knowledge management personal statement

A Complete Guide to Tagging for Personal Knowledge Management

• January 9, 2019
• January 31, 2020

Est. reading time: 25 min

Personal Knowledge Management (PKM)  is the practice of capturing the ideas and insights we encounter in our daily life, whether from personal experience, from books and articles, or from our work, and cultivating them over time to produce more creative, higher quality work. I teach people how to master PKM in my online course Building a Second Brain .

By collecting our knowledge in a centralized place outside of our own heads, we can create an engine of creative output – a “second brain” – to advance a career, build a business, or pursue a passion. By making this knowledge digital , we can reap the benefits of searchability, backups, syncing between devices, sharing with others, and more.

But there’s one aspect of personal knowledge management I haven’t fully addressed, which is tags. In the past, I criticized tags harshly as being too taxing, overly complicated, and low value for the effort required. I advised people not to use tags to manage their knowledge, favoring notebooks or folders instead.

But I’ve changed my mind since then. Over several years of observations, findings, and experiments, I’ve come to believe that tags could be the missing link in making our knowledge collections truly adaptable – able to reorient and reconfigure themselves on the fly to enable any goal we wish to pursue.

Let me tell you what I believe is required to unlock the immense potential of tagging for personal knowledge management.

Hierarchies vs. networks

There are two kinds of basic structures that permeate reality: hierarchies and networks.

We currently live in a “network age,” as the internet and digital technology have given people the ability to connect and collaborate directly with each other across the world. Organizational charts are flattening, social movements rise and fall without central direction, and borders of all kinds are becoming more porous as the internet flows across them.

Our infatuation with networks has led to a widely held belief that the era of hierarchies is over. That we now live in a golden age of individual self-expression and autonomy, uniquely enabled by networks. In this view, hierarchies are inherently restrictive, oppressive tools of control that we should abolish whenever possible, and networks are inherently open, democratic tools of personal liberation.

The history of information revolutions tells quite a different story. Networked information is not an exclusively modern invention, and hierarchies are not necessarily doomed. The tension and the balance between them has existed for millennia. Today we’re witnessing only the latest chapter in this history.

Definitions

But first, let’s settle on definitions.

A hierarchy is a system of nested groups. A standard organizational chart is a hierarchy, with employees grouped into business units and departments reporting to a centralized authority. Other kinds of hierarchies include government bureaucracies, biological taxonomies, and a system of menus in a software program. Hierarchies are inherently “top-down,” in that they are designed to enable centralized control from a single, privileged position.

A network , by contrast, has no “correct” orientation, and thus no bottom and no top. Each individual, or “node,” in a network functions autonomously, negotiating its own relationships and coalescing into groups. Examples of networks include a flock of birds, the World Wide Web, and the social ties in a neighborhood. Networks are inherently “bottom-up,” in that the structure emerges organically from small interactions without direction from a central authority.

These two structures are not mutually exclusive – in fact, they coexist everywhere. A company might have a formal organizational chart that is hierarchical, but at the same time, it is permeated by a network of “influence relationships” between employees that don’t respect official boundaries.

There is a network in the hierarchy.

Even the internet, the most prototypical example of a pure network, requires hierarchies to function. The servers that send us data are organized hierarchically, as are the packets of data they send. The web browsers that allow us to view webpages are designed hierarchically, as are the menus we navigate to find what we’re looking for.

There is a hierarchy in the network.

Hierarchies and networks are constantly giving rise to each other

Not only do networks and hierarchies peacefully coexist, they are constantly giving rise to each other. They are like symbiotic organisms, each one balancing and complementing the other.

One theory of the origins of life on Earth envisions the first multicellular life forms as self-organizing networks of simpler, single-cell organisms. First coming together to exchange byproducts and for mutual protection, over time a hierarchy emerged: a complex nervous system. These complex organisms in turn coalesced into even higher-order social networks, which provided even more survival benefits.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia has long been praised for its crowdsourced, populist approach to gathering knowledge. But in recent years, Wikipedia’s rapid growth has forced it to develop a series of hierarchical control systems, such as a governance body and approval process. Networks can self-organize and spawn novel ideas and connections, but a hierarchy is required to give it form and structure to survive in the long term.

As John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid write in The Social Life of Information , “While it’s clear that self-organization is extraordinarily productive, so too is formal organization. Indeed, the two perform an intricate (and dynamic) balancing act, each compensating for the other’s failings. Self-organization overcomes formal organizing’s rigidity. Formal organization keeps at bay self-organization’s tendency to self-destruct.”

Hierarchies are effective for large-scale, slow-moving efforts in relatively predictable environments. They enable centralized direction and tight synchronization between many moving parts. In times of command and control warfare, mass producing a standardized product, or managing a vast bureaucracy, only a hierarchy will work.

Networks are good in small-scale, quickly changing situations in unpredictable environments.  They favor adaptability, flexibility, and individual autonomy. In times of guerrilla warfare, revolutionary innovation, or open-ended creativity, networks are indispensable.

Hierarchies and networks balance each other

Throughout history, every time we reach the limits of one form, the other emerges as a counter-balance.

Francis Bacon’s scientific method, first introduced in the 17th century, was a bottom-up, networked approach to building scientific understanding. Scientists were expected to reach their own conclusions and then verify each others’ work directly through scholarly networks. This approach contrasted with the tradition of receiving knowledge from hierarchical authorities like the church and state without questioning.

In the 18th century, the encyclopedia movement promoted most famously by Denis Diderot moved in the opposite direction. So much knowledge was being produced from so many sources that people sought a top-down categorization to make sense of it all. Thus the modern encyclopedia was born.

In modern times we face a similar dilemma. The explosion of digital information on the internet has overwhelmed every tool we have for classifying and categorizing it. Only a bottom-up, automated tool is capable of making sense of so much data. Google’s PageRank algorithm made it possible to assign importance and meaning to a webpage not through human judgment, but by analyzing keywords and hyperlinks. It is a bottom-up, algorithmic approach to making meaning out of the network.

Hierarchies are resilient

Despite the popularity of networks in the Information Age, the hierarchy persists as a simple, consistent way to organize knowledge.

Numerous studies (Bergman et al. 2008; Fitchett and Cockburn 2015; Teevan et al. 2004) have found that people strongly prefer to navigate their file systems manually, scanning for the file they’re looking for, as opposed to searching. Manual navigation gives people a concrete structure to navigate, with folders and labels giving them visual feedback and control in incremental steps (Jones and Dumais 1986).

Searching relies on declarative memory – remembering and entering the precise contents of a file – which is a higher-level brain function that consumes a lot of energy. Manual navigation, on the other hand, relies on procedural memory (Barreau 1995) – specifying partial information, recognizing clues and context, and receiving feedback (Teevan et al. 2004; Jones 2013). This kind of memory uses “older” parts of the brain that developed to navigate spatial environments, and thus comes to us more naturally.

In other words, it’s clear that hierarchies aren’t going away, even as our search tools become ever more sophisticated.

But the weakness of hierarchical systems is that knowledge remains siloed from other ideas that could spark interesting connections. Adding a network to our file systems can help us preserve the benefits of hierarchy, while infusing it with cross-connections and associations.

This is the true purpose of tagging in the modern digital age. Not to replace the hierarchy, but to complement it. Tags allow us to create alternative pathways that tunnel through the walls of our siloed folders, while leaving them just as we left them.

The intelligent use of space – tags as virtual spaces

Thinking of tags as “tunnels” through our knowledge connection allows us to make use of our rich understanding of humans’ relationship to physical space. Tunnels have a beginning and an end, a top and a bottom. We are comfortable navigating tunnels.

By adding a label to a collection of related notes, you can more easily think of them as a coherent group. They occupy a “space” in your notes (and in your mind) that makes them easier to examine, connect, share, and refer to. In this way, tags act like real spatial organization, without having to move anything from one place to another.

In his classic paper The Intelligent Use of Space , David Kirsh described three basic ways in which physical space can be utilized:

• To simplify perception : such as putting the washed mushrooms on the right of the chopping board and the unwashed ones on the left
• To simplify choice : such as laying out cooking ingredients in the order you will need them
• To simplify thinking : such as repeatedly reordering the Scrabble pieces so as to prompt new ideas for words

These are the same capabilities that tags provide: they help us to perceive, to choose, and to think about novel groupings of data on the fly. But crucially, to do these things to facilitate action , not just abstract thought.

Tagging notes across different notebooks allows us to perceive cross-disciplinary themes and patterns that defy simple categorization. Tagging all the notes we want to review for a project could make our choices easier, by creating a boundary around the information we’ll consider before taking action. And tagging notes according to which stage of a project they are best suited for can improve our thinking by allowing us to focus on only the most relevant information for the given moment.

In his book Supersizing the Mind , Andy Clark describes “simple labeling” (or tags) as a kind of “augmented reality trick.”  With the simple act of assigning labels to things, we invite the brain’s pattern recognition ability to identify their similarities and thereby predict what other items would fit the label too. We are essentially tuning the informational environment of our notes to highlight or suppress the features most relevant to the task at hand. Our mind shapes the environment, and then the environment shapes our mind.

By thinking of tags as virtual spaces that we can create on the fly, we recruit our intuitive sense of spatial navigation to make sense of complex, abstract topics. We are able to create more concrete conceptual structures, and use our procedural memory to navigate them. 

The next question is, “What do we want to use these spaces for ?”

Information mapping – tagging for the knowledge lifecycle

As useful as it is to think of tags as “virtual spaces,” this still leaves us with overwhelming complexity. Conceptual spaces are vast, ever-changing, and complex. The failure of every attempt throughout history to create a “universal taxonomy” for all human knowledge is a testament to how incredibly difficult (or impossible) this task is.

I believe that what is needed for tagging to fulfill its potential while remaining feasible is to change its function: from labeling the “conceptual meaning” of bits of knowledge (which is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and fragile), to tracking its lifecycle .

What is a “knowledge lifecycle”?

It is the series of stages that knowledge moves through on its way to becoming a finished product. The stages vary based on what exactly that finished product is, but can include:

• Identifying knowledge
• Capturing knowledge
• Verifying knowledge
• Interpreting knowledge
• Organizing knowledge
• Categorizing knowledge
• Disseminating knowledge
• Combining knowledge
• Creating knowledge
• Using knowledge
• Re-evaluating knowledge

The key feature of these stages is that there are relatively few of them, and they change slowly. The products of creativity are constantly evolving and in flux, but the creative process is ancient and unchanging. By tagging according to the stages of this process, we can facilitate creativity without having to constantly redesign our organizational systems.

This idea is anything but new. In 1969, Robert Horn first published a paper outlining “information mapping” as a new approach to creating technical reference books. It was a system of principles for identifying, categorizing, and interrelating information to make learning easier in complex, information-rich environments. It was first applied to the military and to computer instruction, and has since been applied to dozens of other fields and scenarios.

At the heart of information mapping is a project lifecycle methodology. It assumes that the overarching goal of knowledge collection is to put it to use in real projects. But there is not one fixed, predetermined use. The same chunk of knowledge might be used in different ways at different times. For example:

• Initial learning
• Relearning or review
• Briefing and browsing
• Updating with changes
• Using as job aids (preparing checklists, menus, or protocols)

All these activities may use the same bits of knowledge, but in different ways and at different levels of detail. A training manual has to be able to adapt and reorganize itself according to the needs of different kinds of readers, instead of offering a “one size fits all” version. Horn’s solution to this challenge was “information blocks” – organizing knowledge into standardized “chunks” that could be mixed and matched to suit a specific need.

Information blocks replaced paragraphs as the fundamental unit of meaning and presentation. Unstructured information was “clustered” into information blocks with clear labels, which were linked together and further refined in the writing process.

Horn and his collaborators identified 40 types of information blocks that could be categorized as one of seven types:

• Classification

These types were standardized across all kinds of topics and projects. Research by Horn and others indicated that about 80% of virtually any subject matter could be classified using this system. It was found that by chunking a body of information in this way early on in a project, there were tremendous benefits at every subsequent stage.

Information mapping was, on the surface, designed to make writers’ jobs easier, specifying standardized ways of gathering and presenting the right information for a given document. But it also made the readers’ job easier. With each information block labeled according to its type and purpose, readers were able to scan a block and quickly understand its content and structure. This allowed them to customize the learning process: they could read from beginning to end if it was their first pass, or go directly to the block most relevant to their needs if they were already familiar with the subject. The labels made it easier to manage the intermediate stages of what they were reading, increasing reader’s confidence in their ability to understand and make use of the text.

Information mapping was an important step toward “Just-in-Time Learning.” Instead of giving readers a massive text and expecting them to hold it all in their mind until some future, unspecified date, information was structured so that it could be retrieved quickly and efficiently just as it was needed.

What can information mapping teach us about tagging? Decades of research in this field have shown that the best use for labels is as an output mechanism, not an input mechanism . Horn’s breakthrough was distinguishing two very different functions of information – learning and reference – and recognizing that we needed to enable flexible, dynamic ways of re-organizing blocks of information to suit these different needs.

By labeling our notes when they are being used, instead of when they are created, we move the work of tagging as close as possible to the problem it is meant to solve. And by making that work conditional on the execution of a project, we ensure that every bit of effort spent in tagging is put to use.

How to use tags effectively for personal knowledge management

Building on that foundation, these are my four recommendations for how to use tags effectively in personal knowledge management.

#1 Tag notes according to the actions taken or deliverables created with them

My first recommendation is to change the function of tags from trying to describe broad themes like “psychology” and “investing” to tracking the use or function of a piece of information. This could include tagging the note:

• By action – What actions have you taken (or will you take) with this note?
• By deliverable – What have you used (or will you use) this note to deliver?
• By stage of your knowledge lifecycle – Which stage is this note currently in (or does it best belong to)?

Tags should answer the question “Is this relevant to my current need?” just enough to make the next action clear. Don’t let your ideas get bogged down in layers of categories and classifications. Speed them through your creative process and out into the real world.

Here are a few examples of tags that have been applied according to the use or function of a chunk of knowledge:

• Tags for [reviewed] and [added], for tracking which notes have been reviewed for a deliverable, and which have been incorporated into it
• Tags that designate the kind of information a note contains, such as [content], [admin], and [meeting notes]
• Tags that track the status of notes through a workflow, such as [inactive], [active], [next], and [completed]

Here is an example of notes collected over the course of a year related to my online course Building a Second Brain . In the right-hand column you can see a few different kinds of tags that I use to segment this stream of notes into distinct types:

• [reviewed] means that I’ve looked it over and considered it for use in the course; [added] means I’ve incorporated it into the course in some way
• [admin] designates notes that don’t contain subject matter content, but are used for planning or technical information
• [PARA,] [PS], and [JITPM] refer to the three main parts of the course, allowing me to only consider notes for one at a time
• [basb] designates notes that I’d like to consider for the book I’m writing on the same topic; this allows me to “extract” a subset of notes for a different project, without removing them from this notebook

Notice that these tags don’t tell me what each note contains, or try to label them with every possible association. All they do is facilitate their incorporation into a concrete project, which is my online course. Because there are so few tags needed, I can use a few different kinds of tags at once without cluttering the notebook.

I can perform a search for one of these tags, and click this button to show only results from this notebook:

I am shown only notes with the [admin] tag within this notebook:

This use of tags is reminiscent of the “kanban” cards in Toyota’s just-in-time manufacturing system. Instead of long, complex forms detailing every part in a bin, a simple card reveals at a glance the most important things: what it is and where it goes.

Why did Toyota create such a system of cards? Why couldn’t each part simply be placed on the assembly line in the correct order?

In post-war Japan, there were not enough factories and not enough demand to justify dedicating an entire line to one model of car, as was done in the U.S. with Ford’s Model T. The small batches of different kinds of cars that the market demanded required them to create networks of production, with different lines overlapping and sharing the same machines. One of the uses of kanban cards was to track an item through the factory regardless of which machines it passed through, in what order, and at what speed. Each item was “tagged” with its current state, so there was never any doubt as to how it should be handled

This is much the same situation we face today as knowledge workers. We rarely have enough demand for a single activity to dedicate ourselves solely to it, but instead work on an ever-changing mix of different projects and activities that wax and wane unpredictably. And these activities use the same scarce resources – our intellect, time, energy, and skills.

We should use tags in the same way that Toyota used kanban cards: to create intertwined networks in which the right “part” (or note) can be pulled from our “inventory” (or knowledge collection) at just the right moment. I should be able to capture a note today while reading a book on financial planning, and know that it will show up when I need an insight into that subject, whether that is next week, next month, or next year. The tags should remember exactly where I left off, so I don’t have to.

With tags, we have the opportunity to network our knowledge. But these networks shouldn’t be merely conceptual. They should be networks of production , pushing our ideas through our creative process and into the hands of people who can benefit from them.

This approach to tagging addresses each of the pitfalls of tagging I identified in Tagging is Broken :

• Tags should be easy to remember: since there is a limited number of actions you take with your notes, you have only a small number of options to remember
• Tags should be easy to decide on: it is usually easier to decide how a note is going to be used, rather than what it means or what it’s about
• Tags should be concrete: tagging according to actions and deliverables is far more concrete than theoretical categories
• Tags should enable the right behaviors: in this case, using tags to manage the stages of a workflow enables the productive use of knowledge, instead of mere cataloguing
• Tags should be forgiving: by maintaining tags as a supplement to a hierarchical organizational system, we reap most of their benefits without having to adhere to them perfectly

#2 Add structure slowly, in stages and only as needed, using accumulated material to guide you in what structures are needed

It is very tempting when organizing knowledge to decide on one kind of structure upfront, and then stick to it no matter what. Although there are benefits to consistency, when it comes to personal knowledge management, the most important priority is that it suits your day to day needs. Even the perfect organizational system, if you stop using it, is not perfect.

One of the most valuable features of digital information is that it is highly malleable . It can change form almost instantaneously, with nothing more than a few clicks or taps. We can take advantage of this malleability by adding structure incrementally , in small steps, as our knowledge of a subject accumulates and our needs change.

For example, if I become interested in learning Spanish for a vacation, I might save some useful Spanish words I learn to my “Travel” notebook. No structure is needed at this point, because everything I know about the topic is contained in one note.

