Professional self-presentation and a personal statement as a component of the English resume

The article focuses on the characteristics of professional self-presentation in the applicant’s personal statement as a component of a resume within the English-language employment discourse. The position in a resume, secondariness, an extremely concise format that suggests highlighting only key information, and the priority of the persuasive intention over the addresser’s other intentions create the genre identity of the applicant’s personal statement. The identity influences both the general nature of professional self-presentation and the choice of content details that act as attractors used to draw the addressee’s attention. The in-depth analysis revealed the significance of professional specialization for selecting pieces of information transmitted via the applicant’s personal statement. The author distinguished between seven groups of personal statements in accordance with job-seekers’ professional self-identification. While employing the main tactics, the representatives of the groups stress specific personal and professional characteristics and achievements, and introduce additional concepts that are not expressed explicitly, unlike description of facts. A set of attractors in personal statements is determined by the job-seeker’s choice and attitudes, norms and values that are significant for the addressee as a participant of the employment discourse and a representative of a particular national, cultural and social community. The research provides the examples of the language means to verbalize these attractors.

personal statement, employment discourse, professional self-presentation, tactics, influence