Career

How to write a professional bio that actually represents you

📅 June 2025 · ⏱ 5 min read · ProfesionalDocuments.com

A professional bio is one of the most versatile documents you'll ever write — and one of the least-taught skills in professional life. Whether it's for LinkedIn, a conference programme, a company website or an email signature, the same principles apply.

The key difference from a CV

A CV is a structured record of your professional history. A bio is a narrative. It can include personality, context and voice in a way a CV doesn't. The best bios feel like they were written by a real person — because they were.

First person or third person?

This depends on the context:

LinkedIn About section: First person ("I lead a team of...") — it's a direct communication platform
Company website team page: Third person ("James leads the marketing team...") — consistent with other team bios
Conference speaker profile: Third person — the event host may read it aloud
Email signature or personal website: Either — follow your preference

Three versions you should have ready

The one-liner (for email signatures, social profiles)

✓ Example

"Senior product designer helping fintech startups simplify complex user journeys. Based in London."

The short bio (50–100 words, for speaker profiles, conference materials)

✓ Example

"Anna Smith is a senior product designer with 10 years' experience in fintech, having led design at three Series A startups and held senior roles at HSBC and Monzo. Her work focuses on reducing friction in onboarding and transactional flows for complex financial products. She speaks regularly at UX conferences and mentors junior designers through the Design Council."

The full bio (200–400 words, for website About pages or detailed profiles)

This version includes more context — how you got to where you are, what drives your work, notable projects or clients, and a human touch (interests, location, personal motivation).

✓ Opening of a full bio

"Anna Smith spent the first three years of her design career trying to make banking feel less like doing your taxes. That conviction — that financial services can be both rigorous and human — has shaped every project she's worked on since."

💡 The human detail matters. One personal detail — a city you're based in, an interest outside work, a motivation behind your career — makes a bio feel written by a person rather than assembled by HR. Don't strip all personality out in the name of professionalism.

What to avoid

Hollow superlatives: "dynamic", "visionary", "thought leader" — these add nothing
Excessive jargon — write for someone outside your industry
Listing every job you've ever had — a bio is not a CV in prose form
Writing it once and never updating it — an outdated bio is worse than none

The most common bio mistake

Writing it about yourself rather than for your reader. Ask: what does the person reading this want to know? Why are they reading it? What should they feel, think or do after reading it? Let those questions shape every sentence.

Update your CV too

Keep your CV and professional bio aligned with the same current story.

📄 Update my CV →