Do You HAVE to Write a Thank You Note After the Interview?

You don't have to send a thank you letter if you don't want the job you just interviewed for. But if you do want that job, better follow this advice to write a thank you note... a good thank you note. Continue reading...

An Easy Way to Give Your Cover Letter Zing!

As the saying goes: There are people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder what happened. Most employers want an employee who makes things happen. Your cover letter/email is a great place to say you do just that! Continue reading...

How to Say "I Do" to a LinkedIn Invitation

We live in a click-happy world. We easily click "Yes" to accept an online money transfer, click "No" to deny a bad date request; then we move on to the next pressing detail of the day. But there's one time when the quick click of the "Accept" button might not be all you should do to say, "I do." Continue reading...

Formula for Job Search Thank You Email

After a job interview, follow up right away with a thank you email. Here's my Past-Present-Future formula for what to say in that thank you note. Continue reading...

Job Seekers Slingin' Slang

Trash Talkin' A Turnoff to Clients; Prospects and Clients Leary of Loose Language
by Craig Harrison, Principal, Expressions of Excellence, 510/547-0664 (reprinted here with Craig's permission)

Despite attention to four-color brochures, meticulous grooming and letter-perfect newsletters, consultants constantly undermine their hire-ability and employees hurt their promotability through sloppy language skills and inappropriate word choices in their communication. What point is shined shoes and polished purses if you're constantly shooting yourself in the foot with your own words?

Slang is sloppy…precision preferred

Professionalism counts in the work world. Proper English shows good taste, good schooling and an understanding of professional protocols. Avoid slang. You're not a short-order cook! Slang is a shortcut that suggests excessive informality and lack of appreciation for the workplace setting and expectations.I wish I had a nickel for every consultant who told me he or she was gonna do something! Gonna is gutter. Replace all uses of "gonna" with "going to" and others will perceive you to be a professional with plans. Gonna is what an elementary school student will do when the recess bell rings. Going to is what dedicated and focused professionals intend to do, a part of a strategic plan, an act with intention.

• Sadly, very unique isn't. Unique, by definition, means one of a kind, unparalleled, without peer. Adding very in front of unique is as meaningless as doing something 110%, 115% or 150%. And you thought grade inflation was bad! OK, we get the point.
  
  
• Prove you're a graduate by knowing the difference between alumni, alumnus and alumna and alumnae. The first and last are plural, the second and third refer to a male or female graduate of their alma mater. Alumnae refers to women graduates. Alumni refers to coed graduates.
  
  
• Figuratively vs. Literally. When you say you could eat a horse, you are speaking figuratively. Only the Donner party meant it literally. One consultant told his client "he literally killed to get a past job." Really? Who wants to hire a murderer?
  
  
• Degrees are important. So is understanding the degree to which you are in favor or opposed to something. Don’t get a third degree burn! When you tell people you are 360° opposed to something, they won't hire you since you obviously failed geometry. 180° denotes complete opposition. Once you've rotated 360° you've come full circle and are back where you started from. (Do not pass go, Blockhead. It's back to square one!)
  
  
• More Than vs. Over: Over is a preposition and generally refers to spatial relationships: "The plane flew over Sacramento." Use "more than": Silicon Valley has more than 10,000 programming jobs.
  
  
• Myriad vs. A myriad Of: Myriad means "many." Not "a myriad of" problems. That would like saying, "he has many of problems," which would be wrong. We would say, "he has many problems."
  
  
• Don't bother asking about renumeration. You're ineligible, because you won't be retained. The correct word is Remunerate, to give someone money or to be paid, which you will be, when you use the correct word.
  
  
• Irregardless. There is no such word. Regardless of what you've heard, the correct word is "regardless."
  
  
• Interred vs. interned. If you worked without pay, you interned. Ironically, it can also refer to serving behind bars, as in a prison. As bad as that is, when you say you interred, it suggests you were buried! You'll never get ahead if you're already six feet under. Unless you're born again, stick with interned.
  
