I did in the media course such as teamwork when referencing to group projects and also Creative thinking when coming up with new ideas for my projects, these features would have been a great addition to my Personal Statement as it will give the person reviewing it a good sense of knowledge about what I am capable of and how I can complete certain types of tasks and work.