Tag: Writing

Learn Technical Writing – Definition of Letter and Memo

It has come to our attention that some people think of a memo as just a short letter. Not so! Specifics to follow.

That’s a memo. Maybe shorter than most, but it’s a memo and not a letter.

Letters and memos (or, memorandums) are similar in many ways, but they serve two different purposes. It’s important to know the distinctions in order to produce the type of document you’re asked to write.

First we’ll look at some shared characteristics. Both letters and memos:

– use similar format styles

– are sent as hardcopy by either an external or internal delivery system

– can be typed or printed from a computer file

– address one specific subject

– provide information to or try to bring about a desired reaction from the recipients

There are two very important characteristics that distinguish a memo from a letter. The first is that letters are specific and memos are general. That means that letters normally go to specific recipients. They’re written mano e mano. Memos are not usually considered to be private communication. They’re normally addressed to multiple recipients. There may be dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people who get the same memo. That means that the odds are much greater that a memo will be read by someone it isn’t addressed to than for a letter. Memos get put up on bulletin boards and left on tables. There’s nothing private about a memo.

The second is that letters can be as long as the writer wants them to be while memos are written in a very condensed manner with a lot of information in very little space. Nothing unnecessary is included. There’s no Dear Sir orYours truly in a memo. Just the facts.

A memo can have a number of purposes. It can:

– distribute news and information to multiple recipients

– convey thoughts or opinions for immediate reaction

– call people to action or to a meeting

The single, most important difference between a letter and a memo is that a memo is short and to the point.

Note: Technically, the plural of memorandum is memoranda, but you probably shouldn’t use it unless you’re writing in a very high-level, academic situation.

Is Resume Writing Really That Important?

The reason why so many people are willing to invest a significant amount of time, energy and money into creating a résumé is because it is the one area of job hunting that is controlled by them. Psychologists will tell you that an innate fear of failure causes people to take what seems like forever to create their résumés. They fear rejection via a face-to-face interview which is why they spend so long crafting the ‘perfect’ résumé rather than calling a prospective employer on the phone for example. Hardly anyone ever gets hired via a résumé alone and must also face an interview. You should know that according to recruiters, 40% of a hiring decision is based entirely on the individual’s personality. Therefore, your résumé is only the beginning of the job seeking journey so stop taking so long creating it!

What To Include In Your Résumé

Keep it under 2 A4 pages because most résumés are scanned in a matter of seconds. The content should be easy to read and relatively free of jargon. Why? Because the person reading your résumé will probably be from the company’s HR department and may have no clue about technical issues related to your industry. Stay traditional in terms of font with Times New Roman 10-12 font size and black type against white paper. A simple Word Document format is sufficient and your employment and education histories should be written in reverse chronological format.

Believe it or not, including personal information is what could keep you from being hired. For example, if the job you’re looking for involves lots of travel and you are married with young children, the company may decide against interviewing you. Avoid fancy phrases and use words that refer to titles such as controller, manager and customer service. Above all, tell a story in your résumé as much as space allows. For example, explain that you completed a project 20% under budget or else you were responsible for initiatives that yielded a 14% increase in company profit.

Courage & Initiative

Initiative is not just something that should be showcased on a résumé; it should be in everything you do related to job hunting. Approximately 60% of jobs are found through networking so instead of hoping that your résumé will be spotted online by a recruiter, start picking up the phone and talking to everyone you have worked with that may have connections. Leave no stone unturned in your bid to become known and to find important information about people and companies that are hiring.

In the end, it is courage that will land you a job as much as your experience and qualifications. You could be the most talented person in your field but if no one knows you exist, how can you expect to get called for an interview? Everyone can send out a résumé but ultimately, it is interviews that get you a job. It is important for you to accept the risk of being rejected and to keep trying again and again until you succeed. While you should absolutely take some time to create an excellent, professional résumé, don’t spend weeks and months on it because it is just one step in a very long journey.

Business Letter Writing – Writing a Business Letter, Offline or Online II

Whenever you are writing about an action that the company, or a department, as whole is taking, use ‘we’, and whenever it is you personally taking the action, use ‘I’. In the examples above, the first is an action on behalf of the company, and the second is an action taken by you personally. “I will talk to my colleagues” is correct in that case.

When writing in a business style, you should do so in such a way that there is no possibility of ambiguity, and that your message is clear and easy to understand. Don’t make the mistake of believing that senior personnel in your, or any other, company is educated and can understand the nuances of vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. Most can’t. Most business leaders are not English language majors. All they want is clear writing that they can understand without having to reach for a dictionary. They also want clear information, and never make excuses: provide reasons.

