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Excellent English Skills by Tara West
at Aussie Resumes
Content in a resume is more important than presentation, right? In most
instances, yes, but take a moment to ponder the following, when content AND
presentation intermingle.
Let's say you apply for an advertised position which requested a cover letter
and resume.
The hiring manager "skims" through your application, which has met
the test with your credentials and / or experience and is, subsequently, tossed
onto the short-list pile.
Now let's assume the hiring manager is looking for one more candidate to
interview - three others have already been chosen. The choice is between you and
one other applicant.
The hiring manager is, by this stage, scrutinising your application very
carefully, taking into account how well you "communicate" and
"express" your suitability for the vacant role.
In short, there's not a great deal of difference between your experience and
qualifications, as opposed to the other applicant. It's going to be a hard
choice!
The hiring manager continues reading your experience on page two of your
resume and comes to:
"Liased with co-workers and manger"
Uh oh. Then:
"Ability to priorities tasks"
Reading on, the hiring manager finds many spelling mistakes and usage of
incorrect words - the other applicant's resume is "word perfect". What
happens? Nine times out of ten most roles require a certain amount of written
and verbal communication skills. Naturally, you miss out.
What was wrong in the example given above? Liase was spelt incorrectly. It
should have read liaise. Manger is indeed a word, but used incorrectly. It
should have read manager. The writer should have stated prioritise rather than
priorities.
In the latest
"Aussie Résumés
Employer Survey" this type of thing was specifically commented on - not
to mention the use of American English rather than Australian English.
When one last detail could win you an interview every little detail counts -
particularly the correct usage of words, spelling and grammar.
Have some questions? Email
now.
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