Autobiography Thread (merged)

[Standards]

Having read a few zillion biographies (as part of reviewing student and staff files), here's a couple of points from my perspective.

For junior courses (i.e. BMQ, SQ and DP 1 trades training) it is always hand written (in my experience).  A typed printout is generally acceptable for higher level courses, but in the end it depends on what the course joining instruction state and on the course staff.

If it's not legible, you will end up writing it again, so take the time to make the first one right.  Funnily enough I have never had difficulty reading a female student's biography but some of the male one's almost made me go blind.

Your biography is inserted into your student file and they are held for a minimum of five years before being archived.

Doug

 

[Sivad]

OK the good thing is this is easier than pushups but a couple of things worry me, 1. my handwriting is horrendous, i must print which isn't much better really.  Is printing accepted.  2. My spelling and grammer has fallen off a cliff since school ended ooh about 10 years ago. Thanks to spell check.  I believe computers make you dumber.

 

[48Highlander]

OK the good thing is this is easier than pushups but a couple of things worry me, 1. my handwriting is horrendous, i must print which isn't much better really.   Is printing accepted.   2. My spelling and grammer has fallen off a cliff since school ended ooh about 10 years ago. Thanks to spell check.   I believe computers make you dumber.

Uh, "hand written" as in "created by hand", it doesn't matter if it's written or printed though, just can't be typed.  I prefer printed script over written script since most people have atrocious hand-writing.  If it's so messy as to be illegible, you'll end up having to re-write it.

 

[c4th]

Is printing accepted.  

Yes it is and it is preferred if not required.  As a reader of many autobiographies and other hand written military correspondence I usually demand PRINTED, ALL CAPS, BLOCK LETTERS.

The Concise Oxford Canadian English dictionary is a good alternative to spell check.  Though, so is typing out your bio, editing it and copying it by hand.

Save a copy, you will probably need one on every career course between now and NATO War College.

 

[Dilea_Gu_Bas]

One of the major points that people usually get picked up for is not taking it seriously and making their autobiography into a big joke. Don't write stuff about how you want big guns to pick up chicks... that's just ignant...

Write the truth, and dont be a suck up

 

[canadianblue]

In my joining instructions the booklet says 500 word document and it can either be handwritten or word processed...

 

[48Highlander]

Was that supposed to be a question?

 

[canadianblue]

No, I'm just saying that my instructions are different then the ones that have been posted on this thread.

 

[mstorey]

No matter what you have heard I can tell you with certainty that your Auto biography must be hand written, neat and at least 300-400 words. You will be given a format to follow with your welcome package on arrival here at CFLRS.

 

[mstorey]

I am not saying that what has been posted before is wrong, because each school has it's own format and weather you do your BMQ in CFLRS or Borden things my be different. however my last post on this subject is a direct quote from the CFLRS welcome package.

 

[canadianblue]

Mine is dated August 2005, and the instructions for writing are as follows.

Write on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. Handwriteen documents should be legibly written, double spaced, and single sided. Computerized documents should be double spaced and single sided. Any summaries that are poorly written will have to be done over again.

 

[mstorey]

That may be so however i am preparing to start teaching a course on Sept 12 2005 and the package directions state your Bio must be between 300-400 words, 8 1/2 by 14 lined paper, double spaced in blue pen written neatly.

 

[NiTz]

Hahah..don't be nervous about the autobiography guys... write one before you get to st-jean. Write it in any way you wish because they're gonna ask you to write it again AT LEAST twice because they'll say it's shit. All the group will have to get to the same standard and most of the people will fuck off at least twice and they'll put all the autobiographies in the garbage... I wrote mine 3 times plus the time I wrote it before getting to st-jean.

so my advice is : write one of at least 300 words but not more than 400 then keep it in your locker and when they'll ask for it you just copy it but I tell you, it must be hand written and WELL written. I didn't think they would check it for real, but when my mcpl asked me if my father was born in Jonquiere I just went .. ooohhh lol

Anyways.. good luck and don't worry, they'll tell you what to do and when to do it, the only problem you'll get is to find time to do what they ask for!

cheers!