For example,

“Dear Mr. Customer, I am sorry that your order is late. It will be with you shortly” is not acceptable, whereas “Dear Mr. Customer, We apologize for the lateness of your recent order. It was held up due to a problem with our production unit but will be with you by the 17th of this month” is more acceptable.

Business letters should never tell lies or prevaricate. They should be short and to the point, and make an honest statement of the facts. Lies and prevarication have a habit of biting you later, so leave them alone. Put yourself in the position of the person you are writing to and write accordingly.

Business letters relevant to internet businesses are no different, only that you must not assume that just because it is the internet then you need not be so formal. Many internet entrepreneurs are very educated people who run their internet business in the same way that offline businesses are run.

The best approach you can take when writing a business letter relating to either an online or offline conventional business is to stay formal, do not use too many long words and keep to the point. State what has to be said and no more. Businessmen want the facts, not the waffle.

Tips for Writing a Cover Letter for a Teaching Position

The teaching profession is a very competitive one and when applying for a new teaching post either as an experienced teacher or as a newly qualified teacher, making the right impression from the outset is vital. And the first impression, when applying for a teaching post, is made by the cover letter.

Many teaching posts require applicants to write long, in-depth personal statements to support their CV or application. However, where this type of statement is not specifically requested then a more standard cover letter should be written.

A top tip for writing a cover letter is to split the letter into three paragraphs. The first should be a short summary of the purpose of your letter and any enclosed attachments. This does not have to be complicated, simply a sentence to detail the exact post you’re applying for, perhaps where you saw the job advertised, and then what the rest of your letter will be aiming to do.

As an example;

I am writing to apply for the position of Year 2 Teacher, as advertised in the Primary School News. I am very keen to become part of your school community and I hope that my enclosed CV will demonstrate that I have the appropriate skills and experience to fulfill this role successfully.

Paragraph two should be the bulk of the letter and should aim to demonstrate how the vision and ethos of the school, and the requirements of the job specification and/or person specification, align with your aims and experiences. You should therefore write one or two sentences which demonstrate that you have knowledge of the school and its values, and then pull out a few significant points from your CV to illustrate how you would be suited to that post and to the school.

The final paragraph is simply a section where you can sign off and clearly point the reader to the ways in which you can be contacted, either by email, telephone or post. These details should be provided at the top of your letter, in the right hand corner. Always remember to provide as many different contact routes as possible. Your final paragraph can also allow you to reiterate once again how passionate you are about that specific role and/or school.

Once your letter is written, be sure to check the contents for spelling mistakes and grammar errors, as a teacher who can’t spell, or indeed, can’t ‘correct’ their own work, will not stand up well against the competition. Finally, format your letter to ensure that it does not exceed more than one page of A4; this can be achieved by decreasing the page margins, decreasing the font size and adjusting the paragraph spacing; always remember that for ease of reading, the font size should never fall below 11pt.

Your perfect cover letter is now ready to be submitted, and you should be on the way to securing your dream teaching post.

Resume Writing – 12 Tips

A resume is like a short story that grabs the reader and keeps him or her engaged. This article presents 12 sure-fire tips that have benefited hundreds (college students, clients, colleagues, family, and friends) regardless of the career field or level. They’re certain to help you too.

12 Tips

· (Tip – 1) Prepare a brief profile

Start strong with a brief profile not an objective. Listing an objective is a thing of the past. What should your profile contain? Two or three short snappy phrases that summarize your experience, skills, and personality traits. Regarding the latter, avoid writing a laundry list.

So, what three words best describe you? Your dominant personality traits surface in your professional and personal life. In other words, wherever you go you’re there.

· (Tip – 2) Don’t sound like your job description.

Do not turn your resume into a document that reads like a boring job description. Instead, discuss accomplishments. How did you make a difference? What skills or unique abilities were utilized to make things better. Pick one or two accomplishments from your current position. Provide a brief summary.

· (Tip – 3) Select the right format.

All in all, two types of resume formats exist- chronological and functional. While the former begins with your most current position and works backward, the latter builds the resume around your dominant skills.

· (Tip – 4) Include special training/professional development.

For more than a few years, I advised a friend to include a professional development section on her resume. Why? Employers like to see what you’ve been doing since graduating from college. As a result of working in the corporate arena, she racked up a lot of training. Well, to make a long story short, it made her standout and receive even better offers.

