As a marketer, my professional bio is the best way to, well, market myself.

From generalist to content strategist and agency to enterprise, my role has changed a lot over the last (almost) eight years. And my professional bio has to keep up. Even though I can admit I don’t always feel like rewriting it.

But we all know we have to keep our professional bios refreshed to give people an accurate snapshot of who we are, why they should work with us, and why they should care about what we have to say.

For that reason alone (and because it’s my actual job), I’ll show you how to write a bio and share some of my favorite professional bio examples from years of reworking my own.

What is a professional bio?

A professional bio or biography is a quick rundown of your background and experience. Your bio should include details about your professional expertise, skills, and achievements, but it’s also an opportunity to show off your personality and personal interests.

They can live just about anywhere — your personal or company website, speaker or contributor pages, LinkedIn profile, or other social media channels.

Why Good Bios Are Important for Professionals

But how many people actually read professional bios, anyway?

Well, I can tell you that I get a number of “Someone has viewed your profile” notifications on LinkedIn, so you’re probably getting more eyes on it than you think.

The reality is people will read your professional bio. Whether they remember it or it makes them care about you is a matter of how well you present yourself.

A good professional bio will reel them in. Then, you can really seal the deal by providing more depth IRL.

What should a professional bio say?

Remember those four simple questions I mentioned above? Here are the specific ingredients that I include in my own professional bio to help answer them.

• Name and background: Always start your professional bio by introducing yourself and providing some context about who you are and your experience.
• Professional roles and achievements: Highlight your previous roles, what you currently do for work, and an accomplishment or two. You know, brag a little.
• Values and work approach: What do you care about? What drives the way you think about work? Include that here.
• Passions and interests: Yes, you should absolutely save room to share your hobbies and talk a little bit about your personal life. This really helps the reader understand who you are beyond your professional achievements.
• Call-to-action: Tell the reader what to do next. Now that they’ve met you in writing, what’s the ideal path forward for you (and for them)?

How to Format Your Professional Bio

Depending on the platform and audience, you can use several formats for your work bios, but one consistent choice, regardless of these factors, is whether to write in a first-person or third-person tone. Let’s break down the two.

Team: Third-Person Bios

On the flip side, Vivian Chen, Founder & CEO at Rise, says she always recommends writing professional bios in the third person, as “it lends a more professional and objective tone, especially when used in formal settings.”

And Arvind Rongala, CEO at Edstellar, agrees that writing in the third person “makes them sound more formal.”

My take? I do believe both approaches can work as long as you tell your story in a way that connects with your reader. So, I suggest picking one that works best for your audience and your medium.

First-person professional bios do tend to read more casually, so consider that style for channels like social media or your personal website.

If you’re writing for a business website or formal occasion, you may want to opt for a third-person professional bio.

(I’d pretend I don’t have a preference … but between you and me, I lean toward writing my professional bios in the first person. I like to write how I speak, and the easiest way to talk about myself is from my own POV.)

Regardless, I’ve got some tips to make either version great