Autobiography in narrative form. Brief autobiography, sample, how to write

An autobiography is included in the list of mandatory personnel documents when applying for a job, although in fact most employers limit themselves to reading a resume.

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Meanwhile, there are situations when you cannot do without this document. How to correctly write an autobiographical description of your candidacy and why is it needed?

Why and in which organizations is it required?

The purpose of an autobiography is to present the personality of a candidate for a vacant position as fully as possible. If a resume involves a presentation of dry facts, on the basis of which one can draw a conclusion about the qualifications of a future employee, then an autobiographical description is supplemented with personal information.

The employer has the opportunity to evaluate the following key points:

literacy level (the document is written by hand);
general cultural level;
possession of communication skills;
marital status.

An autobiography must be drawn up when hiring a civil servant.

However, even in large commercial structures, additional information about the employee is extremely important, especially when it comes to potential risks.

If the candidate's position involves trade secrets or communication with high-ranking or valuable clients, you will probably need to tell about yourself in more detail.

In addition, an autobiography is required in the following cases:

upon admission to an educational institution, for example, graduate school;
when applying to the migration service for citizenship, obtaining a residence permit;
to obtain a position caring for or working with minors (nanny, governess).

What is the document?

The autobiography is compiled in free form, but has a certain structure.

In some organizations, HR employees offer a ready-made approved form, where all you have to do is enter a detailed answer. Others do not indicate how to fill out the document, and the candidate must cope with the work themselves.

Structure

To get an idea of the document, you should download the autobiography form and carefully read its structure before visiting the employer.

It includes the following mandatory items:

name of the document to be filled out;
full name of the candidate for the position;
information about place and date of birth;
information about the education received, including school (name of institution, years of study, profession/specialty obtained);
information about all places of employment after graduation from a university (other educational institution) indicating job responsibilities;
exact marital status;
information about immediate relatives indicating full names, dates of birth, places of study/work, residence;
date of compilation of the autobiography;
personal signature.

Sections

To give a complete picture of your candidacy, you may include additional sections in the overall structure of the document.

So, you can expand the document to include the following information:

additional education, advanced training courses;
achievements, public and private awards, taking into account the specifics of the autobiography (sports, professional areas, etc.);
practical experience in a certain direction related to the vacant position (upon applying for a job);
information about knowledge of foreign languages, hobbies, interests, membership in public or professional organizations;
wishes regarding the schedule and features of the work, your expectations from the position, intentions regarding professional growth, etc.;
men include in their autobiographies information about conscription or contract service, and women additionally indicate the period of their service;
passport details, actual residence address, contact information (email, telephone, other means of communication).

The point is to expand your self-image, create a favorable impression, and discover your advantages over possible competitors.

Thus, it is important to emphasize not only professional, but also communication skills, flexibility of thinking, the ability to make independent decisions or work in a team.

Do you need a photo?

There are no requirements regarding the mandatory inclusion of a candidate’s photograph in the structure of the document. However, today this is considered a rule of good form, which again speaks in favor of the author of the document.

The photograph must maintain the business style of the main document:

neutral background;
business or official setting;
strict formal clothing (especially if the company has a dress code);
neat hairstyle.

By including a photo in the CV, the candidate will emphasize his openness and desire to follow all corporate rules.

Rules and procedure for compilation

An autobiography can be written in advance or at the time of submitting the main package of documents.

In the first case, you have the opportunity to take advantage of someone else’s experience by downloading a sample of filling out and writing a business document. This will help avoid possible mistakes.

When writing an autobiography, you should take into account the basic requirements for the document. They are mandatory and critical for assessing a candidate for a position.

Literacy	Chronological sequence	Credibility	Conciseness
No spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors	No violations of the sequence of presentation	No false information	Listing the main events of life without recording minor ones
Absence of lexical and stylistic errors	Absence of chronological gaps (loss of time periods of more than one month)	Silencing critical information	No lengthy digressions
Maintaining a business style of writing	Strict adherence to logic: educational institution – place of work – career growth	Extreme openness in disclosing points of the plan	Volume no more than two A4 sheets

Characteristics from previous places of employment also make a good impression. They complement the information provided by the candidate and allow you to look at the future employee through the eyes of other people.

When compiling an autobiography, you can focus on the most important points for a potential employer related to professional or personal traits. Others, the least important, should be mentioned in passing or not mentioned at all.

You should work with the autobiography text individually, adapting to the employer’s expectations.

Basic mistakes

Despite the extreme logic of an autobiography as a personnel document, many candidates make annoying mistakes when compiling it.

Among the most common:

significant discrepancies (factual and logical) with the drier and more condensed resume test;
deliberate and intentional lies;
too detailed description of one or all sections;
lengthiness, lyrical or philosophical digressions, unnecessary reasoning;
obsessive confession.

None of these points do credit to the author of the autobiography.

