Your professional bio is not only relevant when applying for jobs, seeking new clients, or networking — it also gives the world a brief snapshot of who you are and your professional ideals.
To help you author one that packs a punch, we’ll teach you how to write a professional bio, give you professional bio templates, and show you the best professional bio examples you can get inspiration from.
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How to Write a Professional Bio
Best Professional Bio Examples
What is a professional bio?
A professional bio or biography is a short overview of your experience. Professional bios usually include details about education, employment, achievements, and relevant skills.
Purpose of Professional Bios
A bio tells an audience about who you are, what you’ve done, and what you can do. It can help potential employers, fans, or customers get a sense of your personality and what you stand for.
Writing your bio may be hard to achieve without a starting point. Below, we’ve included professional templates to expedite the process of writing a great bio.
Professional Bio Templates
With professional bios, keeping your message honest and to the point is best practice. So how do you write one that will effectively market you and your brand? You use a professional bio template.
By sticking to a predetermined format, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with your most relevant career information. These bio templates will guide you on where you should place your:
- Name
- Occupation or job title
- Passions and goals
- Skill set and expertise
- Education
- Work history
- Location
Of course, while there is no one-size-fits-all template for a professional bio, these templates are a quick way to start building your long or short bio before customizing it.
But before choosing your bio template, there are some key elements to include to ensure yours is effective.
For example, say you’re looking for a job. Your professional bio should give recruiters a peek at your career accomplishments and experience.
What if you’ve recently published a book or are applying for a grant? In those situations, highlight organizations you support or include catchy anecdotes.
And if you’re a recent graduate? A well-written professional bio helps you communicate how your life experience makes you the best candidate for the roles you’re seeking.
Bottom line: Tailoring your professional bio to your goals and who you want to reach will make it more effective.
To structure your professional bio to stay true to these objectives, try our 80+ downloadable professional bio templates — for both short- and long-form bios — to start creating a bio that hits the mark.
Download free, editable short and long professional bio templates.
What should a professional bio say?
Your professional bio should be as unique as you.
When writing your bio, include important professional roles and achievements. Add your passions, interests, and how you bring your values to your work. Finally, your bio should give readers a chance to know you and reflect your personality.
Here are the elements I recommend including when writing a professional bio:
Professional Roles and Achievements
It’s essential to highlight your career roles and achievements in your bio. This can include your current position, previous roles, and notable accomplishments. It will not only help establish your expertise and credibility, but start your bio on the right note.
Passions and Interests
This might not be as essential, but it will help humanize you. Remember: Bios are shared via an impersonal medium, like a screen, and can sometimes feel distant if we don’t take the right steps.
Share your passions and interests, whether or not they’re related to your work or industry. That way, you can show your enthusiasm and dedication outside of your professional life. Plus, you could potentially find common ground with readers — which is always beneficial.
Values and Work Approach
Your values can sometimes show your work ethic more effectively than your career path. It can also help you endear yourself to employers and colleagues who want to work with people with similar values.
So don’t be shy: Share how you incorporate your values into your work. Whether it’s a commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, or ethical decision-making, explain what drives you, and be enthusiastic about it.
Your Personality
Don’t forget: Your bio should always include a taste of your personality! Your sense of humor, creativity, or collaborative nature could all give readers a sense of who you are. This helps readers connect with you on a more personal level.
Remember to tailor your bio for different platforms and audiences. Also, keep it concise and impactful while highlighting the most relevant information in each context.
Next up, we cover first-person and third-person bios, and when you should use each one.
First-Person Bio vs. Third-Person Bio
While first-person bios are quite common, third-person bios can be more effective in formal situations.
Your decision to write your professional bio in the first or third person depends on your desire to leave a more personable or assertive impression.
Both approaches work, provided you tailor them to your goals and audience. What’s important is to be clear and tell your story in a way that connects with your reader.
How to Write a First-Person Bio
Writing in the first person can be a great way to connect with your audience when building a personal brand. When you write a first-person bio, use “I” or “me” to make yourself relatable and approachable.
Here’s one way to write a first-person bio:
“I’m a freelance writer specializing in small business content. I’ve worked with companies in a variety of industries like home care to fine leather goods.”
By speaking in the first person here, you connect with a client or brand based on your personal experience and opinions. Put another way, writing a first-person bio is like telling your story to your audience.
Here are a few tips to make your first-person bio great:
Don’t start every sentence with “I.”