· (Tip – 5) List education and credentials last.

You are not selling your education; degrees are a dime a dozen. You are promoting your unique skills that help potential employers solve problems. Hence, list your credentials last, not first.

· (Tip – 6) Determine the appropriate length.

A recent college graduate, high school student, or person entering the workforce for the first time will not have as nearly much to say as someone more experienced.

· (Tip – 7) Omit references.

Create a special file for references. By the way, your references should be people who know you in a professional capacity. And, make sure each person has good written and verbal communication skills.

· (Tip – 8) Create a tagline.

Imagine this. You work in human resources as a recruiter. Every day you receive tons of resumes when you open your email; no one stands out because the subject lines say things like Resume or the resume of. Be creative! Use a tagline. When you save the document, use the tagline not your name.

· (Tip – 9) Always send a cover letter.

The letter should state what you’re applying for, how you can contribute, and most important, it should refer the reader to the resume. Cut and paste or copy the letter into the body of your email.

· (Tip – 10) Use present tense.

Instead of writing in the past tense, use the present. It adds punch and lets a potential employer know that you still make a positive impact.

· (Tip – 11) Be creative.

Why not include a testimonial? Select a comment or two from a performance review.

· (Tip – 12) Develop a resume website.

If you really want to standout, develop a professional resume website. It’s free and a template is provided. Checkout Wix.

Resume Writing Tips to Help You Build Your Resume

If you are a job hunter, and you have what it takes, but you do not know how to sell it, then you have come to the right place. Here, we will provide you with resume writing tips to help you build your resume in a way that will lead you to your dream job. Writing professional resumes is not rocket science; however, it is also not a kid’s play. While writing your resume, you need to bear in mind certain pointers that would help you create an executive resume. Following are certain resume writing tips to help you build your resume:

  • When you are writing certain long sentences in the resume, make sure you are not ending up with a lengthy paragraph. Use bullet points that make the document easier to read

  • Use a positive tone all throughout the resume and cover letter. Depressed and negative tone will not win you an interview

  • Pay attention to the type of language you are using. Try to sound professional. Avoid using slang, jargon and flowery language.

  • Make sure your resume format is suitable to your line of work. It should not be too crazy or too boring in any case.

  • Make sure there are no mistakes present in the resume. spelling, grammatical and typographical mistakes are some common ones, and you must make sure you are following standard English rules and not committing these mistakes

  • Use active voice and strong, effective action words like “organized”, “managed”, etc. in the resume. You can find more words online

  • Use proper salutation and never make any mistakes with the name of your intended employer

  • Check out a few resume samples online for your specific field in order to get an idea as to which type of resume format is best for you, and what all character traits and personal information you should add on your resume

  • Keep yourself in the reader’s shoes. Ask yourself if you are finding your resume easy-to-understand and impressive, supposing yourself as the employer. Ask yourself questions based on your resume

  • If you are a resher, and you have good CGPA, you can flaunt it, but suppose you have substantial work experience and your graduation grades are not very impressive, you do not need to put them in your resume

  • Mention your complete personal details in the resume. Do not miss out on any vital information and make sure your contact details are all mentioned correctly and will be the same for a long time

These are some of the resume writing tips to help you build your resume effectively. This complete resume guide in itself will lead you to your successful resume. Similarly, following these rules meticulously will in turn lead you to your dream job for which you have applied with this resume.

Writing Your Resume and Cover Letter to Meet District-Specific Ideals and Standards

When developing any resume or cover letter it is crucial to tailor your documents for a specific audience. Before crafting any career-related document, as well as planning for an interview, you must do your research. Once you have chosen a school district you are interested in, find out what its goals, philosophy, and standards are. Districts tend to focus on different key issues such as literacy, multiculturalism, inclusion, special needs, outreach programs, etc. Find out the one or two main concerns that the district concentrates on and adapt your resume and cover letter accordingly.

Lets start off with the resume. If a learning community is most concerned about incorporating literature in the classroom, you can showcase related competencies in your areas of expertise section. For instance, you might include items such as Reading Strategies, Interdisciplinary Reading, Literature Circle, Writer’s Workshops, etc. In the main body of your resume, under teaching experience, you should highlight literature-based activities and units you have previously implemented. Make sure you describe the results. For example, “Developed a fun thematic unit on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and integrated correlating units that examined key themes throughout the book. This unit sparked students’ interest and imagination, left them wanting to learn more, and helped instill a love for reading and writing”. You do not need to explicitly dwell on the topic of literature, as you want to demonstrate that you are well-rounded, but make sure you touch on it as much as possible.

