1. How to Sell Yourself Interviews and Personal Statements
Dr Rodney Jones
Department of English
City University of Hong Kong

2. Rule # 1
Know your product

3. Know Yourself Write 3 Greatest Strengths 3 Greatest Weaknesses
Interests/Passions
Role Model
Career Ambition/s
Programmes you would like to study

4. Rule # 2
SHOW, don’t tell.

5. Talking about what I’ve done.
Talking about who I am.
Talking about what I’ve done.

6. STAR Strategy
(1) describe a specific Situation or Task in which you were involved, (2) explain your role and what Action you took, and (3) illustrate the Results you achieved.

7. Try it With your greatest strength. With an interest.
With an extracurricular activity.
With a programme you would like to study.
With your greatest weakness.
(1) describe a specific Situation or Task in which you were involved, (2) explain your role and what Action you took, and (3) illustrate the Results you achieved.

8. Practice A: What do you think your greatest strength is?
B: Well, I think I’m very ___________. Let me give you an example: ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

9. Rule # 3
Know your customer.

10. Research What are the requirements for the programme or scholarship?
What are the kinds of things taught in the programme?
What are the kinds of jobs graduates get?
Who are the people you are likely to be talking to?
What format will the interview take?
What kinds of questions are likely to be asked?

11. Most common questions
Tell me about yourself. (You should focus on about three things.)
Why do you want to attend X university/X programme?
What is your strongest/weakest point?
What have you done to prepare for university?
What has been your greatest experience in secondary school?
What do you want to do in the future?
Tell me about your interests.
Tell me about your involvement in extracurricular activities.
What do you think about (insert an important current event)?
Which of your accomplishments are you the most proud of?

12. Preparation
DO prioritize (What are the three things you most want to say?)
DO prepare intelligent questions
DO NOT memorize answers
DO NOT practice in front of the mirror

13. The Interview is an English Test!
Reviewing key words and phrases
Names of interviewers
LISTEN to the questions
Asking for clarification

14. Writing Personal Statements
Qualities of a good personal statement
Reflective
Honest
Strives for depth, not breadth
Clearly and accurately written
Argues from evidence
Answers not just ‘what’ but also ‘why’ and ‘how’
isolate two or perhaps three things about yourself and your experiences that you can emphasize and use as the chief argument in your essay.
why you chose to participate in these activities and how your involvement in these activities is evidence of your particular interests and talents--your essay's theme. If one of these experiences is a good example of your essay's theme, then by all means include it. If you're just including it because you think that you'll impress the reader with everything you've ever done, think again.
A strong personal statement is reflective; that is, it demonstrates that you have thought about and gained a clear perspective on your experiences and what you want in your future.

15. Brainstorming Look at the list you made before…
Choose no more than three things to focus on.
Consider how your choices are interrelated.
Consider how each of these can be developed using the STAR strategy.

16. Greatest Danger Clichés
Ever since I was young, I have always wanted to be a doctor. I have always enjoyed helping people, and I want to do it for a living. In particular, I would like to do medical research where my work would have a positive effect for many people.

17. Fighting Clichés Ask yourself honestly: Does it interest you?
Boredom is the first sign of exposure to a cliché. If you find yourself bored by your personal statement, you can’t reasonably expect your reader to respond any differently. But if you find yourself excited or intrigued by it, then you’re probably on the right track.
Add concrete detail.
These might seem irrelevant to you, but names, place-names, concrete situations, and sparse, but well-chosen, adjectives all add up to make you and your story more vivid and memorable to the reader.
Storytelling.
Don’t tell us what you learned or experienced, but show yourself learning and experiencing. For example, rather than telling your reader you learned leadership qualities during an extracurricular activity, narrate how you learned it.

18. Structure
Proposition
Reason
Reason
Reason
Evidence
Evidence
Evidence

19. What about after university?

20. Your Challenge Economic Conditions More Competition
Global Business Environment

21. What Employers Want

22. More Than Just English

23. BA (Hons.) English for Professional Communication
Programme Core

24. BA (Hons) English for Professional Communication

25. How do we compare? University Hong Kong U ✔ Chinese U Poly U Baptist
English Language Studies
Literary and Cultural Studies
Global
Business Communi-cation
Language Teaching
European Languages
Hong Kong U ✔
Chinese U
Poly U
Baptist
Lingnan
HKIEd
City U

26. Jobs in… Management and Administration Teaching Civil Service
Writing and Publishing
Marketing, PR, Advertising
Tourism and Cultural Management
Finance, Banking, Insurance

27. Real World Learning Experiences
Internships
Professional Communication Projects
Foreign Exchange
Study Tours

28. Entrance Requirements

29. Talk to us!

30. Talk to me!
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