Write Your Own Executive Career Biography

Your executive career tells a story about your accomplishments and what kind of leader you are and can be. Find out how to write a successful one so that you can showcase your strengths and move onto a new job.
There are so many more elements involved in being an executive than other levels in your professional career that it can be staggering. But these additional elements not only help to build your career, they also help develop who you are as a person.

This is the case for the executive career biography, which is a little bit more than a resume. This biography helps to define who you are professionally, for yourself and potential employers. The good news is that it’s not hard to write on your own. Looking for tips on how to create yours? You’ve reached the right place …

Tip #1: Pinpoint 3 or 4 Defining Moments

As an executive, you’re sure to have some truly exceptional moments that can define your career. If not, it’s hard to imagine how you could have gotten to this incredible stage in your life. So think of defining moments that have helped your career progress over the years then incorporate the most meaningful one or two in your biography.

Tip #2: Don’t be Afraid to Recount Some Adversity

While you may want to present your career as picture-perfect, it’s just not realistic to tell the world that you’ve had no problems at all. So in your bio, don’t be afraid to show that you may have had one or two ups and downs in your career. Just remember to show how you were able to overcome your adversity, and most importantly, how it made you a stronger person and professional.

Tip #3: Make Your First Sentence Count

Just like a great story, it’s important that the reader is drawn in from the first few words of your biography. So while it’s important to focus on the content you’ll incorporate in your biography, you also want to brush up on your story-telling skills to create an impactful first sentence that will capture your audience and leave them yearning for information about your leadership, brand value, and more.

Tip #4: Remember to Write in Third Person and Include Subheadings

Like any other biography, your executive career biography should be written in a third-person narrative format. Also, it’s a very good idea to include high-impact subheadings to help direct the reader to important information they want to discover about you. The subheadings also help to create much-needed white space.

Tip #5: Include Something about Your Family

Not only do you want to talk about your community involvement and/or volunteering activities, you also want to talk briefly about your spouse and children and what profession/activities they participate in. This helps to show that you’re a real person and can help those with similar stories relate to you as a person more closely.

It’s good to remember that many times your career bio is requested even before your resume. It’s also good to keep in mind that your bio can be used in the "about" section of your blog or LinkedIn page. Your executive career bio is not just a useful addition to your job search, it’s necessary. So take these tips into consideration as you begin writing your own.
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By Heather Eagar
Published: 8/31/2009
 
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