For the most part, a resume, LinkedIn profile, or email from a candidate is not enough to determine if that person is qualified for a position. A follow-up conversation needs to take place to further discuss skills and experience, as well as to evaluate the person’s communication skills. However, there are a few mistakes people make in those initial written communications that may cause a hiring manager to eliminate them as a candidate before that first discussion ever takes place.
Grammatical Errors Within Your Résumé
Oftentimes, your résumé is the first impression that you make upon a hiring manager. It’s a representation of not only your professional experience, but also a display of your written communication skills. If it contains grammatical errors, it will negatively impact your candidacy. Even a few misspellings can cause you to be eliminated from consideration, as they reveal an inability to proofread and an overall lack of attention to detail. Proofread your resume. Have someone else proofread it, and then someone else. And then proofread it again. If you can’t polish the one piece of paper that will be sent to many hiring managers to initiate your career growth, how will you perform written communications required for the position?
Unprofessional LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn is defined as the “world’s largest professional network” — the keyword here being professional. Many times after receiving a résumé, but before scheduling an interview, a hiring manager will look at someone’s LinkedIn profile to try to gather a little more information about them. You can see who’s recommended the candidate, what groups they’re interested in, etc. One of the first things they’ll look at is the profile photo, which should indicate how the person represents him or herself professionally. Remember, LinkedIn is not Facebook, where your profile photo might feature you in a bathing suit with beer in hand. A hiring manager will look at this photo and imagine you facing their customers. If you don’t look professional here, you could be eliminated from consideration.
And the same goes for grammatical errors within your LinkedIn profile. Proofread, proofread, and proofread again. Make sure the groups you’re joining are relevant to the industry in which you work. Your network of connections should be professional.
Treating an Email Like a Text
We’ve all heard that we should send a follow-up email to a conversation, or even to accompany a résumé submission. But what’s included, or not included, in the email is just as important as sending it in the first place. as a professional in a work envt i dont want 2 c emails that looks like this. It’s OK to send a text to a friend that’s abbreviated and grammatically incorrect, but as far as professional emails go, they’re another representation of your written communication; therefore, consideration should be taken regarding not only content but also spelling and punctuation.
So, remember, your written communication could be a determining factor in whether you’ll even have verbal communication with a hiring manager. Make sure that you’re treating it as an accurate representation of your professionalism.
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