15 Pointers for Crafting Your Professional Bio: A Mini-Self Portrait

by Ellen Reeves

categories: On the Job/Professional Development, The Search Process

Published June 12, 2009 @ 09:30AM PT

 

I've been editing 100-word bios for the Columbia Publishing Course where I teach every summer. These statements are circulated to the class of 100 students and to prospective employers. Editing them reminded me that you should have one! If you don't already have one, draft one this weekend.  If you already have one, take a few minutes this weekend to update it--you never know when you’ll need one. 

What's a bio and why do you need one? 

A bio or biographical statement is a professional statement of your experiences and accomplishments used, for example, as an introduction if you are speaking somewhere, in a conference program, or at the end of an article you've written. As Jobs for Change Bloggers, we all have mini-bios next to our blog names. You may not think you'll be doing any of these things but you never know, and writing a bio can even help you determine what you might like to be doing and how your experiences appear when summarized this way. A bio may also include personal details not found on a resume. (Not overly personal; I mean things like "Rosemarie grew up in Wisconsin and has two children.") You can also cite affiliations, memberships, board service and so on.

You can have several bios, each tailored to a particular interest, so that a non-profit/volunteer bio will highlight all your skills and activities in this sphere. 

Believe it or not, this is one of the most important pieces of writing you will ever craft.  Your biographical statement must be articulate, direct, and engaging.  It should summarize your background, experience, education, and interests, and give the reader some idea of your personality.  Because you have so little space, choose your words with care and make sure every detail you include is significant. Be specific. 

You should have two versions: one at 100-150 words, and a longer one, but usually not longer than a page. You can reorganize according to your audience as you go along. Here are some things to thing about.

Good bios...

1) Are written in the third person (i.e. “he” or “she”).

2) Vary sentence structure; do not begin every sentence with “She.”

3) Stick to the word count if one is given.

4) Provide information NOT necessarily available on your resume.

5) Provide an opener for conversation in an interview.

6) Make the reader want to meet you.

7) Use concrete experience to show, not tell.

8) Contain at least one memorable detail to distinguish you from others (“Oh, you’re the Hula-Hoop champion!”)

9) Convey modesty, but also confidence and competence.

10) Are not self-deprecating, cute, overly clever, gimmicky, or basically annoying.

11) Do not include phrases like “Ever since she was three, Jezebel knew she wanted to change the world."

12) Do not offer adjectives in praise of self—let the reader be the judge of your talents.

13) Explain terms and acronyms.

14) Do not waste space selling the business at hand to people already in the field.

("Social entrepreneurship is an exciting venture which matches John’s love of humanity.”)

15) Are grammatically correct, punctuated correctly,  and free of typos.

Start painting your professional self-portrait and have a good weekend!