Resume Vs. Bio-Sketch

Christy Rose

In this text-friendly, Facebook-loving, blog-crazed world, if you do not capture your resume reader in literally 15 seconds, you will not get an interview, much less a job, no matter what skills, talents, and professional experience you possess.

Since this is awards season, think in terms of film categories; in today’s job market, you need a short film, not a documentary!

A bio-sketch is a tool, written in the third person, which reads more like a story than a professional blow-by-blow. Along with less formal sentence structure, your professional bio-sketch can also feature your photo, which is usually considered a resume no-no.

This is not the time to bore you reader with dates, duties, and details. Instead, use broad stokes to paint a big-picture summary of who you are, what you have accomplished and why, as a potential interviewer, I should ask you for a more detailed resume.

At the end of this article, you will find a very brief version of my own bio. You can also find other examples on the internet, and may even have a brief bio of your own without knowing it!

If you have ever given a speech or presentation where you had you tell a little something about yourself, then you probably have the start of a knockout bio-sketch already. Expand on those two or three sentences and round out your bio using creditable facts about you and your professional background. Sticking with the short-and-sweet format, your bio-sketch should never be longer than a page and include no more than three or four paragraphs.

While a bio-sketch is not a be-all, do-all document, it should be considered a less official introduction and may prove more successful than a resume in a social setting.

A bio-sketch is perfect to send to a friend, who may have a friend, who knows a friend that might be able to help you out professionally.

By no means should you toss that resume you either spent much money or much time creating, but it will definitely not hurt to add a bio-sketch to your professional arsenal.

Christy Rose is currently the owner of Rose HR Solutions, a human resources consulting firm. Ms. Rose has worked as a professor at her Alma Mater, California State University, Los Angeles and as a Vice President of Client Services at Right Management, a global out-placement and executive search firm. In addition to a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Ms. Rose has also studied Business and Psychology and is currently completing her first book, Know Your Corporate Crazy™. She can be reached at: