Craft A Smarter Summary and Bio

Constructing a bio that’s not over the top but isn’t ho-hum either is a dilemma for many job seekers and business owners. You see, your bio or summary sets the stage! It helps your audience understand who you are and why they should care.

You don’t want to sound like a braggart, and yet you don’t want people to under-estimate your qualifications or credibility either.

Writing your LinkedIn Summary or bio is both and art and a science. I hope these suggestions will help you find just the right blend of interesting, intriguing, promotional, and truthful.

Consider Your Audience

Who are you writing your summary for? In other words who will be reading it? And what do you want them to remember about you?

Is your target audience contemporary, traditional, creative, or conservative? You will want your bio’s style to appeal to their style as well. 

Look to others for Inspiration

Starting from a blank sheet of paper can be intimidating. Here are some places to start getting ideas:

• Search LinkedIn summaries.
• Take a look at the speaker bios from conferences.
• Pay attention to author/blogger bios.

One word of caution- if everyone in your industry is writing long, seemingly boring bios, you may not want to buck the trend. However, if you want to get some creative ideas to jazz your bio up a bit, try reading the bios of marketing professionals, celebrities, startup founders, authors, or other big names. These bios are often professionally crafted or the people writing them have creative writing skills. No two people are alike, it is therefore highly inadvisable to lift someone else’s information.

Quick Tip: Enlist the help of someone who can objectively edit/wordsmith your bio!

Brainstorm Answers to These Questions

Before you start agonizing over every word, jot down the answers to these questions:

• What are your 2-3 most important qualifications?
• What makes you tick? (What inspires/motivates you?)
• What problems are you good at solving and who benefits?
• What is one major success?
• What got you where you are today?
• What words have others used to describe you?
• What keywords do you want to be associated with? 

Brainstorming the answers to these questions can help you decide what is important for you to include and focus in on. You may not use all of this information, but perhaps thinking the answers through will offer you greater insight.

Quick Tip: Remember to use the information your audience will feel is most important first.

The Long and Short Versions

You don’t need to include your entire work history. Most people will never read your full bio if it is too long. There is a fine line here between divulging too much information and establishing trust by providing enough information for people to feel they know you.

So what is the ideal length? There is a growing trend towards shorter bios. Some online bios limit the number of characters you can use, such as Twitter, to 160 characters. In these instances, you must shorten your bio using the most valuable keywords.

Quick Tip: Having a longer version and a shorter version saves time in the long run.

More Advice

• LinkedIn Summaries often include the words “I,” “me,” and “my”, rather than the stuffy third-person.
• Gear your message toward the people you want to reach on each social media platform.
• Use the same version of your name across all bios for improved search engine results.
• Add a fun fact about you to grab attention.
• Always include contact information and links to most prominent social networks or your personal website.

What Now?

• Begin updating your online profiles. Any place you have the opportunity to post your bio, do it! 
• Update your LinkedIn Summary.
• Don’t forget to include the bio on Facebook.
• When you use the same wording consistently, it improves your ability to build an online presence. 

Quick Tip: To see a full list of social profiles and whether you “own” your name, check these two sites: Namechk.com and Knowem.com.

Taking Your Bio One Step Further

Do you have an About.me page? Or what about a page on Flavors.me? These free virtual place holders give you a web presence and the opportunity to educate visitors on who you are and allow you to include links so people can learn even more about you. You can learn more about these tools here.

A version of this post appeared originally on CareerSherpa.net

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Hannah Morgan writes and speaks about using social media for job search and to enhance careers. Visit her website careersherpa.net to learn more. Or follow her on Twitter @careersherpa

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