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How to Describe Yourself in a Few Words

• Nov 2, 2024

When writing a short description about yourself – for example, for a resume , Facebook page or networking event – it can be challenging to come across as professional while still conveying personality.

A good self-introduction sticks with the reader and gives a taste of your strengths : your honesty, values and individuality .

This article offers sample descriptions for you to draw on, so that you can encapsulate who you are succinctly and interestingly.

Types of short description about yourself

A paragraph describing yourself has to be adjusted to the specific context and audience. Here are the ways to describe yourself and the typical purposes for which they are used:

1. Professional Description

It’s an elevator pitch or snapshot of your career story and expertise . It is sometimes used in a resume or LinkedIn profile, or at a networking event to make a formal introduction.

You’re marketing the work you do because you want to be hired as an expert or to be asked to collaborate with others in your field.

About me examples:

Marketing : "I am an experienced digital marketer with over 7 years of expertise in brand strategy, content and community management. I have successfully run cross-channel campaigns for multiple clients which increased online visibility by 30 per cent. I pride myself on SEO, social media strategy and data-driven proposition. I have the proven expertise to create modern digital marketing solutions for a growing business." Software Developer : "Having spent the last five years building web applications for a range of contexts, I excel in creating full-stack web applications in JavaScript. I am enthusiastic about expanding my skills and experience in advanced UX, and agile project management. I have multiple examples of successful mission-critical delivery in this highly competitive and exciting area."

A professional profile describing yourself should be short (100 words or less) and concise. Write it as if you were representing yourself on a job application. Keep it as an overview of your skills and work history that clearly communicates what value you bring to your roles.

2. Personal Bio

Personal bio is a paragraph-length self-narrative that introduces yourself by describing your personality , interests and life history.

While this short description about yourself is attached to a blog, you have the freedom to include a mix of professional and personal information to make your bio more interesting.

Describe yourself examples:

Creative Specialist: "Hi, I am a graphic designer keen on translating thoughts into visual narratives. When I’m not working on corporate and branding projects, I am hiking on trails or polishing my latte art. I love to be creative not only at work but outside of it as well: I feel inspired by nature, architecture and street art." Blog Bio: "Travel addict. Reader. Coffee snob. Keen learner. Revelling at mastering new recipes and podcasts."

In the end, your bios should be about you and provide some insight into who you are beyond your professional life. They should have a light, conversational tone, and be a launching-off point into your personal corner of the world.

3. Academic or Student Bio

It is a short introduction that describes your educational background and areas of academic interest, with a summary of future plans and goals. It is commonly used for applications , portfolios, student profiles or to connect with others online.

The point is to illuminate your trajectory and major fields of study , as well as your experience and personal or intellectual ambitions.

How to describe yourself professionally:

Undergraduate Student: "I am a junior at NY University with a major in environmental science, and my research interests concern agri-environmental sustainability. I am keen to apply principles of science to crack the global environmental issues. Besides devoting myself to develop an ecologically sustainable food-production system, I am also serving as a member of the campus sustainability club. I plan to work in ecologic conservation after I graduate." Graduate Student: "I am a data science master’s student. My primary work right now involves using machine learning in healthcare via design and analysis of predictive models. My most recent project data-mined US hospital records to aid in the prediction and improvement of patient outcomes."

This bio is the best way to demonstrate and highlight your thirst for knowledge, existing achievements , and future aspirations. For that reason, this type of brief description of yourself is excellent for showing what your ongoing scholarly goals are.

4. Creative or Artistic Description

This is a short description of you as an artistic person and lover of arts creativity (drama, dance, music, poetry, writings etc).

It should be used for your portfolio, your artist website and social-media profiles to both show your style and express the central themes you bring to craft.