It is unpleasant if the employer notices a discrepancy in professional or seminal information in the submitted document or. However, he is not interested in reading confessions with excessive lengthy conclusions.

You should not describe in detail some unimportant, passing moments, such as the title of coursework or diploma work, school prizes at Olympiads, etc.

You need to talk about yourself strictly on the topic of the vacancy and taking into account your experience in this particular area.

Sample autobiography when applying for a job (example)

Getting to know each other is an obligatory stage of communication with people around you. Of course, it is easier to contact old friends: these people are aware of your character, habits and other individual characteristics. And the new ones have to tell everything again. It’s also good if we are talking about a casual conversation in the company of friends! But you often have to talk about yourself in writing, sometimes even in official documents. All kinds of profiles, resumes, accounts and interest clubs can’t wait for you to tell them information about yourself. For some, this is a mere formality, limited to a couple of standard sentences. But it happens that a lot depends on your description. In this case, you need to write about yourself not only honestly and competently, but also as interestingly as possible, so that your story does not get lost among other similar autobiographies.

Telling a story about yourself, whether spoken or written, is not easy for everyone. There are people for whom self-presentation is a habitual and even pleasant thing; they willingly share facts from their biography and present them in an exciting way, like a literary work. But for most, the need to write about themselves, and even in a special, non-standard style, is a serious test of their natural shyness, creative imagination, and simply their writing talent. For such people, we have prepared a kind of “cheat sheet” with hints and small tips on how to start, build and design your work, so that readers would be interested in reading about you even if no outstanding events occurred in your life, the description of which can become the basis of an adventure novel. In fact, everything is much simpler: even the biography of an average person who leads the calmest and most peaceful life can be read avidly if it is written in an interesting way.

Telling a story about yourself: rules, nuances and tips
An interesting feature of autobiography as a genre is that the same person can have any number of descriptions of his life. Moreover, life also remains one, and all the events that happened in it are true. But, depending on the style, purpose, and writing conditions, these works turn out completely different. As in any text, while maintaining one plot, an almost infinite number of plot development options are possible, where the narrative will be chronologically sequential or artistically distorted, logically correct or creatively adapted. As they say, there is a time and place for everything, and an autobiography when applying for a job has little in common with self-presentation when applying to a theater school. The only factor that unites them is you, or rather, the actual events of your life. Therefore, let’s first determine why and for what purpose you needed to write about yourself. The most common options are:

When applying for a job, study or service. This is the shortest, essentially formal and therefore simplest option. It is not difficult to cope with it even without special tips, especially since in such cases the autobiography, as a rule, is written according to, right down to filling out the questionnaire. But even if you have a blank sheet of paper in front of you, you are only required to present in chronological order basic information about the time and place of your birth, education received, professional experience and, briefly, marital status. Formal autobiographies do not require more. An exception may be biographies of representatives of creative professions: journalists, copywriters, editors. They are more demanding in terms of the vocabulary used and, possibly, examples of work. But a portfolio is a separate task and it is also formed according to its own standards, independent of the autobiography.
When joining a thematic organization/club/section More detailed information about the candidate may be required. Depending on the direction of the establishment, include the relevant data in the list. For example, tell us about the sports awards, diplomas, medals and certificates won for participation and victories in Olympiads, intellectual games and competitions. If we are talking about a creative workshop, then it would not be amiss to talk about your preferences and tastes, favorite genres and techniques, idols and role models. The task of your life story in this case is to reveal your own character to people who still don’t know anything about you, and to join their formed team. Therefore, the more friendly and open your written story is, the more likely it will resonate and you are more likely to receive an invitation to an in-person oral interview.
When registering on a social network/dating site There are not and cannot be any hard and fast rules. But there are certain techniques that can be used to make your story about yourself interesting and attractive to other users. For example, many representatives of the fair sex use poems, lyrics of favorite songs or quotes from literary works for this purpose, which, in their opinion, correspond to their character and worldview. This tactic should be considered quite ingenious, because, in the absence of confidence in your own literary talent, you can take advantage of the win-win creation of a recognized genius. One way or another, your task is to create the image you need in the eyes of strangers, and even invisible to you, people. And for this it is not at all necessary to adhere to documentary accuracy. Allow yourself a little fiction, complete your own image in your imagination so that you like it - then others whose tastes coincide with yours will also like it. But don’t get carried away with fantasizing - you are still writing about yourself, and not creating a fictitious image of an ideal, but, alas, non-existent person.
When creating your own blog and/or literary work It’s interesting to write about yourself, it’s easy and difficult at the same time. On the one hand, for a professional writer, telling a story about yourself is not even work, but a pleasant relaxation bordering on subtle intellectual pleasure. And, since you have dared to become the independent “parent” of an entire book or mass media (and a blog can easily be equated to an information publication), then writing an original and fascinating autobiography should not be a problem for you. On the other hand, it is self-narrative that takes many professionals by surprise. Because it’s one thing to analyze and present information within the framework of a well-studied and interesting topic. And it’s quite another thing to reveal yourself to readers as a person, to demonstrate to them not only your fundamental knowledge, erudition and talent, but also the traits characteristic of mere mortals, sometimes far from the qualities of an ideal creator. Plus, not all creative individuals are the same in their desire to speak publicly. And for writers, unlike actors and musicians, this causes many internal barriers: embarrassment, fear of excessive frankness, etc. In this case, it is advisable to call on your sense of humor to help. A successful joke can disguise unsightly facts and even turn them into advantages, or it can simply fill a pause or fill the content with unexpected meaning.

