What the profile is actually for
It goes by a few names. Personal profile, personal statement, professional summary, sometimes just a summary. They all mean the same block of text at the top of your CV, under your contact details.
A recruiter opening your CV decides in a few seconds whether to read it properly or move on. The profile is where that decision gets made, because it is the one part you can be sure they will look at before anything else has to earn their attention.
It is a short answer to the question the reader is already asking, which is whether you are the sort of person they are looking for. Nobody wants a biography here, and nothing about what you want from your career belongs in it yet.
The four things it has to cover
A profile that works answers four questions, in about forty words.
- Who you are professionally. Your job title or your field, in the language your industry actually uses.
- How much experience you have. A number of years, or a stage, or a qualification.
- What you are good at. Two or three specifics, chosen from what the advert asks for.
- What you are looking for. Name the type of role. Do not leave the reader guessing.
Anything that does not answer one of those four is taking up space that something useful could occupy.
A structure that works
Three sentences, in this order, covers it for most people.
- Who you are and how long you have been doing it, plus any qualification that matters.
- What you are strongest at, with something concrete attached to it.
- What you are looking for now.
Write it in the first person without using "I". "Accounts assistant with four years in construction" reads better than "I am an accounts assistant with four years in construction", and much better than writing about yourself by name in the third person, which reads oddly on an Irish CV.
Write the profile last. It summarises the document, so writing it before the document exists is why it so often comes out as a list of adjectives.
Six examples, before and after
The weak versions below are close to things that turn up on real CVs. None of them could be checked, and all of them would fit almost anybody.
Not sure yours is doing its job?
Send me your CV and I will tell you how the profile reads to somebody who has not met you, along with anything else holding it back. I do these myself, so it takes up to 7 days. Free, and there is no obligation afterwards.
Get My Free ReviewThe words to cut
These are the usual fillers. They cost you space, and nobody can check any of them, so they carry no weight with the person reading.
- Hard-working, motivated, enthusiastic, passionate, dedicated, driven
- Results-driven, proven track record, track record of success
- Team player, works well independently and as part of a team
- Dynamic, fast-paced, forward-thinking, cutting-edge
- Excellent communication skills, strong attention to detail
- Seeking a challenging role, where I can grow and develop
That last one is worth singling out. "Where I can grow and develop" describes what you want the employer to do for you. At this stage they are only working out what you would do for them.
If you want to claim one of these qualities, show it instead. Somebody who writes "cleared a 400 email backlog in six weeks" has demonstrated hard-working without using the word.
Changing it for each application
The profile is the cheapest section to tailor and the one that gains most from it. Two minutes per application, and you only touch two things.
- The job title in the first line, so it matches the advert.
- The specifics in the second line, so they lead with whatever the advert puts first.
Keep every version in one document rather than editing over the top of the last one. You will reuse most of them, and it saves starting from a blank page each time.
The 10 point CV checklist
Ten things Irish recruiters check before shortlisting, as a checklist you can work through against your own CV. Takes about five minutes. Free.
Or have someone else write it
The profile is the part people rewrite six times and still dislike. I write it as part of every CV, along with everything under it.