How to Write Personal Profile Papers

Writing a profile paper basically involves writing about a certain person’s field and career path. A personal profile paper focuses less on their career and more about the more personal aspects of their life, such as hobbies, family and friendships. However, since career is a part of most people’s lives, you might still include information about their career--but on a more personal level, such as how they chose their career and how satisfied they are with their choice.

Interview the person you’re writing the personal profile paper about. Write out a list of questions before the interview that address the topics you want to cover in your paper, such as family life, career satisfaction and personal interests. Take detailed notes during the interview.

Write the introduction for your personal profile paper. The introduction should include who your personal profile paper is about, your relationship to that person and why you chose to write about him. Also, include a summary of the major topics you will cover.

Pick out quotes and other facts or opinions from your interview notes to use in your personal profile paper. These should relate to the main topics you plan to discuss. Organize the quotes, fact and opinions and know where you plan to use each one.

Write the body of your paper. Have three to five paragraphs that each covers a different topic. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence and several sentences that relate to the topic sentence. For example, you might have a paragraph about how the person ended up in her career field. The supporting sentences would list in chronological order the steps and decisions that led to that career choice, the education and training involved and any personal life circumstances that contributed.

Write the conclusion for your personal profile paper. For this type of paper, the conclusion might summarize your main topics and discuss what you learned about the person you wrote about while writing the paper.