These recommendations were not invented yesterday or even last week; biographies have been created according to similar canons at all times, starting with the most ancient events in human history. Depending on the incidents and cultural values of that time, not only and not so much facts of personal life were documented, but socially significant achievements. Thus, the eastern kings wrote down stories about their military victories, the ancient military leaders took up the baton from them, and Julius Caesar subsequently created “Notes on the Gallic War,” which is both a manual on military affairs and a fascinating story about the events of those times.

Medieval philosophers, travelers and even skilled craftsmen described their lives for students and descendants. The genre of autobiography then gained such popularity that it even became an independent literary movement, the classic and witty parody example of which remains, for example, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” by Rudolf Raspe. It is difficult to remember at least one writer who did not publish a description of his own life in his books. It was possible to find out a lot of details about even the most mysterious personalities through their personal diaries and correspondence. By the way, the epistolary genre is an inexhaustible source of inspiration when writing a story about yourself. After all, people try to be sincere in letters and trust the recipients with a lot of secret things. This can serve as a good school and a storehouse of ideas for you. Therefore, do not be lazy to read the biographies of famous people, feel free to borrow interesting techniques and turns of phrase from them.

An example of an interesting story about yourself
So, we have dealt with the theoretical aspect of writing a story about ourselves, it’s time to move on to practice. Because no one but you will write a biography about you in such a way as to reveal to readers all the facets of your character and bright individuality. Don’t forget that the most difficult thing is to start, to overcome the resistance of a blank sheet of paper. And then, word by word, the story will flow by itself if you allow yourself to surrender to creativity. You can gain such emancipation gradually; to do this, start with something simple: first write a formal autobiography, then expand it with introductory phrases and artistic vocabulary, and then completely color it with beautiful images and literary devices. Moreover, save each next option separately, it will be useful to you in the appropriate situation. This way, you will receive the blanks of several stories about yourself at once and will be able to use and modify them as necessary.

Example of a formal autobiography:

“I, Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich, was born on June 13, 1980 in Kyiv. In 1987, he was admitted to the first class of secondary school No. 13, from which he graduated in 1997 with honors. In the same year he entered the Kiev National University. T.G. Shevchenko to the Faculty of Philosophy, majoring in Political Science. During his studies at the university, he completed full training in the reserve officer training program and received the rank of junior lieutenant. He graduated from the university in 2002 with a degree in political science. Immediately after completing his studies, he began working at a news agency as an analyst and consultant to the editor-in-chief. In 2008, I took the position of editor of the politics department, which I hold to this day.

I am married and have a 7-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. Wife, Anna Valentinovna Ivanova, born in 1986, a journalist by training, works for a monthly publication. I am interested in photography and painting, and love to travel. I lead a healthy lifestyle, regularly go to the gym and ride a bike. I don’t have any bad habits; I prefer to spend my free time from work with my family and on active recreation.”

Now let’s imagine that this person, already a little familiar to us, decided to join the ranks of the club of travel photojournalists. The club is virtual, the main communication between its participants takes place on its own forum on the Internet. And now our friend will have to register and greet the old-timers of the club, at the same time explaining to them who he is, why and why he came to the forum. The text of the story about yourself in that case will differ significantly from the one given above. It could be, for example, like this:

An example of an interesting autobiography:

“Dear friends, allow me to introduce myself! My name may seem funny to you at first glance, but believe me: it is real. That’s exactly what my parents named me, thanks to their sense of humor, and that’s what it says in my passport - and this, by the way, is an official document! In general, my name is Vanya, my last name is Ivanov. You can start making fun. But it will be even easier to remember me this way J

I have been interested in photography for quite a long time, for about seven years now. But, unfortunately, I only recently learned about your community. I really hope that you don’t have hazing and that newcomers are not barred from entering the club. Because your work and accumulated experience interested me extremely. I had the courage to look through the photo gallery presented on the site, and I am ready to take off my hat to the authors of these photographs. The accuracy of the reporting, the quality of the photographs, and the artistic flair of the photographers are very impressive. For my part, I promise that I will make every effort to meet this high level and adequately present my creativity.