But let’s say that I have such a good trip, I decide I want to explore the possibility of moving to Mexico. I start collecting notes with travel gear, blog posts explaining how to rent an apartment, options for cell phone plans, visa application forms, and guides on which credit cards to apply for, among other things. That original “Spanish vocab” note is now just one among many notes. The usage of that knowledge has changed. At this point, it makes sense to create a new notebook called “Move to Mexico” (a “project” according to my PARA methodology) and move these notes into it.

After a few months of research, I may have gathered several dozen notes, and the notebook might be starting to get too cluttered to find what I’m looking for. At this point I can easily “segment” the notebook by tagging notes according to broad types like [apartment], [language], [logistics], [financial], [gear], [research], [writing], etc. I suggest using a small number of types so you can see your options at a glance just by looking at the Tags column.

Clicking the “Tags” header at the top of the right-hand column will sort the notes according to type, which allows you to see related notes in one place while keeping them in the same notebook:

Let’s say a few months pass, and now I’m actually living and working in Mexico City. At this point, a single notebook no longer covers the many facets of life in a new city. I’ll need to create several new notebooks, including projects like “Find gym” and “Activate cell phone service,” areas of responsibility such as “Apartment,” and resources like “Mexican food” and “Spanish language.”

It wouldn’t make sense to have created all these notebooks upfront, when I had so little to store in them. It is effortless, once the relevant categories have revealed themselves, to move notes into these new notebooks (right click > Move notes to…):

With this approach, I’m only adding as much structure as is needed for a given stage of my learning journey. This helps ensure that I’m spending most of my time engaging with the content, instead of maintaining a complex organizational system. You would think that adding the structure later is more difficult, but in fact it is easier: instead of trying to guess which categories will be needed, I can look at what I’ve already collected and pick the categories that perfectly suit it.

How do you know which divisions or categories to use? Again, instead of trying to guess that upfront, start with the laziest approach: simply collect whatever seems interesting on a given topic. When the time comes, and only when the time comes, look at what you’ve already captured organically and look for patterns. The best time to do this is when starting a project that might draw on these notes, because often the divisions will come from the project itself.

For example, let’s say you’re hired by a company to improve their hiring process. You might have dozens or even hundreds of notes related to hiring if that is a service you provide. But the way the project is organized will often tell you what parts or stages are most relevant. Perhaps the contract is split between “Résumé collection” and “Interviewing.” By reviewing your notes retrospectively and tagging them with these two labels, you can very quickly re-orient your notes related to hiring along these lines. Using an organizational scheme that matches the structure of the project will make that project much easier to execute.

I’m constantly surprised at how clearly divisions appear, as long as I’m starting with a batch of real notes . If I try to theorize about the correct tags before I’ve actually collected anything, it’s always off the mark. The magic of digital information is that it is easy and frictionless to make such retrospective changes. This kind of backward-looking reorganization also allows us to jump into new topics much faster: instead of spending my precious energy getting set up when I’m excited about something, I plunge directly into the heart of the subject, capturing whatever seems interesting and trusting that I can sort it out later.

There is another benefit to this method: it is perfectly okay to not tag a note at all. So long as  you’re not using tags as your primary organizational system, there is no chance that a note left untagged will completely fall through the cracks. It will always be right there in the notebook where you left it. This avoids the frustrating experience of trying to force yourself to think of a tag for a note, even when nothing comes to mind, because otherwise it will be lost completely.

The lesson here is to not create structure before it’s needed. By adding just enough structure, at just the right moment, the work required to maintain it will always feel like a welcome relief, instead of a heavy burden.

#3 Tag notes according to their internal, external, and social context, and status

In their book The Science of Managing Our Digital Stuff , from which all the studies in this article are drawn, Ofer Bergman and Steve Whittaker identify the four attributes of a piece of information that can be used to describe its “context.”

• Internal context includes the thoughts, feelings, associations, concerns, and considerations you have about a note
• External context includes the other items that you are dealing with while interacting with a note, such as other notes, documents, folders, or apps
• Social context refers to other people who are related to the note, such as project collaborators, the person who recommended the source, or who it was shared with
• Current status refers to any actions taken with the note, or any deliverables it was used in

These attributes are universal in that they apply to any kind of note from any source, yet are also easy to apply. They don’t try to describe the content of the note; only its context . These aren’t abstract labels requiring intensive thinking. They are simple questions that can be answered by looking around at what you’re doing. They can be added incrementally and as needed. They will enable you to more easily return to the state of mind you were in the last time you interacted with a note, using contextual clues that our minds are made to understand.

Here is an Evernote note template that can be used to add these four kinds of context at the top of any note, including a  short video I created on how to save the note as a template to your account. Here’s an example of the template filled out:

#4 Develop customized, profession-specific taxonomies

The history of organizing information is largely concerned with “taxonomies” – hierarchical systems for categorizing information in one all-encompassing model.

Passionate debates about which is the “correct” taxonomy go back millennia. Aristotle believed that knowledge could be classified according to its substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, state, action, & passion. Francis Bacon categorized all human knowledge into memory (i.e. history), reason (i.e. philosophy), and imagination (i.e. fine arts). The 20th century Indian librarian Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan argued that any document could be defined according to its personality, matter, energy, space, and time.

The goal has always been to create a single, completely comprehensive ordering of knowledge that any future idea can be placed into. But over many hundreds of years, as our knowledge has exploded in size and complexity, the possibility of a universal taxonomy has faded. It is now quite clear that any such taxonomy will either be too broad to be useful, or too narrow to be universal. The dream of a universal taxonomy is dead.

But for specific fields and professions, it is clear that taxonomies have tremendous value. Biology would be a hopeless tangle of overlapping specialties without the Linnaean taxonomy. Chemistry would be futile without the periodic table. Trends in art would be impossible to make sense of without schools and periods. As long as you can rely on a “controlled vocabulary” of agreed upon terms, it makes a lot of sense to put everything into a category.

A student in one of my courses explained his system for writing scripts (emphasis mine):

“If you know what the constituent parts are of your particular art form, you can collect “snippets” of evocative ideas for any one of them in a single notebook and use tags to label them. So, for example, I have a “Film Ideas” folder where I store ideas and then tag them with one of the following labels:

• C = description of Characters who could be used in a story.
• L = interesting and visual Location.
• O= curious or evocative Object.
• S = loaded or revealing Situation.
• A = unusual or revealing Act.
• T = any Theme that intrigues you or that you see embodied in life

Then I can see all of these notes side by side and if any particular combination of elements sticks out to me, I have the beginnings of a story idea .”

Such a taxonomy can be even more specific than your field or profession, since you are the same person recording and retrieving this knowledge. They can be “personomies,” or personal tag vocabularies, containing the terms that you use to refer to the parts of your work. This personomy is something you will have to develop yourself, but your profession or industry is a good place to start.

The scalability of tagging

In my experience, it is only necessary to use tags when your collection becomes formidable. After nearly 10 years of note-taking and more than 8,000 notes created, I am just starting to seriously run up against the limits of a no-tagging system.

This finding has been echoed in the research. In the 1960s and 1970s, IBM conducted a series of experiments with their new Storage and Information Retrieval System (STAIRS), one of the first systems in which the computer could search the entire text of documents. They found that search accuracy could run as high as 75 to 80%. They happily proclaimed the “death of meta-data.” Why spend time and money having humans index documents when the computer could just search everything?

But there was a fatal flaw in the experiments. They used small collections containing only a few hundred documents. It was assumed that these results would apply equally well to large collections, as long as they had enough computer power. But it was a language problem, not a computer problem.

In the 1980s, researchers David C. Blair and M.E. Maron tested a full-text litigation support system containing about 40,000 documents with 350,000 pages of text. The lawyers depended on this system to retrieve all the documents that might help them win their cases. But Blair and Maron showed that recall averaged only about 20%. The system was retrieving only about 1 in every 5 relevant documents! And this was with trained researchers.

The trouble is that language has numerous, often vague, overlapping mappings to ideas. As David Blair recounts from a real example, a system with 1,000 documents contained 100 that contain the word “computer,” with the word being used 10 different ways. But in a system with 100,000 documents, 7,100 contained the word, and it was used in 84 different ways. The number of possible meanings and interpretations explodes almost as fast as the information itself.

This is where tags come in. They can provide the essential missing piece of data that computers still cannot determine: what a note is about . As long as you follow the recommendations in this article – using tags to track where a chunk of knowledge is in the knowledge lifecycle, adding structure and tags slowly and incrementally, and adding contextual data to notes – you can create paths of action for your future self to follow, without being burdened by rigid bureaucracy.

In the context of personal knowledge management, we need both hierarchies and networks. Notebooks allow us to gather a batch of related material in one place, and look for patterns and associations between the things we’ve collected. Tags add a network to this hierarchy – a distribution network for more efficiently exporting our ideas into the external world.

Ambient findability

“Ambient findability” is a term coined by information architect Peter Morville in a book of the same name. It describes the practice of creating environments where relevant information can be found and used, whether that is a library or a smartphone. When an item is “findable,” it means that it is easy to discover and locate.

The key skill in navigating such an environment is wayfinding, which refers to “the series of things people know and do in order to get from one place to another, inside or outside.” It is a skill we developed to navigate physical environments that we’ve since adapted to virtual environments. But the virtual worlds we’ve created lack the natural landmarks we rely on in the natural world. They lack trees, rivers, seashores, and paths. In the digital world, we have to create them ourselves, out of words.

But the way we’ve used tags in the past comes from a different era. Morville recounts his memories of “online searching” at the University of Michigan’s School of Information and Library Studies, in the ancient epoch of 1993:

“We searched through databases via dumb terminals connected to the Dialog company’s mainframe. Results were output to a dot matrix printer. And Dialog charged by the minute. This made searching quite stressful. Mistakes were costly in time and money. So, we’d spend an hour or more in the library beforehand, consulting printed thesauri for descriptors, considering how to combine Boolean operators most efficiently, and plotting our overall search strategy. A computer’s time was more precious than a human’s, so we sweated every keyword .”

Elaborate, precise tagging systems made sense at that time, when every operation cost money. But the challenge today is not to conserve computer power, but to spend it. Instead of wasting hours of precious human time with laborious tagging just to make a computer’s job easier, we should generously spend the computer’s power to make our job easier.

Thanks to Andrew Brož, Chris Harris, Sachin Rekhi, and Jessica Malnik for their feedback and contributions

Follow us for the latest updates and insights around productivity and Building a Second Brain on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and YouTube . And if you're ready to start building your Second Brain, get the book and learn the proven method to organize your digital life and unlock your creative potential.

• Posted in Building a Second Brain , How-To Guides , Note-taking , Organizing , Productivity , Technology
• On January 9, 2019
• BY Tiago Forte

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Personal knowledge management: the ultimate guide to simplify your life

Table of Contents

Getting started with personal knowledge management

What is personal knowledge management.

The definition of personal knowledge management (PKM), simply put, is to have a structured system in place to organize your thoughts, notes, and files.

Personal knowledge management systems can range from simple to complex. Although most personal knowledge management systems these days are digital (using computer software and note taking apps), you could even have an analog or paper-based personal knowledge management system, such as a paper-based Zettelkasten system on index cards .

Related posts on personal knowledge management

• How a personal knowledge management system will help you get things done when you’re exhausted and tired
• 5 tips to make your personal knowledge management system feel more effortless
• Designing for joy: 3 tips to transform your personal knowledge management system

You might know personal knowledge management by another name, such as:

• Digital file management
• Digital note taking systems
• Information management systems
• Knowledge management (KM)
• Knowledge management systems
• Note taking systems
• Note taking workflow
• Personal information management (PIM)
• Personal management systems

In certain technical circles, there are subtle nuances between how each of these terms are used. But generally speaking, for the rest of us, they’re all just another way to describe having a mindful, intentionally designed workflow to manage documents, emails, ideas, and other information that crosses your desk and your mind.

Building an intentional, mindful way to organize your notes and files

There’s no single one right way to build a personal knowledge management system, nor is there a singular definition. From my perspective, all personal knowledge management means is this: having an intentional, mindful way to organize and manage all the information that flows into your life on a daily basis.

The purpose of building a personal knowledge management system is, at its core, to feel more organized and in control of your life. Building a personal knowledge management system will save you time, as it makes it easier to find files, links, emails, and ideas that you came across before. You’ll spend less time reinventing the wheel. A personal knowledge management system is intended to help you find new connections between individual pieces of information. The goal of building a personal knowledge management system is to simplify your life and make it easier for you to accomplish your tasks in less time, with less stress.

Why do I need personal knowledge management? Who can benefit from personal knowledge management?

Busy people need personal knowledge management systems most of all.

As a busy person, you may feel like the last thing you need to do is to add yet another task to your overflowing to do list. It’s a catch 22 : the people who can most benefit from a personal knowledge management system are often the ones who least feel like they can invest the time in building one.

Building a personal knowledge management system will benefit you if you are a knowledge worker in any capacity. If part of your job, or school , or side hustle, involves managing research, writing, and information, building a personal knowledge management system will pay huge dividends for you in the medium and long-term. It is worth a short term investment in taking some time to set up a mindful, intentional system.

Knowledge workers need personal knowledge management

People in these fields particularly benefit from personal knowledge management from having a reliable personal knowledge management system in place:

• Administrators
• Artists and poets
• Doctors/physicians
• Entrepreneurs, side hustlers, and indie hackers
• Freelancers
• Genealogists
• Graduate students (masters-level, PhD, and post-docs)
• Graphic designers
• Journalists
• Knowledge workers
• Non-fiction writers
• Novelists, short story writers, fiction writers
• Online content creators (including bloggers, writers, influencers, YouTubers)
• Professional students (including medical students, law students, and engineering students)
• Professors and adjunct instructors
• Project managers
• Researchers
• Small business owners
• Software developers
• Stay at home parents (moms and dads) and caregivers
• Undergraduate (university and college) students
• UX & UI designers

What is the best way to build a personal knowledge management system?

There is no single best way (but it would be lovely if there was).

I wish that there was one, single, simple answer to the question, “What is the best way to build a personal knowledge management system?” As you explore the world of personal knowledge management– as you watch YouTube tutorials, listen to podcasts, and explore forums on the topic of notetaking and personal knowledge management– you’re going to discover that some people feel strongly that there is one singular, best way to build a personal knowledge management system .

To be fair, those people are partially correct. Whatever specific structure they are espousing is, in fact, the best personal knowledge management system setup– for them. This is key. People feel passionately about the structure or setup they have personally found helpful for building a personal knowledge management system. And this is wonderful: we can all benefit from the hard-won knowledge of our peers and those who have gone before us in developing their personal knowledge management system. I am always personally keen to review examples, sample workflows, and set ups from other thinkers in the personal knowledge management space. We are lucky to live in a time when there is an ever-growing abundance of personal knowledge management apps and setup examples.

Avoid the “one-size fits all” trap

However, the danger arises when someone is so happy with the results of their own personal knowledge management setup, and know that it is worked well for them, that they have the misconception that their own specific workflow, app, or structure is going to work for everybody else. The concept of the “personal” is absolutely key in understanding the best way to set up a personal knowledge management system. There simply is no one-size-fits-all personal knowledge management method or app.

You need to build a flexible tailored system that fits your life

The truth is, over the course of your working life, you will yourself need to adjust, iterate, and change your personal knowledge management system to meet new challenges, changing work environments, and different projects. Too often, people can feel that it is their own a personal failing, or a failure of their individual system or app, if they start to feel frustrated with their personal knowledge management setup. During those times of doubt and frustration, it can be very tempting to be listen to confident, persuasive speakers who propose that there is one single, best solution to the challenge of note taking.

The Calmer Notes approach: find what fits, and leave the rest

The signature phrase of my own Calmer Notes training on the topic of personal knowledge management is this: find what fits, and leaves the rest. The Calmer Notes method is, by its very design, not going to tell you one single best way to build your personal knowledge management system. I am happy to share my own experiences and recommendations– but I believe it would be disingenuous to pretend that the apps or structure that I have found personally helpful are going to fit everybody else. Your life is different than mine. Your mind works differently than mine. You have a different collection of operating systems and technology and mobile and browser preference. Your work environment is different than mine. You are trying to create different outputs with your daily work than I am.

(This is why I built the Calmer Notes method for personal knowledge management: to offer a nuanced, cutomizable, flexible approach that helps everyone from beginners to advanced users build a personal knowledge management system that fits their lives.)

Best PKM software, tools, and apps

What is the best personal knowledge management app for a beginner?

If you’re new to the world of personal knowledge management: welcome! So glad you have discovered this delightful corner of the internet– I am so excited for you. This is a really wonderful time to be getting started with personal knowledge management: there is an explosion of exciting, powerful new software and apps to help you organize your digital notes and build a digital note taking habit. it’s the perfect time to begin building a personal knowledge management system that truly fits your life and reflects the way that your mind works.

But the explosion and digital knowledge management apps can be a double-edged sword. As a beginner, you may find the endless options of digital note taking software and personal knowledge managements apps rather overwhelming to sort through. You may feel stuck on the best place to get started.

Try to avoid letting analysis paralysis stop you from embarking on your personal knowledge management journey. So long as you choose a digital notetaking app with robust import and export options, it shouldn’t take you that long to switch to a new app if you ultimately find your first choice isn’t quite right for you.

Top three apps for beginners

With that in mind, these would be my top three beginner friendly note taking app and software recommendations as of 2022:

2. Bear Notes

3. Craft Docs

All three of these apps offer robust markdown import and export options, which I believe is absolutely central to building a future-proof note-taking app. Notion and Craft both have web apps; Bear is Mac only.

If you want to explore more into my personal knowledge management app recommendations and roundups, check out my blog archives .

What is the best advanced personal knowledge management app?

Avoiding bright shiny object syndrome.

If you are a seasoned personal knowledge management system enthusiast, and you’ve been in this space for some time, I imagine you’re just as excited as I am to see the explosion of new PKM and tools for thought (TFT) apps.

That being said, the influx of new PKM apps can lead all of us to experience some degree of overwhelm and analysis paralysis. It can be all too easy to get distracted by bright shiny object syndrome. When an exciting new note taking app comes across your Twitter feed, with appealing screencaps and advanced features, it can feel so tempting to abandon your current setup (which has some frustrations and roadblocks which have been annoying you), in favour of building a fresh system from the ground up.