Showing instead of telling is a great approach.
Let’s say you’re a writer who wants to create a short professional bio. Instead of saying, “I love to write,” you can say, “Writer. Bad but enthusiastic dancer.”
This portrays your writing skill, shows your personality outside of writing as a dancer, and includes a little sense of humor, which is essential for a writer.
Remember, you know yourself better than anyone.
Adding a back story to your bio helps create context for the roles and successes you write about. Think of it like a case study about who you were, what you are now, and the process that got you to your current position.
Focus on useful details.
Quick facts about you can showcase your identity and values. For example, if you’re writing a bio for LinkedIn, think about how you can tie your hobby into what you do.
Let’s say Animal Crossing is your hobby. Does it align with your career aspirations? If your goal is to pursue a video game career, it can be a great addition to your bio.
However, if your interests lie elsewhere, including a more relevant hobby is better.
How to Write a Third-Person Bio
Third-person bios sound more authoritative and objective. So, if you’re job searching in a formal industry, applying for grants, or trying to get published, you may want to stick to the third person.
For instance, when you write a third-person bio, you may start with:
“Jasmine Montgomery is a Senior Hiring Manager at L’Oreal based in New York. She recruits across several business units to connect with the brightest talent from around the globe.”
By only using your name and pronouns to speak about yourself here, you are letting your title and skill set speak for themselves.
These bios create distance between the subject of the bio (you) and the reader through a third person. This person could be anyone, but they usually speak in a tone that emphasizes their expertise.
This makes third-person bios feel aloof or overly formal sometimes.
Ideally, your third-person bio should sound friendly but polished, like a message from a close colleague at work. Here are a few tips on how to write a great third-person bio.
Write from the perspective of someone you know and trust.
It can be tough to write about yourself, so try to see yourself from the perspective of your favorite person at work or a mentor you trust. This can help you write from a position of authority without feeling self-conscious.
Show the reader why they should trust your opinion.
A professional bio often reflects a specific industry or niche. With this in mind, your text should include relevant details that professionals in your industry know. Avoid jargon whenever you can.
Remember, you’re telling a story.
If you want a third-person bio, but you’re used to writing in first-person, it may help to write it the way that’s most comfortable for you.
Your professional bio is an important piece of writing, so edit it carefully. Edit your writing from both points of view and see which works best for your target audience.
Here’s how to write a professional bio, step by step.
How to Write a Professional Bio
- Create an ‘About’ page for your website or profile.
- Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.
- Mention any associated brand name you might use.
- State your current position and what you do.
- Include at least one professional accomplishment.
- Describe your values and how they inform your career.
- Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.
- Use humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.
If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t think about your professional bio until you’re suddenly asked to “send one over via email.”
You have approximately one afternoon to come up with it, so you scramble together a bio that ends up reading like this:
“Rodney Erickson is a content marketing professional at HubSpot, a CRM platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.
Previously, Rodney worked as a marketing manager for a tech software startup. He graduated with honors from Columbia University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing.”
To be fair, in certain contexts, your professional bio needs to be more formal, like Mr. Erickson’s up there. But there are also cases where writing a personable and conversational bio is good.
Whether you choose the formal or casual route, use the following steps to create a perfect bio.
1. Create an ‘About’ page for your website or profile.
You need an online space to keep your professional bio. Here are a few to consider (some of these you might already have in place):
As you’ll see in the professional bio examples below, the length and tone of your bio will differ depending on the platforms you use.
Instagram, for example, allows only 150 characters of bio space, whereas you can write as much as you want on your website or Facebook Business page.
2. Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.
If your readers remember nothing else about your bio, they should remember your name. For that reason, it’s a good idea for your first and last name to be the first two words of your professional bio.
Even if your name is printed above this bio (hint: it should), this is a rare moment where it’s okay to be redundant.
For example, if I were writing my bio, I might start it like this:
Lindsay Kolowich
Lindsay Kolowich is a Senior Marketing Manager at HubSpot.
3. Mention any associated brand name you might use.
Will your professional bio represent you or a business you work for? Ensure you mention the brand you associate with in your bio. If you’re a freelancer, you may have a personal business name or pseudonym you advertise to your clients.
Here are a few examples:
- Lindsay Kolowich Marketing.
- SEO Lindsay.
- Kolowich Consulting.
- Content by Kolowich (what do you think … too cheesy?).