As for me personally, I am a very ordinary person and practically not outstanding in anything. I earn my living by doing what I love most and what I know best: building hypotheses and making forecasts about the political situation in our country and beyond its borders. It’s a troublesome and thankless task, but someone has to do it. But at home, waiting for me is an almost adult son, a first-grader, a sweet daughter, and, of course, my beloved and only wife, Anya. All three of them, by the way, also know a lot about travel and beautiful photographs.

In general, if I have not yet tired you too much with my biography and can be at least somehow useful to the respected community, then I will be very glad to be accepted into its ranks. I promise to be disciplined, polite and obediently follow all the rules of the club. A special greeting to all Kiev residents and an invitation to Sunday bike rides. To everyone else - just my immense affection and best wishes J"

Do you feel the difference between the first and second text? It is completely justified and caused by the specifics of communication and the purpose of the story about oneself. Analysis of the features of the given texts will help you understand the nuances of presenting information and in the future can be used by you when writing your own biography:

In both cases, the author did not sin against the truth and provided truthful information about himself. But in the second story, he deliberately omitted those facts that were not relevant to the case. But I included in the first paragraphs what might be of interest directly to this group of readers. A very correct tactic from the point of view of self-presentation - it takes into account the interests and characteristics of the audience’s perception.
The same goes for presentation style and vocabulary. In the first case, it is dry and official, as required by the documents. In the second, it is replete with colloquial expressions, figurative expressions and other means of language that are unacceptable in business correspondence. But for a group of friends with similar interests, this language will be the most understandable and pleasant.
Unlike the first, strictly text, in the second story the author makes full use of humor and personal charm, expressed through language. He verbally paints before the readers the image of a kind of joker and an easy-going person who is endearing to himself. This is a great way to make talking about yourself interesting because it takes away the rough edges of writing with the ease of friendly chat.
In the second story, the author constantly maintains contact with readers. Talking about himself, he managed not to focus on his beloved self, but to always address the audience. Use this technique to interest the reader, because every person enjoys being given special attention.
The author even took into account the fact that his story about himself would be perceived not aurally, but visually, and on a platform intended for interactive communication. That is why he allowed himself to use graphic symbols that were unacceptable in printed correspondence or a handwritten note. You can do the same: if you need to write about yourself on the Internet, then feel free to use emoticons and Unicode characters. But use them sparingly, do not overload the text, because an excessive number of pictures irritates the reader.

As you can see, with the right attitude and preliminary theoretical preparation, writing about yourself in an interesting and not dry way is not at all difficult. Finally, let me give you one final piece of advice. Before you start your story, make a list for yourself in which you list several of your most striking and characteristic features. These could be personality traits, outstanding achievements, or just fun facts from the past. By describing each of them, you will be carried away by the memories and involuntarily make the text fascinating and expressive. And it will be much more interesting for readers to learn about non-standard situations than about the average “born/studied/worked”. In general, write in such a way that it would be interesting for you to read about yourself, as if in front of you was the biography of some other, unfamiliar, but witty, cheerful and friendly person.

Employers, when hiring a new employee, may ask him to provide an autobiographical record about himself along with the main package of documents. An autobiography is written in a strictly structured format. A biography about yourself is a more convenient thing for an employee and an employer when applying for a job than.

Legislative framework

Writing an autobiography at the request of the employer is controlled by regulations and legislative acts:

Labor Code of the Russian Federation, namely articles 65, 86
Federal Law (No. 114, No. 152)
instructions (if working in special services)
Constitution of the Russian Federation

When is an autobiography needed?

When applying for a job, a biography is drawn up at the request of the employer and is not an obligation. An employee may refuse to write an autobiography, although it can help the employer get to know the potential employee better and choose him among other applicants for his employees. In some cases, according to the law, an autobiography is a necessity. A biography about yourself must be compiled upon entering the service:

to the authorities that control the import and export of goods across the border (customs posts and organizations);
to fire authorities;
to law enforcement agencies (Ministry of Internal Affairs);
to military service bodies (warrant officers, sergeants, majors, lieutenant colonels, colonels, etc.);
large non-budgetary organizations.

Form, structure and content of a biography about yourself

A person’s autobiography is written in free form, with the exception of civil servants, where a biography about themselves is compiled on special forms.

A biography is written on blank sheets, not rough ones. Mostly in A4 size, printed or handwritten. The volume of an autobiography is 0.5-1 sheet; more extensive texts are not allowed. The style of writing a biography is businesslike. An autobiography can be written in blue or black ink, or you can use a gel pen.

It is not allowed to write a document on lined or dirty paper.

The employee’s autobiography should not contain leading questions that imply a pre-prepared answer or hints.

