How to write a supporting statement for a job

A supporting statement is where you prove you meet the job's criteria. Here is how to write one that does.

5 minute read

1. Find the criteria

Open the job advert and find the person specification. It lists what the employer is looking for, usually split into essential and desirable criteria. These are your checklist.

2. Follow their order

Write about each criterion in the order the advert lists it. Some people use each criterion as a short heading. This makes it easy for the reader to find each one.

3. Give one real example for each

For every criterion, show a time you did it. A simple structure is STAR:

Situation: where you were and what was happening
Task: what needed to be done
Action: what you did, in your own words
Result: what changed because of you

Spend most of your words on the action and the result.

4. Use their words

If the advert says "manage competing deadlines", use that phrase. Readers scan for it.

5. Put essential criteria first

If there is a word limit, keep the advert's order but give the essential criteria more of your words. Never leave an essential criterion out.

A worked example

Criterion: Ability to manage competing deadlines.

WeakI am very organised and always meet deadlines.

StrongerIn my final year, I worked 16 hours a week in a café while finishing my dissertation. In exam month, my manager asked me to cover extra shifts. I planned each week on Sunday, blocked study time around my rota and agreed two shift swaps early. I submitted my dissertation a week before the deadline and covered every shift I had agreed to.

Common mistakes

Repeating your CV instead of giving examples
Saying you have a skill without showing it
Writing one statement and sending it to every job
Leaving an essential criterion out

Before you send it

Go through the criteria one by one. Can you point to the sentence that proves each one? If not, add it.

Practise this with others

Bring a real example to The Experience Room and work on it with other people building careers in the UK.

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