These Mistakes Can Make You Look Dumb or Careless!

Having now worked with over 6,000 clients from many countries I have seen rsums and cover letters written by clients for my review. This blog is about some common mistakes that I see in such writings that can cause an educated reader to take pause and wonder: Is this person careless or just ignorant? In either case you stand a chance of being seen as a second-rate candidate, despite your stellar accomplishments and a cogent cover letter. So, I am going to provide some examples from rsums or cover letters that I have corrected for my clients. These clients range in their jobs that they hold from an apprentice to a CEO.

1. Apostrophe: I bring 15 years (or years) experience. Both are incorrect. The correct way to write this is: I bring 15 years experience. If you are confused about where to put the apostrophe just say, 15 years of experience.

   As a software engineer I developed several APIs to help my clients is incorrect. Say, I developed several APIs, instead. To remember this rule think of a plural noun: It is tables and not tables.

2. Principal/Principle: As Principle Engineer I led a team of 12 is incorrect. The correct way is, As Principal Engineer I led a team of 12.
3. Flaunt/Flout: When customers flaunted our guidelines we charged them for our time. The correct word is flout, which means to disregard.
4. Flush out/Flesh out: After the initial idea was presented we flushed out the details and developed a plan. The correct word is fleshed out.
5. Reputed/Reputable: Even after working with a reputed vendor we got burned. The correct word is reputable; reputed means alleged.
6. Brake/Break: After a five-year brake to take care of my family I went after my MBA. The correct word is break.
7. Defuse/Diffuse: When I saw the customer getting upset about the delayed shipment I was able to diffuse the situation and win him back. The correct verb is to defuse (remove the fuse from an explosive).
8. Story/Storey: Here is the storey the customer brought to the meeting. The correct word is story.
9. Its/Its: Its true that I was laid-off. The bad test set and its lights. Both are incorrect. Correct: Its (contraction for it is) true that I was laid-off. The bad test set and its lights.
10. Bachelors/Masters: I have a bachelors degree in psychology.

These errors are so commonplace that writers do not even care to look them up in the dictionary because they are sure of themselves. Also, the mistakes prevalence makes people numb to them. So, check out any good dictionary for misused words and make your rsum and cover letters perfect in every way!

Good luck!

About Author

Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader.

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