How are Your Writing Skills?

By Stephanie Clark.

I love to write, and do so daily. Along with my own “Journal,” to which I post as the mood strikes me, I write a monthly newsletter, a monthly blog on interview tips, and this bi-weekly blog for CPC. I also write weekly articles for a local daily paper, and ad-hoc articles for a variety of others.

Good thing I love to write as I must also squeeze in some resume writing!

Many career practitioners write resumes. Not only the obvious professional resume services such as my own, but also career coaches. And yet, not all consider improving their writing skills.

Taking a few business writing courses, along with a marketing-writing course or two, will improve your product. These courses will sharpen your ability to:

• Exchange general terms for specific and hence, more influential terms. Your choice of verbs impact the reader’s perception, crucial, for example, in true transitions or to step up the career ladder. For example, replacing “assisted” with “coordinated logistics” or “updated invitation list of 400,” highlights actual skills and position-specific key words.
• Identify and eliminate redundant words and phrases. “Actual experience” and “advance planning” are examples of these.
• Delete unnecessary phrases such as “As a matter of fact, due to the fact that, all things considered.” They do not enhance context, lengthen reading time, and take up valuable resume or cover letter “real estate.”
• Curtail your use of superlatives. No need to overdo the use of “exceptional, outstanding, very.”
• Improve syntax, paragraph structure, punctuation … in short, enhance the reader’s understanding and your client’s professionalism.

We often suggest that our clients add a course to boost their credibility or enhance their candidacy; perhaps we should heed similar advice?

– submitted by Stephanie Clark, www.NewLeafResumes.ca | CPC Advisory Board Member | Career Club Moderator