How do you describe yourself:

Visual Artist: "I’m a mixed-media artist who creates abstract works exploring the tension between nature and human feeling. Texture and colorful brushstrokes help capture movement in the canvas and convey shifting light and mood. Inspired by nature, my works – featured in galleries in the area – capture the ephemeral and the magical, form and chaos. I’m always experimenting with new techniques to challenge myself." Writer: "I’m a fiction writer. My characters frequently question and puzzle over things that smack of the supernatural, but which could just be products of their minds. They grapple with mythic elements that borrow their power from all the folktales. I’ve had short stories published in some small literary journals, and I’m working towards my first novel." Photographer: "I am a black-and-white portrait photographer . My work explores raw emotions and hidden human expressions associated with lust, despair, loneliness. My aim is to engage with the viewer on an abstract level, presenting challenging expressions, moods and fragile moments with a cinematic look. You can see more of my work on my website."

A description about yourself such as this is a chance for your voice as an artist to shine; letting a potential client, collaborator, or fan get a sense of your artistic vision and what makes your work distinctive.

5. Social Media Bio

A social media bio is a short concise paragraph about yourself, which is usually used to express your personality or your interests, or sometimes even your profession, on platform such as Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

This is something you need to write in a short and concise way , because sometimes you have very limited characters available.

Short description about yourself sample:

Instagram Bio : "📸 Photographer | 🌎 World Traveller | ☕ Coffee Addict | Capturing life’s moment one shot at a time. | 📬 DM for collabs." Twitter Bio : "👽 Tech geek | 📈 Data analytics | 📚 Bookworm | Thinking out loud on AI, startups & future tech | 🧐 Opinions mine." Personal Twitter Bio : " Writer ✍️ | Cat person 🐱 | Podcast addict 🎧 | Obsessed with murder and coffee that’s not hot. Keep up with the next story."

A bio on social media must be readable, quotable and, if possible, memorable, all in a space not exceeding 100 characters. This often requires a motley combination of emojis, humor or bluntness in order to fit.

6. Networking Elevator Pitch

A networking elevator pitch is a short introduction to you – who you are, what you do, and what you’re looking for – that you can deliver in 30-60 seconds.

It’s designed to be easy to remember and leave a favorable impression. It is ideal if you’re attending a networking event, interviewing for a role or simply introducing yourself casually in a professional context .

Describe yourself in a few words:

For a Job Seeker : "Hello, this is Sarah here. I like to refer myself as a marketing specialist with 5 odd years of experience under my belt. I’ve been instrumental in guiding organizations to upsize organically through targeted campaigns and high SEO-friendliness. Currently I am looking for an opportunity to bring my skills to an energetic team where I can aid in driving engagement and growth." For a Freelancer : "Hello, I’m James, freelance developer of responsive websites and e-commerce shops. My work is usually with businesses that have a small in-house development team and need something polished and attractive. I can also work on the back end to ensure everything runs smoothly. I love working with new projects that are taking off, so if you’re looking to scale, get in touch!" For an Entrepreneur : "Hi, my name is Lisa, the founder of EcoBright. We create a sustainable packaging that allows food and retail industries to reduce their ecological footprint. Let’s go green together! I’m currently searching for partners."

A compelling brief description of yourself can frost your introduction and open further doors in one’s professional circle.

Short description about yourself samples

Professional description:.

I am a software engineer with 6 years of experience developing scalable web applications using JavaScript frameworks and cloud computing. I have proudly led projects to improve the user experience and increase efficiency.

Creative Style :

I’m a code wizard by day and a tech nerd by night! Enthusiastic about developing innovative software to solve problems and to build amazing user-friendly applications to make the world a better place!

Professional Description : I am an experienced digital marketing strategist with over four years of experience. My expertise lies in developing data-driven campaigns that boost brand visibility and engagement through social media and email marketing.

Conversational Style :

Hi! I’m a marketing strategist, ideas person, and conceptualize and execute effective campaigns and strategies. I develop and execute engaging content and access and analyze data trends. I leverage and bridge brands with customers. I work with words.

