Crafting Your Professional Bio: Establishing Your Personal Brand

    An effective way to establish your Personal Brand is through a Professional Bio, which is a persuasive means to introduce yourself in the business world. When conducting an online search, prospective employers are more likely to encounter your Professional Bio before your other professional materials, including a resume. An appealing & informative Professional Bio will persuade your audience to learn more about you. Your Professional Bio is an opportunity to market yourself by discussing what makes you stand out as interesting, credible, & worthwhile from a professional perspective. Common elements include personal background, education, experiences, achievements, interests, & goals. You want to choose content that best represents you, provides an interesting narrative, & enables readers to get to know you as a person. A Professional Bio is an important element for social media accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.), personal websites, and professional Digital Portfolios. A Professional Bio also goes beyond marketing an individual. Notice how professionals in various companies, government agencies, & community organizations present themselves to the public via their Professional Bios. They personalize the interface with stakeholders, enabling them to “meet” the individuals in charge of the business. A Professional Bio needs to be tailored for specific venues & audiences. A Professional Bio for an application to graduate school or an internship will be much longer than one for a social media profile. The former may be as long as an essay, while the latter may be only 2 sentences. The ability to adapt your information in long & short versions is essential for success. There are different perspectives on whether to write a Professional Bio in 3rd person (“she” or “he”) or 1st person (“I”). Using 3rd person is a more formal approach, while 1st person is a more casual one. Choose the approach that is required or most appropriate for your audience. This assignment calls for 3rd person. PURPOSE: Develop the ability to present yourself professionally & persuasively through writing to establish your Personal Brand. These skills can also be applied to personal statements for applications (internships, scholarships, grad school, study abroad), professional Digital Portfolios, & social media accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). Deliverables Overview: Create two (2) versions of a Professional Bio with a photo for networking purposes. Business professionals are your target audience. A. A long Professional Bio in 3rd person (Minimum 200 words; Maximum 300 words) B. A brief Professional Bio in 3rd person [This will be adapted from your longer Bio written for item A above]. (Minimum 50 words; Maximum 100 words)Deliverables Specifications: Introduce yourself & inform your audience about your background, which may include some or all of the following: • Education, • Professional experience (work, internship, etc.), • Involvement in the community, organizations, &/or clubs • Achievements (i.e., honors, awards, etc.) • Leadership roles, &/or • Other relevant information, such as fluency in two or more languages. Identify your specific professional goals in relation to your field of interest &/or type of job. It’s not enough to merely say you want to be an Accountant in a major firm or start your own business. Make yourself stand out from others on the market. Throughout your Professional Bio provide specific information and examples to illustrate each statement you make. Weak: “I was awarded a scholarship.” vs. Strong: “I was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship for my Junior and Senior years.” Format: • Use 12- or 11-point font in Times New Roman or Arial. • Put your name in bold font centered at the top. • Include a professional photo of yourself. • Provide the text of each version of your Bio in block paragraphs (single-spaced, no indents, & double-space between paragraphs). • Break down text into paragraphs for readability & professional presentation. • Indicate the date you composed the bios at the very end of each version. • Save both versions of your Professional Bio plus your photo in one (1) Word document & submit it to the designated Assignment on the course site.