Life events (study, work) that the employee must indicate in the document are written in strict chronological order. There are rules for writing time intervals, starting with school and ending with the last work, which you can use:

writing the years and place of study using a dash;
the use of prepositions that are placed between the years of the educational process at school;
You can write the place of study and in brackets the date of admission and graduation from a university, secondary vocational education institution, secondary educational institution, etc., followed by the assignment of qualifications.

personal data of the employee with the obligatory indication of date and place of birth;
information about close relatives (wife, husband, parents, brothers, sisters, children);
Further, education is indicated from the moment of entering school until graduation from a university, secondary vocational education or other educational institution (you can write about taking courses and receiving additional education);
places of work are listed, starting from the very first and ending with the last (it is advisable to adhere to the chronology and).

It is allowed to write your marital status and information about military service in any troops. Women can indicate if they had a period of maternity leave and the presence of children with their personal data.

A separate paragraph can indicate the presence or absence of criminal prosecution of the employee and his relatives.

An employee can also write if he has any number of awards and other types of remuneration for decent work.

In addition, you can write your existing business or other type of entrepreneurial activity as a separate paragraph.

At the very end, contact information is written that will help the employer contact the future employee.

Women who, after marriage or for some other circumstances, took a different surname, are required to indicate their maiden name and the date when this event occurred.

There are additional points that should also be described, but this is at the discretion of the employer, and only he recommends them for writing. Additional information, depending on the position for which the employee is applying, may include information about projects, competitions, research projects, and articles that were noted at any events.

Separate items can include information such as career growth, professional skills, business qualities (stress resistance, punctuality) and wishes for work.

Structure autobiographies:

In the middle of the sheet, write the title of the appeal (autobiography) with a capital letter. A period and other punctuation marks are not placed at the end of a word.
Introductory part. The employee introduces himself and indicates his personal data.
Main part. Labor and educational activities.
At the end there is a dating and signature with the employee’s decoding.

What are the rules for writing an autobiography?

There are no strict requirements for writing a biography of a person who wants to get a job. You just need to adhere to a clear structure, write in free form and take your time. The rules for writing an autobiography are simple:

At the beginning, in the first sentence, complete information about yourself is written down to the date and place of birth.
Then the personal data of the parents and their places of work are indicated.
What follows is clear and detailed information about education with detailed dates of entry and graduation from educational institutions. In addition, you can add school numbers. If the school has a specific name (for example, the school named after I.V. Sukharev), this should also be indicated.
Then it is specified which profile you completed, again with full dating. Additional education received can also be mentioned here.
Men and women liable for military service must clearly and accurately describe their military service. Indicate the date of conscription for military service, troops, ranks. Provide appropriate documentation that confirms receipt of a particular award or title. You can only write the document number.
Then information is written about places of employment from the beginning of working activity to the present time. As additional information, you can write the assignment of a new qualification or participation in any projects.
Then additional skills and abilities are indicated (fluency in English, German or other languages, completion of courses, etc.).
In addition, an important point will be to indicate to women the period of maternity leave.
You can indicate the period of residence abroad, if any, and who the citizen worked while he was there. It wouldn’t hurt to write down the reason for moving abroad or, conversely, returning home.
The presence of certificates, diplomas or other evidence of work well done should be indicated in the section on work or hobbies, if such an item is included in the biography.
At the end, you can indicate what your current marital status is, the presence or absence of children, and their place of actual residence.

Many organizations still have special requirements for writing a biography about themselves, and this should be taken into account and inquired about in advance. The autobiography must be written in compliance with all punctuation and spelling rules.

The biography of a potential employee must be compiled correctly, without unnecessary information and in compliance with a certain sequence of life episodes. The sheet on which the biography about yourself is compiled must be neat and without bending. Lyrical digressions are not allowed. The document is written in legible, neat and understandable handwriting.

An autobiography is written in the first person and singular. Before you begin, you need to comprehend and think about what should be indicated, and only then start writing.

The autobiography must contain only truthful information, since everything written is checked for compliance.

After watching this video, you will learn in more detail about the correct preparation of an autobiography. Find out what rules exist for writing this document.

What should you not write in your autobiography?

When compiling an autobiography for applying for a job, you should remember that in no case should you indicate in it:

Information not related to employment. Don't write too many stories about yourself. It is not recommended to move to the reverse side of the sheet.
It is not allowed to use a large number of epithets and adjectives that show the employee on the good side. Excessive praise can have a detrimental effect on the employee in the future.
You cannot remain silent and not indicate in your biography periods when there was a lack of work or maternity leave.
Insults or boorish attitude towards other employees in the autobiography are not acceptable, even if the dismissal was not according to the law. It is not recommended to portray your former employees in a bad light.

Features of the autobiography of a civil servant

The biography of a civil servant must be presented in a strict format and, like any other, without the use of profanity. Here, the autobiography should not be written in free form, but only on special forms and using a sample provided in advance by the employer or the head of the personnel department.