  
• Presidents and Olympians are forever so. Everyone wants respect but nobody gives it anymore. When you speak of a United States president such as Bill Clinton, George Herbert Walker Bush or Jimmy Carter, they're still President Clinton, Bush, or Carterre respectively. (Note that President Jimmy Carter is now a Nobel laureate too!) When you refer to Olympians Mary Lou Retton, Billy Mills or Peggy Fleming, they're Olympians (not past or former Olympians). Just like recent medalists Apolo Anton Ohno, Sasha Cohen, Shani Davis or Chad Hedrick, Even ones who didn't medal, like Bode Miller will forever remain Olympians.

Pronouncements on Pronunciation

Just so you know, although shift happens, paradigm is and always has been pronounced pair-ah-DIME, not para-DIG 'EM.

Yet these days alternate pronunciations are plentiful: harassment, nuclear (nucular is also acceptable until 2008), and database (pronounced dah-ta-base or DAY-ta-base).

By the way,

• The singular of data is datum
• The plural of stadium is stadia
• Media is plural for medium. TV is a medium. Radio, too. Print (a.k.a. newspaper) is another. TV, radio and newspapers together are forms of media.

It is a fact that customers do business with those they know, like and trust. Speaking well builds trust with clients. It reflects a shared value, the proper use of language. Speaking well is a sign of your professionalism, suggesting you will adhere to other standards of good business: honesty, fairness and service.

When you speak well the world respects you and wants to do business with you. Can ya dig it?

When to Make Letters Capped

Here's a topic that throws a lot of letter writers for a loop: capitalization. Knowing what words always start with a capital letter and what circumstances require a normally lowercase word to be capitalized can make a big difference in how effectively you communicate. Continue reading...

Ask Your Network for Job Hunt Help

Your online network is something you've built over time and it's extremely valuable. If you've been helpful to members of your network, they'll likely be eager to respond to your call for help with your job search. I suggest writing a cover letter email that asks for the help you need. Continue reading...

Holiday Cards to Job Hunt Network

The good news letter is a short thank you note I recommend you send to everyone in your network who helped you get your new job. It's best sent as a hardcopy note via the US Post immediately after you land the job. And if you have decent hand writing, make it even more personal by sending a handwritten message.

Alison Doyle recommends using the holidays as a time to send a Holiday Thank You Note to each person in your job search network. It's a good way to show your gratitude and stay in touch with those contacts you've developed. By the way, it's also an opportunity to ask if there's something you can do for them!

Exclamation Points!

We all like a little excitement and the exclamation point is one way to express it in our writing. However, be sure to use this punctuation mark properly and judiciously. Too much of a good thing, isn't always great. Continue reading...

Belated Thank You Note

Question
In July, I accepted a "contingent" job offer from a prospective employer. The primary contingency was that the company would be awarded a contract for some work at a local facility. The time frame for the award is expected to be this month. I thought it was a good idea to call them and follow up, but was previously advised not to do so. However, I still think otherwise. Continue reading...

Thank You Follow-up Letter

Question
I went for an interview last week for a customer service position. I was called the next day by the owner of the company, who said he hired another person Continue reading...

Thank You for the Informational Interview

After your informational interview, write a thank you note to the person you interviewed. This polite gesture will demonstrate that you sincerely appreciate their help, and you value the networking contacts they might have shared with you.

To get ideas for how to write such a note, check out my sample thank you letters for informational interviews.

Interview Follow-Up

Question
Exactly two weeks ago I had an interview with a great company. I left feeling very optimistic, and the company expressed their interest in the job. Within the next few days I had heard from my previous boss that they already contacted them as references. Continue reading...

Thanks for the Job Rejection!

When you get a job rejection after an interivew, write a thank you note to the interviewer. Doing so will show that you're professional and may even give you a shot at a future job opening in the company.

To see some truly awful responses to job rejections, read Job Rejections and Vitriol, Part 2.

To get ideas for writing your thank you note, read Sample Thank You Letters for a Job Rejection.

Follow-up on Verbal Job Offer

Question
I got a verbal job offer a week ago; we never discussed the salary or the benefits. The man in charge said I will hear from the human resource department. How do I proceed?
--Margaret
Read my answer...

Follow-Up on Job Interview

Question
I went on a great interview, got a job offer, and told her that I had other options to consider and wanted to do a little research before I made my decision because I would be relocating. She encouraged this, and I left things on a positive note. I told her I would be in touch with her by the end of next week (the interview was on Thursday).
Continue reading...

