Grammar lessons all job seekers should know

http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-2824-Resumes-Cover-Letters-Grammar-lessons-all-job-seekers-should-know/

When applying for a job, there are few faster ways to get your résumé and cover letter thrown out of contention than by making a glaring grammatical error.

"In an era of spell check, easily edited documents and instantly shared 'can you give this a look' emails, typos and grammatical errors on résumés and/or cover letters are pretty much unforgivable," says Sean Smith, president of Third Street, an Indianapolis-based marketing company. "The message sent by typing 'too' when it should be 'to' can literally be the difference between getting the nod or getting a no."

Checklist for your résumé and cover letter. 

1. Know your homophones
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings, like too, to and two. Using the correct version on your résumé is crucial.

"The misuse of your/you're, there/their/they're, and to/too/two occurs more times than I care to dwell on," says Marisa Brayman, a Web developer and blogger for Stadri Emblems, a company that designs embroidered patches. "If someone uses one of these incorrectly on a cover letter, he can say goodbye to his chances of ever landing a decent job. If this is due to a simple typo, that is one thing; however, in my humble opinion, if the individual doesn't know the difference between these basic words and has never bothered to take an hour out of his or her life to learn it, he or she is not deserving of landing a decent job."

A quick refresher:

Their, they're, there
Their: The possessive form of "they."  ("Applicants submitted their error-free cover letters.")
They're: The contraction of "they are." ("I think they're getting the hang of this grammar thing.")
There: A location. ("The pile of cover letters is over there.")

Two, too, to
Two: A number. ("There are two applicants in the lobby.")
Too: Also. ("I'd like to be interviewed for the job, too.")
To: A preposition or infinitive. ("I'm going to apply.")

Your, you're
Your: The possessive form of "you." ("Don't forget to proofread your résumé.)
You're: The contraction of "you are." ("I have a feeling you're going to get this job.")

It's, its
The best-selling grammar bible, "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" by Lynne Truss, best describes the difference between these two words:

"To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as 'Thank God its Friday' (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of violence. The confusion of the possessive 'its' (no apostrophe) with the contractive 'it's' (with apostrophe) is an unequivocal sign of illiteracy and sets off a simple Pavlovian 'kill' response in the average stickler.

The rule is: the word 'it's' (with apostrophe) stands for 'it is' or 'it has.' If the word does not stand for 'it is' or 'it has' then what you require is 'its.' This is extremely easy to grasp."

Some other common homophones you should know:

Whose and who's
Every day and everyday

2. Use apostrophes properly
Apostrophes are used for a few reasons:

• They indicate the possessive: "In my last job, I managed the CEO's calendar."
• They indicate the omission of letters in words (i.e., in contractions).
• They indicate the exclusion of numbers in dates: "I graduated college in '05."
• They indicate time or quantity: "I must give my current employers two weeks' notice."

Be sure to check your résumé for proper use of apostrophes, as well as for any erroneous punctuation. Apostrophes do not, for example, indicate the plural form of a singular noun. It is incorrect to say "I developed orientation programs to help new employee's get acclimated to the company."

3. Keep tenses consistent
"Building lists correctly is important," says Christina Zila, director of communications at Textbroker.com, a Las Vegas-based content-creation firm. "Use consistent verb tenses: If you start your job duties with 'managing multiple employees,' don't have your next point as 'prepared annual reports' but 'preparing annual reports.'"
Similarly, as a general rule, all activities or accomplishments that you completed in the past should be in the past tense. Activities that you perform now should be in the present tense. This should be kept consistent throughout your résumé.

4. Proofread and then proofread again
The bottom line is that proofreading your application materials before submitting them is a must.
"There are enough people with bad grammar pet peeves that there is virtually no position out there where grammar doesn't matter," says Debra Yergen, author of the "Creating Job Security Resource Guide." "Since a basic search-engine inquiry for 'grammar pet peeves' nets more than 400,000 returns, it's safe to say that hiring managers are paying close attention to grammar and other résumé and cover-letter errors. Read and reread everything you write for a job application, and if you doubt yourself even slightly, run your submission past someone you trust."

Your Digital Footprint Speaks - (Future) Employee Be/Aware! (Part 1)

Article adopted from: http://www.digitalfamilysummit.com/2012/safety-protecting-your-digital-footprint/

Just like in real life, every step we take online provides insight into our person.  And don’t be fooled, even though you can’t see it, people are watching.  That’s why it’s so important to protect that digital footprint, to somewhat wrap your reputation in virtual bubble-wrap.

There are a few steps you can take to make sure that you are giving off the right impression of yourself.

Social Smarts: 

Be mindful about what you are posting on your social network channels.  Too much information isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially because you don’t know who it’s reaching.

Longevity:

Remember, what goes online stays online.  Forever.  Just because you decided that, once you posted it, you don’t want it live anymore…it’s still out there.  It’s embedded in the social network DNA.  Hitting delete doesn’t ever change that.  So think first.

Privacy IS the BEST Policy:

Only allow those people who you know IN REAL LIFE to have access to your personal information.  And even then, be wary because the more people know about you, especially in the written word, the more ammunition they have to use against you.  The best practice for protection management is to keep private things private.

Stay Clean:

Posting provocative or inappropriate pictures or posts online can be to your detriment in many ways both in your personal and professional life.

Think first, protect your digital footprint.  Those impressions last forever.

