Ten Things That Spell Checkers Won’t Catch! Be Careful Out There!

10 Things That a Spell Checker Won’t Catch!

We always tell applicants to have their applications and resumes proofed carefully before hitting the ‘submit’ key on the application website. That means printing out your application and resume and having it checked for errors ‘by eye’ rather than trusting a spell checker to do the job for you. In case you’re wondering why, here are some examples of mistakes that most spell checkers will not catch:

• Homonyms (words that sound the same but mean different things depending on their spelling and use): Spell checkers won’t realize that you intended to write ‘pair’ instead of ‘pare’ or ‘pear,’ or ‘there’ instead of ‘their.’
• Incorrectly divided compound words: Spell checkers won’t tell you that ‘court yard’ should be spelled ‘courtyard,’ or that ‘inter net’ should be ‘internet.’
• Incorrect pronouns: Spell checkers won’t realize that you typed in ‘his’ or—worse—’its’ when you should have typed ‘hers,’ or ‘she’ when it should have been ‘he.’
• Usage errors: Spell checkers probably won’t alert you to typos involving ‘its’ and ‘it’s.’
• Missing words: Spell checkers probably won’t catch the missing word in a phrase like, “I attended University of Michigan… “
• Wrong words: Spell checkers won’t alert you to a gaffe like, “My supervisory experience sensitized me to the martial difficulties that married employees can encounter when pressed to work overtime.”
• Wrong dates: Spell checkers won’t question a statement like, “Entering the workforce in the late 0200s, I learned…”
• Misspelled names: Spell checkers won’t catch mistakes with people’s names or with most place names.
• Incorrect verb tenses: Spell checkers won’t warn you that you mixed up past and present verb tenses.
• Repetition: Spell checkers will alert you if you’ve typed the same word twice in a row, but they won’t catch other kinds of repetition, like typing the same phrase or sentence twice in a row—or saying the same exact thing twice, in different words.

Spell checkers are a handy tool for screening out many of the small mistakes we all make when we write. They can’t catch every mistake, however, and they’re not able to catch the really big mistakes, which can only be recognized and corrected by careful editing. Use a spell checker as a first step in proofing your application, but don’t count on it to do the entire job for you.

Source: Admissions Consultants -Hiring Manager Resources

Hurray! Troops Returning Home – Military to Civilian Job Search – Military to Federal Resume and KSA

President Obama’s announcement that all U.S. troops still deployed in Iraq will come home by the end of 2011 is very welcome news.  Professional Resume and Career Development Center is proud to support our troops in finding job  positions after returning home.

Where once some 160,000 U.S. soldiers were in Iraq, now about 40,000 remain.

Since the Bush administration invaded Iraq in 2003, a million U.S. troops have served there. Over 4,400 died and 32,000 were wounded, many with injuries they will suffer for a lifetime.

So far, the  cost of the war to the U.S. is estimated at $1 trillion – a sum that could have kept thousands of public workers including teachers and health workers on the job, repaired vast amounts of crucial U.S infrastructure, and more. Many of the costs are not yet calculated, including those for the future care of veterans.

Efforts by the Obama administration and some in Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s government to have several thousand U.S. troops remain after Dec. 31 reportedly foundered on U.S. insistence that its troops must come home and be immune from prosecution under Iraqi law.

It is also worth noting that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is the largest embassy in the world. The State Department says some 5,000 security contractors will remain in the country to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities around the country.

As important as the troop withdrawal is what happens to troops after they leave Iraq. Will they go now to Afghanistan? Will they serve in some other location abroad or be able to come home and secure jobs?

Or will they, and the funds needed to deploy and maintain them, come home, where funds and people can be employed instead to build a truly 21st century network of education, health care, child care, affordable homes and human services for all?

We hope withdrawal from Iraq will be a giant step toward full withdrawal of all troops and contractors from Afghanistan  and adoption of a U.S. foreign policy based on cooperation and development aid.
The next step will require a vast movement of all who seek a world of peace, economic, social justice and gainful employment.

How Important is a Thank You Letter?

So, how important is it to follow up with a Thank You Letter?  Let’s ask the experts:

Market Yourself Well
Thank-you notes are a nice gesture, and I would always encourage candidates to follow up with one after an interview. However, as far as influencing a hiring decision, I have yet to see someone being extended an offer because of it. The strongest candidate will get the offer. Every little bit helps in marketing yourself as the best and most enthusiastic person for the role. If you do send a thank-you note, always check for spelling and grammar.
– Bob Hancock, senior manager of global talent acquisition, Electronic Arts

No Question About It

Sending a thank-you note is a must. When a job candidate sends me a thank-you note, it shows me the person is truly interested in the opportunity. This simple gesture can distinguish one applicant over another. In fact, when considering multiple people for an open position, I typically recall who has and hasn’t sent a thank-you note.

The thank-you note is valuable for job seekers beyond demonstrating their interest in a position. This also is an opportunity to re-emphasize the skills and expertise they would bring to the role and address any outstanding concerns they may have from the interview.

The best strategy is to send a quick e-mail shortly after the interview followed by a handwritten note. Whether you choose to send a thank-you via e-mail or in writing, the key is to send one.

– DeLynn Senna, executive director of North American permanent placement services, Robert Half International

A Good Way to Stand Out

While my hiring managers or I would not make a hiring decision based solely on a thank-you note, a short and well-written note from a candidate following an interview will certainly not hurt their chances. As most candidates don’t follow up this way, you will automatically stand out if you do, and this can set you apart from the crowd in a positive way.

