Avoid Common English Mistakes in Your Resume

When it comes to getting a good job, your resume is a factor that will play a pivotal role in your success or failure. While I’ve talked about the importance of using proper English during the job interview, you won’t even get this far if your resume isn’t high in quality.

While the job interview will require you to "say" the right things, the resume will require you to "write" the correct things. In both cases, using proper English is extremely important. When an employer looks at your resume, their goal is to find out whether or not you’re qualified for the job. There is no one format that will work in every situation. Your success will be determined by your presentation, and your grammar.

When potential employers look at your resume, they will only glance at if for a few seconds. During these seconds, they will take the time to determine whether or not you’re qualified, and they will also look at your presentation. If you have words that are misspelled, or you use run on sentences, or you have problems with capitalization, more than likely, your resume will be thrown in the trash. When you make English mistakes on your resume, this shows potential employers that you don’t care about impressing them, because you didn’t even put in the time and effort to make sure the resume was written correctly.

There are a number of common mistakes that can kill your resume. By being aware of these mistakes, you will have the resources that will allow you to avoid falling victim to the fates that so many job seekers fall for. Some of these common mistakes include spelling problems, capitalization errors, and run on sentences. Some may read this and laugh, but you would be surprised by the number of people who make these mistakes. The first thing you will want to do is write a rough draft. Once you’ve written the rough draft, you will next want to proofread it, looking for errors that can be corrected.

When you write the rough draft, don’t waste time trying to make it perfect. Just write up something that will allow you to place your thoughts on a piece of paper. The rough draft is the document that will allow you to weed out mistakes before putting them on the final document. Word processing programs such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect are great ways to spot potential problems.

However, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of not relying on these programs. Many people type up documents, and then they run them through word processing programs. Once they’ve done this, and they don’t see any obvious errors, they assume that the resume is perfect.

There are a number of errors that web processing programs will not be able to catch. One good example of this is words that are spelled correctly, but in the wrong context. An example of this would be using "wonder" when "wander" should be used, or when you use "their" when "there" should be used. Because the word is spelled correctly, most word processing programs can’t tell the difference between the two. This is why you will want to take the time to proofread your document. Look for mistakes that the word processing program can’t detect.

Even when your resume is written properly, you’re not done yet. Your style of writing is just as important as the grammar. One thing that potential employers hate are resumes that are bland and redundant. While there are some things that should be present on all resumes, you will want to have a style of your own. You will want to explain to the employer why you can be a great asset to their company. Make your resume exciting. Your goal should be to capture the attention for the employer from the very first paragraph. If you don’t, they may lose interest, and you resume may still be tossed in the trash, even if it has proper grammar.

When you write your resume, you must differentiate yourself from the crowd. You must show why the company should hire you. Using proper English is basic. If you can’t do this, employers will not call you for interviews.

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