10 Spell Check Disasters
We all love to use spell check, it’s easy and convenient. For most people the days of looking up a word in the old 5 pound dictionary are long gone. Unfortunately, disappearing right along with that monstrous book went word definition checking. When someone looked up a word the “old-fashioned” way they would undoubtedly read the word definition located right next to the word; ensuring proper usage. However, when someone relies solely on spell check, they no longer are cross-checking and guaranteeing proper word usage. Spell check is certainly convenient but when it creates mistakes on a résumé it could also mean the death of a potential job interview. Not many hiring managers will look past the following sentence and still grant an interview “Performed daily audits to assure compliance.” The reality is the manager will most likely think that your lack of attention to detail will be a pattern that continues with your employment and never grant you the job interview.
Here are 10 of the most common “spell checked” words that we see usage mistakes on when reviewing our clients’ old résumés.
everyday usual, routine
every day each day
who’s contraction for who is or who has
whose shows possession
assure to state confidently
ensure to guarantee, to make certain
insure to issue or obtain insurance on or for
compliment a flattering comment
complement something that completes or makes perfect
affect to influence or change
effect a result
lead to command or direct
led led past tense of “lead”
council an assembly for consultation or discussion
counsel advice
consul a government official
principle fundamental belief, general truth
principal most important; a chief person or reason
rain falling water
rein (noun) part of a bridle
rein (verb) to check or hold back (used with “in”)
reign (noun) sovereignty
reign (verb) to rule
cite to quote; to refer to
site location
sight vision; to see
Free Resume Advice
We realize not every potential client that comes to the Skilled Résumés website will purchase our services. Some people will try to “save” money and attempt to write their own professional looking résumé. Never a good idea! Without the proper training and certifications, you will ultimatley end up costing yourself lost time and lost earnings. That being said, for those of you that would still like to take on this tedious and time consuming task yourselves, we want to see you succeed and land job interviews. Please keep these 8 very important tips in mind when writing your life changing, self-marketing document. Also, Skilled Résumés offers FREE critiques so after you are finished send us your résumé and we will let you know anything that may be wrong with it for FREE.
1. Think of your résumé as a self- marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your résumé as a marketing tool. Market yourself through your résumé. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique?
2. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the résumé. If you write your résumé without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused. Take the time before you start your résumé to form a clear objective. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your résumé around that objective.
3. Use your résumé to obtain an interview, not a job. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your résumé is to generate enough interest so that an employer will contact you for an interview. Don’t go into detail about every accomplishment. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.
4. Use bullets. In the body of your résumé, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Résumés are read quickly, try to make it easy for someone to scan your résumé and still absorb it.
5. Use action verbs. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your résumé, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like spearheaded, developed, and presented.
6. Use #’s, $’s and %’s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a résumé. Use them.
7. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your résumé. If you perform functions in your current job that don’t support your job search objective, leave that information off your résumé. Focus on what that supports your objective. Never state irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.
8. Format your résumé to read easily. Leave white space. Use varied font size, bolding and italic’s to your advantage. In most cases, limit the length of your résumé to 1-2 pages. Remember, résumés are reviewed quickly, help the reader to scan and absorb your résumé efficiently and effectively.
Who’s Hiring? Land a New Job in 2012
Below is a list of 20 large companies that are hiring in 2012. The New Year is just around the corner and right now is a great time to have a professionally written self-marketing document ready to go. At Skilled Résumés we are here to help you! We are proud accredited members of the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU and with the help of our certified professional résumé writers, you are guaranteed to kick open new doors in 2012. Please contact us at 888-858-Skilled for more information.
Number of openings: 80. Jobs offered include- Mortgage protection specialist (experience not required), sales consultant, sales representative, sales manager trainee, financial services representative, insurance sales representative. Locations: Fla., Ga., N.C., S.C., Tenn
Number of openings: 5000+ Sample job titles: Java, .net, ERP, EMR, project manager, business analyst, desktop/helpdesk support, epic, systems, network engineer, SQL, QA. Locations: Nationwide
Caterpillar
Hiring: 10,000+. Caterpillar’s sales jumped 57 percent in the latest quarter as other companies are buying more of its heavy equipment anticipating the recovery. Caterpillar has added close to 20,000 workers in the past year, though that’s a mix of full-time and part-time workers and more than half of the jobs added were overseas.
Number of openings: 106. Sample job titles: Senior medical director, regional sales manager, pharmaceutical sales, associate director, senior scientist. Locations: Chicago; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.