I am a pediatric registered nurse , holding an undergraduate degree, with five years of experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings. I offer patient- and family-centred care in a dynamic and fast-paced setting while also adhering to evidence-based practices.

Personal Touch :

I have a big heart for children and I’m excited to come to work because of this. I love being a paediatric nurse and will continue to be so as long as I have this burning passion to work with people.

Professional Description : I am an elementary school teacher with more than eight years of experience in public school. I love making learning fun and I aim to ensure that every student I teach deliberately and intelligently.

Inspirational Style :

I am a teacher from the bottom of my heart who encourages kids to explore the world around them. My classroom is an exciting place where there is plenty of inquisitiveness from kids who all have a bright future ahead of them.

I’m an analyst with seven years of experience researching market trends to develop an investment strategy to optimize a company’s resource allocation.

Confident Tone :

I’m a numbers and analysis person at heart. I love the volatility of market moves. I want to provide financial insight that creates business opportunity.

Creative Arts

Professional Description : I am a graphic designer with a five-year experience in branding and visual storytelling. I utilize my skills in communicating impactful visual story with human emotional-filled narratives while promoting brands.

Artistic Style :

Visual storyteller turned graphic and branding enthusiast! I bring illustrations to life to turn ideas into beautiful, memorable works of art!

Hospitality

I have over 10 years of experience in hotel operations and guest services with emphasis on anticipating needs, exceeding guests’ expectations, and achieving repeat business through the provision of excellent hospitality.

Friendly Tone :

I had a passion for hospitality! I was a seasoned hotelier after a decade of providing guest services of unparalleled excellence so that my clients would always remember to call home, not to us.

Non-Profit Sector

Professional Description : I am a program coordinator with 6 years of experience in community outreach and development. Working to build thriving communities through knowledgeable advocacy and strategic initiatives.

Empathetic Style :

Every day I try to pair people up with the resources they need. Every day, I use my position to work philanthropically within communities to help people improve their quality of life through our programs.

I am a sales representative with 5 years experience in B2B sales. I am proven to leverage long-standing customer relationship management to enhance revenue generation by utilizing strategic selling techniques.

Dynamic Style :

Sales enthusiast and social butterfly! A problem is an opportunity and I love building relationships between businesses and solutions that drive them forward.

Real Estate

Professional Description : Real estate agent, licensed for 8 years and specializing in residential sales; endeavoring to help my clients to both the purchasing or selling homes with ease and assurance.

Approachable Style :

Real estate matchmaker. Whether you want to purchase a home or sell your property, I can provide you personal assistance and exclusive knowledge of the market.

Create your professional Resume in 10 minutes for FREE

Describe yourself in one sentence

• I’m a coding geek who loves building cool apps and figuring out how to make tech work for everyone.
• I’m a fashion enthusiast who loves experimenting with styles and helping people find outfits that make them feel confident.
• I’m a fitness coach who’s all about helping others crush their goals and find joy in staying active and healthy.
• I’m a foodie and aspiring chef who loves whipping up delicious meals and exploring new cuisines around the world.
• I’m a photographer who enjoys capturing life’s beautiful moments and telling stories through my lens.
• I’m a gaming fanatic who loves exploring virtual worlds and sharing my adventures with friends online.
• I’m a travel junkie always planning my next adventure, eager to explore new cultures and share my experiences with others.
• I’m a logistics coordinator who enjoys keeping things running smoothly and making sure products get where they need to be on time.

Crafting an one-to-two sentence description about yourself is an important skill that can help you connect more with others in your professional life.

Whether you’re preparing a bio for a resume , networking event, or media platform , a good structure for your self-description can help you convey your personality in a way that others can understand, remember and relate to.

With these examples and guidelines in mind, you are now better equipped to communicate who you are , in a way that will stay long for others.

Amanda Baker

Certified Professional Resume Writer

Amanda Baker is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and career coach with over a decade of experience crafting compelling resumes and career marketing tools. As a black resume writer, Amanda brings a distinctive perspective to her work, guided by her commitment to nurturing the next generation of job seekers. Her ultimate goal is to equip young professionals with the skills and knowledge to confidently navigate the competitive job market.