Maybe you founded your own company and want its name to be separate from your real name. Keep it simple like this: “Lindsay Kolowich is the founder and CEO of Kolowich Consulting.”
4. State your current position and what you do.
Whether you’re the author of a novel or a mid-level specialist, use the next few lines of your bio to describe what you do in that position. Don’t assume your audience knows what your job title entails.
Make your primary responsibilities known so readers can know you and understand what you offer to your industry.
5. Include at least one professional accomplishment.
Just as a business touts its client successes in the form of case studies, your professional bio should let your audience know what you’ve achieved.
What have you done for yourself — as well as for others — that makes you a valuable player in your industry?
6. Describe your values and how they inform your career.
Why do you do what you do? What might make your contribution to the market different from your colleagues? What are the values that make your business a worthwhile investment to others?
Create a professional bio that answers these questions.
7. Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.
Transition from describing your values in work to describing who you are outside of work. This may include:
- Your family.
- Your hometown.
- Sports you play.
- Hobbies and interests.
- Favorite music and travel destinations.
- Side hustles you’re working on.
People like connecting with other people. The more transparent you are about who you are personally, the more likable you’ll be to people reading about you.
8. Use humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.
End your professional bio on a good note — or, more specifically, a funny note. By leaving your audience with something quirky or unique, you can ensure they’ll leave your website with a pleasant impression of you.
It’s important to follow the steps above when writing your bio, but don’t obsess over any one section. People consume lots of information daily. So ensure your bio hooks ’em in the first line, and you won’t lose them.
(P.S. Want to boost your professional brand? Take one of HubSpot Academy’s free certification courses. In just one weekend, you can add a line to your resume and bio that over 60,000 marketers covet.)
Why Good Bios Are Important for a Professional
Now you may think, “How many people read professional bios, anyway?”
The answer: A lot. Though there’s no way to tell who is reading it, you want it to be catchy. Done right, your professional bio will delight the right people who come across it on multiple platforms.
Professional bios can live on your LinkedIn profile, company website, guest posts, your speaker profiles, Twitter bio, Instagram bio, and many other places.
And, most importantly, it’s the tool you can leverage most when you’re networking.
Bottom line? People will read your professional bio. Whether they remember it, and whether it makes them care about you, is a matter of how well you present yourself to your intended audience.
So, what does a top-notch professional bio look like? Let’s go over a few sample bios for professionals like you and me. Then, we’ll cover bio examples from some of the best people in the industry.
Short Sample Bios
Your bio doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are five samples to glean inspiration from.
Example 1: Friendly Sample Bio
“Hey! My name is Ryan, and I’m a marketing specialist with a passion for digital advertising. I have five years of experience managing a wide range of online campaigns and improving brand visibility for clients across multiple verticals. I love analyzing consumer behavior and leveraging data-driven strategies to maximize ROI. Outside of work, I enjoy traveling, taking funny photos, and exploring new hiking trails.”
Example 2: Mid-Career Sample Bio
“Jennifer Patel is a versatile graphic designer known for her creative approach and attention to detail. With a background in visual arts and eight years of experience, Jennifer has worked on diverse projects ranging from logo designs to website layouts. Her ability to understand client needs and translate them into visually striking designs sets her apart. Jennifer finds inspiration in nature, music, and pop culture.”
Example 3: Sales Sample Bio
“I’m a seasoned sales executive with a track record of exceeding targets and building strong client relationships. With a background in B2B sales, I’ve built a natural ability to understand customer needs and consistently exceed quota every month. I pride myself in my communication skills and strategic approaches, which have helped me thrive in highly competitive markets such as SaaS sales. Outside of work, I enjoy playing basketball and volunteering at local charities.”
Example 4: HR Sample Bio
“I am a dedicated human resources professional with a passion for fostering a positive workplace culture and facilitating employee development. With eight years of experience in talent acquisition and HR operations, I’ve played a key role in building high-performing teams. I’m known for my strong interpersonal skills and ability to create inclusive and supportive work environments. In my free time, I enjoy practicing yoga and exploring new culinary experiences.”
Example 5: Software Engineer Sample Bio
“David Chang is a senior software engineer specializing in backend development. With a strong background in computer science and six years of experience, David has successfully built scalable and efficient solutions for complex technical challenges. He is well-versed in various programming languages and frameworks, such as C++, Java, and Ruby on Rails. In his spare time, David enjoys reading science fiction novels and playing the guitar.”
Below, we’ve curated some of the best professional bio examples we’ve ever seen on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the various places where you might describe yourself.