A Lesson on the Importance of Honesty in the Workplace

The Seed

Adopted from http://blog.beliefnet.com/haveamagnificentday/2013/01/the-seed-2.html  

 A successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different.  He gathered the young executives in his company.  He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO.  I have decided to choose one of you. ”

The executives were shocked.  The boss continued “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one special SEED.  I want you to plant it, water it, and come back one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.  I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

One man, Jim, went home and excitedly told his wife the story.  She got a pot, soil and helped plant the seed.  Every day, he’d water it and watch to see if it had grown.

After a few weeks, the executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.  Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.  By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by – nothing. Jim knew he killed his seed.  Everyone had plants and trees…he had nothing.  Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however.  He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.  

A year went by and all the executives brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.  Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot.  But she asked him to be honest about what happened.  Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room.  When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives.  They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes.  Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he greeted his executives.

Jim tried to hide in the back.  ”My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO.  “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”

All of a sudden, the CEO saw Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot and ordered Jim to come forward.  Jim was terrified.  He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure!  Maybe he will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO announced, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!  His name is Jim!”

Jim couldn’t believe it.  Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed.  I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.  But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.  When you realized that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.  Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it.  Therefore, he is the one who will be the new CEO!”

What would you do were you in  Jim's  position? Please comment.

Don't let your good work traits go bad

 
Successful professionals often share man attributes: optimism, helpfulness, commitment, perseverance. But sometimes, the good traits you possess can work against you in the office. 

      For instance, being known as a nice person is certainly a good thing. Being too much of a pushover, on the other hand, may lead others to take advantage of you by directing unwanted assignments your way. Being seen as someone who's always "in the know" also sounds like a compliment -- unless you earned the reputation by trolling for office gossip.

        Below are some other examples of positive attributes that can help you succeed in your career, provided you know when and in what measure to apply them:

     Attention to detail
When it comes to ensuring top-notch work, you're the champion. But getting so caught up in confirming that every "t" is crossed and "i" is dotted could be hurting, not helping, your co-workers. For example, if you continually obsess over every minute detail before sending something out the door, you may be putting deadlines at risk. Likewise, if you're constantly double-checking their figures and reports, your colleagues may assume you don't trust them to produce quality work.

      There's no doubt that producing error-free work is crucial to your company's reputation and to your own. But your level of scrutiny should be based on how important each assignment is to the business. For example, it makes much more sense spending more time carefully editing a client presentation than a draft report to a co-worker in another department.

      Self-confidence
You enjoy your job and take pride in being good at what you do. That doesn't mean your ideas and approaches are always right. In fact, insisting that they are is not only presumptuous but also rude to colleagues who also have valuable input.

      Another potential pitfall: Self-confidence can lead to overconfidence. Take care not to bite off more than you can chew just because you're convinced you can handle anything and everything that comes your way. That's a quick path to disaster.

  

    Enthusiasm

 Work motivates you. Nothing is more satisfying than completing a project and clearing your desk so you can take on the next challenge. But an upbeat attitude can backfire if you sugarcoat problems or make promises you can't keep ("Sure, we can deliver twice as much in half the time!"). An overly positive attitude isn't always realistic, particularly if you don't give yourself the chance to vent frustration or disappointment when faced with significant setbacks.

        If you lose a major client or are passed over for a promotion, take time to acknowledge the loss, and then use that reflection period to develop a plan for moving forward. Just be sure you don't dwell on a setback or respond in an unprofessional way.

       Level-headedness
Multiple deadlines? Heavy workloads? Demanding clients? "No problem!" you say. "Bring it on!" While you may indeed have a higher-than-average tolerance for stress, everyone has his or her limits.

      Even if people look to you to be their port in the storm -- and you relish that role -- there's nothing wrong with raising a warning flag in rough seas. Doing so will do four important things: ensure that deadlines are met, work quality doesn't slip, co-workers and clients aren't let down, and you don't suffer a massive case of burnout.

      Joviality
You love to make people laugh -- in fact, levity should be your middle name. When things get stressful at the office, you know just what to say to ease the tension.

      Although humor plays an important role in employee morale, timing is everything. Know when a situation calls for a serious demeanor, no matter how tempted you are to break the ice with a joke. And take care not to offend co-workers you're trying to amuse. Everyone is different -- and so are their senses of humor. Remember, it's much better to be viewed as a quick wit than a clown.

      Getting ahead in your career requires a mix of positive qualities, but, as in all things, practice moderation. After all, you can have too much of a good thing -- even the qualities that make you successful at work.

Source: Careerbuilder

Posted by Beneta

Creating a résumé that says I AM the Right Person for the Job (Part 2)

2.    Résumé Content              

iv.          Eliminate unnecessary information from your résumé. For example, a student enrolled in an undergraduate degree programme need not detail his/her CXC passes. The employer would be more interested in core modules covered in the degree programme which would bare great relevance to the job. 

v.                  Do not clutter your résumé with excess words. Résumés are not generally written in sentence form but rather in concise phrases. Please consider these examples that would fall under “Work Experience”:

Instead of writing:

·         I was hired to develop the company’s website and database

It is completely acceptable to write:

·         Developed the company’s website and database

vi.       Avoid acronyms and jargons.

      v.       Use résumé power verbs to emphasize your achievements. These words 

                include managed, collaborated, implemented, advanced, engineered, 

                formulated conceptualized and strengthened etc.

      vi.      Whatever you place on your résumé should represent you greatly. Write with confidence and ensure that your résumé is error free. Where possible, seek professional help to review your résumé. Let the employer know that you are a confident prospective employee!