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How to Describe Yourself on a Resume (With Examples)

8 min read · Updated on January 23, 2024

It doesn't have to feel like nails on a chalkboard when trying to describe yourself on a resume!

How you describe yourself on your resume directly impacts whether you land that interview you so eagerly want. It's essential to describe your qualifications and experience in such a way as to grab the employer's attention without hesitation. 

How do you do that, exactly? By incorporating self-descriptive words on your resume that stand out to hiring teams and showcase that you're the best fit for the job. 

In this post, we start off with tips for developing self-descriptive words for your resume, followed by examples of descriptive words to use and avoid. 

Tips for developing self-descriptive words for your resume

It's not uncommon for individuals to struggle with talking about their accomplishments and strengths. We tend to share about another's skills and abilities easily, but when it comes to describing ourselves, we fall short. Fortunately, below are some steps you can take to boost your creative juices and find the words for your resume to help you stand out from the competition. 

Ask friends and peers for help

One way to come up with ways to describe yourself is to ask your peers, friends, and managers for input. For a comprehensive perspective, ask for feedback from those in your personal and professional lives. Here are some questions you can ask to receive the information you need:

What are three adjectives you would use to describe me?

How would you describe me to a coworker or friend?

If you could sum up my personality in one word, what would it be, and why?

Consider past performance reviews

Another way to develop self-descriptive words for a resume is to reflect on past performance reviews. What did supervisors have to say about you? What about coworkers who provided input? What were some of the strengths and achievements emphasized?

Make a list of your past accomplishments and strengths

Brainstorm to come up with a list of all your strengths, so you can more easily refer to them when describing yourself on a resume. Do this by first listing some of your key achievements and considering what strengths allowed you to achieve them. 

For example, suppose you implemented a new customer service rating system two weeks ahead of schedule, which led to a 10% increase in customer feedback. In that case, you might describe yourself as efficient and productive. 

Refer to the job description

If you're struggling to come up with the best self-descriptive words for your resume, refer to the job description. Highlight any skills, knowledge, and requirements you possess that align with the job. By incorporating these keywords into your resume, you're not only emphasizing that you meet the job qualifications but are also improving your resume's chances of getting past an employer's  applicant tracking system , or ATS.

Think positive

It's good to be humble and clear on your strengths and weaknesses. However, when it comes to self-descriptive words for a resume, you want to focus on the positives only - your strengths. 

Save sharing your weaknesses for the interview, when you'll likely be asked about them. During an interview, you can - and should - give your weaknesses a positive spin with context, which is challenging to do on a resume.

As you develop your list of strengths and how you'd describe yourself, work to develop some unique adjectives to use that are specific to your qualifications. Refer to the list of strengths you've developed, and look up synonyms for those words that could help you to stand out from other applicants. 

For example, instead of incorporating the commonly used term “creative,” you might use words like inventive or prolific. A word of caution is to avoid words that come across as boastful or exaggerating your qualifications.    

Review example resumes

An excellent resource to refer to when you're attempting to craft your own resume is to look at  resume examples  online. The resume examples you review don't need to be specific to your field, since self-descriptive adjectives and descriptive verbs aren't industry-specific, as shown in the examples below. This approach not only helps to generate ideas for self-descriptive words for your resume but also provides guidance on  how to write your resume  as a whole.

Self-descriptive words for a resume - examples

When it comes to self-descriptive words for a resume, technically, we're referring to adjectives, since adjectives describe a noun. However, two additional categories of words are essential to fully describe your abilities and work history: descriptive verbs and skills.  

Powerful adjectives for a resume

Here are only a few of the many adjectives you could use on your resume, with examples of how you might include them in a sentence. 

Adaptable:  Adaptable professional with ability to move from project to project within different departments. 