Boeing
Hiring: 2,500+ Boeing continues ramping up production of its 737, 777 and 747 programs and as a result and at one point Boeing was hiring about 100 workers a week. “The employment story is a very strong story” at Boeing, CEO James McNerney said in a 2011 earnings conference call. The aerospace giant ended 2010 with a hiring spree that continued in to 2011, even going so far as to hire people just before Thanksgiving, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, something it doesn’t usually do because that means they start paying the new workers and then immediately give them seven paid days off for the holidays. More of the same is expected in 2012.
Number of openings: 200+. Sample job titles: Sales manager in training, sales associate, store manager, assistant store manager, operations manager, warehouse associates. Locations: Nationwide
Amazon
Hiring: 17,000+ Amazon boosted its staff by 45 percent in the past year, adding more than 17,000 jobs. And, they’re not done yet. “Amazon.com on hiring spree,” cheers the Seattle Times, adding that Amazon planned to add 1,900 jobs at its Seattle headquarters alone. The retailer has a big pipeline going, thanks in part to the recently launched Cloud Player.
Number of openings: 340 Sample job titles: Applications operations, applications developers, IT business analyst, project manager. Locations: Phoenix; San Francisco; Sacramento; Pasadena, Calif.
Charming Shoppes Inc. (Lane Bryant, Lane Bryant Outlets, Fashion Bug, Figis, etc.)
Number of openings: 50+. Sample job titles: Payroll analysts, merchandise planners, replenishment analysts, product developers, director level IT positions. Locations: Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia.
American Express
Hiring: 2,000+ American Express said in a recent earnings call that it has boosted salaries and benefits by 15 percent and that it has already added 3,300 jobs. There are more than 500 job openings on the company’s site right now, including a director of strategic analysis in New York and travel consultants in Australia.
Number of openings: 100+ Sample job titles: CDL A driver, carrier procurement/carrier management manager, logistics/transportation supervisor, call center reps – fleet logistics/part-time. Locations: Nationwide
Hiring: 2,000+ Facebook, which currently has more than 4,000 employees world-wide, is growing by leaps and bounds, increasing its staff by about 50 percent each year. The company hoped to have more than 3,600 employees by the end of 2011, the LA Times reported. Last year the company purchased the former headquarters of Sun Microsystems in Menlo Park, Calif., where it plans to have 9,400 workers in within a few years.
Number of openings: 4,500. Sample job titles: Caregiver, care coordinator, executive director of care, director of national accounts, marketing and communications manager. Locations: Nationwide
Citigroup
Hiring: 8,500+ After faltering during the recession, Citigroup is looking to regain its footing, hiring more than 500 bankers and traders in its institutional clients group. The banking giant has also said that it plans to triple its work force in China to as many as 12,000 in the next few years.
Number of openings: 90 Sample job titles: Engineer technician, .net developer, quality assurance lead, java developer, die cast engineer. Locations: Nationwide
Number of openings: 65+ Sample job titles: Customer support administrator, systems administrator, software engineer, web developer. Locations: Calif., Texas, Va., Wa.
Hiring: 3,000+ Google hired 4,500 people in 2010, mostly in engineering and sales, and planned to hire more than 6,000 in 2011. In 2012 the hiring will continue as senior VP Alan Eustace said 2011 was the biggest hiring year in the company’s history and more jobs are still available.
Number of openings: 45 Sample job titles: Insurance and financial services agent. Locations Calif., Ill., Ind., Mich., Penn., Texas
Town Sports International (New York Sports Club, Boston Sports Club, Philadelphia Sports Club, Washington Sports Club)
Number of openings: 200. Sample job titles: Personal trainers, membership sales consultants, fitness managers, general managers, assistant general managers. Locations: Conn., D.C., Mass., Md., N.J., N.Y., Penn., R.I., Va.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s is so enthusiastic about the recovery, it held a “National Hiring Day” back in April, where it set out to hire 50,000 workers, a mix of both management and restaurant-staff jobs. The fast-food chain exceeded its goal and said it plans to continue hiring.
Ford and Chrysler Automotives
Number of openings: 5,000+ In 2011 Ford said it will be hiring more than 7,000 workers in the next two years, including hundreds of engineers to focus on hybrid and other new technologies and manufacturing workers. The auto maker showed three new electric and hybrid vehicles at last year’s Detroit auto show, including an electric version of the Ford Focus.
Use Up All Your Vacation Time
Below is a good article from CNN Money. You don’t wan’t to leave any unused vacation time on the table. Many companies won’t allow you to roll it over to the following year.
