1 - Getting Started ~5 mins
You are reflecting today. You already researched a job role and banked notes. Now you hold that role beside your personal statement and ask a blunt question: does the person on the page look like someone who could do this work?
Open two files if you have them. The first is the personal statement you wrote and saved for ALT 1, the piece of work in your Strand 1.1 folder. The second is your job-role research notes. If those research notes are missing, use the sample role further on in this lesson (Retail Sales Assistant) so you can still finish today's note, which you will save as PS to Job Role. Fit is not flattery. A mismatch is useful. It either means the role is wrong for you right now, or the statement has fallen behind who you are.
2 - Key Terms ~5 mins
Three ideas you will use for the rest of the period:
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | You will judge your own statement against one real role, not against a vague career dream. | Teamwork evidence matching a care-assistant role that names calm communication under pressure |
| Personal statement revisit | Today is the first scheduled return to ALT 1; later lessons will return again with workplace and community lenses. | Adding one placement sentence after work experience because the old draft never mentioned it |
| Role alignment | You will name three aligned aspects and any claim the role cannot use. | Café closing-shift responsibility aligning with a retail advert that asks for lock-up trust |
3 - What Do You Expect Fit to Show? ~5 mins
Before you open your own files, work through five common claims about personal statements and job-role fit. Decide true or false from instinct for each one before the explanation appears on the board. You will test these instincts against Aoife’s map, then your own files, so honesty beats guessing the “right” school answer.
Common claims about statements and job roles
4 - Case Study: Aoife Maps Fit ~12 mins
Study Aoife’s map in the worked example. She holds her personal-statement claims beside a role she researched from CareersPortal reading and clinic-style job notes: Occupational Therapy Assistant support work in a community primary-care team. Watch how she picks three aligned aspects, names one dead claim, and decides what to revise.
If you have no job-role research notes, map your own statement today against this fallback role instead:
Fallback role: Retail Sales Assistant (high-street store)
- Reliable timekeeping for opening and closing shifts
- Calm, clear communication with customers under pressure
- Accuracy with simple stock or till notes
- Willingness to finish checklists without being reminded
- No requirement for elite sports knowledge or match-analysis hobby detail
Your turn in the portfolio: open or create PS to Job Role (Strand 1.2). Name your job role (researched or the Retail Sales Assistant fallback), and start listing three statement aspects with the role demand each supports. You will finish the note after the annotate practice.
Aoife’s PS to Job Role map
Unlock the full learning experience
You're previewing this lesson. Get full access to this lesson and hundreds more — each one ready to teach, with interactive activities, printable resources and pupil progress tracking built in.
This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2026. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.