Make Your Profile Impactful with a Bio that Bites
So you’ve surmounted the fears and doubts, and decided to put yourself out there by registering as a Knowledge Leader. You sprint handily through the basic information sections, like so many New Yorkers through Grand Central Terminal at rush hour. Then you reach the second page, with its harrowing headline: Please include a short bio; and intimidating subsequent expanse of virtual space. You begin to sweat. I don’t know what to write! You feel annoyed. Didn’t Tribeca Insights capture my information already? The blasé sample on the page offers no answers.
Penning a professional personal statement is difficult – particularly when you’re as busy as our Knowledge Leaders tend to be. But it’s important to remember that your KL profile is viewed by our clients to determine both your fit for the consultation and your commitment to the opportunity. If you haven’t already created a biography for your company website or through a networking service like LinkedIn, now’s your chance! We polled our clients and collected some tips on drafting bios with bite –
State your current position and company. The first line of the biography should contain the most relevant professional information you can provide – your title and place of employment. Our clients are busy bees too, and they want to get the information they need to review your qualifications without having to refer to other sources. If you’re unwilling to state your company, or wish to remain anonymous, that’s ok too! Let our clients know what industry you’re in instead, or reach out to a TI associate for assistance.
Be specific. One client tells us that “titles can vary from company to company, so it helps to describe your roles and responsibilities with regard to the industry-at-large.” Remember, our clients are looking to speak with folks who demonstrate industry insight, and an ambiguous gloss-over just doesn’t do justice to your illustrious career.
Be concise. Specificity means giving details, but knowing what kind of coffee you drank this morning or what sports you played in college won’t help us qualify your expertise. Ask yourself what resume points have been most integral to your understanding of your industry.
Be honest. The biography and question fields are deliberately open-ended – we don’t want anybody selling themselves perfidiously for a consultant role. Honestly reporting that you don’t have knowledge of the trends in your industry won’t necessarily disqualify you from a project – besides, there will always be future project opportunities for Knowledge Leaders!
technorati tags: Tribeca Insights, Knowledge Leader Forum
diane
March 10th, 2009 at 5:13 pm #
I’m often extremely impressed by many of the experts we get. It’s so interesting to read about people who’ve spent 20+ years at one company or in one industry, or attained two masters degrees and a Ph.D., or have published numerous articles on pertinent topics in their fields. And even if they haven’t done any of that (because the above achievements are certainly not required criteria for becoming a Knowledge Leader)–the specialized knowledge that they bring to the table is simply astounding.
But! Elizabeth is right: We’ll never know how incredible you are unless you tell us. So please tell us! In depth and in detail. I love a good bio.