Online Career Tips

By Laura Dolan, Guest Contributor

As nicknames go, it could be worse. I have my tenth grade English teacher to thank for that one. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I was a bit of a know-it-all in high school, and may have corrected my teacher on her grammar. Honestly, I didn’t mean to do it. She was going over the difference between who and whom, and in which context we should use each word. (Simply put, use “who” when referring to the subject of a sentence, and “whom” when referring to the object.) In the middle of this lesson, she said something to the effect of, “I don’t care who you invited.”

And it just tumbled out of my mouth: “Whom. You don’t care whom we invited.” Instant regret.

“Well, aren’t you just a little grammar queen!” Continue Reading

By J. Thompson
Online Career Tips Staff

Okay, you’ve found the perfect job. You took the time to craft your resume so it emphasizes the strengths and the skills that make you the ideal candidate. You entered all of your profile information into the online applicant tracking system. Almost done! You’re ready to press the submit button and then you see it. The small, blank field on your computer screen—Cover Letter. However, it’s optional. You recall a conversation about cover letters being as outdated as dinosaurs. But, only a few months back, you read an article suggesting that in this recovering economy a resume without a cover letter goes straight into the waste basket. So, do you take more time and write a cover letter?

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Like the façade on a building or a book’s cover, the cover letter is the first thing recruiters see when they receive a job application. Even though the old adage, “One should not judge a book by its cover,” is true, books are often judged not by the potentially insightful narrative contained within; but instead a warm reception is determined by its “cover.” Readers can be fickle, and if a book has been subjected to scorn or criticism or if it is declared a “bore” by the world’s preeminent literary critic, it is unlikely that readers will eagerly run to their nearest bookstore to purchase and peel back the pages of that book. In the same way, if a cover letter appears to be dull, uninformative, or irrelevant its reader will assume that the corresponding resume is simply the same and will not take the time to discover whether his or her assumption is fact or fiction. Would you enter a museum whose façade is made to resemble a building which is not only in disrepair, but looks abandoned and structurally unsound? The cover letter should be like an enticing welcome mat, drawing in its reader, prompting him or her to investigate what lies beyond. Continue Reading