In the autobiography, it is necessary to indicate only reliable, truthful information that will facilitate the further employment of this particular candidate for the position.

Information about previous places of work can be taken from the work book. If you have a lot of experience working in public services, this can also be indicated as additional information, which will help when selecting candidates for the role of an employee in a government agency.

Information about places of work that is indicated in the CV is checked by the employer, so it is necessary to indicate real work, not fictitious ones.

In the autobiography of a civil servant, sentences must be constructed according to syntactic norms and without errors. To check the correctness of the compiled biography, you can use any specialized program.

The autobiography should not contain information that does not relate to the position for which the future employee is applying. Fleeting part-time jobs and unofficial types of work should not appear in the biography.

One of the features of compiling an autobiography of a civil servant is a clear hierarchy and structure. Previous places of work must be indicated with accuracy from hiring with the order number until dismissal.

Discrimination and autobiography

In an autobiography, discriminatory actions can be noticed immediately. They are expressed by the following points that the employer requires to indicate without fail:

a detailed description of all relatives, including existing hereditary diseases;
indication of race;
nationality;
increasing category (although there are types of work where there are certain age limits for workers, and this does not contradict the law);
test tasks or other forms of control in the biography.

This video explains what an autobiography is, why and in what cases it may be needed, and also provides brief recommendations on how to compile it.

An autobiography is not required when applying for a job, but is compiled only at the request of the employer. A biography about yourself is written in any form, in compliance with certain rules, but some government services have special forms with samples to fill out. A correctly compiled autobiography in some cases can help an employee get the desired position.

In many cases, employers require that their potential new employee, among other documents, submit a biography. First of all, the requirement to submit this document is put forward by government agencies or large commercial companies. Here, by the way, it should be noted that in government agencies the requirement to write a biography is a common formality, while in a commercial structure this document is treated more carefully. Often the information provided there may become a reason for refusal.

There is no single template, mandatory for everyone, when writing a biography - the form for filling out this document is arbitrary. In this document you need to provide basic information about yourself and your work activities. Its main difference from a questionnaire is that when writing an autobiography, you provide information about yourself in more detail. It should be remembered that there are certain blocks of information about yourself that you must include in the autobiography compiled for employment:

surname, first name, patronymic;
date of birth;
place of birth;
information about parents. In some cases, you will also need to provide information about brothers and sisters, if any. It will be enough to indicate their autobiographical data and marital status, if the employer himself does not present any specific requirements for this item;
period of military service - this clause applies only to men who served in military service. For those who did not serve, you can either report this or say nothing at all;
information about education - if there are any achievements here, for example, you graduated from school with a gold medal or an institute with honors, then be sure to indicate them;
information about your work activity - this item is the most interesting for the employer, therefore, when compiling an autobiography, you should write about all places of work, positions held, and the period during which you worked in a particular place. If you have not worked anywhere before, but were registered with the Employment Center as unemployed, be sure to indicate this point;
information about your personal achievements, promotions, awards, academic degrees, state or international awards, and so on;
You must indicate your marital status. For married people – provide brief information about your spouse or cohabitant;
information about your hobbies - if they are not related to work, this item should be quite brief;
passport data – passport series and number, when and by whom the document was issued, place of registration;
If you currently live in a place other than the place indicated in your passport as your place of registration, you must indicate your actual address.

After this, you need to indicate contacts where you can be contacted, write the date the autobiography was compiled and put a personal signature.

Sample autobiography when applying for a job

Here is a sample autobiography when applying for a job:

Parents:

Mother - Anna Yakovlevna Sidorova, born in 1961, accountant at Intercity CJSC.

Father - Sidorov Petr Evgenievich, born in 1958, shop manager at the Gorky Automobile Plant.

In the period from 1991 to 2003, he studied at secondary school number 3 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, graduating with a gold medal. In the 8th grade, I took part in the city Olympiad in the Russian language, taking first place. In the 9th grade I took second place at the regional Olympiad in the same subject.

In 2003, he entered the Moscow Humanitarian University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Faculty of Journalism. He completed his studies in 2008, receiving a diploma with honors and qualification as a specialist in the specialty “Television and Radio Control”. During his studies, he completed an internship at the Moskovsky Komsomolets publication.

From 2009 to 2012, he worked as a journalist for the Moskovsky Komsomolets publication. Resigned due to the expiration of the employment contract.

From 2012 to 2016, he worked at the NTV television channel as a news editor, but quit due to staff reduction.

Married in 2010. Wife – Oksana Vitalievna Sidorova, born in 1987, makeup artist at the Lilia beauty salon.

There is a daughter - Sidorova Anna Vladimirovna, born in 2011.

I currently live at:

Moscow city, Kosmonavtov street, building 25, apartment 11.

Date, signature.