Questions to ask to gain clarity

There is always the possibility that a new app is truly what your system needs right now. But before switching to a new app, it’s incredibly important to recognize and get super-specific about:

• The constraints of your current work environment and life
• The reality of your schedule
• The technology you want to be able to integrate
• The goals of your PKM system (what problem(s) you’re trying to solve)
• The output of your PKM system (what you’re trying to create)

What’s your why?

As much as we may all enjoy browsing the latest note taking apps, none of us have come to personal knowledge management with the intent of building a note taking habit or PKM system as an end goal in and of itself. We’ve sought out personal knowledge management as a tool in service of a greater purpose. This purpose might be:

• Writing a book
• Building a business
• Learning a new subject
• Deepening or specializing our knowledge in an existing area
• Organizing the administrative details of our lives

Whatever our goals may be– there needs to be a “why” underpinning the entire structure of our personal knowledge management system . Building a note taking habit for its own sake is simply not enough. We are all busy people, with many demands on our time and schedule. We need to build personal knowledge management systems that support, strengthen, and enrich our lives.

Top three apps for advanced PKM users

With all of that in mind, I would personally recommend these as the top three personal knowledge management apps for advanced, experienced users as of 2022:

2. Roam Research

How should I choose a personal knowledge management app?

Want a more in-depth, detailed approach to the process of choosing the best personal knowledge management app? My Calmer Notes approach is founded on the principle of making informed, mindful, intentional choices in building your personal knowledge management system. In step 4 of the Calmer Notes method , you’ll go through a step-by-step approach to efficiently and mindfully select the best PKM app for your own specific needs.

How to choose the best personal knowledge management setup

There is no perfect system– just the best system for you.

You might be searching for the best personal knowledge management workflow, strategy, or approach. If you’ve read through from the start of the article to now, you probably have guessed that I am going to remind you of this fact: there is no single best personal knowledge management setup that works for everyone . Everybody’s ideal workflow is going to look different– and should look different. A strategy that works phenomenally well for one person will fall flat for another. The “perfect” personal knowledge management workflow for a one specific person will change and evolve, too, as they juggle different roles, responsibilities, and projects at different times of their lives.

Draw inspiration: find what fits, and leave the rest

With all that in mind, there is still huge benefit to looking at example note taking structures as well as personal knowledge management workflows and setups. Going through examples of how other people have structured their tags, folders, and bidirectional links can be very inspiring. The most important thing that I want you to take away, however, is to use these examples as inspiration only. Feel under no obligation to follow them slavishly. As I emphasize in the Calmer Notes method : find what fits, and leave the rest .

It’s exciting to be living in a time of exponential growth in personal knowledge management apps and approaches. There are new workflows and structures being developed on a regular basis. Below, I will go through some examples of personal knowledge management systems and actions, linking through to the websites and blogs of talented PKM thinkers and writers. Let their systems serve as inspiration for you, to see if portions of their approach might be helpful for your own specific needs, goals, and note taking preferences.

Atomic notes

The concept of “atomic notes” was coined by Christian Tietze , and comes from the notion that each note in a note taking system should be centered around one singular idea. Atomic notes are part of the Zettelkasten approach , and their use was popularized in How to Take Smart Notes . Small, discrete, atomic notes are also included in many other personal knowledge management structures such as digital gardens and building a second brain. Atomic notes are closely linked with the concept of evergreen notes .

The goal of writing an atomic note is to break each piece of knowledge down into ts smallest, tiniest, indivisible part (i.e. per Dalton’s atomic theory ). The goal is to then link these small, discrete pieces of information to related notes to that you can see interconnections between ideas and themes. To continue the analogy, you can then link your atomic notes together to build “molecules” of knowledge.

Building a second brain (BASB) & PARA

The concept of building a second brain (BASB) was created by Tiago Forte of Forte Labs . This structure grew out of his PARA folder system for organizing digital content. Forte was originally a productivity training consultant for software companies, and developed this particular structure for organizing reference works in parallel to organizing tasks and projects.

Maggie Appleton , a talented UX designer, anthropologist, and artist, created a beautifully illustrated infographic of the building a second brain (BASB) and PARA methodology, linked below:

Digital mind gardens

The concept of a digital mind garden reflects the reality that our personal knowledge is meant to always be growing, adapting, and changing. When you build a digital garden , you expect the notes to be added to, deleted, and otherwise pruned, just like a real garden.

Some people choose to make their digital mind gardens public, usually powered with a wiki software or similar . Other people prefer to keep them private. You can see some examples of digital mind gardens, as well as tools and resources over at Maggie Appleton’s digital mind garden guide at GitHub .

A digital mind garden might be right for you if you are working on learning a subject or writing a project that has many interconnected ideas, and you’re not yet clear on how some of those ideas may interact with each other. A digital mind garden can be a useful tool for structuring and connecting ideas you may not otherwise have linked together.

Johnny Decimal

The Johnny Decimal system , created by John Noble, is a numerically-based structure for organizing digital files. Inspired by the Dewey Decimal system, it is a practical approach to the challenge of sorting and finding digital files.

The essential steps of this approach are to:

• Break everything up into 10 areas (or less).
• Break each of those areas into 10 categories (or less).
• Assign ID numbers to those areas and categories.
• Assign IDs to files and folders.

John Noble has an excellent, easy-to-follow summary of his approach over at his site, where he also hosts a dedicated forum.

Zettelkasten

The Zettelkasten (“slip box”) method, created by academic Niklas Luhmann and popularized by Sönke Ahrens in How to Take Smart Notes , was originally an analog knowledge management system composed entirely of slips of paper or index cards. With the advent of digital note taking apps, the possibilities inherent in the Zettelkasten system became even more exciting. You no longer needed a large filing cabinet of notecards to organize your thoughts, ideas and research. Instead, you could use note taking software to accomplish the same thing digitally– with the addditional benefit of full-text search.

Zettelkasten systems rely on discrete pieces of knowledge, such as those in atomic notes, linked together. A Zettelkasten has three types of notes:

• Fleeting notes
• Permanent notes
• Project notes

For a deep dive into the world of Zettelkasten, check out the English-language section of Zettelkasten.de for a thorough overview and guidelines on implementation.

The Calmer Notes method for personal knowledge management

An alternative approach.

Some people wonder if Calmer Notes is an alternative structure to organizing notes: they may even assume Calmer Notes must be an alternative or competitor to atomic notes, building a second brain, Johnny Decimal, digital mind gardens, PARA, or zettelkasten. Quite the opposite– I have a high regard for the above-named personal knowledge management thinkers. I think that each approach has something valuable to offer, and I encourage anyone interested in the world of personal knowledge management to explore any and all of the methods that sound appealing to them.

The Calmer Notes method for personal knowledge management is a different approach. To borrow a concept from the Category Pirates , Calmer Notes is in a different category altogether. The Calmer Notes approach isn’t about the how. (Though we still address that, too.) It’s about the why.

The Calmer Notes approach offers an existential and practical approach to personal knowledge management. Calmer Notes gives you a framework for considering precisely what you’re trying to achieve with your personal knowledge management system, what your roadblocks are, and to imagine how your ideal system would work and function. Then, and only then, once you have clarity on the unique needs and goals of your individual system, will you begin the practical side of building your system. You’ll be well-equipped to mindfully select the best apps (for you) and to build a customized structure– borrowing from the inspiration and examples above– that truly fits your life.

If you appreciate the existential productivity writing from thinkers such as Khe Hy and Oliver Burkeman – Calmer Notes is the personal knowledge management approach you’ve been waiting for.

The Calmer Notes approach offers an existential yet practical approach to personal knowledge management. Here’s the reality: we don’t have unlimited time or energy available to us. Building a personal knowledge management system using the Calmer Notes method will help to simplify your life. So you can get on with creating the things you want to make and the life experiences you want to enjoy.

End the overwhelm and finally get organized with the Calmer Notes framework

Are you ready to stop searching for the “perfect” note taking app and ditch rigid, inflexible note taking systems ?

The Calmer Notes method for personal knowledge management helps busy, overwhelmed, overscheduled professionals create one-of-a-kind, perfect tailored, minimalist note taking workflows to finally organize your notes and ideas, once and for all.

• Discover the five most common note-taking myths that might be holding you back
• Join the newsletter and get a weekly dose of intentional, mindful productivity links
• Enroll in the Calmer Notes course (a self-paced, high-yield, asynchronous course designed to fit into even the busiest of schedules)

Elizabeth Butler, MD, PhD helps creative, idealistic professionals build streamlined note-taking and productivity systems to fit their busy lives. Dr. Butler is a practicing physician, working parent, and creator of the Calmer Notes method for personal knowledge management . She writes about note taking, quiet productivity, and digital organization.

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How To Write A Personal Statement For Masters (17 PDF Sample Examples)

Published: 14 Mar 2022 Study Abroad 110,920 views

A personal statement for masters program is one of the most important parts of your college application and writing a good one is what’s the exception between receiving an offer and being rejected.

If you’ve been tasked with presenting a personal statement, you should keep in mind that whatever you submit must put you forward as the right candidate for the course. Additionally, it should convince the admissions officers that you deserve a place on your program of study.

Achieving the above, is a skill most postgraduate students are yet to acquire but thankfully this article on How To Write A Personal Statement For Masters covers everything you need to know on doing this.

In this article you’ll learn:

• What is a personal statement?
• Tips for making your personal statement for masters stand out
• How to write a personal statement for masters
• Personal statement for masters sample
• Examples of personal statement for masters
• Conclusion – things to avoid when writing a personal statement for masters

Read:  Admission Interview Tips .

What Is a Personal Statement?

A personal statement AKA admissions or application essay or statement of purpose is a type of essay or written statement a candidate presents to a college, university, or graduate school they are applying to, explaining why they want to attend that school, study a particular course, and why they would be a perfect fit for these things.

A personal statement for masters is an essay you submit specifically for your postgraduate application. Writing one presents the opportunity for you to promote yourself to a school and show the admissions teachers that you are the perfect candidate for a course.

Tips For Making Your Personal Statement For Masters Stand Out

Before we get into how you should write a statement of purpose for masters, we would first like to share with you certain tips to include in your essay to make it stand out from that of other applicants and be convincing enough to any admissions officer that reads it. The tips we have mentioned here, cover general things like starting and ending your personal statement, timing, length, and what to include and what not to include in the essay, etc.

1. Starting And Ending A Personal Statement

When starting a personal statement, you would want to right off the bat grab the reader’s attention. To do this, start the statement by writing about your degree of choice, next why you want to study it and then how you got interested in it.

The next 2 sentences after that should cover a summary of your background in the chosen field, and you conclude by saying what you plan to do once you acquire your graduate degree.

Also start with that the evaluators reading want to hear first, then every other information should come second. You will notice we’ve used in the sop examples for masters we will share with you later in this article.

2. Plan Ahead

A personal statement is not something you rush while writing, which means if you want to get something good before you application then you must start to decide things like the length and how long it should take to complete.

Let us throw more light on this…

For length, a personal statement should be brief ranging somewhere between 500 -700 words, although schools often detect how long it should be. So, this is dependent on the institution you are applying to.

In terms of what to say in a statement, you could include personal experiences like why you were driven to apply for the program, an experience you had with a scholar in your chosen discipline, a course you took that inspired you to pursue masters, or a key moment during your studies which further motivated you.

No matter what you decide to write, just keep in mind that you need to take your time to craft something good even if it means creating several drafts before the real thing and do not forget to proofread the statement for errors.

3. Research Your Program Of Study

Researching your program of study is one way to establish that you truly understand the discipline you’re getting into and prove to the admissions officer that you thoroughly thought about it before applying.

And because you want to put yourself forward as a serious candidate, one way to make you research easier is for you to visit the website of the department you are applying to. This page will contain information about faculty members, their specialisation, and publications.

From the intel, you gathered there you can now identify which professors match your interests and which ones you will benefit the most from learning under. After you’ve found this out, relate the same in a sentence or two in your statement of purpose for masters.

Example: “I would be honoured to study under the tutelage of Professor Nadia whose work I found resonated strongly with my beliefs and intended projects in this course”.

4. Avoid Clichés, Junks, And Many Details

When writing a statement of purpose for master degree try to avoid clichés, junks, and unnecessary details so that you don’t lose or bore your readers in between. Be as concise as possible, even if it’s your chance to express yourself.

A personal statement is an opportunity for the admissions committee to get information that tells the that you are suitable for the course. So, when you overpower your statement with too many words, stories, and useless details, you come off as someone who is just trying to meet the word count.

5. Include Your Personal History Only If It Adds To The Statement

Do not include your personal history in your statement of intent for masters if it is not relevant to your purpose of study. This means no need for you to tell that story about that time you helped someone treat a cut and immediately realised that you wanted to be a doctor or nurse or how you developed a taste for reading at a very young age.

We can guarantee you that the hundreds of other applications competing for the same spot you are felt the same way, so saying those things really doesn’t make you unique.

On the other hand, if you are going to add personal history to your statement, you can put in things like an internship you did and the experience you got from the job, a major research project you ran by yourself, publications you’ve read or published, conferences you’ve attended or presentations you’ve done. These experiences are more concrete and are directly related to your program of study. They also set you apart from other applicants.

6. Don't Use The Same Personal Statement For All Your Applications

One common mistake applicant make that you shouldn’t is using the same statement of purpose for master degree for all your applications. Using the same information repeatedly even if you are going to change the university names is risky and could land you in a big mistake on a day you forget to be thorough.

All programmes have their own unique set of questions they want to see answered and information they need in your personal statement.

And even if some of them like extracurricular activities, proposal for project, why you are applying to the school, your unique qualities, and research works you’re doing might appear the same, do not use one statement to respond to all of them.

Write a new unique personal statement every time you want to apply.

Check out:  How to Write a Good CV for Students - Resume Examples for Students (PDF).

How To Write A Personal Statement for Masters

When writing a personal statement for masters there are several steps and ground rules you need to follow to ensure that it comes out good enough to impress the admissions team of a school, and ultimately convince them to give you a spot on your program of study.

If writing one is something you are currently struggling with and can’t seem to get down the process of it right no matter what, this section on how to write a personal statement for masters, discusses in detail everything you need to get help with yours.

There are 4 parts to consider when writing your personal statement and we have listed them below:

1. Planning A Personal Statement

A personal statement is a piece of writing showing your academic interests and is only for application purposes which means there is no room for any autobiographical information in it about your personal life. Be as to-the-point as possible when writing it and stick to telling the school why you are the right person for the course, plus any other extra information detailing your achievements.

Before You Start:

Allot plenty of time to write your msc personal statement so that you don’t rush it. Remember, this simple piece of writing is your one shot at convincing a school that you are the best applicant they’ve seen and as such can either make or break your application.

Read the information expected of you from the university, rules and guidelines given, selection criteria and understand what they mean. Also research the institution.

Do a thorough research on the course you are applying for; this will help you explain better why you want to study it. The tutors interviewing you can tell when you are lying and presenting yourself as uninformed can cost you the admission.

Ensure that you don’t use the same personal statement for all your applications.

When Writing:

When writing the statement there are some questions to ask yourself that can help you plan it better. Those questions are:

• Why you want to study a master’s and how does it benefit you in future?
• How does the course you have chosen fit into your pre-existing skill set?
• How do you stand out from the crowd as an applicant - e.g., work experiences you’ve had in the same field you are applying for?
• What do you aspire to do or be as a future career and how will the course help you achieve that?
• How can your work or skillsets contribute positively to the department/ university you are applying to, or society at large?

On the other hand, if you are applying for the masters to change from the field you studied in your undergraduate to another field, you should tell the school why you decided to take a different path in your studies.

Questions to ask yourself for this include:

• Your reason for deciding to change your discipline.
• How your undergraduate degree will be material for bringing fresh insights into your masters course.
• How changing your study path will help you attain your future career.

2. Structuring A Personal Statement

Having good structure for your personal statement for master degree is important because it ensures that everything from the beginning, middle, and ending of the statement is written and equally falls in place perfectly.

We’ve left some tips for you below to help you:

Start your personal statement with an attention-grabbing introduction that is not dramatic or cliché. That means you should not begin with any of these over-used phrases we’ve listed out below:

For as long as I remember…

Since my childhood…

I want to apply to this course because I’ve always felt a strong connection to it…

All my life, I have always loved…

My interest in (course) always ran deeper than…

I’ve always been zealous about…

Ever since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to pursue a career in…

My past educational experiences have always…

You would want to be as snappy as possible with your opening because the admission officer has over a hundred applications to read and can’t waste all their time on yours. This means you should avoid overpowering it with unnecessary facts, quotes, and stories from your life.

The middle part of your ma personal statement is where the main content of the write-up should be. This is where you show your dedication to the course you’ve chosen, what motivated you to choose it, and why you are the right candidate for it.

When writing the middle part of a graduate personal statement, you should:  

• Give concrete reasons why you want to study a course at the University. The reason could be because of how the course is aligned to your future career or the University’s reputation in teaching that program.
• Mention relevant things like projects, dissertations, or essays you’ve done, and any work experience you have.
• Show proof of your core skills like and how they can contribute to the department.
• Prove what makes you a unique candidate.
• Discuss who your main influences for wanting to study the course are and why.
• Add experiences like memberships to clubs that are related to your field, papers you’ve written before, awards, scholarships, or prizes.
• Draw focus to how the course links to your past and future.
• Mention your academic and non-academic skills and how they fit the course.

For Formatting:

• Keep the statement length between 250 -500 words or as directed by the school.
• Sentences should be no more than 25-30 words.
• Use headings to break up the content – Why this university? Why this subject? Etc.
• Make claims and provide evidence to back each of them up. This can be done by discussing your work experience and academic interests.

Language and tone to use:     

• The tone for your masters application personal statement should be positive and enthusiastic, to show you eagerness to learn and so that you convince the evaluators that you have what it takes to succeed.
• Use exciting and refreshing language, and an engaging opening line.
• Ensure you grammar, punctuations, and spellings are accurate.
• Avoid exaggerated claims you cannot backup.
• Don’t use cliché generic terms and keep your focus on the course.

Keep the ending of your essay for master degree application concise and memorable, leaving no doubt in the admission officers mind that you deserve a spot on the program.

To create the best ending summarise all your key points without dragging it our or repeating yourself. The ending should be simple, end on a positive note and make it clear that the school will be lucky to have you on their program.

