How to Create a Professional Statement That Gets You Noticed
- Sonja Passmore
- Sep 25
- 5 min read
When someone asks “tell me about yourself”, do you have an answer ready?
For many people, this question feels awkward. But it doesn’t have to.
Your Professional Statement is the foundation for how you introduce yourself on paper, online and in person. In practice, it takes three main forms:
a Professional Profile on your CV
an About section on LinkedIn
an Elevator Pitch you can use in conversations or interviews
Once you’ve got this core message clear, you can adapt it into each format with ease. Here’s how to get started.
What is a Professional Statement?
Think of a Professional Statement as your core story. It’s a short, sharp summary that captures:
Who you are professionally
What you’re good at
Where you’re heading next
It isn’t a full career history or a list of hobbies. It’s your positioning statement – a way of showing others what you bring to the table.
How to Weave in Your Strengths
A strong Professional Statement doesn’t just outline what you do — it highlights your strengths in a way that feels authentic and relevant.
1. Identify your strengths
Look at the qualities and skills that consistently show up in your work:
Feedback from managers or colleagues
Tasks that energise you
Situations where people rely on you
Examples: adaptability, leadership, creativity, problem-solving, relationship building, stakeholder management.
2. Match them to your direction
Not every strength belongs in every profile. Choose the ones that align with the roles you’re targeting.
Aiming for leadership? Highlight mentoring, collaboration, influencing.
Moving into data roles? Emphasise analysis, problem-solving, strategic thinking.
3. Show, don’t tell
Avoid vague claims like “strong leadership skills”. Instead, weave strengths naturally into your sentences and give context:
❌ Strong leadership skills.
✅ Leadership: Guided cross-functional teams to deliver projects on time and within budget.
This makes your profile more believable and memorable.
Not Just Your Job Title
A Professional Statement isn’t only about repeating your job title. Titles can be limiting and they don’t always reflect the full scope of your strengths. This is especially true if you’re looking to pivot into a new industry or role.
If you’re staying in the same field, leading with your title can help employers immediately place you. But if your title doesn’t fit where you’re heading, focus first on the skills and qualities you want to be known for.
Example – Teacher moving into community engagement:
❌ “Primary Teacher with 8 years’ classroom experience.”
✅ “Experienced communicator and facilitator with a background in education. Skilled in relationship building, programme delivery and stakeholder engagement, now seeking to apply these strengths in a community-focused role.”
In the second version, the title “Teacher” still appears but isn’t the headline. The emphasis is on transferable strengths that will matter in a new environment.
Tip:
If your job title supports your direction, use it early.
If your job title boxes you in, shift the focus to your strengths and move the title further down the sentence.
Your Professional Profile on a CV
Your Professional Profile (sometimes called a Career Summary) usually sits right at the top of your CV, under or next to your name and contact details.
It should be:
3–4 sentences long
Focused on strengths, skills and achievements relevant to the role
Tailored to keywords from the job description
"Experienced Project Coordinator with five years’ expertise in logistics and stakeholder management. Recognised for streamlining processes and guiding multi-site teams to deliver projects on time and within budget. Skilled in managing budgets and building strong stakeholder relationships. Now seeking a senior coordination role in the construction sector".
Sometimes you may not want to lead with your current job title, particularly if you’re moving in a different direction. In these cases, focus on your transferable strengths and achievements first, then weave your background in as context.
Experienced communicator and organiser with a background in project coordination. Skilled in stakeholder engagement, process improvement, and problem-solving, with a proven ability to support teams and deliver results. Now looking to apply these strengths in a community development or not-for-profit role where collaboration and impact are key.
Notice how in the first example, the job title is central because it matches the direction of travel. In the second, the job title is downplayed and strengths take the lead, creating flexibility for a career pivot.
Expanding into a LinkedIn About Section
LinkedIn gives you much more space (up to 2,600 characters). While your CV profile is brief, your LinkedIn About section can be conversational and show more of your personality.
Tips for writing your LinkedIn About:
Open with a personal introduction: “I’m a…”
Use short paragraphs or bullet points for readability
Share your motivation or “why” behind your work
Weave in strengths with specific examples
End with a call to action: “Feel free to connect if…”
For example: "I’m a marketing professional passionate about helping brands tell authentic stories. Over the past decade I’ve worked across FMCG, tech and education, developing campaigns that build connection and trust.
What I do best:
Campaign strategy and execution
Content creation and digital engagement
Leading collaborative, creative teams
Colleagues often describe me as someone who can cut through complexity and keep projects moving. I love connecting with others in the industry, so if you’re working on something new, let’s talk.
This version feels more human and weaves in strengths in a natural way.
Shaping an Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is simply your Professional Statement spoken out loud. The idea is that if you were in a lift with someone important, you’d have just 30–60 seconds to make an impression.
A simple structure:
Who you are – your role or background
What you do – your key strengths and expertise
What you’re looking for – your goal or next step
I’m a Project Coordinator with five years of experience in logistics and team management. I specialise in streamlining processes and keeping projects on track. Right now I’m looking to step into a senior coordination role in the construction industry.
Pivoting example (downplaying the title):
I’m an experienced communicator and organiser with a background in project coordination. Skilled in stakeholder engagement, process improvement, and problem-solving, I’m now looking to apply these strengths in a project coordination role within the community development sector.
See the difference? In the second version, the job title isn’t the focus. Instead, strengths take centre stage, making the pitch more flexible and relevant to the new direction.
How It All Connects
The magic of a Professional Statement is realising these aren’t separate tasks — they’re different versions of the same message.
Your Professional Profile on your CV is concise and tailored.
Your LinkedIn About expands the story and adds personality.
Your Elevator Pitch is the spoken version you can use anytime.
Think of it like a ladder: the higher up you go, the more detail you add.
Bringing It Together
Writing a Professional Statement can feel daunting at first, but once you’ve got your strengths clear, you can repurpose them across every platform. Start with a few sentences, refine them into your CV profile, stretch them into your LinkedIn About and practise saying them out loud until they feel natural.
Remember that you don’t need to reinvent yourself every time. It’s about consistency, authenticity and confidence in how you present your skills and direction.
If you’d like expert help crafting a Professional Profile that weaves in your strengths and aligns with your goals, we would be glad to support you. At Pick a Path, we specialise in creating CVs, LinkedIn profiles and elevator pitches that help people stand out.
Thanks for reading. Our hope with each edition is to create space to pause, reflect and rethink how we work. If this sparked something for you, we would love if you shared it with someone who might need to hear it. You can always connect with us at info@pickapath.co.nz or find more at pickapath.co.nz.
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