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In Larry Beason and Mark Lester's book, "A Commonsense Guide to Grammar
and Usage," the authors understand that sentence diagramming and tense
agreement may not be issues that most people are concerned with in their
writing. However, that doesn't mean that writing well has to be
difficult. "Avoiding errors is not the most important aspect of writing
effectively, but it is important enough to deserve writers' attention,"
they write. And if you've ever written a cover letter or resume that
claims you have "excelent attention to detail," but misspell excellent,
you can understand why presenting yourself as a smart, capable worker
who can communicate effectively is important to hiring managers.
That being said, there are four grammar mistakes that seem to haunt job
seekers and workers alike. Whether you're sending an email, formatting your resume or drafting a cover letter, these are the four areas that deserve a proofread before you hit send, save or print.
1. Eliminating sexist pronouns
Most job-seeker materials will cite specific examples of your work or of
people you know, so using gender-specific pronouns like he or she
is a must when writing. But in emails or speaking about broader topics
like industry or management trends, it can be easy to generalize in
sentences like, "Each person should try to do his best." The problem is
that gender-specific pronouns can create or reinforce biases in people's
minds, which clouds your writing and degrades the message you're
sending.
To correct this issue, Beason and Lester's write, "See whether you can
make the subject of your sentence plural and change the gender-exclusive
pronoun to the plural form (they, them or their). Try substituting his or her for
a gender-exclusive pronoun when the subject is singular. [Or] revise
the sentence to avoid using personal pronouns altogether."
2. Apostrophes in contractions or showing possession
Contractions such as can't instead of cannot help
writing sound more familiar and informal, which can coax your reader
into a more relaxed and understanding mood. And citing ownership of a
project ("The communications team's presentation went well") is a common
scenario in writing. Unfortunately, when writers aren't sure of the
rules apostrophes follow, they often abuse the punctuation mark and opt
for overuse versus an embarrassing omission.
The authors' advice: "If you use a contraction, it'll need an apostrophe." For possession, "Check carefully each use of its and it's in your writing. If you are indicating possession, there is no need for an apostrophe [with its versus it's]. However, if you are using a shortened form of it is, you need an apostrophe to take the place of the missing letter."
3. Capitalization
Typically, job titles are capitalized on resumes when you're listing
your experience and the companies for which you've worked. But if you're
writing about truck drivers as the profession, not the specific role
that you had, you wouldn't capitalize the term. Confusing? It can be.
Really, you want to minimalize capitalization because it demands
importance and attention, which should be saved for your titles and not
every reference to the profession or industry. The authors write,
"Although capitalization errors can easily occur, it is important to
avoid them. Frequently, capitalization errors – like spelling errors –
jump out and distract readers from what a writer is saying." For your
credentials, the authors recommend to "Capitalize the names of actual
courses, schools and subjects. Do not capitalize when you are making a
general reference."
4. Fragments
"A fragment is part of a sentence that is punctuated as though it were a
complete sentence," the authors write. However, it's an incomplete
sentence, such as "Which I had worked on all night." Out of context, it
makes no sense. This is a frequent offender in emails and other casual
correspondences, since we tend to write those as our thoughts occur to
us or in quick response.
To combat fragment sentences, read through each sentence on its own.
Does it makes sense standing alone or out of context? Does it still
convey a thought? If not, it needs to be merged with another sentence to
become complete. This strengthens your writing and the stance you take
in it.
Writing well is a skill that every profession benefits from. It can also
be what catches the hiring manager's eye and gets you a resume or what
impresses a boss and results in a raise or promotion. Best of all,
writing well furthers your causes and conveys your ideas, making a real
impact on your career and the world around you.