Personal Statement for Masters Sample

In this section, we have left a masters personal statement example for you, which you can use as material to write yours for any course of study you are applying to a school for.

Personal Statement PDF

You can also download this statement of purpose sample for masters degree pdf here and take your time to read it later – Personal Statement For Masters Sample .

See Also:  Student CV Template .

Examples of Personal Statement for Masters

We have taken the time to source for some of the best postgraduate personal statement examples, which you can use in addition to the personal statement for masters program example as a template to write yours.

While you scroll through our list, you will find the perfect masters essay example for any field you wish to apply for, from business administration, to Psychology, to information technology, and lots more.

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We have found one of the best msw personal statement examples out there for you.

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Personal statement for master degree sample for masters in management .  , 4. personal statement for masters in education example.

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6. sample personal statement for masters in data science data science masters personal statement

7. speech and language therapy personal statement statement of purpose for masters sample: speech and language therapy

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15. personal statement for masters in economics statement of purpose sample for masters degree in economics

16. mha personal statement statement of purpose format for masters in health administration    

Conclusion – Things to Avoid When Writing A Personal Statement For Masters When writing a personal statement for university masters, there are some things you should avoid, so that you don’t ruin your essay. We have listed out those things below: •    Avoid negativity. •    Following an online template blindly. •    Do not include unnecessary course modules, personal facts, or extra-curricular activities in your personal statement. •    Do not lie or exaggerate an achievement or event. •    Do not include inspirational quotes to your statement. •    Avoid using clichés, gimmicks, humour, over-used word such as 'passion' or ‘driven’. •    Do not make pleading statements. •    Avoid mentioning key authors or professors in your field without any explanation. •    Avoid using sentences that are too long. •    Avoid flattering the organisation or using patronising terms. •    Do not repeat information in your statement that you have already listed in your application. •    Avoid waffling i.e., writing at length. •    Don’t start writing your personal statement at the last minute.  

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How to Write a Good Personal Statement for a Scholarship ( 7 PDF Sample Examples).

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Gre prep online guides and tips, 3 successful graduate school personal statement examples.

Looking for grad school personal statement examples? Look no further! In this total guide to graduate school personal statement examples, we’ll discuss why you need a personal statement for grad school and what makes a good one. Then we’ll provide three graduate school personal statement samples from our grad school experts. After that, we’ll do a deep dive on one of our personal statement for graduate school examples. Finally, we’ll wrap up with a list of other grad school personal statements you can find online.

Why Do You Need a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a chance for admissions committees to get to know you: your goals and passions, what you’ll bring to the program, and what you’re hoping to get out of the program.  You need to sell the admissions committee on what makes you a worthwhile applicant. The personal statement is a good chance to highlight significant things about you that don’t appear elsewhere on your application.

A personal statement is slightly different from a statement of purpose (also known as a letter of intent). A statement of purpose/letter of intent tends to be more tightly focused on your academic or professional credentials and your future research and/or professional interests.

While a personal statement also addresses your academic experiences and goals, you have more leeway to be a little more, well, personal. In a personal statement, it’s often appropriate to include information on significant life experiences or challenges that aren’t necessarily directly relevant to your field of interest.

Some programs ask for both a personal statement and a statement of purpose/letter of intent. In this case, the personal statement is likely to be much more tightly focused on your life experience and personality assets while the statement of purpose will focus in much more on your academic/research experiences and goals.

However, there’s not always a hard-and-fast demarcation between a personal statement and a statement of purpose. The two statement types should address a lot of the same themes, especially as relates to your future goals and the valuable assets you bring to the program. Some programs will ask for a personal statement but the prompt will be focused primarily on your research and professional experiences and interests. Some will ask for a statement of purpose but the prompt will be more focused on your general life experiences.

When in doubt, give the program what they are asking for in the prompt and don’t get too hung up on whether they call it a personal statement or statement of purpose. You can always call the admissions office to get more clarification on what they want you to address in your admissions essay.

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What Makes a Good Grad School Personal Statement?

A great graduate school personal statement can come in many forms and styles. However, strong grad school personal statement examples all share the same following elements:

A Clear Narrative

Above all, a good personal statement communicates clear messages about what makes you a strong applicant who is likely to have success in graduate school. So to that extent, think about a couple of key points that you want to communicate about yourself and then drill down on how you can best communicate those points. (Your key points should of course be related to what you can bring to the field and to the program specifically).

You can also decide whether to address things like setbacks or gaps in your application as part of your narrative. Have a low GPA for a couple semesters due to a health issue? Been out of a job for a while taking care of a family member? If you do decide to explain an issue like this, make sure that the overall arc is more about demonstrating positive qualities like resilience and diligence than about providing excuses.

Specific Examples

A great statement of purpose uses specific examples to illustrate its key messages. This can include anecdotes that demonstrate particular traits or even references to scholars and works that have influenced your academic trajectory to show that you are familiar and insightful about the relevant literature in your field.

Just saying “I love plants,” is pretty vague. Describing how you worked in a plant lab during undergrad and then went home and carefully cultivated your own greenhouse where you cross-bred new flower colors by hand is much more specific and vivid, which makes for better evidence.

A strong personal statement will describe why you are a good fit for the program, and why the program is a good fit for you. It’s important to identify specific things about the program that appeal to you, and how you’ll take advantage of those opportunities. It’s also a good idea to talk about specific professors you might be interested in working with. This shows that you are informed about and genuinely invested in the program.

Strong Writing

Even quantitative and science disciplines typically require some writing, so it’s important that your personal statement shows strong writing skills. Make sure that you are communicating clearly and that you don’t have any grammar and spelling errors. It’s helpful to get other people to read your statement and provide feedback. Plan on going through multiple drafts.

Another important thing here is to avoid cliches and gimmicks. Don’t deploy overused phrases and openings like “ever since I was a child.” Don’t structure your statement in a gimmicky way (i.e., writing a faux legal brief about yourself for a law school statement of purpose). The first will make your writing banal; the second is likely to make you stand out in a bad way.

Appropriate Boundaries

While you can be more personal in a personal statement than in a statement of purpose, it’s important to maintain appropriate boundaries in your writing. Don’t overshare anything too personal about relationships, bodily functions, or illegal activities. Similarly, don’t share anything that makes it seem like you may be out of control, unstable, or an otherwise risky investment. The personal statement is not a confessional booth. If you share inappropriately, you may seem like you have bad judgment, which is a huge red flag to admissions committees.

You should also be careful with how you deploy humor and jokes. Your statement doesn’t have to be totally joyless and serious, but bear in mind that the person reading the statement may not have the same sense of humor as you do. When in doubt, err towards the side of being as inoffensive as possible.

Just as being too intimate in your statement can hurt you, it’s also important not to be overly formal or staid. You should be professional, but conversational.

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

Our graduate school experts have been kind enough to provide some successful grad school personal statement examples. We’ll provide three examples here, along with brief analysis of what makes each one successful.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 1

PDF of Sample Personal Statement 1 – Japanese Studies

For this Japanese Studies master’s degree, the applicant had to provide a statement of purpose outlining her academic goals and experience with Japanese and a separate personal statement describing her personal relationship with Japanese Studies and what led her to pursue a master’s degree.

Here’s what’s successful about this personal statement:

• An attention-grabbing beginning: The applicant begins with the statement that Japanese has never come easily to her and that it’s a brutal language to learn. Seeing as how this is an application for a Japanese Studies program, this is an intriguing beginning that makes the reader want to keep going.
• A compelling narrative: From this attention-grabbing beginning, the applicant builds a well-structured and dramatic narrative tracking her engagement with the Japanese language over time. The clear turning point is her experience studying abroad, leading to a resolution in which she has clarity about her plans. Seeing as how the applicant wants to be a translator of Japanese literature, the tight narrative structure here is a great way to show her writing skills.
• Specific examples that show important traits: The applicant clearly communicates both a deep passion for Japanese through examples of her continued engagement with Japanese and her determination and work ethic by highlighting the challenges she’s faced (and overcome) in her study of the language. This gives the impression that she is an engaged and dedicated student.

Overall, this is a very strong statement both in terms of style and content. It flows well, is memorable, and communicates that the applicant would make the most of the graduate school experience.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 2

PDF of Sample Graduate School Personal Statement 2 – Musical Composition

This personal statement for a Music Composition master’s degree discusses the factors that motivate the applicant to pursue graduate study.

Here’s what works well in this statement:

• The applicant provides two clear reasons motivating the student to pursue graduate study: her experiences with music growing up, and her family’s musical history. She then supports those two reasons with examples and analysis.
• The description of her ancestors’ engagement with music is very compelling and memorable. The applicant paints her own involvement with music as almost inevitable based on her family’s long history with musical pursuits.
• The applicant gives thoughtful analysis of the advantages she has been afforded that have allowed her to study music so extensively. We get the sense that she is insightful and empathetic—qualities that would add greatly to any academic community.

This is a strong, serviceable personal statement. And in truth, given that this for a masters in music composition, other elements of the application (like work samples) are probably the most important.  However, here are two small changes I would make to improve it:

• I would probably to split the massive second paragraph into 2-3 separate paragraphs. I might use one paragraph to orient the reader to the family’s musical history, one paragraph to discuss Giacomo and Antonio, and one paragraph to discuss how the family has influenced the applicant. As it stands, it’s a little unwieldy and the second paragraph doesn’t have a super-clear focus even though it’s all loosely related to the applicant’s family history with music.
• I would also slightly shorten the anecdote about the applicant’s ancestors and expand more on how this family history has motivated the applicant’s interest in music. In what specific ways has her ancestors’ perseverance inspired her? Did she think about them during hard practice sessions? Is she interested in composing music in a style they might have played? More specific examples here would lend greater depth and clarity to the statement.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 3

PDF of Sample Graduate School Personal Statement 3 – Public Health

This is my successful personal statement for Columbia’s Master’s program in Public Health. We’ll do a deep dive on this statement paragraph-by-paragraph in the next section, but I’ll highlight a couple of things that work in this statement here:

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• This statement is clearly organized. Almost every paragraph has a distinct focus and message, and when I move on to a new idea, I move on to a new paragraph with a logical transitions.
• This statement covers a lot of ground in a pretty short space. I discuss my family history, my goals, my educational background, and my professional background. But because the paragraphs are organized and I use specific examples, it doesn’t feel too vague or scattered.
• In addition to including information about my personal motivations, like my family, I also include some analysis about tailoring health interventions with my example of the Zande. This is a good way to show off what kinds of insights I might bring to the program based on my academic background.

Grad School Personal Statement Example: Deep Dive

Now let’s do a deep dive, paragraph-by-paragraph, on one of these sample graduate school personal statements. We’ll use my personal statement that I used when I applied to Columbia’s public health program.

Paragraph One: For twenty-three years, my grandmother (a Veterinarian and an Epidemiologist) ran the Communicable Disease Department of a mid-sized urban public health department. The stories of Grandma Betty doggedly tracking down the named sexual partners of the infected are part of our family lore. Grandma Betty would persuade people to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, encourage safer sexual practices, document the spread of infection and strive to contain and prevent it. Indeed, due to the large gay population in the city where she worked, Grandma Betty was at the forefront of the AIDS crises, and her analysis contributed greatly towards understanding how the disease was contracted and spread. My grandmother has always been a huge inspiration to me, and the reason why a career in public health was always on my radar.

This is an attention-grabbing opening anecdote that avoids most of the usual cliches about childhood dreams and proclivities. This story also subtly shows that I have a sense of public health history, given the significance of the AIDs crisis for public health as a field.

It’s good that I connect this family history to my own interests. However, if I were to revise this paragraph again, I might cut down on some of the detail because when it comes down to it, this story isn’t really about me. It’s important that even (sparingly used) anecdotes about other people ultimately reveal something about you in a personal statement.

Paragraph Two: Recent years have cemented that interest. In January 2012, my parents adopted my little brother Fred from China. Doctors in America subsequently diagnosed Fred with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). My parents were told that if Fred’s condition had been discovered in China, the (very poor) orphanage in which he spent the first 8+ years of his life would have recognized his DMD as a death sentence and denied him sustenance to hasten his demise.

Here’s another compelling anecdote to help explain my interest in public health. This is an appropriately personal detail for a personal statement—it’s a serious thing about my immediate family, but it doesn’t disclose anything that the admissions committee might find concerning or inappropriate.

If I were to take another pass through this paragraph, the main thing I would change is the last phrase. “Denied him sustenance to hasten his demise” is a little flowery. “Denied him food to hasten his death” is actually more powerful because it’s clearer and more direct.

Paragraph Three: It is not right that some people have access to the best doctors and treatment while others have no medical care. I want to pursue an MPH in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia because studying social factors in health, with a particular focus on socio-health inequities, will prepare me to address these inequities. The interdisciplinary approach of the program appeals to me greatly as I believe interdisciplinary approaches are the most effective way to develop meaningful solutions to complex problems.

In this paragraph I make a neat and clear transition from discussing what sparked my interest in public health and health equity to what I am interested in about Columbia specifically: the interdisciplinary focus of the program, and how that focus will prepare me to solve complex health problems. This paragraph also serves as a good pivot point to start discussing my academic and professional background.

Paragraph Four: My undergraduate education has prepared me well for my chosen career. Understanding the underlying structure of a group’s culture is essential to successfully communicating with the group. In studying folklore and mythology, I’ve learned how to parse the unspoken structures of folk groups, and how those structures can be used to build bridges of understanding. For example, in a culture where most illnesses are believed to be caused by witchcraft, as is the case for the Zande people of central Africa, any successful health intervention or education program would of necessity take into account their very real belief in witchcraft.

In this paragraph, I link my undergraduate education and the skills I learned there to public health. The (very brief) analysis of tailoring health interventions to the Zande is a good way to show insight and show off the competencies I would bring to the program.

Paragraph Five: I now work in the healthcare industry for one of the largest providers of health benefits in the world. In addition to reigniting my passion for data and quantitative analytics, working for this company has immersed me in the business side of healthcare, a critical component of public health.

This brief paragraph highlights my relevant work experience in the healthcare industry. It also allows me to mention my work with data and quantitative analytics, which isn’t necessarily obvious from my academic background, which was primarily based in the social sciences.

Paragraph Six: I intend to pursue a PhD in order to become an expert in how social factors affect health, particularly as related to gender and sexuality. I intend to pursue a certificate in Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Reproduction. Working together with other experts to create effective interventions across cultures and societies, I want to help transform health landscapes both in America and abroad.

This final paragraph is about my future plans and intentions. Unfortunately, it’s a little disjointed, primarily because I discuss goals of pursuing a PhD before I talk about what certificate I want to pursue within the MPH program! Switching those two sentences and discussing my certificate goals within the MPH and then mentioning my PhD plans would make a lot more sense.

I also start two sentences in a row with “I intend,” which is repetitive.

The final sentence is a little bit generic; I might tailor it to specifically discuss a gender and sexual health issue, since that is the primary area of interest I’ve identified.

This was a successful personal statement; I got into (and attended!) the program. It has strong examples, clear organization, and outlines what interests me about the program (its interdisciplinary focus) and what competencies I would bring (a background in cultural analysis and experience with the business side of healthcare). However, a few slight tweaks would elevate this statement to the next level.

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples You Can Find Online

So you need more samples for your personal statement for graduate school? Examples are everywhere on the internet, but they aren’t all of equal quality.

Most of examples are posted as part of writing guides published online by educational institutions. We’ve rounded up some of the best ones here if you are looking for more personal statement examples for graduate school.

Penn State Personal Statement Examples for Graduate School

This selection of ten short personal statements for graduate school and fellowship programs offers an interesting mix of approaches. Some focus more on personal adversity while others focus more closely on professional work within the field.

The writing in some of these statements is a little dry, and most deploy at least a few cliches. However, these are generally strong, serviceable statements that communicate clearly why the student is interested in the field, their skills and competencies, and what about the specific program appeals to them.

Cal State Sample Graduate School Personal Statements

These are good examples of personal statements for graduate school where students deploy lots of very vivid imagery and illustrative anecdotes of life experiences. There are also helpful comments about what works in each of these essays.

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However, all of these statements are definitely pushing the boundaries of acceptable length, as all are above 1000 and one is almost 1500 words! Many programs limit you to 500 words; if you don’t have a limit, you should try to keep it to two single-spaced pages at most (which is about 1000 words).

University of Chicago Personal Statement for Graduate School Examples

These examples of successful essays to the University of Chicago law school cover a wide range of life experiences and topics. The writing in all is very vivid, and all communicate clear messages about the students’ strengths and competencies.

Note, however, that these are all essays that specifically worked for University of Chicago law school. That does not mean that they would work everywhere. In fact, one major thing to note is that many of these responses, while well-written and vivid, barely address the students’ interest in law school at all! This is something that might not work well for most graduate programs.

Wheaton College Personal Statement for Graduate School Sample 10

This successful essay for law school from a Wheaton College undergraduate does a great job tracking the student’s interest in the law in a compelling and personal way. Wheaton offers other graduate school personal statement examples, but this one offers the most persuasive case for the students’ competencies. The student accomplishes this by using clear, well-elaborated examples, showing strong and vivid writing, and highlighting positive qualities like an interest in justice and empathy without seeming grandiose or out of touch.

Wheaton College Personal Statement for Graduate School Sample 1

Based on the background information provided at the bottom of the essay, this essay was apparently successful for this applicant. However, I’ve actually included this essay because it demonstrates an extremely risky approach. While this personal statement is strikingly written and the story is very memorable, it could definitely communicate the wrong message to some admissions committees. The student’s decision not to report the drill sergeant may read incredibly poorly to some admissions committees. They may wonder if the student’s failure to report the sergeant’s violence will ultimately expose more soldiers-in-training to the same kinds of abuses. This incident perhaps reads especially poorly in light of the fact that the military has such a notable problem with violence against women being covered up and otherwise mishandled

It’s actually hard to get a complete picture of the student’s true motivations from this essay, and what we have might raise real questions about the student’s character to some admissions committees. This student took a risk and it paid off, but it could have just as easily backfired spectacularly.

Key Takeaways: Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

In this guide, we discussed why you need a personal statement and how it differs from a statement of purpose. (It’s more personal!)

