On Thursday, I attended the Rose Seminar entitled “Personal Statements Workshop.” Unlike the cover letter covered in the previous Rose Seminar, I had no idea what a personal statement was and how essential it was to applying to graduate programs and many jobs. This event built a strong foundation for understanding personal statements and offered many helpful tips.
Dr. Hill and GRF Magdala first explained some general aspects of the application process for graduate programs and many jobs. For example, I learned that many companies, particularly financial institutions, perform keyword searches on resumes and cover letters submitted by applicants, often not moving forward with a particular application if keywords that the company deems important fail to appear in the application materials. Then, Dr. Hill shared an overview of applying to graduate school in both the U.S. and the U.K. He likened the personal statement to writing a project proposal to the school, sharing your motivation and what you hope to accomplish with the program. He explained how finding a faculty member who could potentially be your supervisor is essential in the U.K, while in the U.S., there are committees and advisors involved in the process.
GRF Magdala described one of her personal statements, which gave a concrete example of how her experience in France prepared her well for what she wanted to do in graduate school. Another tip is trying to identify a trajectory and show that you will continue on that path. In addition, showing that you can and have taken on responsibility is essential, using action verbs.
Dr. Hill and GRF Magdala also had tips after writing a personal statement. For example, they stressed finding out a recruiter’s or professor’s name to provide a personal salutation on your application materials, as opposed to the generic “Dear Sir or Madam.” Also, they underscored naming documents properly with your name (not “Resume.pdf”) in addition to uploading PDFs as opposed to Word documents to guarantee proper formatting. Dr. Hill described his proven technique of starting a personal statement with a “nugget” – a snapshot of a concrete example that is not fully explained until the very end, after main part of your personal statement. Finally, he highlighted that the time is now to contact professors and form relationships, since this cannot be done as easily after graduating.
This event was the second in a series of Rose Seminars on job applications. I look forward to attending future seminars and polishing these skills.