Thanks-But-No-Thanks Letter

Question
I went on an interview and feel it went well, although the position is not what I expected it to be. I am not interested in pursuing this position and want to write a “thank you” but “no thanks” letter. Continue reading...

Thanks for the Not-So-Good Interview

You just finished a so-so job interview and as you walk away from it, you realize that you were nervous and you didn’t do as well as you could have. You really want the job. But how can you turn around the bad impression you might have made at your interview? Continue reading...

Turn Around College’s Withdrawal of Acceptance

Question

I need help formulating a letter for my 17-year-old niece who was accepted to a great university; then they withdrew their offer because she received Ds in Physics and Math, which she should have never taken. Since then she is back up to above 3.0 GPA.

It took her 9 years to get her black belt in karate and 4 years to make honors violinist. We are proud of her and really want to see her in this school. I am trying to fight her college rejection from this angle: Wait and see her final grades, don’t judge her from the snapshot, which was taken during a very difficult time in her personal life. Can you help me?
---Isabel

Answer
by Jan Melnik, MRW, CCM, CPRW, President, Absolute Advantage

Dear Isabel,
Based on the likely timing of the university’s acceptance—then withdrawal, I’m presuming the decision to withdraw the offer followed an interim grade report during your niece’s senior year. Since it’s unlikely she can drop those courses at this stage, she should be taking steps (even if she dreads it) to secure tutoring assistance in both subjects (with strong fellow students recommended by her teachers, with the teachers themselves after school, or with independent tutorial assistance—check at a local university or community college) to boost those grades. She can also make the assertion (and then follow through, of course) to take the classes again in either summer school at the high school or through a local community college over the summer.

If the Ds were the final grades for courses taken her junior year, then there isn’t any hope for boosting performance in those classes. I’d still recommend she immediately sign up for summer classes on both (they usually start mid- to end-June, so waste no time). This shows that she is willing to persevere—even if the subjects are not related to her intended major—and that she takes responsibility for her grades and learning.

Whichever scenario fits your niece’s situation, she can use this story to write positively in a letter that she sends to the admissions office (by the way, this letter must come from her; it also wouldn’t hurt to have the two teachers of the problematic courses include letters on her behalf if she has turned around her grades in those two classes). At the same point that she is telling the story of her action and solution to the grades—all while stating that her performance did not live up to her expectations—she should explain the real circumstances behind her less-than-stellar grades. As a senior, maybe she tried to take on too many activities (the fact that she achieves in a competitive individual sport as well as musically tells many good things about her character)—and realized one marking period into the process that she couldn’t quite manage it all. That’s why it’s important to show what her turnaround plan is (tutor, extra help, summer course, etc.) and how she’s confident that with the same level of determination she applies to everything in her life, she knows she can produce strong results.

If she’s already turned things around academically in the two difficult courses, it’s still a good idea to pursue some extra help to ensure everything stays on course. Of course, she should mention in her letter that in the recent marking period, she’s pulled those Ds up to Bs … or As. She should also restate how she’s taken steps to stay on track for the balance of the year—and mention that these are study skills that will serve her well in college. In addition, the fact that she confronted a problem head-on (and did not drop the courses) is a plus for her.

There’s no harm in trying to get the college to reverse its decision, but she should realistically understand that there is a very small likelihood that this will happen. With that said, I urge her to look at other appropriate schools, visit websites, plan visits, etc. With thousands of colleges in the U.S. alone, there is bound to be another wonderful institution that would love to have her as a member of their entering freshman class.

Kudos to you for taking an active interest in your niece’s higher education! The bottom line to remember—always—is that the right school for your niece is the one where she is accepted, can anticipate attending, will thrive, and whose name she will be proud to display via the sticker on her car’s back window!

Jan Melnik is a job-search coach and resume writer; she has operated her own practice, Absolute Advantage, for 24 years and works with clients coast-to-coast in the development of exceptional materials and strategies. She is the author of 7 books, including Executive’s Pocket Guide to ROI Resumes & Job Search.


Find information on Diversity recruiting at DiversityJobs.com.

Cover Letter about Job Recommendation

Question
I recently applied for a position online. The prospective employer asked for references, which I supplied. I have just received a letter of recommendation from one of those references, and would like to know how to compose a good cover letter to send along with the letter of recommendation to the prospective employer. Continue reading...