One of the hardest parts about the English language is the prominence of words that sound the same, or very similar, yet mean different things. My recent favorite is “there,” “their” and “they’re.” If you read these to someone and they can’t see them printed on the page, they will have no idea which meaning is intended without some additional context. Another pair of words that I have recently seen used incorrectly is “ensure” and “insure.” At first glance, these two words are so similar. They may only differ by one letter, but that little change can make a big difference. Insure Both of these words can have the concept of securing or guaranteeing something behind their meaning, but again, the context is important. When using “insure” you are generally be speaking about something financial. You pay to insure your car or home against damage. You pay to insure yourself against costly health issues. In general, anything pertaining to the insurance industry will use “insure.” Ensure On the other hand, “ensure” should be used when you are guaranteeing something will happen. “The girl sang well enough to ensure herself a spot on American Idol.” You are essentially saying that an event is a certainty because of some other action. Now you know, and knowing…well GI Joe probably has the rest of that copyrighted.
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There is no one part about writing a résumé that is THE hardest part. Many people have trouble talking about themselves and especially lauding their accomplishments. They think that they are bragging and will be seen as pompous, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Your résumé is designed for one thing, to land you an interview. In order for someone to know if you’re worth interviewing, they need to know a bit about what you have done in the past. My question to you today is what is the hardest part of writing or updating your résumé? Do you struggle with your objective statement? Does your education look too basic? Do you have trouble pinpointing what experience to include? Post a comment below with your biggest struggles. This is my last post for a few weeks. I know I had pledged to post on this blog every Friday moving forward, but I have a planned vacation coming up and have decided to take a break from posting on the blog as well. While I’m gone, I pose a question to you dear reader. What questions do you have related to refining your résumé or even starting one for the first time that you've just been too afraid to ask before now? Don’t be bashful. Someone else probably has the same question. So speak up and ask! I will review these questions when I return and you may see your answer as a future blog post right here! I’m sure that these two weeks will go by much faster for me than for you. In the mean time, keep learning and make sure to put your BEST WORD FORWARD! Perhaps it’s the English nerd in me, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves in terms of misuse of the English language. So many people speak the phrase “I could care less” in the wrong context, assuming it is correct because that is how they have heard it used in the past. But let’s take a closer look at this statement. Most of the time, people should be stating “I couldn’t care less.” They use the phrase above to indicate that the degree to which they care is so small, that it could not possibly be any less, which is to say that they don’t care at all. Let’s briefly look at this in math terms. Assume for a moment that you are a sports nut and the last thing that you care about in the world is reading a book. On a scale of 0 to 100, your level of caring about sports is around a 95 while your level of caring about reading a book is an absolute 0.
If you’re reading this and realizing that you’ve been using this phrase incorrectly until now, I forgive you. Go ahead and forgive yourself too. Part of fixing the problem is admitting that you have one in the first place. But please make sure you DO fix it. I couldn’t care MORE about you doing this. (See what I did there?) Every time you hear yourself start to say “I could care less,” think about my example above and make sure that’s what you mean. If it’s accurate, go for it. But if you really mean that you can’t care any less, then say that instead. Share your new found insight with your friends and once they see it, they’ll think you’re a genius…or maybe just an English nerd.
Is any of this easy? Not really. But keep in mind that you may end up working at your new job for many years. You want to make sure that it’s a positive experience and that you’re not the one posting rants on Facebook once a week because you’ve had “another one of those days.” By checking things out ahead of time, you will know if the company is a good fit for you. Writing is hard. Anyone who has ever sat down at a computer (or typewriter or blank sheet of paper) knows that it can be a daunting task to set your ideas down in writing. Because of the difficulty of the task, many people often fall back on comfortable words and phrases to help them get by. One step to fine tuning your writing is to figure out what words you rely on when you don’t know what else to say, find them in your writing and eliminate them. Here are three common ones that I have seen in writing:
Poor Miss Teen South Carolina (Caitlin Upton) didn't have the benefit of being able to write down her statement and see how silly it looks/sounds. Anyone listening to her response and having even the slightest knowledge of the English language would be appalled. That’s why I highly recommend reading your writing out loud. By verbalizing the text, you will be able to hear things that are repetitive and may not sound as good as when you wrote them. Of course, you literally could just such as ignore my advice…
Would you leave home on a road trip without any idea where you're going? Of course not. How about flying a plane without a flight plan? Never. Whenever you travel, even if it's just a short trip to the store, you probably have an objective. It should be no different with your career. I have heard some people infer that objective statements are no longer useful and that employers don't look at them. I tend to disagree. The objective statement in your résumé tells recruiters and interviewers exactly what your goal is. Having a great objective statement to start your résumé can make sure someone takes the time to actually read the rest of your résumé. This can also be a drawback if your objective statement is generic and doesn't have anything to do with the job for which you have applied. Make sure that if you are including an objective statement in your résumé, you tailor it to the job. I have discussed carbon copy résumés here and here and the same rule applies to the objective statement. The more you can tailor your résumé to specific jobs, the more it will be noticed. Regardless of what you’re writing, always pay attention to your tone. Your graduate school thesis is a much different piece of writing than the short story you wrote in third grade about the bunny that lost his way and the tone of each piece of writing should reflect the audience for which it is intended. Finding that voice can sometimes be difficult but when you do, your writing will become much more effective and engaging to your readers. As you begin to write, make sure you are keeping your audience in mind. The more you do this at the beginning of your project, the easier it will be down the road to make sure your tone remains consistent. If you feel like getting into the numbers of it, take a few minutes to review my post a few weeks back about Writing in Plain English. Regardless of your comfort level with numbers and analytics, this handy tool can help give you a rough idea how understandable your writing is for your intended audience. One more test that may work even better to judge the tone of your writing is to find someone in your target audience (and whose judgment you can trust) and simply give them the piece to read. They should be able to clearly understand the writing but also not feel like they are reading well below their comprehension level. Find the perfect voice and tone for your writing and stick with it. As long as you maintain your consistency, people will begin to trust what you have to say. I have mentioned in at least one previous post that the days of cookie cutter résumés are gone. With most big companies doing their initial hiring online, computers are doing much of the initial grunt work sorting through résumés submitted online, the use of keywords is becoming increasingly important. But what about when your résumé gets in front of a human? Once you've passed the computers, it ultimately comes down to another human reading your résumé and feeling like you would be a good fit for the job they are trying to fill before evening meeting you. How can you do that? Be unique! Having something unique to pique someone’s interest is key to getting noticed, but you also have to make sure that you’re qualified for the job and can contribute something to the position. That means making your résumé fit the job. A teacher applying for a position as a team manager could focus on her experience training people and working with very diverse groups. A former police officer applying for a position as a quality control operator on an assembly line could point to experience making split second decisions. It simply comes down to two things: Promote your unique abilities and Focus each résumé submission on the specific job you are applying for With both of these in place, you will not be wasting the recruiter’s time looking at résumés that may not fit the position. I am curious to hear from you what kinds of tweaks you make to your résumé when you are applying for jobs. Post in the comments below. |
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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