Compassionate:  Compassionate caretaker with 10 years of experience, working with hospices and providing end-of-life services. 

Knowledgeable:  Knowledgeable mechanic with 3 excellence awards for superb service and quality, earned in less than 6 months. 

Perceptive:  Perceptive speaker with ability to navigate an audience to know where to direct attention to garner the best outcome. 

Tech-savvy:   Tech-savvy Visual Artist with ability to bring together ideas and people to produce valuable and thought-provoking content, including images, videos, and graphics. 

Top tip: For an extensive list of 100 power adjectives, refer to “ 100 Powerful Resume Adjectives that Can Make Your Resume More Compelling .” 

Descriptive verbs for a resume

Action verbs  are vital in really making your work section stand out. Each bullet point you include for the jobs you list should begin with a power verb that emphasizes your role in the activity or achievement. Power verbs are also used in the resume summary to highlight accomplishments. 

Skills for a resume

Skills on your resume  should include a combination of soft and hard skills. In many instances, hard skills are spelled out and soft skills are inferred based on our past achievements. 

Unusual words to describe yourself on a resume

As mentioned, be creative and specific when selecting self-descriptive words for your resume, to help set you apart. A great way to do this is to use a thesaurus to gather synonyms for the list of self-descriptive adjectives you come up with. Some interesting choices that aren't used as often yet can still sound good on a resume include:

Inventive 

Self-descriptive words for a resume: what NOT to use

Yes, there are some words to leave off your list of self-descriptive words for your  resume. These words tend to be overused, generic, highly subjective, or boastful. Here are a few examples:

You might think you're likable, but likability is in the eye of the beholder. Instead of using likable, consider adjectives that refer to being likable, yet add value, such as team player, compassionate, and energetic. 

Intelligent 

Don't flat-out state you're intelligent, at risk of coming across as overly confident. Also, it should be inferred that you're intelligent by the other adjectives and proof you provide to back them up on your resume. Words like big-picture thinker, agile, and quick learner are better word choices.

Saying you're successful is very broad. Instead, you want to narrow your successes to specific skills and strengths with qualifiers and quantifiable data. 

Here are a few more self-promotional adjectives to leave off your resume. 

Got-to-person

Outside the box thinker

Instead of using these types of adjectives, come up with alternatives where you can show results linked to them. A good place to begin is by asking yourself, "What have I achieved that shows I'm a go-getter, the best, and so on?"

Where to incorporate self-descriptive words on a resume

Now that you've seen some examples of self-descriptive words, where do they belong on your resume? There are three main areas to place them:

Resume summary. Your  resume summary  falls just below your contact information and is the main area where you'll incorporate self-descriptive adjectives, with a few skills and power verbs. 

Competencies and skills list. Your  core competencies or skills list  should include the soft and hard skills required for the job, based on the job description. 

Work experience section. The  work experience section  is where you'll include the power verbs that describe what you did on the job, as well as some of the skills that supported you in doing so. You might also include some adjectives in this section, though generally, the adjectives are inferred. For example:

“Motivated team of 10 to implement an enhanced customer booking log project on time, resulting in an 8% increase in positive customer experience ratings”

From this achievement, one can infer that the person is motivational, a leader, and efficient. 

Apply a variety of self-descriptive words on your resume

Now you have some tips to help you discover the best self-descriptive words for your resume, with examples. You also know where to include them. As a final tip, when you incorporate your descriptive words, be sure to use a variety of adjectives and power verbs so your resume doesn't sound redundant. Good luck! 

If you're wondering if you're using the right self-descriptive words throughout your resume, why not submit it for a  free resume review ? Our  TopResume team of experts  will help to ensure your resume describes you in a way that lands you interview after interview!

Recommended reading:

How to List Certifications on a Resume with Examples

What Are the Best Fonts for a Resume

How to Include Relevant Coursework on a Resume (with Examples)

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Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

How to Create a Resume With No Education

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

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