How to write a bio about yourself

An autobiography is not a duplicate resume or a questionnaire. It is a document in which a person describes the main stages of his life from his birth to the present. It is like a mirror, showing how successful a person is, what he has achieved, whether he has climbed the career ladder.

It is the curriculum vitae, along with other documents required for employment, that employers may require of you

Why and who for?

Autobiographies are not required everywhere or by everyone. As a rule, it is required for employment in large commercial firms or state institutions. The most common requests are for employees of law enforcement agencies, civil servants, teachers, doctors, and even cooks to tell about themselves from A to Z.

An autobiography is not just a document used by a company's personnel department to complete a new employee's personnel file. It gives the employer an opportunity to get to know the newcomer better.

From this narrative, the employer learns:

• Who the prospective employee is;
• his family situation, the milieu he came from;
• his education;
• experiences and accomplishments;
• interesting facts about his life;
• virtues and disadvantages;
• hobbies;
• the ability to express his thoughts.

And this, you must agree, is valuable material for compiling a psychological characteristic of a person. And since an autobiography is a life-descriptive document, you should present yourself at your best.

How to write an autobiography

There are no clear standards and templates for writing a CV. It is written in any form, by hand, on a sheet of A4 format, focusing on the requirements of a particular employer. Choose the style of narration that you feel suits the company where you are going to work best - official-business, artistic or a mix of the two styles.

Still, there is a certain tradition in writing this document. There are 8 points that should be consistently included in an autobiography.

NB! The following is a list of items that are usually described in an autobiography. But it is not necessary to include their names in the main text. Tell the story in the first person, narrate logically, arranging all the facts in chronological order.

1. Title

At the top of the page, in the middle with a capital letter should be written as follows: Autobiography.

2. Name

Next, introduce yourself by stating your surname, first name, patronymic, and date and place of birth. Your narrative will begin with the words: I, surname, first name, patronymic, was born ...

3. Education

Indicate when and what school you graduated from. This will be sufficient. But on education after school, please specify in more detail - period of study, name of university, department, specialty, and so on.

4. Work activity

When describing your employment history, state the years you worked at your former job, the name of your company or organization, and the position you held there. Describe your duties, business achievements, and reasons for leaving your job. Do not hesitate to include information about promotions, incentives, awards. Information about patents, inventions, scientific works and publications in periodicals will also characterize you in a positive way.

5. Marital status

Tell us briefly about your family, your husband or wife, your children, if you have them.

6. Military Service

For men it is obligatory to indicate information about where and when their military service took place, rank.

7. Related

Employers often ask for information about parents, siblings, their year of birth, occupation, and place of study. This information is included at the end of the curriculum vitae after the main text.

8. Signature and date

The autobiography is signed and dated by the author, i.e. you. The date is on the left and the signature is on the right below the text.

Helpful tips

There are a few more subtle points about writing a CV:

• It is possible that you may be asked to write your CV in the presence of human resources staff. So if you are looking for a job make it up in advance. In addition, having a personal story about yourself ready will be a good aid during the interview.
• Some employers also ask you to fill out a job application. There are already questions in it. Your answers just need to be written in the blank space. In modern companies you may be offered to write a story about yourself instead of an autobiography, which is then posted on a corporate blog available only to team members.
• Focus more on the personal accomplishments you have achieved in your life than on events. Collect all the information that describes you positively, and don't include negative information at all.
• Do not write too much, try to fit the CV on one sheet.
• To prevent the employer from doubting that you really are the best, it is very important to write your CV without spelling mistakes, without a rambling statement of thought.
• The information in your CV should be true and not inconsistent with the information on your CV.

In order to present yourself worthily to a future employer, think over how exactly you will describe your biography, and in what form. I am sure that skillfully compiled CV is an additional plus to all your advantages and a great help to successfully fit into the team, to get used to the new job. Good luck!