We also discussed what you’ll find in a strong sample personal statement for graduate school:

• A clear narrative about the applicant and why they are qualified for graduate study.
• Specific examples to support that narrative.
• Compelling reasons why the applicant and the program are a good fit for each other.
• Strong writing, including clear organization and error-free, cliche-free language.
• Appropriate boundaries—sharing without over-sharing.

Then, we provided three strong graduate school personal statement examples for different fields, along with analysis. We did a deep-dive on the third statement.

Finally, we provided a list of other sample grad school personal statements online.

What’s Next?

Want more advice on writing a personal statement ? See our guide.

Writing a graduate school statement of purpose? See our statement of purpose samples  and a nine-step process for writing the best statement of purpose possible .

If you’re writing a graduate school CV or resume, see our how-to guide to writing a CV , a how-to guide to writing a resume , our list of sample resumes and CVs , resume and CV templates , and a special guide for writing resume objectives .

Need stellar graduate school recommendation letters ? See our guide.

See our 29 tips for successfully applying to graduate school .

Ready to improve your GRE score by 7 points?

Author: Ellen McCammon

Ellen is a public health graduate student and education expert. She has extensive experience mentoring students of all ages to reach their goals and in-depth knowledge on a variety of health topics. View all posts by Ellen McCammon

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• How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

Published on February 12, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 3, 2023.

A personal statement is a short essay of around 500–1,000 words, in which you tell a compelling story about who you are, what drives you, and why you’re applying.

To write a successful personal statement for a graduate school application , don’t just summarize your experience; instead, craft a focused narrative in your own voice. Aim to demonstrate three things:

• Your personality: what are your interests, values, and motivations?
• Your talents: what can you bring to the program?
• Your goals: what do you hope the program will do for you?

This article guides you through some winning strategies to build a strong, well-structured personal statement for a master’s or PhD application. You can download the full examples below.

Urban Planning Psychology History

Table of contents

Getting started with your personal statement, the introduction: start with an attention-grabbing opening, the main body: craft your narrative, the conclusion: look ahead, revising, editing, and proofreading your personal statement, frequently asked questions, other interesting articles.

Before you start writing, the first step is to understand exactly what’s expected of you. If the application gives you a question or prompt for your personal statement, the most important thing is to respond to it directly.

For example, you might be asked to focus on the development of your personal identity; challenges you have faced in your life; or your career motivations. This will shape your focus and emphasis—but you still need to find your own unique approach to answering it.

There’s no universal template for a personal statement; it’s your chance to be creative and let your own voice shine through. But there are strategies you can use to build a compelling, well-structured story.

The first paragraph of your personal statement should set the tone and lead smoothly into the story you want to tell.

Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene

An effective way to catch the reader’s attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you’re stuck, try thinking about:

• A personal experience that changed your perspective
• A story from your family’s history
• A memorable teacher or learning experience
• An unusual or unexpected encounter

To write an effective scene, try to go beyond straightforward description; start with an intriguing sentence that pulls the reader in, and give concrete details to create a convincing atmosphere.

Strategy 2: Open with your motivations

To emphasize your enthusiasm and commitment, you can start by explaining your interest in the subject you want to study or the career path you want to follow.

Just stating that it interests you isn’t enough: first, you need to figure out why you’re interested in this field:

• Is it a longstanding passion or a recent discovery?
• Does it come naturally or have you had to work hard at it?
• How does it fit into the rest of your life?
• What do you think it contributes to society?

Tips for the introduction

• Don’t start on a cliche: avoid phrases like “Ever since I was a child…” or “For as long as I can remember…”
• Do save the introduction for last. If you’re struggling to come up with a strong opening, leave it aside, and note down any interesting ideas that occur to you as you write the rest of the personal statement.

Once you’ve set up the main themes of your personal statement, you’ll delve into more detail about your experiences and motivations.

To structure the body of your personal statement, there are various strategies you can use.

Strategy 1: Describe your development over time

One of the simplest strategies is to give a chronological overview of key experiences that have led you to apply for graduate school.

• What first sparked your interest in the field?
• Which classes, assignments, classmates, internships, or other activities helped you develop your knowledge and skills?
• Where do you want to go next? How does this program fit into your future plans?

Don’t try to include absolutely everything you’ve done—pick out highlights that are relevant to your application. Aim to craft a compelling narrative that shows how you’ve changed and actively developed yourself.

My interest in psychology was first sparked early in my high school career. Though somewhat scientifically inclined, I found that what interested me most was not the equations we learned about in physics and chemistry, but the motivations and perceptions of my fellow students, and the subtle social dynamics that I observed inside and outside the classroom. I wanted to learn how our identities, beliefs, and behaviours are shaped through our interactions with others, so I decided to major in Social Psychology. My undergraduate studies deepened my understanding of, and fascination with, the interplay between an individual mind and its social context.During my studies, I acquired a solid foundation of knowledge about concepts like social influence and group dynamics, but I also took classes on various topics not strictly related to my major. I was particularly interested in how other fields intersect with psychology—the classes I took on media studies, biology, and literature all enhanced my understanding of psychological concepts by providing different lenses through which to look at the issues involved.

Strategy 2: Own your challenges and obstacles

If your path to graduate school hasn’t been easy or straightforward, you can turn this into a strength, and structure your personal statement as a story of overcoming obstacles.

• Is your social, cultural or economic background underrepresented in the field? Show how your experiences will contribute a unique perspective.
• Do you have gaps in your resume or lower-than-ideal grades? Explain the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them.

Don’t focus too heavily on negatives, but use them to highlight your positive qualities. Resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance make you a promising graduate school candidate.

Growing up working class, urban decay becomes depressingly familiar. The sight of a row of abandoned houses does not surprise me, but it continues to bother me. Since high school, I have been determined to pursue a career in urban planning. While people of my background experience the consequences of urban planning decisions first-hand, we are underrepresented in the field itself. Ironically, given my motivation, my economic background has made my studies challenging. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for my undergraduate studies, but after graduation I took jobs in unrelated fields to help support my parents. In the three years since, I have not lost my ambition. Now I am keen to resume my studies, and I believe I can bring an invaluable perspective to the table: that of the people most impacted by the decisions of urban planners.

Strategy 3: Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Especially if you’re applying for a PhD or another research-focused program, it’s a good idea to show your familiarity with the subject and the department. Your personal statement can focus on the area you want to specialize in and reflect on why it matters to you.

• Reflect on the topics or themes that you’ve focused on in your studies. What draws you to them?
• Discuss any academic achievements, influential teachers, or other highlights of your education.
• Talk about the questions you’d like to explore in your research and why you think they’re important.

The personal statement isn’t a research proposal , so don’t go overboard on detail—but it’s a great opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the field and your capacity for original thinking.

In applying for this research program, my intention is to build on the multidisciplinary approach I have taken in my studies so far, combining knowledge from disparate fields of study to better understand psychological concepts and issues. The Media Psychology program stands out to me as the perfect environment for this kind of research, given its researchers’ openness to collaboration across diverse fields. I am impressed by the department’s innovative interdisciplinary projects that focus on the shifting landscape of media and technology, and I hope that my own work can follow a similarly trailblazing approach. More specifically, I want to develop my understanding of the intersection of psychology and media studies, and explore how media psychology theories and methods might be applied to neurodivergent minds. I am interested not only in media psychology but also in psychological disorders, and how the two interact. This is something I touched on during my undergraduate studies and that I’m excited to delve into further.

Strategy 4: Discuss your professional ambitions

Especially if you’re applying for a more professionally-oriented program (such as an MBA), it’s a good idea to focus on concrete goals and how the program will help you achieve them.

• If your career is just getting started, show how your character is suited to the field, and explain how graduate school will help you develop your talents.
• If you have already worked in the profession, show what you’ve achieved so far, and explain how the program will allow you to take the next step.
• If you are planning a career change, explain what has driven this decision and how your existing experience will help you succeed.

Don’t just state the position you want to achieve. You should demonstrate that you’ve put plenty of thought into your career plans and show why you’re well-suited to this profession.

One thing that fascinated me about the field during my undergraduate studies was the sheer number of different elements whose interactions constitute a person’s experience of an urban environment. Any number of factors could transform the scene I described at the beginning: What if there were no bus route? Better community outreach in the neighborhood? Worse law enforcement? More or fewer jobs available in the area? Some of these factors are out of the hands of an urban planner, but without taking them all into consideration, the planner has an incomplete picture of their task. Through further study I hope to develop my understanding of how these disparate elements combine and interact to create the urban environment. I am interested in the social, psychological and political effects our surroundings have on our lives. My studies will allow me to work on projects directly affecting the kinds of working-class urban communities I know well. I believe I can bring my own experiences, as well as my education, to bear upon the problem of improving infrastructure and quality of life in these communities.

Tips for the main body

• Don’t rehash your resume by trying to summarize everything you’ve done so far; the personal statement isn’t about listing your academic or professional experience, but about reflecting, evaluating, and relating it to broader themes.
• Do make your statements into stories: Instead of saying you’re hard-working and self-motivated, write about your internship where you took the initiative to start a new project. Instead of saying you’ve always loved reading, reflect on a novel or poem that changed your perspective.

Your conclusion should bring the focus back to the program and what you hope to get out of it, whether that’s developing practical skills, exploring intellectual questions, or both.

Emphasize the fit with your specific interests, showing why this program would be the best way to achieve your aims.

Strategy 1: What do you want to know?

If you’re applying for a more academic or research-focused program, end on a note of curiosity: what do you hope to learn, and why do you think this is the best place to learn it?

If there are specific classes or faculty members that you’re excited to learn from, this is the place to express your enthusiasm.

Strategy 2: What do you want to do?

If you’re applying for a program that focuses more on professional training, your conclusion can look to your career aspirations: what role do you want to play in society, and why is this program the best choice to help you get there?

Tips for the conclusion

• Don’t summarize what you’ve already said. You have limited space in a personal statement, so use it wisely!
• Do think bigger than yourself: try to express how your individual aspirations relate to your local community, your academic field, or society more broadly. It’s not just about what you’ll get out of graduate school, but about what you’ll be able to give back.

You’ll be expected to do a lot of writing in graduate school, so make a good first impression: leave yourself plenty of time to revise and polish the text.

Your style doesn’t have to be as formal as other kinds of academic writing, but it should be clear, direct and coherent. Make sure that each paragraph flows smoothly from the last, using topic sentences and transitions to create clear connections between each part.

Don’t be afraid to rewrite and restructure as much as necessary. Since you have a lot of freedom in the structure of a personal statement, you can experiment and move information around to see what works best.

Finally, it’s essential to carefully proofread your personal statement and fix any language errors. Before you submit your application, consider investing in professional personal statement editing . For $150, you have the peace of mind that your personal statement is grammatically correct, strong in term of your arguments, and free of awkward mistakes.

A statement of purpose is usually more formal, focusing on your academic or professional goals. It shouldn’t include anything that isn’t directly relevant to the application.

A personal statement can often be more creative. It might tell a story that isn’t directly related to the application, but that shows something about your personality, values, and motivations.

However, both types of document have the same overall goal: to demonstrate your potential as a graduate student and s how why you’re a great match for the program.

The typical length of a personal statement for graduate school applications is between 500 and 1,000 words.

Different programs have different requirements, so always check if there’s a minimum or maximum length and stick to the guidelines. If there is no recommended word count, aim for no more than 1-2 pages.

If you’re applying to multiple graduate school programs, you should tailor your personal statement to each application.

Some applications provide a prompt or question. In this case, you might have to write a new personal statement from scratch: the most important task is to respond to what you have been asked.

If there’s no prompt or guidelines, you can re-use the same idea for your personal statement – but change the details wherever relevant, making sure to emphasize why you’re applying to this specific program.

If the application also includes other essays, such as a statement of purpose , you might have to revise your personal statement to avoid repeating the same information.

If you want to know more about college essays , academic writing , and AI tools , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

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Whether talking about a recent news story, how you meet targets in your weekend job, or simply why you want to study business at uni, that spark of genuine motivation and enthusiasm will get you noticed. That's what business admissions tutors told us when we asked them what they look for – and here are some more of their top tips.

Find out everything you need to know about writing your personal statement , including how to write a killer opening and our top tips.

A spot-on business personal statement – in a nutshell

Dr Pam Croney, admissions tutor at Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University, is especially looking for evidence of:

• an independent learner
• a thinker and doer
• an innovator or potential entrepreneur
• a good communicator who likes giving presentations
• an interest in what's happening out there in the business world

Can you demonstrate any of these?

She also likes it when applicants give their own views on a topical issue, like why you think a particular company crashed, what sparked the revival of a vintage brand, or whatever else gets you fired up. Admissions tutors love to know what you’re genuinely enthusiastic about!

What business and management tutors are looking for

• Structure and organisation: to study management, you need to demonstrate that you are capable of managing yourself. Your personal statement needs to be structured, organised, and free of spelling or grammatical errors.
• First impressions count: Sue Blything-Smith, Business and Management Admissions Tutor from University Campus Suffolk, says 'you should aim to be unique and original and provide a good opening line that reveals something about your aptitude and enthusiasm’. She really likes to see statements that demonstrate personality and flair but don't go too over the top: keep it formal and remain objective.
• Examples of your relevant skills: Sue is also impressed by applicants who describe situations where they’ve demonstrated relevant skills like good communication or teamwork, problem-solving, initiative, leadership, or achieving goals.
• Research the course: London School of Economics is keen to know things like why you want to study management, what specific aspects of their course interest you, how it relates to your academic studies, and what additional reading or other activities have led you to apply.
• Entrepreneurial flair: Bournemouth likes its business studies applicants to show they are 'self-starters' who enjoy identifying and solving business problems.

Making your business experience count

It’s not just what you've done but how you've reflected on it. If you work-shadowed the CEO of a multi-national company, that's great, but it will have zero impact unless you spell out what you personally gained from it.

Similarly, if your part-time supermarket job or role in a Young Enterprise programme has helped you develop your skills and confidence, that’s great too. But it will only have an impact on your statement if you explain how or give an actual example.

It's the "how" that brings your statement to life and makes it interesting and personal. So try to think of specific occasions or unique ways you have demonstrated your potential, or maybe something you've observed about customer behaviour, management styles or an effective (or ineffective) marketing campaign.

It's even better if you can then link it to something you've learned in your business, economics, or psychology studies, or read in the Financial Times, The Economist, or on the BBC website.

Or consider the transferable skills you've gained through extracurricular activities and how they can show what the University of Bath describes as 'an active interest in understanding people, work, and organisations'.

Check out our guide to business, management, and administrative studies  to find out what courses are available, areas of employment, and where to find out more about careers.

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By Nik Taylor (Editor, The Uni Guide) | 18 August 2023 | 22 min read

How to write an excellent personal statement in 10 steps

Stand out from the crowd: here's how to write a good personal statement that will get you noticed

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Your personal statement forms a core part of your university application, and the sooner you get going, the better you can make it. You may think that your personal statement won’t matter as much to unis as your grades and experience but a great personal statement could make all the difference between you and a candidate with the same grades. Sure, your application might not reach that deal breaker stage. But is it something you want to leave to chance?  Here we’ll take you through the process of planning, writing and checking a good personal statement, so you end up with something you can submit with confidence. And to make sure the advice we're giving you is sound, we’ve spoken to admissions staff at loads of UK universities to get their view. Look out for video interviews and advice on applying for specific subjects throughout this piece or watch our personal statement playlist on YouTube .

• Are you looking for personal statement examples? Check our library of hundreds of real personal statements, on The Student Room

Personal statement deadlines

You'll need to make sure you've got your personal statement written well in advance of your application deadline. Below are the main university application deadline dates for 2025 entry.

2025 entry deadlines

15 October 2024: Deadline for applications to Oxford and Cambridge universities, along with most medicine, dentistry, and veterinary courses.   29 January 2025: Deadline for applications to the majority of undergraduate courses. After this date, universities will start allocating places on these courses –   but you can still apply after the 29 January deadline , as this article explains . 30 June 2025:  Students who apply after this date will be entered into Clearing .

• Read more: Ucas deadlines and key application dates

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement is a central part of your Ucas application, where you explain why you’ve chosen a particular course and why you’ll be good at it. It's your chance to stand out against other candidates and hopefully get that all-important offer. You only write one personal statement which is then read by each university you apply to, so if you are applying for more than one subject (or it's a combined course) it's crucial that you include common themes or reference the overall skills needed for all subjects. Personal statements are especially important if you’re trying to get on a very competitive course, where you need to do anything you can to stand out to admissions tutors. Courteney Sheppard, senior customer experience manager at Ucas, advises that your personal statement is "the only part of the application that you have direct control over. Do lots of research to demonstrate your passion, curiosity and drive to pursue your chosen subject." There’s a limit on how much you can write: your personal statement can be up to 4,000 characters (including spaces) or 47 lines of 95 characters (including spaces); whichever is shorter. This may appear generous (read: long) but once you've got going you may find yourself having to edit heavily.

• Read more: teacher secrets for writing a great personal statement

1. Plan what you want to cover

The first thing you need to do is make a plan. Writing a personal statement off the top of your head is difficult. Start by making some notes, answering the following questions:

• What do you want to study?
• Why do you want to study it?
• What is there about you that shows you’re suited to studying this subject at university? Think about your personality, as well as your experiences.
• What are your other interests and skills?

These few points are going to form the spine of your personal statement, so write them in a way that makes sense to you. You might want to make a simple bulleted list or you might want to get all arty and use a mindmap. Whatever you choose, your aim is the same. You want to get it clear in your own head why a university should offer you a place on its course. Getting those details down isn't always easy, and some people find it helpful to make notes over time. You might try carrying a notebook with you or set up a memo on your phone. Whenever you think of something useful for your personal statement, jot it down. Inspiration sometimes comes more easily when you’re thinking about something else entirely. It might help to take a look at The Student Room for some sample personal statements by university and sample personal statements by subjects , to give you an idea of the kind of thing you want to include. 