Check ’em out and use them as inspiration when crafting your own.
Best Professional Bio Examples
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Author
- Chima Mmeje: SEO Content Writer
- DJ Nexus: DJ
- Lena Axelsson: Marriage & Family Therapist
- Mark Levy: Branding Firm Founder
- Audra Simpson: Political Anthropologist
- Marie Mikhail: Professional Recruiter
- Wonbo Woo: Executive Producer
- Chris Burkard: Freelance Photographer
- Lisa Quine: Creative Consultant
- Nancy Twine: Hair Care Founder
- Trinity Mouzon: Wellness Brand Founder
- Alberto Perez: Co-Founder of Zumba Fitness
- Ann Handley: Writer and Marketer
1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Author
Bio Platform: Personal Website
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie begins her professional bio with an invitation to her roots.
In a few paragraphs, she describes when and where she was born, her family, her education, her honorary degrees, and the depth of her work, which has been translated into 30 languages and several publications.
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Along with her notable writing career, Chimamanda highlights her annual creative writing workshop, which introduces readers to a well-rounded view of who she is as a professional.
From there, her bio seamlessly flows into her recent work and a glimpse into how and where she spends her personal time — the United States and Nigeria.
Finally, Chimamanda’s bio ends with a call to action to read a more detailed biography, giving the reader a choice to read the information available about her life and career.
Why We Like It
- It’s written in the third person, allowing it to show authority.
- It provides a brief but engaging account of Chimamanda’s life and experiences.
- Mentioning her honorary doctorate degrees makes readers know Chimamanda is one of the best writers in the world.
2. Chime Mmeje: SEO Content Writer
Bio Platform: LinkedIn
A bio with a hook will keep you reading. Chima Mmeje is a freelance SEO copywriter who’s “extremely good at one thing” — helping companies rank for their target keywords.
By leading with a powerful hook that aligns with her target audience’s marketing needs, she’s able to keep readers engaged.
What comes next is a unique differentiator in Chima’s professional bio. Instead of listing accolades, Chima shares a few wins secured for clients.
This nifty section does two things: it builds the readers’ confidence in Chima’s ability to deliver results, and it’s a practical way for Chima to name-drop some clients in her professional bio.
In the body of the professional bio, Chima briefly lists the processes that can help potential clients get a bird’s-eye view of what they can expect.
The simple call to action “Drop a message” is a casual invitation to learn more about Chima’s services.
Why We Like It
- There’s clarity about who Chima serves.
- The hook is bold, catchy, and compels anyone to read further.
- Including client results make clients visualize what they can expect.
3. DJ Nexus: DJ
Bio Platform: Facebook
This New England-based DJ has single-handedly captured the Likes of over 2,000 people in and beyond Boston, MA. And even if you don’t listen to the type of music he produces, it’s hard not to read his compelling Facebook bio.
For instance, consider his tagline, under “About” — “Quiet during the day. QUITE LOUD at night!” DJ Nexus tells you when he works awesomely. I got goosebumps just imagining a dance club in which he might play his music.
DJ Nexus’s bio brilliance doesn’t stop there.
DJ Nexus links his Facebook account to his personal website, where he has the space to tell the full story of his background. Here’s a preview:
In this story, DJ Nexus describes how he got his name, including information about a company he founded before going to college.
This is a terrific lesson for professional bios: Customers want to learn about you. Consider how you might also lead your visitors off your Facebook page and onto your website to learn more about who you are.
Why We Like It
- The eight compelling words in the bio pack a punch and grab attention.
- The bio gives off the feeling that DJ Nexus is great at his craft.
4. Lena Axelsson: Marriage & Family Therapist
Bio Platform: Industry Website
No matter where it lives, your professional bio does not differ from any other persuasive copy. One common mistake people make is thinking of it as its own beast, separate from other pieces of writing.
If you think about it that way, you’d likely write a painfully uninteresting bio.
When you sit to write your professional bio, don’t watch that cursor blinking on the screen. Instead, think about how you would introduce a blog post. You don’t dive right into the meat of the thing, do you? No. You start with an introduction.
The best bios are often concise (around 200–300 words), so you don’t have a lot of room to play around.
But a single sentence that sets the stage for your reader and provides a context for your accomplishments could make the rest of your bio more persuasive.
Take Lena Axelsson’s bio, for instance. She’s a marriage and family therapist — a job where empathy and compassion are a big part of the job description.