As you understand, this is a very short example of an autobiography when applying for a job. In a real situation, you will have to write a more detailed document. However, it does provide some insight into how this document should be written. Be sure to check with the HR department if the company has any specific requirements. This will save you from having to rewrite the document and at the same time allow you to present yourself as fully as possible.

What to pay attention to when writing an autobiography

As mentioned above, there is no single sample for compiling a biography, so you may have to adjust the form of writing the document when applying for a job based on certain requirements of the employer. In addition, some organizations may offer you a ready-made sample to fill out: all the questions of interest to the employer are already written there, and you only need to fill in the empty columns with your answers.

As a rule, an autobiography is written on standard A4 sheets with a blue or black pen. All information in the text of the document should be presented in chronological order. The names of places of study and work are written current for the period when you worked or studied there. The document should not be too voluminous - a maximum of 1-2 pages of text, no more. Practice has already shown that long biographies do not help to reveal oneself to the employer, but in most cases cause the opposite effect. Therefore, it is appropriate here to adhere to the well-known rule “brevity is the sister of talent.” Provide information about yourself briefly and succinctly.

Naturally, when writing an autobiography for a job, you should not make grammatical errors. The general form of presenting information about yourself is business style. Of course, all data specified in the document must be true. After you are hired, the bosses are quite capable of checking them - there is probably no need to talk about further consequences. You may not only lose the job you just got, but also get a very negative reputation. You should not praise yourself too much - information should be presented in a neutral tone. The most correct here would be a business style, clear, concise, without any lyrical digressions. If there were breaks in work activity, it is also advisable to indicate this moment with an explanation of the reason.

There is nothing difficult in drawing up a document such as an autobiography. When writing it, the main thing is to adhere to a few simple rules. In particular, summarizing the above, it is worth remembering that all information here should be presented concisely, without losing sight of anything. Indicate the reason for leaving your previous job, but be sensitive. If, for example, you left because of a conflict with your superiors, then there is no need to tell how bad your previous manager was - it would be better to simply write about the changed working conditions that became unsuitable for you.

Basic rules for writing an autobiography

It should be said right away that there are no special requirements for writing autobiographies. Therefore, it is necessary to compose an autobiography based on the general requirements for writing business letters.

Your autobiography does not have to be very voluminous. Try to be concise. The maximum amount of writing should not be more than 1-2 sheets of text. As practice shows, long “essays” will not help you reveal yourself in the eyes of the reader - they will most likely have the opposite effect.
What is written should not contain errors, the general form of presentation is business style. When reviewing your autobiography, the reader will pay attention not so much to what is written, but to the form in which it is done. For this reason, competent speech will allow you to score “extra points.”
All events described by you must be presented in chronological order, logically and consistently. That is, you cannot immediately after talking about school move on to work, skipping other educational institutions, or first talk about your place of work and then mention the education you received.
The information about you contained in your CV must be genuine. Including erroneous or inaccurate information may prevent you from getting the job you want (or achieve another goal) and create a bad business reputation.

Autobiography writing sample

Download a sample CV

To make it easier for you to compose your autobiography, here is an example of how to write it:

“I, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, was born on January 1, 1990 in the city of Vladivostok, Primorsky Territory. In 1997 he entered secondary school No. 1. In 2007 he graduated from school with a gold medal. In the same year, he began studying at the Far Eastern Humanitarian University with a degree in Journalism. In 2012 he graduated with honors. From August 2012 to this day I have been working as a journalist in the newspaper “Vestnik Vladivostok”.

We don't judge.

Married to Ekaterina Pavlovna Ivanova, born May 5, 1991. Born in the city of Vladivostok, higher education, works as a lawyer. Lives with me at the address: Vladivostok, st. Komsomolskaya, 15, apt. 5.

No children.

Additional information:

Mother: Olga Semenovna Ivanova, born on February 2, 1970 in the city of Vladivostok, higher education, works as an accountant. Lives at: Vladivostok, st. Lenina, 1, apt. 1. Not convicted.

Father: Ivanov Ivan Petrovich, born on March 3, 1970 in the city of Vladivostok, higher education, works as an engineer. Lives at: Vladivostok, st. Lenina, 1, apt. 1. We do not judge.

Brother: Petr Ivanovich Ivanov, born on April 4, 1995 in the city of Vladivostok, currently studying at the Far Eastern Medical University with a degree in Therapist. Lives at: Vladivostok, st. Lenina, 1, apt. 1. We don’t judge.”

Any other autobiography is written according to the same scheme with adaptation to a specific case. For example, if a schoolchild needs to write an autobiography, then the text must focus on academic achievements and participation in additional educational events (olympiads, competitions, exhibitions). You can also reflect sports activities and talk about achievements in sports.

Don't know your rights?