• Read more: personal statement FAQs

2. Show off your experience

Some things are worth adding to your personal statement, some things are not. Firmly in the second camp are your qualifications. You don’t need to mention these as there’s a whole other section of your personal statement where you get to detail them very precisely. Don’t waste a single character going on about how great your GCSE grades are – it’s not what the admissions tutor wants to read. What they do want to see is: what have you done? OK, so you’ve got some good grades, but so do a lot of other applicants. What have you done that’s different, that shows you off as someone who really loves the subject you’re applying for? Spend some time thinking about all the experience you have in that subject. If you’re lucky, this might be direct work experience. That’s going to be particularly appropriate if you’re applying for one of the more vocational subjects such as medicine or journalism . But uni staff realise getting plum work experience placements is easier for some people than others, so cast your net wider when you’re thinking about what you’ve done. How about after-school clubs? Debating societies? Are you running a blog or vlog? What key skills and experience have you picked up elsewhere (eg from hobbies) that could be tied in with your course choice? Remember, you’re looking for experience that shows why you want to study your chosen subject. You’re not just writing an essay about what you're doing in your A-level syllabus. Use this checklist as a guide for what to include:

• Your interest in the course. Why do you want to spend three years studying this subject at university?
• What have you done outside school or college that demonstrates this interest? Think about things like fairs/exhibitions, public lectures or voluntary work that is relevant to your subject.
• Relevant work experience (essential for the likes of medicine, not required for non-vocational courses such as English )
• Skills and qualities required for that career if appropriate (medicine, nursing and law as obvious examples)
• Interest in your current studies – what particular topics have made an impression on you?
• Any other interests/hobbies/experiences you wish to mention that are relevant either to the subject or 'going to uni'. Don't just list your hobbies, you need to be very selective and state clearly what difference doing these things has made to you.
• Plans for a gap year if you’re deferring entry.

Read more: 6 steps you need to take to apply to university

3. Be bold about your achievements

Don't be bashful about your achievements; that’s not going to help you get into uni. It's time to unleash your inner Muhammed Ali and get all “I am the greatest” with your writing. Do keep it focused and accurate. Do keep your language professional. But don’t hide your qualities beneath a layer of false modesty. Your personal statement is a sell – you are selling yourself as a brilliant student and you need to show the reader why that is true. This doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and if you’re finding it difficult to write about how great you are it’s time to enlist some help. Round up a friend or two, a family member, a teacher, whoever and get them to write down your qualities. Getting someone else’s view here can help you get some perspective. Don’t be shy. You are selling your skills, your experience and your enthusiasm – make sure they all leap off the screen with the way you have described them.

• Read more: the ten biggest mistakes when writing your personal statement  

4. How to start your personal statement

Type your personal statement in a cloud-based word processing program, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word and don’t copy and paste it into Ucas Hub until it’s finished.  One of the benefits of doing it this way is that you can run spell check easily. (Please note, though, that Word adds "curly" quotation marks and other characters (like é or ü) that won't show up on your Ucas form, so do proofread it on Ucas Hub before submitting it to ensure it is how you typed it.)  Another big benefit is that you'll always have a backup of what you've written. If you're being super careful, you could always save your statement in another place as well. Bear in mind that extra spaces (eg adding spaces to the beginnings of paragraphs as indentation) are removed on Ucas. In your first sentence, cut to the chase. Why do you want to do the course? Don’t waste any time rambling on about the daydreams you had when you were five. Just be clear and concise – describe in one line why this course is so important to you. Then, in the rest of your intro, go into more detail in demonstrating your enthusiasm for the course and explaining how you decided this is what you want to do for the next three or more years. However you choose to start your statement, just avoid the following hoary old chestnuts. These have been some of the most used lines in personal statements over the years – they are beyond cliche, so don’t even think about it.

• From a young age I have (always) been [interested in/fascinated by]…
• For as long as I can remember, I have…
• I am applying for this course because… 
• I have always been interested in… 
• Throughout my life I have always enjoyed… 
• Reflecting on my educational experiences… 
• [Subject] is a very challenging and demanding [career/profession/course]… 
• Academically, I have always been… 
• I have always wanted to pursue a career in… 
• I have always been passionate about…   

5. Focus your writing on why you've chosen that subject

So you’ve got your intro done – time to nail the rest of it. Bear in mind that you’ve got to be a little bit careful when following a personal statement template. It’s easy to fall into the trap of copying someone else’s style, and in the process lose all of your own voice and personality from your writing. But there is a rough order that you can follow, which should help keep you in your flow. After your opening paragraph or two, get into any work experience (if you’ve got it). Talk about extracurriculars: anything you've done which is relevant to the subject can go here – hobbies, interests, volunteering. Touch on your career aspirations – where do you want this course to take you? Next, show your enthusiasm for your current studies. Cite some specific examples of current work that you enjoyed. Show off your relevant skills and qualities by explaining how you’ve used these in the past. Make sure you’re giving real-world examples here, not just vague assertions like “I’m really organised and motivated”. Try to use examples that are relevant.   Follow this up with something about you as a person. Talk about non-academic stuff that you like to do, but link it in some way with the course, or with how it shows your maturity for dealing with uni life. Round it all off by bringing your main points together, including a final emphasis of your commitment to studying this particular course.

• Read more: how to write your personal statement in an evening  

6. How long should a personal statement be?

You've got to work to a very specific limit when writing your personal statement. In theory you could use up to 4,000 characters – but you’re probably more likely to be limited by the line count. That's because it's a good idea to put line breaks in between your paragraphs (to make it more readable) and you only get a maximum of 47 lines. With this in mind, 3,500 characters is a more realistic limit. But when you’re getting started you should ignore these limits completely. At first, you just want to get down everything that you feel is important. You'll probably end up with something that is far too long, but that's fine. This is where you get to do some polishing and pruning. Keep the focus of your piece on the course you’re applying for, why you want to do it and why you’re perfectly suited to it. Look through what you’ve written so far – have you got the balance right? Chop out anything that goes on a bit, as you want each point to be snappy and succinct.

• Read more: universities reveal all about personal statements  

7. Keep it simple

Editing your statement isn’t just about hitting a character count. You need to also make sure your writing is doing its job: explaining why you want to do the course and why you’re right for it. Simplicity is the key here. Aim for short, punchy sentences that get your point across. Keep reminding yourself that you are not writing an essay. What matters are the facts – get these across clearly and avoid the temptation to embroider your writing with flowery language. As a guide, spend around 60% of the space talking about your course, why you want to do it and how you’re suited to it, 30% on your work experience and any other activities that are relevant to your subject and 10% on your career aspirations. Exactly how you write your statement depends on your subject – generally people write more about work experience for vocational subjects like medicine and law than they would for subjects like maths or English where work experience is less important.   

8. Smart ways to end your personal statement

Writing a closing line that you’re happy with can feel as tricky as coming up with your opener. What you’re looking for here is a sign-off that is bold and memorable. The final couple of sentences in your statement give you the opportunity to emphasise all the good stuff you’ve already covered. Use this space to leave the reader in no doubt as to what an excellent addition you would be to their university. Pull together all your key points and – most importantly – address the central question that your personal statement should answer: why should you get a place on the course?

• Read more: universities explain how to end your personal statement with a bang  

9. Make sure your personal statement has no mistakes

Now you’ve got a personal statement you’re happy with, you need to make sure there are no mistakes. Check it, check it a second time, then check it again. Once you’ve done that, get someone else to check it, too. You will be doing yourself a massive disservice if you send through a personal statement with spelling and/or grammatical errors. You’ve got months to put this together so there really is no excuse for sending through something that looks like a rush job. Ask your teachers to look at it, and be prepared to accept their feedback without getting defensive. They will have seen many personal statements before; use what they tell you to make yours even better. You’ve also got another chance here to look through the content of your personal statement, so you can make sure the balance is right. Make sure your focus is very clearly on the subject you are applying for and why you want to study it. Don’t post your personal statement on the internet or social media where anyone can see it. You will get picked up by the Ucas plagiarism checker. Similarly, don't copy any that you find online. Instead, now is a good time to make your parents feel useful. Read your personal statement out to them and get them to give you feedback. Or try printing it out and mixing it up with a few others (you can find sample personal statements on The Student Room). Get them to read them all and then try to pick yours out. If they can't, perhaps there's not enough of your personality in there.  

10. Don't think about your personal statement for a whole week

If you followed the advice at the very start of this guide, you’ve started your personal statement early. Good job! There are months before you need to submit it. Use one of these weeks to forget about your personal statement completely. Get on with other things – anything you like. Just don’t go near your statement. Give it a whole week and then open up the document again and read through it with fresh eyes. You’ll gain a whole new perspective on what you’ve written and will be well placed to make more changes, if needed.

• Read more: how to write your personal statement when you have nothing interesting to say  

10 steps to your ideal personal statement

In summary, here are the ten steps you should follow to create the perfect personal statement.  

Personal statement dos and don'ts

• Remember that your personal statement is your personal statement, not an article written about your intended field of study. It should tell the reader about you, not about the subject.
• Only put in things that you’re prepared to talk about at the interviews.
• Give convincing reasons for why you want to study the course – more than just "enjoying the subject" (this should be a given).
• For very competitive courses, find out as much as you can about the nature of the course and try to make your personal statement relevant to this.
• Be reflective. If you make a point like 'I like reading', 'I travelled abroad', say what you got from it.
• Go through the whole thing checking your grammar and your spelling. Do this at least twice. It doesn’t matter if you’re not applying to an essay-based course – a personal statement riddled with spelling mistakes is just going to irritate the reader, which is the last thing you want to do. If this is something you find difficult then have someone look over it for you.
• Leave blank lines between your paragraphs. It’s easier for the reader to get through your personal statement when it’s broken into easily digestible chunks. Remember that they’re going to be reading a lot of these! Make yours easy to get through.
• Get someone else's opinion on your statement. Read it out to family or friends. Share it with your teacher. Look for feedback wherever you can find it, then act upon it.
• Don’t write it like a letter. Kicking off with a greeting such as "Dear Sir/Madam" not only looks weird, it also wastes precious space.
• Don’t make jokes. This is simply not the time – save them for your first night in the union.
• Don’t criticise your current school or college or try to blame teachers for any disappointing grades you might have got.
• Be afraid of details – if you want your PS to be personal to you that means explaining exactly which bits of work or topics or activities you've taken part in/enjoyed. It's much more compelling to read about one or two detailed examples than a paragraph that brushes over five or six.
• Just list what you're doing now. You should pull out the experiences that are relevant to the courses which you're applying to.
• Mention skills and activities without giving examples of when they have been demonstrated by you or what you learnt from them. Anyone can write "I have great leadership skills" in a PS, actually using a sentence to explain when you demonstrated good leadership skills is much rarer and more valuable.
• Refer to experiences that took place before your GCSEs (or equivalent).
• Give explanations about medical or mental health problems. These should be explained in your reference, not your PS.
• Apply for too many different courses, making it difficult to write a convincing personal statement which supports the application.
• Write a statement specific to just one institution, unless you're only applying to that one choice.
• Copy and paste the statement from somewhere else! This means do not plagiarise. All statements are automatically checked for plagiarism by Ucas. Those that are highlighted by the computer system are checked manually by Ucas staff. If you’re found to have plagiarised parts of your statement, the universities you apply to will be informed and it could jeopardise your applications.
• Use ChatGPT or another AI program to write your personal statement for you. Or, if you do, make sure you thoroughly edit and personalise the text so it's truly yours. Otherwise you're very much at risk of the plagiarism point above.

You may want to look at these...

How to write your university application.

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The Ucas personal statement is changing in 2025

A question-based personal statement will be required as part of university applications from autumn 2025 onwards

How long does it take for universities to reply to your application?

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Knowledge management

Learn what knowledge management is. Why it’s important, and what are the benefits? Discover examples and methods that can be used in the knowledge management process.

Ivan Andreev

Demand Generation & Capture Strategist, Valamis

February 22, 2022 · updated July 31, 2024

14 minute read

Taking advantage of all the expertise within an organization is a great way to maximize its potential. Companies have a well of untapped knowledge within their workforce that is lying dormant or siloed to individual staff or departments.

With the proper management structures in place, this knowledge can be found, stored, and made accessible to the wider workforce, offering tangible business benefits.

What is knowledge management?

Knowledge management in practice, types of knowledge, examples of knowledge management.

• Importance of knowledge management

Benefits of knowledge management

Knowledge management process, knowledge management methods, what are knowledge management systems.

Knowledge management is the conscious process of defining, structuring, retaining, and sharing the knowledge and experience of employees within an organization.

As organizations evolve, expand into new areas, and define their approach to business, they develop significant institutional knowledge . This information is invaluable to the company. Imparting it to new or less experienced staff is vital for maintaining successful operations.

The primary goal of knowledge management is facilitating the connection of staff looking for information, or institutional knowledge, with the people who have it.

With practical knowledge management in place, organizations can spread information and raise the level of expertise held by specific individuals or teams to improve the efficiency of their practices.

It often refers to training and learning in an organization or of its customers. It consists of a cycle of creating, sharing, structuring, and auditing knowledge to maximize the effectiveness of an organization’s collective expertise.

Knowledge management can be separated into three main areas:

• Accumulating knowledge
• Storing knowledge
• Sharing knowledge

By accumulating and storing the staff’s knowledge, companies hold onto what has made them successful in the past. In addition, sharing this information throughout the organization informs staff of past approaches that improve performance or better inform new strategies.

To achieve the goal of knowledge management, companies have to enable and promote a culture of learning and development, creating an environment where employees are encouraged to share information to better the collective workforce.

How to conduct a skills gap analysis and what to do next

Start building your foundation for strategic workforce development.

When discussing knowledge management, it is helpful to consider the different types of knowledge and how it is possible to share them within an organization.

The information knowledge management covers can generally be broken down into three main types:

1. Explicit knowledge is knowledge and information that can be easily codified and taught, such as how to change the toner in a printer and mathematical equations.

2. Implicit knowledge is knowledge that explains how best to implement explicit knowledge. For example, consider discussing a task with an experienced co-worker. They may provide explicit steps detailing how to complete the job. But they may also use their understanding of the situation to consider different options and decide the best approach for your given circumstances. The experienced employee utilizes and shares their implicit knowledge to improve how the team operates.

3. Tacit knowledge is knowledge gained through experience. Therefore, it is more intuitive and less easy to share with others. Examples of tacit knowledge are “know-hows”, innovative thinking, and understanding body language.

While knowledge management for implicit and tacit knowledge can be harder to implement, with correct procedures in place, you can ensure all relevant information is shared around the company and retained as staff retire or move on.

Utilizing all the expertise in your company benefits the business as a whole, creating best practices for everyday tasks, improving situational awareness, developing employee intuition for course corrections, and enhancing organizational capacity.

Staff retiring

An employee’s knowledge and skillset grow as they spend time with an organization. As a result, staff typically retire with a wealth of expertise that the company needs to mine using efficient knowledge management processes in order to reduce disruption and prevent workforce knowledge gaps.

This means identifying and capturing the meaningful information that needs to be retained by the organization and determining the best approach for storing and distribution.

Employee transfer or promotion

When staff change positions within a company, they must develop additional skillsets and expertise to match their new role.

Efficient knowledge management procedures simplify delivering this information to create a seamless transition from one position to another.

Why is knowledge management important?

Knowledge management is important because it boosts the efficiency of an organization’s decision-making ability.

By making sure that all employees have access to the overall expertise held within the organization, a smarter workforce is built that is more able to make quick, informed decisions, benefiting the entire company.

Knowledge management allows innovation to grow within the organization, customers benefit from increased access to best practices, and employee turnover is reduced.

The importance of knowledge management is growing every year. As the marketplace becomes ever more competitive, one of the best ways to stay ahead of the curve is to build your organization in an intelligent, flexible manner. You must have the ability to spot issues from a distance and be able to respond quickly to new information and innovations.

Companies begin the knowledge management process for many different reasons.

• A merger or acquisition could spur the need for codifying knowledge and encouraging teams to share their expertise.
• The imminent retirement of key employees could demonstrate the need to capture their knowledge.
• An upcoming recruitment drive shows the wisdom in using knowledge management to assist in training new employees.

52% of respondents in Deloitte’s 2021 Global Human Capital Trends Survey stated workforce movement as the driving force behind proactively developing knowledge management strategies.

Whatever the reason is, implementing knowledge management processes offers tangible benefits that drive value. This is backed up by research , showing knowledge management positively influences dynamic capabilities and organizational performance.

A survey of over 286 people working in knowledge management across a range of industries, locations, and company sizes found the most significant benefits to be:

• Reduced time to find information
• Reduced time for new staff to become competent
• Reduced operational costs
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Improved bid win/loss ratio

Making knowledge management a significant part of a company’s leadership approach produces a more streamlined workforce with faster onboarding and well-informed staff that provide a better experience for customers.

Knowledge management is a critical tool for any company that wants to increase its bottom line and market share .

IDC estimates that Fortune 500 companies lose $31 billion from not sharing knowledge within their organization every year. Studies estimate improving employee access to information and tools could save organizations roughly $2 million a month for every 4000 employees.

Implementing effective knowledge management requires proactive strategies and incorporating multiple new processes.

Companies have to uncover the existing knowledge available to them, understand how to spread this information to produce additional value, and plan what this looks like in action.

Knowledge management process. Credit: Valamis. ( CC BY 4.0 )

1. Discovery

Every organization has multiple sources of knowledge, from employees to data and records.

This could be the education and skillsets staff bring to the job, the experience and unique expertise they develop on the job, or hard drives of data that can positively affect the business with proper analysis.

During the discovery process, organizations must identify all the available sources of knowledge, with a particular emphasis on information that could be easily lost.

This process is simplified by a strong understanding of where and how knowledge flows around the organization.

2. Collection

Collecting all the available knowledge and data creates the foundation from which future processes build.

Sloppy or incorrect knowledge collection leads to decisions without a complete understanding of the organization and its capabilities.

Companies must audit their existing staff expertise, documentation, and external knowledge sources. A range of tools is available to help, including automated surveys, document scanning, and metadata.

Post-implementation, many organizations redefine internal processes to make capturing institutional knowledge a part of everyday processes. This could be through continual employee feedback systems or more in-depth offboarding procedures.

3. Assessment

This process involves the deep analysis of the knowledge gathered in the previous two steps. Data must be assessed and organized into a structured, searchable, and easily accessible form.

Assessment of the gathered knowledge is required to ensure it is accurate, offers value, and is up to date.

Then teams can determine how best to share information to improve company performance and give staff the knowledge they need to maximize performance.

Utilizing the right knowledge management system simplifies this process by allowing leadership to organize, assess, segment, and store a comprehensive knowledge database.

The whole point of knowledge management is to give staff the expertise and information they need to do their job to the best of their ability.