 

[Meridian]

Im not sure if it is different for CFRS or CFLS but when I joined it HAD to be typed, and those who submitted crap were called on it and rewrote. It was not made as a group activity, because its personal and confidential. This was during my entry at CFSJ (RMC). When we went over to IAP, we were again told to TYPE the same bio, but update it given our new military experiences. Handwriting wasn't acceptable.

Not sure if this is because we were OCdts, or that our staff didnt really care, or what.

 

[TCBF]

Meridian,

I stated this way back, but will repeat that as Recruit Instructors we insisted on a handwritten product done when we wanted them to do it - in the barracks, right away.

Handwritten under stress, we learned a lot more about the REAL (not edited) backgounds of our people.

a very effective tool. i read them all in bed the night they were written, and out of a Platoon of 60, I would read ten of them again, getting to sleep about 0300.

THAT is how seriously we treated the hand written product.

Tom

 

[Meridian]

Fair enough... too be honest, while I was certain our staff had read the bios (they used info from it in speaking with us initially), I got the impression that they approached it as makework.

I guess its one of those depends-on-your-DS type of things.

 

[Michael OLeary]

CANADIAN ARMY JOURNAL, VOL 8, NO 4, OCT 1954

HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVE ENGLISH

By COLONEL STROME GALLOWAY, ED, PSC, THE ROYAL CANADIAN REGIMENT*

http://regimentalrogue.com/srsub/sd-galloway.htm

 

[muskrat89]

Autobiography - 200 words - easy... and I had a lot more years to cram in than you do.

I was born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada. In addition to being a former soldier, millwright, and trapper; I'm an avid hunter and fisherman as well. An accomplished writer, I had my first Outdoor Column in High School, with Wilderness Tales N Trails, which eventually became the Maritime Sportsman. I lived five years in Northern Maine before moving to Arizona. More recently, I have been a Staff Writer and Assistant Editor with the Arizona Outdoorsman magazine. Currently, I am a freelance writer and editor, and have several feature stories per month (including an Outdoor Column) in the Johnson Ranch Hot Spot Journal. My newest project is Editor-in-Chief at Outdoor Product Research Services. I am a member of the Western Outdoor Writers. I am also a Hunting Staff member with G-Bowhunting as well as Rocky Mountain Broadheads. I reside with my wife Karole and daughter Mikaela, in Queen Creek, Arizona, which is about 50 miles southeast of Metro Phoenix. I am currently employed as a Facilities Manager at a metal stamping company. In addition, I am the Proprietor of a Booking Agent business - Parched Muskrat Adventures, where I enjoy working with hunting and fishing Outfitters from around the world.

 

[TCBF]

J**** H. Tapdancing C*****, how did we spend seven pages on this?   There should be an Armydotca ban on talking about anything to do with recruit school.

Bloody well show up where and when you are told to, with what you are told to bring.   Once there, do what you are told, when you are told, and how you are told to do it.

There.

I said it.

The secret is out.

Tom

 

[Joe Blow]

Bloody well show up where and when you are told to, with what you are told to bring.  Once there, do what you are told, when you are told, and how you are told to do it.

I understand the sentiment, but in the guidelines for the bio they suggest you include family information that is (in my case..) not generally assumed to be public (or at least government / employer) domain.  For ex.: "your family members and their occupations"  (??! ..Pardon me?  )  (EDIT: That smiley face is too angry.. but you get the idea..)

So, my question is this; will they insist that all of the suggested points are included in your bio.?  ..Because frankly I intend to gloss over the bits that don't really concern me and/or the CF directly. 

I don't mean to sound prickly here ..but I don't see how the occupations of my family members are really relevant to the matter at hand.