When it comes to finding a job, there are many stages to the process that highlight different skill sets. For instance, the interview showcases your people skills, presentation, and ability to think on your feet. But before you can even get to the interview, the first step is always text-based communication. You must come across well in this medium if you ever hope to make it to the next stage, where you can dazzle them in person.
1. Concision is everything. Employers want your information...but they don’t want to have to wade through pages of gobbledygook to get it. They are busy people. Writing too much can also come across like the written equivalent of nervous babbling. So keep it simple, stupid! However, you don’t necessarily need to worry about this on your first draft. It’s normal to be nervous. The best thing to do is to go ahead and babble to your heart’s content the first time through, because...
2. Revision is everything. Yes, that’s right: I know I already said concision was everything. But then I revised it. See what I did there? Also, the two concepts are two sides of the same coin. In order to “omit needless words” as Strunk and White famously advise, you must start with a sloppy original text you can trim like a bonsai tree. This is the bulk of your work: the writing should be quick, the editing painstaking. This is the time for paranoia, where you overthink how every turn of phrase is going to strike the eventual reader.
3. Don’t forget the attachment! I do this all. The. Time. In fact, for my last job, I sent off a marvelous cover letter that I had obsessed over as described above. “My resume is attached,” I confidently stated before hitting ‘send.’ Except that, whoops, I hadn’t. The HR manager emailed me the next day to point this out, and I was mortified. Amazingly, I got the gig. This was for an editorial job, mind you.
4. Have a sense of humor. This might have been why they were willing to overlook that rather humiliating slip: I reacted with humor and, hopefully, grace. There are few things more important in the working world than being able to roll with the punches and quickly move on from bad blows or react to unwelcome surprises. Humor exemplifies this ability. But don’t lay on the jokey stuff too thick with your cover letter, let alone your resume, which ought to be “just the facts, ma’am.”
Hopefully these tips will help you in your quest for employment. It’s tough out there, but there are jobs available for those who make a good impression, so be sure to cross your proverbial t’s and dot your i’s!
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Author: Nadia Jones is an education blogger for www.onlinecollege.org. She enjoys writing on topics of education reform, education news, and online learning platforms. Outside of the blogging world, Nadia volunteers her time at an after school program for a local middle school and plays pitcher for her adult softball team. She welcomes your comments and questions at nadia.jones5@gamail.com.