Grammatical errors on your CV or cover letter suggest to employers that you lack attention to detail and have not given your application the attention it deserves. Here are some important grammar tips to ensure that your CV and cover letter are up to snuff.
- Spellcheck your spellchecker. Spellcheckers don’t catch every error, so manual proofreading is still necessary. If you send in a CV or cover letter that is riddled with spelling errors, the hiring manager will suspect that you didn’t take the time to proofread the document and that this level of carelessness will spill over into your work.
- Use capital letters sparingly. Remember, typing in caps is the electronic version of shouting. Capital letters are also more difficult to read at a glance. In addition, capitalizing words that shouldn’t be capitalized makes it seem like you are grammatically lacking. It’s important to be consistent with your capitalization, so if you capitalize your previous job title in one spot on your CV, be sure to do the same throughout.
- Take care with apostrophes. The misuse of apostrophes is a strong indicator that you are grammatically confused. Always remember that apostrophes are used to indicate time or quantity, a possessive, or missing letters. Learn the rules and use them consistently on your CV and cover letter.
- Use the singular correctly. If you are applying for a position at Widgets r’ Us, write that you would love to join “its” team, not “their” team. Instead of thinking about the numerous employees who work for an organization, try thinking of the organization itself as a singular entity. This will help you avoid this common CV error.
- Choose a voice and stick to it. There is no hard and fast rule regarding whether you should use the first or third person for your CV. Whichever option you choose, however, stick to it consistently. If you start off talking in terms of “my” time at Widgets r’ Us, don’t switch to “his” time at Widgets r’ Us halfway through the document.
- Pay attention to tense. Be sure to talk about old positions in the past tense and reserve the present tense for your current position. You may use the past tense in regard to your current job if you are speaking about a past event at that job. For example, “I gave the keynote speech at the 2013 Widgets r’ Us annual conference.” Whatever you do, don’t switch between tenses mid-sentence. This is grammatically wrong and may confuse your reader.
- Don’t use mystifying abbreviations. Some abbreviations are okay, such as using BS for Bachelor of Science. For those abbreviations that may not be commonly understood, be sure to write them out in full to avoid confusing the reader.
- Avoid semicolons. These are perhaps the most difficult form of punctuation to use correctly. Unless you are confident in your ability to properly use semicolons it’s best to leave them out entirely.
