Six Tips for Writing an Outstanding Professional Bio

Professional biographies, or professional bios for short, establishes all the basic details that companies, clients, and hiring officials need to know about you and your career history. In essence, the professional bio presents you as a professional at glance. While not essential as other parts of a resume, profile, or website, professional bios also provide an important springboard for prospective employers and customers to familiarize themselves with you.

While universally reliable, there is no uniform standard for writing professional bios. In fact, the style and length of your professional bio will depend on your intended document or platform. For instance, a resume or CV frequently have formal professional bios that are only a single paragraph long. On the other hand, a job site profile or personal website permit casual professional bios that are often two to three paragraphs long (or more!).

Professional bios might seem straightforward, but it can actually be easy to write a weak bio. Ideally, a professional bio should be interesting enough to push your reader to learn more about you. But how to do that? Below are tips to write an outstanding professional biography.

Tip #1: Include the relevant details.

A professional biography usually contains the following details:

·       Yourname

·       Your current position or company

·       Your most significant accomplishments, experiences, and credentials

·       Your personal goals or inspirations

·       Your educational background

·       Your hobbies, past-times, or current projects.

·       Your contact details

The details you include in your professional bio should be sensitive to the needs of your reviewing employer or client, as well as useful for your employer or client to interact with you. For example, hitting all the right experiences, expertise, and credentials for the job is useful, but how can your reader start and hold a conversation with you? This is why itis sometimes essential to mention your favorite interests or current projects.

Naturally, the details you include should also be indicative of your growth as a professional. Present the development of your skills, experiences, and identity overtime, as well as the ways you are utilizing and honing them today.

Finally, get straight to the point. Don’t allot too much attention to one detail before hopping onto the next. Keep your readers flowing from one pertinent detail to the next. 

Tip #2: Adjust and adapt.

Like with resumes and CVs, a one-size-fits-all bio would very likely be too general for it to be beneficial.

That said, the best bios are adjusted to fit the expectations of their attached application or platform. For example, short one paragraph bios will suit resumes more than three to four paragraph long bios for websites or portfolios.

Similarly, your bio should also match the tone of your platform or application. Resumes will typically require your bio to be formal, leaving little to no room for overly personal details like hobbies and favorite past-times. Contrary to this, a professional bio for your personal work website is often quite appropriate for an informally written bio.

Bottomline: Always be sensitive to the context in which you write your bio.

Tip #3: Be down to earth.

Good professional bios shouldn’t sound empty and robotic. While professional bios are meant to present all your relevant information, they’re also meant to let your prospective clients and employers know you better.

This will surely help for making connections on more than just a transactional level, such as in establishing networking ties or inquiring about your works in progress. Adding to this, always include truthful information in your bio and avoid making any exaggerations or mischaracterizations that may mislead your readers.

‍Tip #4: Less is more.

Even when writing for an application or website that allows long bios, always choose the most necessary length. A professional biography is not an invitation to go write a novel about yourself, but is an instrument for your prospective clients and employers to know you.

Always ensure that you use short sentences and straightforward language, especially if you’re writing a professional bio for a resume or CV. Remember that strong concrete experiences and details make for amore compelling biography than heavy words and complex sentences.

Tip #5: Personify yourself.

A professional biography is, after all, a biography.While your experiences and credentials are being assessed, clients and employers would also appreciate commitment to your professional development and your field.

When appropriate, mention the challenges you’ve overcome, the problems you’ve solved, the goals you strive for, and your inspiration and dedication. If these things may seem too grand, then you can include your favorite things to do or your personal interests.

Such details help to humanize you and provide useful conversation starters for your future clients and employers.

 Tip #6: Double-check and revise.

As with any piece, always proofread and edit your professional biography for any typos, grammar mistakes, or muddy sentences. An obvious spelling or grammar error can immediately send a bad impression to anyone who reads your bio, so exercise caution by double-checking your bio.

Some good ways to ensure no errors is to scan your bio through a word processor to quickly spot obvious errors, and to let your trusted colleagues, friends, or relatives read through your bio to provide feedback. Ask them if your professional bio really communicates who you are asa person and a professional, and if they would be interested to keep entertaining your resume or website just from reading the bio. Moreover, be mindful of any of their criticisms and edit your professional bio accordingly.

In summary…

Professional biographies should quickly inform your clients and employers of all your most relevant details that represent your productive value and your personal commitment. Thus, a professional bio, no matter how short, is an important element in advertising your worth as a professional.

Our team at Tailored Resume has produced hundreds of professional bios that have excelled in doing that just that. If you’re interested in excellent professional bios, resumes, CVs, cover letters, LinkedIn Content optimization, and more, then our seasoned team of professional writers and industry insiders is here to help. Having provided quick, affordable, and top-quality output to numerous clients around the globe, we’re more than ready to be your partners at tailoredresume.com.

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