Note To Self
Do not volunteer to be the one who puts together your six group members’ papers along with the cover page, table of contents, appendices, and references.
Each members’ in-text citations and reference lists are different, and in addition to proofreading and formatting, it’s driving me fucking crazy.
The presentation tomorrow better be a piece of cake, cus this paper is a bitch.
Resume writing tips
(I’ll start this by saying I am no expert and I am just passing on some info based on my own experiences.)
So here I am this morning writing/tweaking my resume. This update is part of my quest for success, following the recent ‘unfortunately you were not successful’ meeting I had with my manager at work. Thankfully I still have a good job with that same company so am not scrambling for work.
Here are a few tips based on my experience with writing my own resume and reader/proofing other people’s:
Think about your audience. Are you applying for a job in the same/similar field or organisation. If so that can afford you some little luxuries like not having to explain industry jargon or acronyms. That said, be careful and don’t riddle your resume with such things.
Present your information clearly and structure it logically. Put the most salient information front and centre, your reader does want or have the time to go trawling through your resume to find out about you.
Focus on your skills and abilities rather than outlining the actual duties you undertook. You want to show this prospective employer that you are transferable from your current job to them. They want to see that you have the skills to do their work.
Provide context and a brief organisational profile for your current and previous positions. It is important the prospetive employer has an understanding of your past roles and how they fitted into that organisation.
Read your resume aloud. You will hear if what you have written makes sense and if it is being said in the best way.
Get someone else to read it. If they can grasp what your experience is, that is great. Best that that person not be in the same industry as you, that way you will know if you are making any assumptions about your readers level of knowledge or understanding/using too much industry jargon.
PROOFREAD. Check spelling, punctuation and grammar. (Hopefully I’ve proofed this blog post and there aren’t any mistakes lol).
Good luck job hunters!
Anyone wanna help proofread my college essay?
It would be much appreciated <3
Five years ago my life changed. When I was 20, I got the flu and I was having trouble breathing. My sister came to visit and insisted I go to the hospital. She probably saved my life. Fluid had built up in the lining around my heart and lungs, and without antibiotics, I would not be here today. After many tests and doctors and specialists, I was informed that I had a disease called systemic lupus erythematosus, a type of lupus. Lupus is a disease where the immune system attacks the body’s healthy tissue, which results in painful joint swelling, headaches, fatigue, hands turning white or blue when cold, etc. My doctor told me there is no cure, but it can be managed through medications, diet, and exercise.
I was still transitioning from adolescence to adulthood and suddenly had a serious medical condition. While other 20 year olds were experimenting with alcohol and college classes, I was finding out which veins were the best for nurses to take blood from and which medications I needed to take with food and which ones made me allergic to the sun.
I was terrified and lonely and depressed. I dropped out of college and strayed away from my friends and family. It was difficult for them to relate to me, because lupus is not an outwardly physical disease. My friends and family couldn’t see lupus, so they didn’t understand when I hobbled down the stairs because of swollen joints or declined going snowmobiling so my hands wouldn’t turn blue. I lost a lot of friends that year.
I wasted the first few years of my twenties trying to cope with my disease. About 3 years after the initial diagnosis, I had found some support groups through websites and social networking sites, and began to talk to other people with my disease about the difficulties we faced just to get out of bed every day. They helped me realize there are people out there right now doing incredible things in spite of this disease, and I should be one of them.
I enrolled part time at Central Maine Community College, hoping to find myself and a future career. I did struggle a bit at first, but soon I was going to school full time, staying on the Dean’s List, and making friends. One of the greatest friends I made was my academic advisor. He motivated me and encouraged me in a way no other teacher had done for me since middle school.
On May 12, 2011, I graduated with honors from college and received my Associate’s degree. The disease that I thought had ruined my life had actually become one of my main motivators. Now I want to get my bachelor’s degree in Management, specifically International Business. I don’t ever want to miss out on opportunities because of lupus again, and I hope I can inspire other people to use lupus as a motivator rather than let it discourage them too.
Careful!
No matter how tired you are & no matter how much your children are screeching, “Daddy! Daddy! Dadddeeee! Dahhhdddeeee!”, please take the time to proofread your correspondence. Otherwise, you will send a note to a family member who has recently completed rabbinical school and congratulate him on becoming a “Rabbit”.
Sh*t. Rabbi. Rabbit. Oy. The difference one little letter makes.
How To Make A Difference
One of the greatest things about being a writer is proofreading.
Exhaustion and weariness aside, I get to read the entire book beforehand.
And today, I read about fish being a luxury good to poor families in Bangladesh.
What is a luxury good to you?
Let’s give hand according to our capabilities in doing even the littlest part to make a difference.
Mistakes that spellcheck won't catch - Pt. 1
Listen, spellcheck is great. It saves us time and catches most of our major errors and oversights. But you cannot reply on spellcheck alone. You have to proofread, too. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of errors that your spellcheck won’t catch. Here are three sets of tricky words to look out for:
Its/It’s
“Its” (no apostrophe) indicates possession. As in: “The guacamole you made was okay, but its consistency was really weird.”
“It’s” (with apostrophe) is a contraction for “it is” or “it has.” As in: ”It’s extremely rude to remark on the consistency of my guacamole.” or “It’s been seventeen years since I last made guacamole.”
Their/There/They’re
“Their” is possessive. As in: “The chefs at that new restaurant are great. The consistency of their guacamole isn’t unusual at all.”
“There” refers to a location or an abstract idea. As in: “Look at that bowl of guacamole over there.” or “There are three components to exceptional guacamole, the most important of which is consistency.”
“They’re” is a contraction for “they are.” As in: “Our new neighbors seem nice. I’m glad they’re enjoying the guacamole.”
Farther/Further
“Farther” refers to physical distance. As in: “I’ll bet I can throw this bowl of guacamole farther than you can.”
“Further” refers to metaphorical distance. As in: “This guacamole seems unusually smooth. I’ll need to investigate further.”
More tips to come…
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People think being a good writer is just a talent.
I consider myself to be a good writer, and that stuff just doesn’t come out of no where.
I spent 40 minutes on that poem for Brad and I still think it’s shitty.. it could take quite a while for it to me good because you know what? You need to reread things, proofread. That is how you become a good writer.
Anyway. Just a little rant from me.
