找工作時，有些公司會要求英文自傳。有趣的是，你若沒有一定的年紀和閱歷，能寫的東西不多，這大概說明自傳內容千篇一率是關於家人、求學、工作。若你是用人主管，類似的內容，又是英文，你能看幾篇？現在可以知道它的重要性了吧!

但，還是得寫，總會有人看。要寫的讓人想閱讀，首先，把自傳想成「自我介紹」，自己決定公開哪些資訊，但這些資訊最好和下面這幾類有關：

• 人格特質
• 學校生活 (工作三年以上，可略過此項)
• 工作經歷
• 興趣嗜好
• 職涯規劃

長度不超過一頁情況下，自己挑選其中幾個類別，每一類自成一段，但人格特質和工作經歷最好擺進去，因為這兩類直接說明你的工作態度、好用的地方。我先示範一般人對於家人的描述方式和它的問題點。

傳統寫法：

My name is Woody Yu. I live in a small family. There are four people in the family: my father, my mother, my sister and myself. I just graduated from college and my sister is still a high school student. My father owns a business in mainland China. He comes back once every two months, or sometimes longer than that. When he comes home, he does not talk much because he worries the bad economy may damage his business. My mother is a college professor. She likes her job but often complains about the low pay….

雖然文法沒瑕疵，但這樣寫幾乎毫無意義，你會對這樣的背景感興趣或留下深刻印象嗎？看完三篇類似的內容之後？
下面的改寫，示範如何利用你的成長環境或家人，帶出你的做人處世態度和特質。

建議改寫：

I grew up in a middle-income family where hard work is valued. My father is a businessman and my mother is a college professor. They struggled most of their lives to raise me and my sister. They are warm and kind but strict with us. They pay attention to our education because they want us to be as successful as they are. My mother has the greatest influence on me. She taught me to be serious with work and competitive in what I do. Because of her, I have developed a hardworking attitude and outgoing personality. These positive attributes of mine have later proven helpful at school, at work, and in anything I pursue.

劃線部份和粗體字說明你是什麼樣個性的人，具備哪些特質。這樣寫容易讓讀者將你和公司文化產生聯想，這就是我們的目的，不是嗎？
在不景氣的時候跳巢或找工作，你要能強力推銷自己耐磨、耐操、好用，又有一堆好處，做到的話，你的面試機會自然多，而自傳是推銷自己的最好機會。