Sometimes, one of the best ways to learn how to do something well is to practice it over and over again. Other times, the best way is to read about how others have done it successfully and try to emulate that. In looking at how to interview, I posted a link to an article the other day that listed things you must never do and things you must do in an interview. This could certainly help you out if you’re prepping for a big interview, but what if you got to look at it from the other side of the table. If you have had a chance to conduct interviews in your past, you can probably remember some interviews that were great and what you liked about them. But if you've never interviewed people, maybe you don’t know what interviewers truly look for when they speak with a candidate. You may think you know, but how can you be absolutely sure? Try this great resource for finding out what is in the minds of interviewers.
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There are plenty of things that can be considered dumb, especially when interviewing for a job. Normally I would try to work on my own list, but I found this recently on LinkedIn and decided to just pass the word along.
Check out the Five Things You Must NOT Do in an Interview and Five Things You Must In the words of the great Jedi Master Yoda, “make one smart, using big words does not.” OK, maybe he never actually said that, but if he had been a high school English teacher, I like to think he might have. The point I’m trying to make is that simply using a big word in your writing (or in conversation for that matter) doesn't make you the smartest person in the room. Oftentimes when people use big words with many syllables, it has the opposite effect from what was intended. Big words used unnecessarily can clog up the conversation and interrupt the flow ending up with the key thoughts being lost. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for big words but you must make absolutely certain that it is needed. Unless you’re being graded on the size and complexity of your words, keep it simple to make sure you get your point across. Perhaps Yoda would complete the thought with this…”Make one smart, using big words does not. When used correctly, powerful any word can become.” As a writer, I compose short stories as well as poetry. One question that has come up in conversations about writing poetry is how it should be edited. My personal feeling is that poetry should come from the heart. This being said, the best poems are those that run in some form a stream of consciousness. There can be sentences of sorts, even if they cross line breaks, but the thoughts simply flow from the poet. If authors start to tinker too much with their poems and make them “just right” in their own mind, the spontaneity of the poem begins to be lost. Now, does this mean that you shouldn't edit your poems at all? Absolutely not! I urge you to read through your poems just like any other piece of writing. Print out a copy so that you can see it printed on a page and above all, read it out loud. Poetry and song have long been intertwined, so hearing how the words sound against one another can be a powerful tool for a poet trying to figure out if a poem it “done.” (If you have ever read Dr. Suess out loud you know exactly what I mean) One last note about poetry that I’m sure everyone has heard but not every quite agrees with. It doesn't have to rhyme to be poetry. Just because Shakespeare, Coleridge, and Poe all did it, doesn't mean you have to. Use your own style and don’t be afraid to experiment. |
AuthorJonathan Ytreberg is the owner of Best Word Forward, committed to providing the best resume advice and services to clients around the globe. Archives
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