That’s why she opens her bio with a great introductory sentence: “When human beings experience trauma or severe life stressors, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel.”
Then, she goes into why she’s passionate about her job, how she helps her clients, and how she caters her approach to each patient. The necessary educational information is left for the end after the reader has been hooked.
Your bio doesn’t have to be super serious, nor does it have to start with a joke. This bio shows how you can capture your reader’s attention by being empathetic and showing how that empathy shapes a valuable professional.
Why We Like It
- It summarizes Lena’s background as a therapist, including her approach to therapy.
- The tone of the bio is professional and informative, rather than overly personal or casual.
- The bio focuses on Lena’s audience. This makes readers know that Lena wants to help.
5. Mark Levy: Branding Firm Founder
Bio Platform: Personal Website
Mark Levy is a small business owner. While the professional bio on his website takes a traditional approach, it still speaks to Mark’s audience.
What we love about his bio is the way he’s set it up: On his business’ “About” page, he’s listed two biographies, which he’s labeled “Mark Levy’s Biography #1” and “Mark Levy’s Biography #2.”
Click here to see the full version.
The first biography is a “short version,” which includes a combination of bullet points listing his credentials and a few brief paragraphs.
The second is the “long version,” which is even more interesting than the first. Why? It reads like a story — a compelling one, at that. In fact, it gets hilarious in some parts.
The second sentence of the bio reads: “He was frightened of public school, loved playing baseball and football, ran home to watch ape films on the 4:30 Movie, listened to The Jam and The Buzzcocks, and read magic trick books.”
Here’s another excerpt from the middle:
Of course, the fantastic copywriting isn’t a surprise, given that Mark wrote several books. But the conversational tone and entertaining copy let his quirky personality (and great writing skills) shine.
Why We Like It
- Mark’s funny and approachable personality shows all over his bio.
- Mark writes his bio in the third person, which positions him as an expert.
- It uses storytelling to humanize Mark and pull the reader into Mark’s world.
6. Audra Simpson: Political Anthropologist
Bio Platform: Personal Website
With a classic take on the professional bio, Audra Simpson crafts an overview of her career in just a couple of paragraphs.
She emphasizes the “why” behind her work in the first half of her bio before transitioning to the way she carries out that work in practice.
The second half of her bio combines her body of work and the awards she’s won. This subtle timeline gives readers a picture of her experience in political anthropology without listing her resume in detail.
Why We Like It
- Audra’s bio shows how experts can succinctly discuss their years of experience in a few words.
- It proves Audra is an expert political anthropologist.
- It shows Audra’s interests, giving readers a sense of what she likes as a professional.
7. Marie Mikhail: Professional Recruiter
Bio Platform: LinkedIn
Marie Mikhail checks nearly every box that makes an excellent bio.
A professional recruiter, she expresses her “passion for recruiting” in the first sentence, while using that sentence to hook her profile visitors into a brief story of her background.
But there are a lot of recruiters out there, and Marie knows that.
So, to differentiate herself, she closes the first paragraph of her bio by explaining that she likes “getting people excited about the things [she’s] excited about.”
It’s a well-put value proposition that sets her apart from the rest of the HR industry.
Marie concludes her bio with a smooth mix of professional skills, like her Spanish fluency, and personal interests, such as podcasting and Star Wars (she mentions the latter with just the right amount of humor).
Why We Like It
- Straight off the bat, Marie uses a story to share her experiences of how she began as a recruiter.
- It provides a subtle pitch for readers to check out her podcast.
- The bio exudes Maries approachable, fun, and playful personality.
8. Wonbo Woo: Executive Producer
Bio Platform: Personal Website
Wonbo Woo is the executive producer of WIRED’s video content and has several impressive credits to his name. What does this mean for his professional bio? He has to prioritize.
With this in mind, Wonbo opens his bio with the most eye-catching details first (if the image below is hard to read, click it to see the full copy).
Not only does Wonbo’s bio start strong, but he also takes readers on a suspenseful journey through some of his most harrowing assignments — where he was when news broke and how he responded. You can see this quality below.
The accomplished journalist concludes his gripping bio as strong as it began. He mentions his experience with the states and countries he’s visited in his career. Overall, it’s a fantastically concise bio for as much detail as it holds.
Why We Like It
- The first sentence of the bio leads with authority and instantly gets the reader’s attention.
- The bio dives into the many exceptional projects Wonbo W