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Writing a
Professional
Biography

What would you do?

Imagine you are attending a
conference. You see in the program
that there are two parallel
(simultaneous) session options that
interest you because they are on the
same topic. How do you decide
which one to attend?

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Rationale for biodata

Common

part of applying to present at a conference

Used

in the conference program as a quick

reference for attendees

May guide their choice of session attendance

Helps them ask relevant questions and connect with you
about specific interests that you have in common

Concise

professional introduction

Calls

attention to relevant aspects of your

background

Helps

contextualize your presentation

The basic guidelines

Usually

100-150 words

Usually

5-6 sentences

Third

Person!...why?
Ms. Jury is the US English Language Fellow
She conducts

Content

focused on professional experiences &

accomplishments

Include

strong action words

Dos and donts

Its a good idea to

Err on the side of formality

Be concise and specific
Provide an example
Spell out
abbreviations/acronyms
Tailor your content to the
occasion
Mention your country of
origin in an international
context

Its NOT such a good idea to

Try to use humor or

sarcasm
Mention salary, family,
address, or age
Provide irrelevant
information
List every single thing
youve ever done at work
Overstate your
accomplishments or flatter
yourself too much

What kind of information you usually

see in a professional biography?

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Profession

Responsibilities

Education

Interests

Current work

Duong Le has been working as an

Environmental Engineer at the Ministry of
Environment and Natural Resources since
1995. He works in the Water Resources
Group and is responsible for a variety of
water resources projects. Duong has a
Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in
environmental science from Hanoi
University and a Master of Science (MS)
degree in water management from the
same university, graduating in 1999. His
area of professional interest is the impact of
climate change on water levels in the
Mekong River. His current project and
research paper involves the measurement
of changes in flow rates through the
Mekong delta and into the sea.

Open with your position

Summarize your professional experience
Andrea Echelberger has taught English as a
Second Language in St. Paul Minnesota for over
nine years to adult learners from all over the
world.

Tell who you are professionally

Dr. Vannarath Te is an English lecturer at the
Institute of Foreign Languages, Royal University
of Phnom Penh, and a self-employed dentist.

Describe your responsibilities

While working for Hanguk University of
Foreign Studies, he taught ESP courses
and helped develop the English curriculum.
Over the past three years, her focus was on
creating and implementing the Employment
Readiness classes where she taught
English for Healthcare and English for
Retail Employment.

Provide educational background

Apiwan received a BA in English from
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand before
completing a Masters in Applied Linguistics
followed by a PhD in Linguistics from
Macquarie University, Australia.

State professional interest

Her PhD thesis,Facilitating Language
Learning Through a Multilevel-task Approach
reflects her research interests, which include
material development, motivational strategies,
fostering learner autonomy and writing
instruction.

Summarize current project

Currently, Ms. Jury serves as a team leader
and academic coordinator with the Lower
Mekong Initiative Professional
Communication Skills for Leaders Project at
Chulalongkorn University Language Institute
(CULI).

Whats wrong here?

Doctor Huoy Hem (Cambodia) was born in
Phnom Penh in 1953 and raised by two loving
scientists. She is married and has two
beautiful children, Sochea and Linh. Dr. Huoy
received 3 science degrees and is now given
many tasks to do at work. She has presented
at prestigious conferences in Bangkok,
Naypyidaw, Hanoi, Vientiane, and
Battambang. Highly intelligent, hardworking,
and extremely devoted to her research, Dr.
Smith makes this world a better place.

References
http://www.labtimes.org/labtimes/issues/lt20

08/lt02/lt_2008_02_50_51.
pdf
http://career.opcd.wfu.edu/files/2011/05/Act

ion-Verbs-for-Resumes.pdf