Your profile near the top of your resume should reflect the same ideals. Explain your commitment to X issue and convey why you feel it is important that it is incorporated in the classroom. Again, do not solely focus on the one or two main concerns of the district. A potential employer needs to see that you are committed to addressing the same concerns that they have, as well as tackling the regular issues that most schools face (i.e. attendance, discipline, appropriately challenging the students).

The cover letter needs to keep the same ideals in mind and match up with the resume. In a cover letter it is a bit easier to convey your passion and dedication to the school community. Take advantage of this opportunity and make your personality and commitment come to life. If you know for a fact that the school district you are applying to is, for example, very culturally diverse, explain how you have incorporated multicultural elements, celebrated cultural diversity, and promoted inclusion in your past teaching positions. Also reinforce that you seek to bring these same ideals to your new job.

However, make certain that your cover letter highlights your other outstanding traits and effective teaching methods as well. Always sell yourself as a versatile and adaptable individual who is not simple a one trick pony, but rather an educator who is willing to face new challenges and employ innovative methods to cultivate a supportive and nurturing school community.

The Essence of Good Resume Writing

You’ve found a job that you think you’ll be really good at, and you’re getting prepared to apply, which means editing your portfolio, composing a cover letter, and preparing your resume. But how can you be sure that your resume is the best it can possibly be? What will it take to get employers to take second look at what you have to offer? Good resume writing can help to ease your worries and get you your dream job–and you can do it yourself! Here are some suggestions to help your resume stand out.

One of the first things you’ll want to do is compose a clear summary of your skills and positive attributes. This should be a short paragraph, and should only take up about a fourth of your resume. Anything shorter may not highlight your skills adequately, and anything more than this may cause you to lose the interest of employers. You may want to start off with something like ‘my career objectives include’ or ‘i am seeking employment with [company] in order to enhance my skills in…’ This way, you are letting potential employers know that you plan on being successful once hired with the company, and that you are ambitious and have individual goals.

Next, you’ll want to formulate your job experience correctly. Be sure to list your jobs in chronological order, starting with your most recent position. Name the company, city and state, dates worked, and the title you held at the company. You may also want to add a sentence or two describing your duties, or bullet points, depending on the length of your resume and your personal style. If you held leadership positions at any of your jobs, be sure to highlight this in your resume.

Your skill set is also very important when you’re applying for a job, and good resume writing should help you to put your abilities to the forefront. Leadership skills, communication skills, and computer skills should all be featured, so be sure to include in your resume whether or not you are trained to operate certain advanced computer programs, or whether or not you have been a manager before. This will definitely make your resume more attractive, and will help to keep you in mind when employers are looking for new people to be in charge of major projects in the company.

Good resume writing should also include a bit of originality. Don’t forget to mention your hobbies and interests in your resume and/or cover letter as well. This shows that you are well-rounded, and would be diversity to the company you’re applying to work with.

Adherence to Cover Letter Writing Guidelines Can Produce Effective Cover Letters

A good cover letter is a must if the applicant is to be selected for an interview. A resume which goes without a cover letter stands slim to nothing chance of being selected for the next round. This is why all job seekers need to develop their cover letter writing skills.

Most important aspect of this letter is to state clearly the purpose of writing it. Depending on this purpose, there can be different types of cover letters. Main types include application letter in which applicant responds to a known vacancy. Another type is a prospecting style letter in which the applicant inquires on availability of a position. Thirdly, the CL can be in the form of a networking letter in which the applicant requests information and assistance in gaining a suitable position in line with his or her qualifications and experience.

There are few issues to note in cover letter writing. First of all, you need to write a separate cover letter for each different purpose as cited above and for each different job. Secondly, it should clearly highlight your suitability for the job. It should also state why you are interested in this job and what critical skills which you possess that makes you the best candidate. The cov. letter should be addressed to the correct person and not carry the sentence: “To Whom it May concern”. It should be written in paragraph form with a maximum of 5-6 paragraphs.

When it comes to cover letter writing here are few more guidelines which have to be born in mind.

1) Keep it concise. Generally one page will suffice. Prospective employer has to go through many resumes and cover letters and don’t have the time to read lengthy and winding letters. Tell them what they need to know and do it in as few words as possible.

2) Be positive. It is not necessary to explain why you left your previous employment or why you haven’t worked for a long while. This is better left for the interview.