If we talk about a student’s autobiography, then it would be useful to include in the text information about conferences, student competitions, and scientific papers that were prepared during study. If a student is engaged in additional work in his specialty, then this experience requires reflection in his autobiography. You can talk about the internship you have completed, including industrial practice. For a student, the most important thing is to reflect an active life position, easy learning, as well as a good level of theoretical training. If a student, in addition to studying, is involved in sports and represents his university in competitions, then this information should also be included in the biography.

Autobiography for work

We have already discussed the general form of an autobiography above. In principle, an autobiography for work is not much different from these requirements. Although there are some differences:

an autobiography for applying for a job should reflect as much as possible the qualities that the employer needs. This is exactly what you should focus on, as this will not only save time when processing the document you sent, but will also advertise you as an applicant;
do not hesitate to describe the projects in which you took part and which were successful - experience is always valuable. In addition, such examples demonstrate flexibility of thinking, the ability to make decisions and bear responsibility for them, and the applicant’s ability to work in a team;
pay enough attention to reflecting the education you have received, but do not focus the employer’s main attention on this (unless, of course, you are a young specialist with no work experience who has nothing to tell about professional success yet). List all the places you studied and the qualifications you received, but do not dwell on the specifics of the training, the papers written, and so on. The employer is unlikely to be interested in this - and if he is, he will ask about it himself during the interview;
immediately reflect your wishes regarding future work. For example, if you prefer to work independently, then it is better to say so right away, without wasting time or breaking yourself while building relationships in the team. Remember that not only are you interested in the job, but the employer is also interested in you. Feel free to indicate the desired salary and other working conditions that you consider important for yourself. Think about the possibility of business trips: are they acceptable to you? It is quite possible that you need a quiet schedule, without travel, since you have a small child, so do not hide this initially - this will save time for you and the potential employer;
evaluate your business qualities, indicating your strengths. If you are sociable, creative, responsible, efficient, etc., then why not draw the employer’s attention to such characteristics?

Sample of writing an autobiography for work

Now let's look at a sample of writing an autobiography for work according to this scheme. It should look something like this:

“I, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, was born on January 1, 1980... (then you write everything according to the same model that we gave above, until the moment of employment).

From August 2012 to this day I have been working for the newspaper Vestnik Vladivostok. I wrote a number of articles that caused a great resonance in society, in particular: “Getting ready for school”, published in the 7th issue of the newspaper dated 09/01/2014 and “Let’s protect our native land”, published in the 10th issue of 10/01/2014. During my working life, the creative team under my leadership developed and implemented a new project, “Specialist’s Answer,” organized for the official website of the newspaper editorial office.

Monitoring traffic to the project page and a comparative analysis of sales for 4 months of the current year with the same period last year allowed us to draw certain conclusions. For example, the implementation of the project increased the popularity of the newspaper among the population and increased its sales by 10%. In addition, thanks to the project, the newspaper took 1st place in the annual competition “Best Printed Publication of 2014” and was awarded an honorary prize.”

This example clearly shows how you can talk about your professional achievements and advertise yourself on the labor market without unnecessary pomp.

It should also be noted that in autobiographies for work it is customary to reflect not only one’s skills and achievements, but also the reasons for leaving the last job. At the same time, you can limit yourself to the phrase “for family reasons” only if you left your job precisely for this reason. It is better to clearly answer such a question, while trying to remain tactful and sensitive. For example, if the reason for leaving was a conflict with management, then you should not say that an ungrateful and stupid director asked you to vacate your position - it is better to describe it in a slightly “streamlined” way, but in such a way that you cannot be accused of lying, rudeness or bad manners . For example: “The reason for leaving my previous job was a change in working conditions that made further work in the organization unsuitable for me.” If you are asked at an interview what exactly has changed, you can say that the new manager changed the internal policy of the enterprise, which entailed a change in the amount of work (responsibility, freedom, benefits, etc.), and for you the new state of affairs is unacceptable.

What else do you need to know about an autobiography?

An autobiography, which is compiled when searching for a job, is most often called a resume (For more details, see How to correctly write a resume/CV for a job 2017-2018 (sample example form)?). The difference between a resume is that it does not need to indicate information about your parents, as well as disclose in detail information about spouses and children.

The main task of a resume, unlike an autobiography, is not to tell a story about your life as a whole, clearly demonstrating the most important aspects. Here you need to talk about your professional level, indicate what career stage you are at, allowing the employer to assess your potential as a specialist in your field.

Today it is considered very fashionable and correct to support your autobiography with a photograph. There are no requirements for photography, but, of course, you will have to maintain a business style. That is, in the photo you should be in business clothes, with a neat hairstyle, the background should be neutral.

If we talk about a resume, then you can refer to the characteristics from your last place of work and recommendations given to you, if this is practiced and welcomed in your professional field. For example, the recommendations will be useful to teachers, specialists with a narrow specialization, and almost all humanists.

It is also appropriate in the document to mention military service (for men) and periods of maternity leave (for women).

At the very end, put the date the autobiography was written and your personal signature.