Educators are using an autobiography in their career portfolios more today than ever before. Find out why an autobiography should be a part of your job search toolkit.
Including an autobiography with your CV or resume will apply to those submitting applications to higher education jobs. These may include college instructors, corporate trainers, superintendents, directors, or school principals.
Job seekers making a career change frequently use an autobiography in their portfolio to show why they are making the transition into education. Mention your reasons for making a career transition in your cover letter.
Benefits of Autobiographies
Autobiographies have tons of benefits to a job seeker and the potential employer. For one, not everyone will submit an autobiography, making including one unexpected and attractive to potential employers.
An autobiography will help the reader remember you; it provides more in-depth information about your background and led you to a career in education. An autobiography can be an added job search marketing document that could set you apart from the other candidates.
How Do you Write an Autobiography?
When writing an autobiography, you want to highlight your unique and meaningful life experiences and summarize them in one or two pages. An autobiography is usually written in the third person and can be written by you or by someone else. While crafting your paper, make sure you don’t include any negative details. Think of the readers’ perception of what you’ve done.
Start to Write an Autobiography – Introduction
Grab the reader’s attention right from the opening. Start by telling the reader where you were born and raised, how you came to the city you currently call home, and then get into your schooling. Include your areas of study when talking about the college you attended.
To make a great impression, conclude your introduction with a passion and strong statement about your career goal. If you’ve had an employment gap of some sort, like taking five years off to raise a child, this is the time to address it. You’ll get into your qualifications in a bit.
Autobiography Body Paragraphs
Next, write one or two paragraphs about your previous training and employment history. Depending on your experience, the first paragraph may go into a deeper description of your schooling history. The second paragraph should go into detail about your job history and identify your strengths. Be sure to include your present and future goals and any accomplishments you have made.
If you have an employment gap, here is the time to talk about what you did during that time to further your professional goals even though you weren’t actively employed. Mention seminars and webinars you attended, conferences, or any other form of extracurricular professional development that sustained your skills during the gap.
Closing Paragraph
The final paragraph should include your unique selling points and what makes you stand out as an individual and job candidate. Showcase your personal philosophy toward teaching, and restate your career goals and how you plan on making a difference in your field.
To address a gap, reiterate that you’d like to get back into the workforce and briefly summarize the information you listed above. Don’t harp too much on the topic, but assure the reader you’re prepared to come back and give them 100%.
As a final note, remember this autobiography is yet another marketing tool to sell you as a teacher. Every word and sentence need to count, be careful not to ramble to make your statement precise.
Use white space, as this has been proven to keep a reader’s attention longer. By creating short paragraphs of 3-4 sentences, you will gain white space and lead the reader’s eyes downward to ensure they read the whole autobiography. Check out this sample of an autobiography.
If you need assistance composing your autobiography or any of your essential job search documents, reach out to Candace Alstad-Davies directly via email or toll-free: 1-877-738-8052.
Please share any tips for writing an autobiography with fellow educators by leaving a comment below.