Once you have built a detailed and accurate body of knowledge related to your company, you need to plan how it will be shared.

See the “Knowledge management methods” section below for examples of how to share information around your company.

While there are many examples of sharing information, one thing that should be universal is creating a cultural shift towards learning and development .

Leadership must prioritize and reward knowledge sharing, creating an atmosphere where team members are actively encouraged to both teach each other and learn from one another.

5. Application

This is the step where organizations reap the rewards of knowledge management. Discovering and storing institutional knowledge is just the beginning.

Staff utilizing newly acquired expertise in their tasks brings a range of benefits in productivity, accuracy, decision-making, and more innovative employees.

6. Creation

The final stage of knowledge management is to create more knowledge.

It should never be considered a one-and-done process. A single audit and rollout won’t deliver the results you are looking for.

Knowledge management is a continual process that maximizes a company’s performance for the expertise available to it.

Whether it is a team discovering a new, more efficient approach to a task or a better way of capturing data related to company performance, organizations should constantly be innovating and creating new knowledge to pass on to future employees.

Depending on what the company needs, their knowledge management will look different.

Below we have listed common examples of knowledge management methods in action:

1. Tutoring & training, communities of practice, and Q&A

These examples all involve transferring information directly from the knowledge holder to other employees.

This could be through in-person tutoring, company-wide training sessions, online chats, and group discussions – or a mix of these options and others.

Many companies value building a skills matrix that maps each employee’s expertise. This simplifies finding the employee with the most experience or knowledge in a given field. In addition, it identifies knowledge gaps within the workforce and shows areas requiring focus for specific knowledge management methods and training.

Some examples of this type of knowledge management may not require a formalized structure. For example, perhaps your company is having problems with a new project, which reminds you of a previous situation. Using the company Slack, for example, you can search for similar questions and find old threads discussing how you overcame the problem last time. Prior expertise that you may not have thought about in years is stored and discovered in old communications to help you right now.

• Questions can be immediately answered
• Clarifications can be made if the material is not understood
• Brainstorming sessions can be facilitated, taking advantage of the combined power of the group’s experience and knowledge
• In-person learning tends to be remembered more clearly
• It can be time-consuming and take away from the tasks the knowledge holder is trying to complete
• A system of expertise location can be time-consuming to build and maintain
• It can be challenging to document and save for future use
• Difficulty finding the right expert with good communication skills and knowledge of the company
• You can lose the knowledge if the knowledge holder leaves the company

2. Documentations, guides, guidelines, FAQ, and tutorials

Written communications are great for storing and transferring knowledge.

With text-based knowledge management, a system to store, categorize and navigate subjects is always available.

In many cases, metadata is a great help for this.

• The company has an invaluable source of information of up to date information
• Easy to find and share online (when organized well)
• Can easily combine multiple people’s expertise into one packet
• Requires a lot of time to create and keep up-to-date
• Must be appropriately managed to ensure relevant knowledge is easily found
• Requires infrastructure (internet access, etc.)
• It takes time to consume

3. Forums, intranets, and collaboration environments

These online resources spark conversation and bring many knowledge holders into the same place.

Threads, subforums, and groups can be divided by topic, level of expertise, or any number of other classifications.

• Collaboration drives innovation
• Many experts can be brought together into one place, no matter their location globally
• Facilitating contact with remote teams helps teamwork and knowledge transfer
• It can be a chaotic, noisy environment
• Knowledge is not actively being vetted as it is added to discussions
• Searching through many messages and threads for relevant answers is time-consuming
• Messages and threads might not be archived

4. Learning and development environments

Creating an environment where learning is considered an asset will continuously drive employees to educate themselves.

Incentivizing them to take advantage of your knowledge management systems will result in upskilled employees ready to take on leadership roles in your organization.

For this to happen, there must be structured and accessible learning and development technology in place that employees can use.

• Motivated employees can develop themselves at will
• Training pathways can be set out
• Wide range of resources available to produce a constant flow of fresh content
• The structure allows for easier discovery of subjects
• Authoring tools available such that internal experts can build company-specific courses
• Analytic tools are available to help find knowledge gaps inside the company
• Requires a lot of effort to develop and maintain in house
• Readily available solutions may be too generic to add real value for your company
• Content must be created and continually updated
• Requires an influential learning culture to motivate staff to participate

5. Case studies

These in-depth studies into particular areas serve as complete guides to a subject.

Looking at the actions taken, the results they produce, and any lessons learned is extremely valuable.

• Allow for complete documentation and archiving of lessons learned
• Easily shareable
• Efficient for communicating complex information
• It takes a lot of time and skill to create
• The case study may have limitations or require approval from the parties involved
• Can be too specialized to apply the knowledge broadly
• In fast-paced fields that are constantly innovating, case studies can become out of date quickly

6. Webinars

These online seminars can be beneficial in widely disseminating ideas throughout teams, branches, or the entire company.

• Accessible for all interested employees to attend
• Potential for interactivity where attendees can ask questions specific to issues they are having
• Can be recorded and reused
• Planning, finding the right speakers, and settling on a topic is time-consuming
• Requires organization
• External experts can cost a lot
• Requires time to find answer

Knowledge management systems are IT solutions that allow for the storage and retrieval of the information stored within the company, allowing for better collaboration and more efficient problem-solving.

Depending on what your company needs, they will have different features.

Examples of knowledge management systems are:

• Feedback database – Everyone involved in a product, from designers to salespeople to customers, can share their feedback with the organization. All stakeholders can access the feedback and thus quickly make fundamental changes armed with better information.
• Research files – In developing projects and ideas, a company does market and consumer research to determine what is needed, what niches are yet to be filled in the market, and what trends can be forecasted. The files are then shared within the organization to allow all departments to benefit from the research conducted.

Shared project files – This system allows for greater collaboration and teamwork, especially across distances.

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How to Write a Strong Personal Statement

by Ruth Gotian and Ushma S. Neill

Summary .   

Whether applying for a summer internship, a professional development opportunity, such as a Fulbright, an executive MBA program, or a senior leadership development course, a personal statement threads the ideas of your CV, and is longer and has a different tone and purpose than a traditional cover letter. A few adjustments to your personal statement can get your application noticed by the reviewer.

• Make sure you’re writing what they want to hear. Most organizations that offer a fellowship or internship are using the experience as a pipeline: It’s smart to spend 10 weeks and $15,000 on someone before committing five years and $300,000. Rarely are the organizations being charitable or altruistic, so align your stated goals with theirs
• Know when to bury the lead, and when to get to the point. It’s hard to paint a picture and explain your motivations in 200 words, but if you have two pages, give the reader a story arc or ease into your point by setting the scene.
• Recognize that the reviewer will be reading your statement subjectively, meaning you’re being assessed on unknowable criteria. Most people on evaluation committees are reading for whether or not you’re interesting. Stated differently, do they want to go out to dinner with you to hear more? Write it so that the person reading it wants to hear more.
• Address the elephant in the room (if there is one). Maybe your grades weren’t great in core courses, or perhaps you’ve never worked in the field you’re applying to. Make sure to address the deficiency rather than hoping the reader ignores it because they won’t. A few sentences suffice. Deficiencies do not need to be the cornerstone of the application.

At multiple points in your life, you will need to take action to transition from where you are to where you want to be. This process is layered and time-consuming, and getting yourself to stand out among the masses is an arduous but not impossible task. Having a polished resume that explains what you’ve done is the common first step. But, when an application asks for it, a personal statement can add color and depth to your list of accomplishments. It moves you from a one-dimensional indistinguishable candidate to someone with drive, interest, and nuance.

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Many applications for jobs, college, school or university places, require candidates to submit a personal statement.

For some people, this may be the first time that they have ever had to write anything like this, and it can feel like a daunting prospect.

What should you include? What should you not include? And how do you promote yourself without seeming to boast about your achievements?

This page will help you to navigate these potential pitfalls, and create a personal statement to stand out for all the right reasons.

The Purpose of a Personal Statement

A personal statement has one simple purpose: to promote you.

In other words, it should be designed to make your application stand out for all the right reasons. When they read it, the recipient should be saying:

“Wow! We really want this one to come here!”

You do, however, need to be careful not to exaggerate, as this will quickly become clear at interview, and you will not get the job or place that you want.

Before You Start

Check the requirements carefully

There are likely to be some constraints set on your personal statement. For example, you may be asked to keep what you say within a certain number of words or characters, or cover certain issues. Check these requirements carefully both before you start, and when you think you have finished, and make sure that what you do is consistent with them.

Think about what you want to include

Make a list of the things that you really want the person receiving your personal statement to know about you.

You might, for example, want them to know why you want to attend this college, or study this course, or you might want them to know that you have recently been involved in an activity that has really helped you decide what you want to do with your life. List these things, and then check back when you have finished to make sure that you have included them.

You can add to this list as you go if you think of other things that should be included.

What to include in your Personal Statement

There are no hard and fast rules about what exactly you should include, or indeed, exclude.

It will depend on you, and what you are trying to demonstrate in your personal statement.

However, there are some simple rules that you should follow to decide what to include.

1. Show that you know what you are talking about

When you write a covering letter for a job application , you need to show that you understand the nature of the job. When you write a personal statement, you also need to show that you understand what you are applying for .

If it is a university course, demonstrate that you know about the course or subject, and what studying it will involve. If it is a sixth form, show that you are interested in your potential subjects, and the college or school. If a job, show that you understand something about what you will have to do each day, and that you have knowledge of the company or organisation.

2. Say why you want to study the course or do the job.

You may think this is obvious, but the reader does not know. It is worth explaining what makes you interested in the subject or job. You might, for example, say how you first came across the subject, and what interested you, then what you have done to explore it further.

3. Focus on what makes you unique and suitable, and include evidence

The purpose of a personal statement is to make you stand out from the crowd, for all the right reasons. It therefore needs to focus on what makes you unique, and why the employer/school/college/university should select you over and above all the other candidates.

Your personal statement should, therefore, explain what skills you have, and also why they are relevant to the course or job. Always include evidence to back up your assertions about your skills and, wherever possible, use independent witnesses. For example, instead of saying:

‘I have really good communication skills’

You should be saying:

‘I have really good communication skills, honed by a year spent as secretary to the Sixth Form committee and running an events group. Teachers commented that the notes of meetings and messages to others were particularly clear’.

You can include information from all areas of your life: work, home, school, extra studies, and so on, but do make sure it is part of explaining how you are suitable.

4. Make sure that everything you include is relevant

Focus on what you really need to get across, and make sure that is fully covered. Check that everything that you have said is relevant to the task in hand. This may well mean cutting down some of the explanations of what you were doing when you developed that particular skill, but that is better than excluding details of another relevant skill.

Deciding on the Structure of Your Personal Statement

You may be given guidelines on structure. If so, follow them.

If not, it is a good idea to decide on a structure before you start, and stick to it. Rather like an essay, a good broad outline is something like:

• An opening paragraph to explain why you want to attend that school/college/university, and why you want to study that course, or why you think you would be perfect for the job.
• A middle section , which provides all the evidence to back up your opening paragraph, broken down into some sensible order.
• A conclusion , which sums up your statement, and reminds the reader of your perfect fit for the course or job.

Some style rules to follow

Avoid clichés and jargon

A cliché is a word or phrase that is overused in writing. For a personal statement, it might include comments like:

“I have always wanted to be a lawyer”

“I just want to help people, and that’s why I want to study medicine”

Instead, try to use your own words. Read them out loud, and make sure that you don’t sound like a character in a bad soap opera. There is more about this on our page: Clichés to Avoid .

Draft, draft, and draft again

You will not get it right first time, or possibly even the second. Keep drafting and tweaking until you are sure it is as clear as possible, and says everything that you need. Be prepared to have at least two or three drafts before you are satisfied, and make sure you leave enough time for this before your deadline.

Use plain English and keep it simple

Plain English is always better than using complicated language. Keep it simple, and keep your sentences short. As a rule of thumb, sentences should not be much longer than one line. It is also a good idea to avoid sub-clauses, as these can over-complicate your text.

Reduce, reduce and reduce some more, until you are absolutely certain that you have used no more words than necessary, and the simplest words possible.

If you are not sure about this, have a look at our page on Plain English .

Reading something out loud is a very good way to make sure it is easy to read. If you find you are getting lost in your own sentences, you will need to shorten them, and make them simpler.

When you have finished…

Read it over carefully for any errors or inconsistencies

When you think you have finished, read your personal statement over carefully, and check for spelling and grammatical errors. The spelling and grammar checks in word processing packages are not fully reliable, but they will be a good starting point.

Ask someone else to check it over for you

It is a good idea to ask someone else to read your personal statement over for you as they may spot errors that you have missed, and also bits that are not as clear as they could be.

Check that you have included everything that was on your initial list of ideas

Go back to your initial list of ideas, and make sure that you have included everything.

And finally…

…remember that every personal statement is unique.

It is no good copying someone else’s, or using the same one for several different applications. Of course you will be able to reuse elements of previous versions, especially if you are, for example, applying to several different schools at the same time, or for several jobs. But it needs to be tailored: specific to both you and the situation.

Continue to: Graduate Employability Skills Writing a CV or Resume

See also: Personal Empowerment How to Write a Report 6 Great Skills to Demonstrate in Your University Application

• • Developed a strategic company-wide knowledge transfer plan, increasing cross-departmental information sharing by 40%.
• • Led a task force to identify and close critical knowledge gaps, introducing a mentorship program that reduced onboarding time by 25%.
• • Championed a knowledge management culture, leading to enhanced employee engagement and a 15% increase in retention of critical staff.
• • Managed the integration of a new KMS with legacy systems, resulting in a 30% increase in user adoption within the first six months.
• • Implemented governance policies for the KMS, ensuring a consistent approach that improved content accuracy and reduced misinformation cases by 50%.
• • Oversaw the creation and management of over 200+ SOPs, improving operational efficiency across the company by 20%.
• • Facilitated a company-wide information audit, identifying redundancies and opportunities that led to a 10% improvement in knowledge sharing.
• • Collaborated with SMEs to develop targeted training materials, resulting in a 35% uplift in companywide productivity.
• • Authored 150+ technical documents tailored for non-technical audiences, substantially decreasing support tickets by 40%.
• • Spearheaded a cross-functional team to document key processes, contributing to a recognized excellence award by the industry.
• • Enhanced company's content management system, leading to a 5-point increase in Net Promoter Score (NPS) from internal users.
• • Revised and modernized 100+ user manuals and training guides, increasing user comprehension by 30%.
• • Led the documentation of a crucial software migration project affecting 5,000+ users, notably reducing migration-related issues.
• • Conceptualized and executed a content strategy for internal resources, elevating content accessibility and use.
• • Liaised with department leads to ensure accurate reflection of current processes in all technical materials.

10 Knowledge Manager Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

The role of a knowledge manager revolves around managing and optimizing an organization’s knowledge assets to enhance productivity and innovation. Highlight your experience in developing knowledge-sharing systems, leading cross-functional teams, and implementing best practices for information management on your resume. Consider adding expertise in data analysis, content management systems, and effective communication strategies. Mention contributions to improved efficiency and successful project outcomes to illustrate the impact of your work.

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Additional Resume Sections

Key Takeaways

As a knowledge manager, you may struggle to showcase your diverse skill set in knowledge management within the concise framework of a resume. Our guide provides targeted strategies to effectively highlight your expertise and accomplishments, ensuring your resume stands out to potential employers.

• Knowledge manager resume samples that got people hired at top companies.
• How to perfect the look-and-feel of your resume layout.
• How to showcase your achievements and skills through various resume sections.
• How you could hint to recruiters why your resume is the ideal profile for the job.

If the knowledge manager resume isn't the right one for you, take a look at other related guides we have:

• HR Generalist Resume Example
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• HR Resume Example
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• Training Manager Resume Example

Creating the best knowledge manager resume format: four simple steps

The most appropriate knowledge manager resume format is defined by precision and a systematic approach. What is more, it should reflect upon how your application will be assessed by recruiters. That is why we've gathered four of the most vital elements to keep in mind when designing your resume:

• It's all about presenting how your experience or skills align with the job. Use the reverse-chronological resume format , if your expertise is relevant to the knowledge manager role. Otherwise, select the functional skill-based resume format or the hybrid resume format to shift the focus to your skill set.
• Resume header - make sure you've filled out all relevant (and correct) information, like your contact details and link to your portfolio.
• Resume length - unless you've over a decade of applicable expertise in the field, stick with a one-page resume format. If you'd like to present more of your professional experience, go up to two pages.
• Resume file - submit your knowledge manager resume in a PDF format to ensure all information stays in the same place.

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If you happen to have plenty of certificates, select the ones that are most applicable and sought-after across the industry. Organize them by relevance to the role you're applying for.

Recruiters' preferred knowledge manager resume sections:

• A header with relevant contact information and headline, listing your current job title
• A resume summary or objective pinpointing what is most impressive about your expertise (that aligns with the role)
• An experience section highlighting the specifics of your responsibilities and achievements
• A skills sidebar to intertwine job advert keywords with your unique talents
• An education and certifications sections to serve as further accreditation to your professional experience

What recruiters want to see on your resume:

• Proven experience in developing and implementing knowledge management strategies and solutions.
• Familiarity with knowledge management technologies (e.g., content management systems, databases, collaboration tools) and best practices.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to leverage data to inform knowledge management efforts and measure success.
• Experience in knowledge sharing, process improvement and fostering a culture of continuous learning within an organization.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and train staff across different levels and departments.

What to include in the experience section of your knowledge manager resume

The resume experience section is perhaps the most important element in your application as it needs to showcase how your current profile matches the job.

While it may take some time to perfect your knowledge manager experience section, here are five tips to keep in mind when writing yours:

• Assess the advert to make a list of key requirements and look back on how each of your past jobs answers those;
• Don't just showcase you know a particular skill, instead, you need proof in the form of tangible results (e.g. numbers, percent, etc.);
• It's perfectly fine to leave off experience items that don't bring anything extra to your skill set or application;
• Recruiters want to understand what the particular value is of working with you, so instead of solely featuring technologies, think about including at least one bullet that's focused on your soft skills;
• Take care with wording each bullet to demonstrate what you've achieved, using a particular skill, and an action verb.

The below knowledge manager resume examples can help guide you to curate your professional experience, following industry-leading tips and advice.