3) Do not talk about salary in our CL. This is against basic etiquette. Leave it to be the last topic in the interview agenda and if you have impressed them by that time, they may even agree to raise their offer to match your expectations.

4) Do not make mistakes with grammar, spelling and punctuation. It is important to show your prospective employers that you are a methodical person that pays attention to important matters. If your own cover letter is not important to you, chances are that your work too will have shoddy mistakes.

Cover Letter Writing is a tedious and often challenging task. It requires a person to contemplate on how best to market oneself. If you don’t have the correct marketing flare, it is unlikely that you will be able to strike the employer’s interest. This is why you may consider getting someone else’s help with your cover Letter.

The Productive Skills – Writing

Speaking and writing are the ‘productive skills.’

Writing

Nowadays, there is very little need for long, formal written work in the classroom. With the advent of email and word processors with spell checkers, most people do very little written work except for short notes to friends and colleagues. Students may however have very specific needs such as those preparing for examinations where written work is still of great importance. Writing allows students sufficient time to process information whereas speaking doesn’t. Writing is also an avenue for those students who have limited confidence speaking in front of the class. Furthermore, writing allows for the practice of grammar rules and examination techniques. In order to convey a similar amount of information, a written text is shorter than speaking because the student has time to be more specific.

It should be remembered that students learn to read and write faster when they have real reasons to communicate. This could be in the form of journal writing or letter writing. Furthermore, it may be a good idea to create situations where they will need to write real invitations, requests, thank-you notes, and letters to pen friends, cards for special occasions, morning news, commercials, and opinions. You could even get the students to conduct surveys and interviews or make their own books by drawing or cutting out pictures, writing captions and word balloons. It is important to be clear as to the aims of the writing task before the lesson. Are you encouraging fluency or accuracy? A good starting point is to begin with a fluency activity and only focusing on accurate use of language at a later stage.

Guided Writing

Guided writing is an extremely useful way to prepare students for a writing task. Effective use of patterns as learning tools, takes the mystery out of learning. This is far more useful than simply giving students a writing topic and telling them to get on with it. It is extremely daunting for students to be faced with two tasks- writing and content.

Tell the students exactly what you want! If they are writing a letter, give them the format and what information you require in each paragraph. Try and focus on useful language models. List and review instructions step by step. Provide frequent summations of salient points of the lesson. Develop and maintain routines, which will help students anticipate what will happen. This careful preparation will ultimately culminate in the students preparing a draft which can be discussed with the teacher and others prior to preparing a final text.

Writing Genre

Students will explore typical examples or models of different writing genre before embarking on writing of their own. This is done in order to discover the format, layout, audience, the register, style and appropriate language to be used. When writing a letter, for example, students will decide whether the letter is formal or informal. They will then select the correct format to be used in a business letter or personal letter. This will in turn determine the register and general tone of the language to be used. This approach to writing is extremely useful for students preparing for school examinations in English and other subjects.

Writing Structure

As mentioned in the section on guided writing, it is extremely useful to provide your students with useful patterns as learning tools. There are many different ways to write an essay, but most standard essay forms follow the same basic patterns. Teaching your students these patterns will lay the foundation for sound writing structures and principles. It is surprising how many students, who have been studying English for a number of years, are still unsure of how to write an introduction, a paragraph or a conclusion.

Handwriting

Students who come from various cultural backgrounds may find the formation of English letters somewhat difficult (orthography). Students who experience such difficulties will need specific help in order to improve letter, word and text formation. Assistance may be offered in the form of extensive practice exercises focusing on the formation of individual letters. This could perhaps involve the teacher writing letters, words or sentences out neatly and leaving sufficient pace below for the student to copy or imitate the writing.

It is important to note that is essential that you encourage students with problematic handwriting to attempt to improve it. Handwriting is an important skill necessary for examination purposes and a student should not be unduly disadvantaged because of poor handwriting. This problem may prevent the student from getting his / her message across.

Spelling

Incorrect spelling may often give the reader the impression that the writer is careless and lacks education. One should try and remember that spelling is often very difficult for students studying English because of the lack of correlation between the sound of a word and how it is actually spelled. This is more than often, not that obvious!

Punctuation and Format

Punctuation and format conventions differ from one language and culture to another. Business and personal letters are laid out quite differently and follow specific formats as do emails. Punctuation conventions may often be specific to a particular language and may not be transferable from one culture or language to another. Successful application of punctuation conventions in the English language will assist students in conveying their message and communicating effectively.

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