For example, a tasteful handwritten card sent to your interviewer is thoughtful, and will probably end up on their desk or bulletin board for a while, further reminding them of you when they see it. An alternative is to send an email note, which may appear more professional, will arrive more quickly and has the advantage of being able to be forwarded on to other interested parties within the company.

– Suzanne McFadden, senior technical staffing consultant, Wells Fargo

Boost Your Impact Easily

According to surveys, about 85 percent of executives say that a post-interview thank-you note has some influence on the hiring decision. While only half of candidates send thank-you notes, it seems to be an easy gesture everyone should use to greatly impact the hiring process. Surveys also suggest that hiring managers are divided in terms of preference for receiving thank-you notes by email or letter. It is therefore up to you to decide which method best fits the culture of the organization.

– Yves Lermusi, CEO of Checkster

What Color Is My Parachute?

“What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers” is the best-selling job-hunting and career-changing book in the world. Twenty thousand people buy the book each month, and there are more than 8 million copies in print. In its lifetime, it has been on the New York Times Best-Seller List (paperback) a total of 288 weeks.

In 1995, the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book listed it as one of “25 Books That Have Shaped Readers’ Lives” (alongside such works as Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Saint Exupery’s “The Little Prince,” Henry Thoreau’s “Walden,” Cervantes’s “Don Quixote,” Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” and Mark Twain’s, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”).

The author coined the word “parachute” to mean career transitions, back in 1968 when people commonly said, “Well, I’m tired of this job – - I’m going to bail out?” Bolles’ playful rejoinder at that time: What color is your parachute? It later became the title of the book.

A writer for Life Magazine said that the phrase “golden parachutes” appeared for the first time a decade or more later, as a “play” on this book’s title. In fact, a number of common phrases in our culture: “golden parachutes,” “informational interviewing,” “transferable skills” etc., were all born out of this book.

It was first published December 1, 1970 — self-published, in fact, with the author using a local copy shop (CopyCopia) in downtown San Francisco. Its first commercial edition was published in November 1972, by Ten Speed Press in Berkeley, Calif. It began appearing on best-seller lists in 1974, has been revised and updated annually since 1975.

Recent reviews have called it “the jobhunter’s Bible,” “the Cadillac of job-search books,” “the most complete career guide around,” and “the gold standard of career guides.”

Office Romance?? Stop.

Career Advice:  Don’t Fish Off The Company Dock. 

If a relationship goes bad with work colleagues, your job life will most likely be strained.  Job promotions/career aspirations may be in jeopardy.

Try to restrain yourself…

Character

Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway.  Going the extra mile in your job search is one of them.

What Your Resume Is – And Is Not.

Your Resume is a very important tool in your search for a job.  With the current state of the economy, a powerful resume could be your key to finding employment.  It is essential you understand exactly what a resume is and is not.
Your Resume is:

•     A concise presentation of yourself targeted to the needs of a specific employer
•     A marketing tool that distinguishes you from the competition (highlights your major accomplishments)
•     A document that focuses on “the whole person” (your unique qualities, experience and strengths)
•     A results-oriented document, which highlights not just what you did but the IMPACT your efforts had on previous employers
•     A document that demonstrates career progression or an increasing level of complexity in your work experience

Your Resume is NOT:

•     A history of your life from high school to business school
•     An autobiography which describes your life to date
•     A laundry list of everything you have ever done
•     A long (2+ pages) document that is dense and difficult to read; 2 pages are fine if your work experience requires two pages
•     A detailed list of all your job responsibilities

Laid Off? Take A Break.

Keep close to Nature’s
heart, yourself;
and break clear away,
once in a while, and
climb a mountain or spend
a week in the woods.
Wash your spirit clean…
- John Muir

Be The Best You Can Be.

Don’t compare yourself to others.  Instead, focus on where you’ve been  versus where you are now  versus where you want to be.

Information regarding Certified Professional Resume Writers (CPRW) and the Professional Association of Resume Writers (PARW)

Professional Resume and Career Development Center – 415.314.0982

About PARW/CC
The Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches was founded in January of 1990. Prior to that time, there had been no association for career professionals to exchange information, enhance their skills, or demonstrate their commitment to providing professional services to the general public. Today, those who display the association’s logo affirm their dedication to excellence in meeting client career goals. In addition, many members then choose to seek certification to further affirm their expertise as career professionals. For information on joining PARW/CC, please click here.

About PARW/CC Members
Association members include independent business owners, as well as non-profit career centers such as colleges and universities, military bases, workforce development offices, and state Departments of Labor. Their participation in PARW/CC demonstrates an on-going commitment to learning, exchanging ideas and information, and gaining the expertise to best help each client achieve their personal career goals. Working with a PARW/CC member is similar to hiring a personal advertising agency to market you successfully. The resume is your “sales message” that must stand out from the competition! Association members can guide you in targeting your message to appropriate employers through networking, targeted mailings, the Internet, your own career field’s association, etc. Then, they help you prepare for the hiring interview so you stand out from the other finalists as the best choice for the available position.

Certified Professional Resume Writers (CPRW)
Are the career industry’s leading experts in the development of strategic resumes. The purpose of the resume is to secure a personal interview from among the dozens or hundreds of applicants for a given position. Since 1991, CPRWs have demonstrated their knowledge, talent and writing expertise in meeting the industry standard of excellence and in serving the client’s career interests.

Certified Employment Interview Professional (CEIP)
Represents association members who have undertaken specialized training to prepare their clients for the critical employment interview. From possibly hundreds of resumes, an employer will select perhaps 10 or so of the best candidates for personal interviews. Candidates who have practiced their interview skills and are best prepared for this decisive meeting will be more confident, relaxed, and able to make a positive presentation that leads to the job offer.