• Designed and implemented a comprehensive knowledge management system for a global workforce of over 15,000 employees, improving information retrieval efficiency by 40%.
• Led a cross-functional team in the development of a company-wide content management strategy, which enhanced collaboration and reduced duplicate content creation by 25%.
• Spearheaded the alignment of knowledge management activities with business goals, which contributed to a 10% increase in customer satisfaction through improved support processes.
• Managed the development and deployment of an AI-driven knowledge base that saw a 50% reduction in employee onboarding time.
• Coordinated the digital transformation of the company's knowledge sharing capabilities, resulting in a 35% increase in project delivery speed.
• Pioneered a knowledge-centered support model which decreased ticket resolution times by 20% and improved overall IT support service levels.
• Orchestrated the transition from traditional documentation to a collaborative wiki-based system, which reduced content updating timeframes by over 30%.
• Implemented a tag-based search functionality within the internal knowledge base which led to a 15% increase in retrieval accuracy.
• Facilitated regular knowledge-sharing workshops and webinars which increased employee engagement in knowledge transfer activities by 18%.
• Developed a structured taxonomy for the company intranet that improved navigation and content discoverability for over 10,000 employees.
• Conducted comprehensive gap analysis on existing knowledge management practices, leading to a 12% more efficient workflow in documenting processes.
• Liaised between IT and various departments to ensure seamless integration of knowledge management tools into daily operations.
• Played a key role in the creation and launch of an internal social networking platform that increased knowledge-sharing interactions by over 150%.
• Conducted a knowledge management platform ROI analysis, demonstrating a 20% cost-saving by consolidating multiple legacy systems.
• Championed the use of machine learning algorithms to personalize content delivery, thereby boosting user engagement by 25%.
• Introduced a peer-recognition program within the knowledge management platform which improved employee morale and increased knowledge contribution rates by 30%.
• Developed and executed a strategic plan for the adoption of cloud-based knowledge repositories; improving disaster recovery capabilities and saving the company $150K annually.
• Led the integration of knowledge management standards into company policy, ensuring regulatory compliance and reducing risk of information mismanagement.
• Optimized the content management lifecycle which resulted in a 20% decrease in redundant content across the company databases.
• Championed the development of a self-service knowledge portal for customer support, cutting down the average case handling time by approximately 15%.
• Executed an organization-wide survey to identify knowledge gaps, leading to the creation of targeted training programs and a 5% increase in employee competency scores.
• Implemented a new document management standard using metadata that improved content sorting and access speed by 18% for all departments.
• Launched an inter-departmental mentorship program leveraging a knowledge-sharing network which facilitated a smoother knowledge transfer and employee onboarding process.
• Directly contributed to the development of a proprietary knowledge engagement metric that allowed management to track and improve internal knowledge utilization rates.
• Managed the overhaul of the corporate document management system, which enhanced data security while maintaining user accessibility for over 5000 users.
• Executed in-depth content audits across company platforms identifying 20% duplicate assets, facilitating a cleaner and more structured knowledge repository.
• Piloted a machine learning initiative to tag and categorize unstructured data, improving knowledge asset reusability by 18%.
• Initiated and oversaw the company-wide adoption of a new collaboration tool which reduced email traffic by 40% and significantly improved team productivity.
• Drove the creation and implementation of an internal knowledge-sharing blog, enhancing corporate culture and driving engagement by tracking over 10,000 monthly interactions.
• Redesigned employee training modules based on knowledge management analytics, leading to a 10% increase in training effectiveness.

Quantifying impact on your resume

• Specify the size of the knowledge base you managed, including total number of documents and average monthly contributions.
• Detail the percentage increase in content usage or search efficiency due to improvements you implemented.
• Highlight resource savings by showing the reduction in time or costs from streamlining knowledge management processes.
• Mention the growth rate of the user base accessing the knowledge management system under your direction.
• Quantify improvements in knowledge sharing by stating the rise in cross-departmental collaborations.
• Illustrate the impact on training by noting the decrease in onboarding time for new employees due to your knowledge systems.
• Demonstrate customer satisfaction increases attributable to the enhanced availability and quality of knowledge resources.
• Present any awards or recognitions received for innovation or excellence in knowledge management practices.

Action verbs for your knowledge manager resume

Making the most of your little to none professional experience

If you're hesitant to apply for your dream job due to limited professional experience , remember that recruiters also value the unique contributions you can offer.

Next time you doubt applying, consider this step-by-step approach for your resume's experience section:

• Rather than the standard reverse chronological order, opt for a functional-based format. This shifts the focus from your work history to your achievements and strengths;
• Include relevant internships, volunteer work, or other non-standard experiences in your knowledge manager resume's experience section;
• Utilize your education, qualifications, and certifications to bridge gaps in your knowledge manager resume experience;
• Emphasize your interpersonal skills and transferable skills from various industries. Often, recruiters seek a personality match, giving you an advantage over other candidates.

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• Should You Include Eagle Scout On Your Resume?
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The more trusted the organization you've attained your certificate (or degree) from, the more credible your skill set would be.

Popular knowledge manager hard skills and soft skills for your resume

Apart from assessing your professional expertise, recruiters are on the lookout for whether your skills align with the job.

Your profile would thus be assessed in regard to your:

• Hard or technical skills - your ability to perform on the job using particular technologies or software
• Soft skills - how you adapt, communicate, and thrive in different environments.

Both types of skills - hard and soft skills - are important for your resume, so make sure to create a dedicated skills section that:

• Lists up to five or six skills that align with the job advert.
• Integrates vital keywords for the industry, but also reflects on your personal strengths.
• Builds up further your skills with an achievements section within which you explain what you've achieved thanks to using the particular skill.
• Aims to always quantify in some way how you've used the skill, as it's not enough to just list it.

What are the most sought out hard and soft skills for knowledge manager roles?

Check out the industry's top choices with our two dedicated lists below:

Top skills for your knowledge manager resume:

Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)

Content Management Systems (CMS)

Database Management

Data Analysis Tools (e.g., SQL, Excel)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Collaboration Tools (e.g., SharePoint, Confluence)

Project Management Software (e.g., Trello, Asana)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Knowledge Management

Business Process Management (BPM) Tools

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

Communication

Problem Solving

Analytical Thinking

Team Collaboration

Adaptability

Critical Thinking

Interpersonal Skills

Time Management

Bold the names of educational institutions and certifying bodies for emphasis.

Education section and most popular knowledge manager certifications for your resume

Your resume education section is crucial. It can indicate a range of skills and experiences pertinent to the position.

• Mention only post-secondary qualifications, noting the institution and duration.
• If you're still studying, highlight your anticipated graduation date.
• Omit qualifications not pertinent to the role or sector.
• If it provides a chance to emphasize your accomplishments, describe your educational background, especially in a research-intensive setting.

Recruiters value knowledge manager candidates who have invested their personal time into their professional growth. That's why you should include both your relevant education and certification . Not only will this help you stand out amongst candidates, but showcase your dedication to the field. On your knowledge manager resume, ensure you've:

• Curated degrees and certificates that are relevant to the role
• Shown the institution you've obtained them from - for credibility
• Include the start and end dates (or if your education/certification is pending) to potentially fill in your experience gaps
• If applicable, include a couple of job advert keywords (skills or technologies) as part of the certification or degree description

If you decide to list miscellaneous certificates (that are irrelevant to the role), do so closer to the bottom of your resume. In that way, they'd come across as part of your personal interests, instead of experience. The team at Enhancv has created for you a list of the most popular knowledge manager certificates - to help you update your resume quicker:

The top 5 certifications for your knowledge manager resume:

• Certified knowledge manager (CKM) - Knowledge Management Professional Society (KMPro)
• Knowledge Management Certification (CKM) - International Knowledge Management Institute (KM Institute)
• Certified Knowledge Practitioner (CKP) - Knowledge Management Institute (KMI)
• Professional knowledge manager (PKM) - Knowledge and Innovation Management Professional Society (KMIPS)
• Master knowledge manager (MKM) - International Knowledge Management Institute (KM Institute)

If you happen to have some basic certificates, don't invest too much of your knowledge manager resume real estate in them. Instead, list them within the skills section or as part of your relevant experience. This way you'd ensure you meet all job requirements while dedicating your certificates to only the most in-demand certification across the industry.

• How To List Certifications On A Resume (Examples Included)
• When Should You Include Your High School on Your Resume?

The knowledge manager resume summary or objective: integrating keywords, achievements, and more

Deciding whether to include a resume summary or an objective in your knowledge manager resume is crucial. Both serve as key introductory elements at the top of your resume, encapsulating your profile in up to five sentences and incorporating relevant keywords from the job advert.

Here are the key differences between the two:

• The resume summary focuses on aligning your achievements and experience with the job requirements. It provides recruiters with a snapshot of your expertise , helping you stand out as an ideal candidate for the role.
• The resume objective, on the other hand, centers on your career goals and aspirations , detailing how the role aligns with your career progression. It's particularly suitable for candidates with less professional experience or those new to the job market.

Below are examples demonstrating best practices in utilizing the resume summary and/or objective to make a strong first impression with your knowledge manager resume.

Resume summaries for a knowledge manager job

• Seasoned knowledge manager with over 15 years of experience specializing in the development and implementation of knowledge-based systems within the financial sector. Proficient in leveraging AI technology and data analytics to enhance information sharing, with a notable achievement in leading a successful knowledge management overhaul that increased company efficiency by 30%.
• Ambitious former IT Project Manager eager to transition into a Knowledge Management role, bringing forth over a decade of experience in complex project management, proficiency in database management systems, and a passion for optimizing organizational knowledge flow. Recognized for implementing a cross-departmental information system that cut project delivery times by a quarter.
• Dedicated former University Librarian transitioning into Knowledge Management, offering 8 years of experience in information curation, user education, and digital archiving. Expertise in research methodologies and digital asset management, complemented by a track record of increasing library user engagement by 40% through innovative resource accessibility initiatives.
• With a robust background in managing information system strategies for medium-sized tech companies, this knowledge manager candidate has 12 years of experience. They have consistently delivered solutions that streamline knowledge processes and enhance collaboration. Key achievement includes creating a company-wide wiki that saved over $100,000 annually in knowledge retrieval costs.
• Determined to leverage strong organizational and analytical skills to advance knowledge sharing in a new industry, this career starter is eager to apply a fresh perspective on information strategies. Committed to mastering the dynamics of effective knowledge management and contributing to the collective expertise of a proactive team.
• As a recent Information Science graduate, I am intent on applying my academic knowledge and strong technical skills in big data analysis and content management systems to contribute effectively as a knowledge manager. My objective is to facilitate innovative knowledge solutions that drive informed decision-making and foster a culture of continuous learning.

Recruiters' favorite additional knowledge manager resume sections

When writing your knowledge manager resume, you may be thinking to yourself, " Is there anything more I can add on to stand out? ".

Include any of the below four sections you deem relevant, to ensure your knowledge manager resume further builds up your professional and personal profile:

• Books - your favorite books can showcase that you have an excellent level of reading comprehension, creativity, and outside the box thinking;
• Languages - make sure you've included your proficiency level alongside a relevant certificate or a form of self-assessment;
• Website link - ensure you've curated your most relevant and recent projects in your professional portfolio (and that the link is a part of your resume header) to support your application;
• Passions - showing recruiters how you spend your time outside of work and what activities or causes you're invested in.

Key takeaways

• Invest in a concise knowledge manager professional presentation with key resume sections (e.g. header, experience, summary) and a simple layout;
• Ensure that the details you decide to include in your resume are always relevant to the job, as you have limited space;
• Back up your achievements with the hard and soft skills they've helped you build;
• Your experience could help you either pinpoint your professional growth or focus on your niche expertise in the industry;
• Curate the most sought-after certifications across the industry for credibility and to prove your involvement in the field.

Looking to build your own Knowledge Manager resume?

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Knowledge management (KM) is the process of identifying, organizing, storing and disseminating information within an organization.

When knowledge is not easily accessible within an organization, it can be incredibly costly to a business as valuable time is spent seeking out relevant information versus completing outcome-focused tasks.

A knowledge management system (KMS) harnesses the collective knowledge of the organization, leading to better operational efficiencies. These systems are supported by the use of a knowledge base. They are usually critical to successful knowledge management, providing a centralized place to store information and access it readily.

Companies with a knowledge management strategy achieve business outcomes more quickly as increased organizational learning and collaboration among team members facilitates faster decision-making across the business. It also streamlines more organizational processes, such as training and on-boarding, leading to reports of higher employee satisfaction and retention.

Use this model selection framework to choose the most appropriate model while balancing your performance requirements with cost, risks and deployment needs.

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The definition of knowledge management also includes three types of knowledge—tacit, implicit, and explicit knowledge. These types of knowledge are largely distinguished by the codification of the information.

• Tacit knowledge:  This type of knowledge is typically acquired through experience, and it is intuitively understood. As a result, it is challenging to articulate and codify, making it difficult to transfer this information to other individuals. Examples of tacit knowledge can include language, facial recognition, or leadership skills.
• Implicit knowledge:  While some literature equivocates implicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, some academics break out this type separately, expressing that the definition of tactic knowledge is more nuanced. While tacit knowledge is difficult to codify, implicit knowledge does not necessarily have this problem. Instead, implicit information has yet to be documented. It tends to exist within processes, and it can be referred to as “know-how” knowledge.
• Explicit knowledge:  Explicit knowledge is captured within various document types such as manuals, reports, and guides, allowing organizations to easily share knowledge across teams. This type of knowledge is perhaps the most well-known and examples of it include knowledge assets such as databases, white papers, and case studies. This form of knowledge is important to retain intellectual capital within an organization as well as facilitate successful knowledge transfer to new employees.

While some  academics  (link resides outside ibm.com) summarize the knowledge management process as involving knowledge acquisition, creation, refinement, storage, transfer, sharing and utilization. This process can be synthesized this a little further. Effective knowledge management system typically goes through three main steps:

• Knowledge Creation:  During this step, organizations identify and document any existing or new knowledge that they want to circulate across the company.
• Knowledge Storage:  During this stage, an information technology system is typically used to host organizational knowledge for distribution. Information may need to be formatted in a particular way to meet the requirements of that repository.
• Knowledge Sharing:  In this final stage, processes to share knowledge are communicated broadly across the organization. The rate in which information spreads will vary depending on organizational culture. Companies that encourage and reward this behavior will certainly have a competitive advantage over other ones in their industry. 

There are a number tools that organizations utilize to reap the benefits of knowledge management. Examples of knowledge management systems can include:

• Document management systems  act as a centralized storage system for digital documents, such as PDFs, images, and word processing files. These systems enhance employee workflows by enabling easy retrieval of documents, such as lessons learned.
• Content management systems (CMS) are applications which manage web content where end users can edit and publish content. These are commonly confused with document management systems, but CMSs can support other media types, such as audio and video.   
• Intranets  are private networks that exist solely within an organization, which enable the sharing of enablement, tools, and processes within internal stakeholders. While they can be time-consuming and costly to maintain, they provide a number of groupware services, such as internal directories and search, which facilitate collaboration.
• Wikis  can be a popular knowledge management tool given its ease of use. They make it easy to upload and edit information, but this ease can lead to concerns about misinformation as workers may update them with incorrect or outdated information.
• Data warehouses  aggregate data from different sources into a single, central, consistent data store to support data analysis, data mining, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Data is extracted from these repositories so that companies can derive insights, empowering employees to make data-driven decisions.

While knowledge management solutions can be helpful in facilitating knowledge transfer across teams and individuals, they also depend on user adoption to generate positive outcomes. As a result, organizations should not minimize the value of human elements that enable success around knowledge management.

• Organizational Culture:  Management practices will affect the type of organization that executives lead. Managers can build learning organizations by rewarding and encouraging knowledge sharing behaviors across their teams. This type of leadership sets the groundwork for teams to trust each other and communicate more openly to achieve business outcomes.
• Communities of practice:  Centers of excellence in specific disciplines provide employees with a forum to ask questions, facilitating learning and knowledge transfer. In this way, organizations increase the number of subject matter experts in a given area of the company, reducing dependencies on specific individuals to execute certain tasks.

Armed with the right tools and strategies, knowledge management practices have seen success in specific applications, such as:

• Onboarding employees:  Knowledge management systems help to address the huge learning curve for new hires. Instead of overwhelming new hires with a ‘data dump’ in their first weeks, continually support them with knowledge tools that will give them useful information at any time.  Learn more
• Day-to-day employee tasks:  Enable every employee to have access to accurate answers and critical information. Access to highly relevant answers at the right time, for the right person, allows workforces to spend less time looking for information and more time on activities that drive business.  Learn more
• Self-serve customer service:  Customers repeatedly say they’d prefer to find an answer themselves, rather than pick up the phone to call support.  When done well, a knowledge management system helps businesses decrease customer support costs and increase customer satisfaction.  Learn more

Companies experience a number of benefits when they embrace knowledge management strategies. Some key advantages include:

• Identification of skill gaps:  When teams create relevant documentation around implicit or tacit knowledge or consolidate explicit knowledge, it can highlight gaps in core competencies across teams. This provides valuable information to management to form new organizational structures or hire additional resources.
• Make better informed decisions:  Knowledge management systems arm individuals and departments with knowledge. By improving accessibility to current and historical enterprise knowledge, your teams can upskill and make more information-driven decisions that support business goals.
• Maintains enterprise knowledge:  If your most knowledgeable employees left tomorrow, what would your business do? Practicing internal knowledge management enables businesses to create an organizational memory. Knowledge held by your long-term employees and other experts, then make it accessible to your wider team.
• Operational efficiencies:  Knowledge management systems create a go-to place that enable knowledge workers to find relevant information more quickly. This, in turn, reduces the amount of time on research, leading to faster decision-making and cost-savings through operational efficiencies.  Increase productivity not only saves time, but also reduces costs.
• Increased collaboration and communication:  Knowledge management systems and organizational cultures work together to build trust among team members. These information systems provide more transparency among workers, creating more understanding and alignment around common goals. Engaged leadership and open communication create an environment for teams to embrace innovation and feedback.
• Data Security:  Knowledge management systems enable organizations to customize permission control, viewership control and the level of document-security to ensure that information is shared only in the correct channels or with selected individuals. Give your employees the autonomy access knowledge safely and with confidence.

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