Essay Guideline

Quite a sizeable proportion of people and organizations in the developing countries are yet to grasp the essence of proofreading services. It is surprising that even some newspapers and magazines either because of ignorance or little financial cost implications skip this function, thus relying on the reporters and contributors to submit error-free articles. It is no wonder that a glance at a sample of magazines, newspapers, and even textbooks would reveal varying degrees of errors. This all shows that proofreading services are yet to be fully appreciated.

Defects in a publication can be grouped into factual, typographical and grammatical. A factual error is simply an error made due to inaccurate or wrong information while typographical mistakes are due to wrong keying in of information. Grammatical errors are usually due to poor sentence structure, tenses and wrong use of words. Here is an illustration from ‘A book on HTML’, which was to be recommended by an uncle to his son but was declined as a result of numerous inaccurate, misleading statements and inability of the author to explain critical issues.

Example:

Lesson 1. The basics, has an unclear and misleading information of what it means to set background color, and wrongly states that the symbol are referred to as Carats.

Lesson 8. Color Choice, uses hexadecimal without shedding light on its use.

Worse still, the lessons are numbered inconsistently in the title, and table of contents.

Sometimes, a well-written piece may be marred by factual/typographical blunders. The text could be reporting an event, probably; the visit of the External Affairs Minister of Nigeria to the United Nations, but the picture of the Ghanaian Head of State is tucked beside. There are also instances when the contents of a major report are totally at variance with the captioned news item.

Example.

A caption in a leading newspaper reads “The Geshi celebrates Ndi Ani Day” while the body states ” The Lagos branch of the Geshi Town celebrates the end of 2003 on Sunday, December22, 2003.

The truth is that the human mind is structured such that it is more difficult to detect errors one is familiar with immediately. This is because our familiarity with the document we have just written makes it difficult to spot errors in the piece. Besides, because of tight work schedule, creating another time to check the manuscript is usually not possible. Also, the need to meet deadlines exerts unusual pressure on writers. All these show that proofreading services should be relegated to the background.

Poor publications have adverse effects on the image, reputation, credibility of your company and clients. For instance, if a document contains errors in pricing, or incomplete information, money will be lost on accounts and the company might fail to get another account while spending money in reprints, second mailings and overtime. Such blunders can also make customers to doubt the company’s professionalism and downgrade the company on the priority list.

Secondly, there is the cost of space paid in the newspapers for retracting misleading information as well as apology tendered for very harmful errors.

Equally important is the loss of man-hours expended in effecting necessary corrections, which should have been utilized for productive ventures that would improve the company’s bottom-line.

Thirdly, inappropriately crafted and incompletely written, edited, proofread documents such as employee handbooks could easily be exploited by aggrieved staff to the detriment of the company.

Fourthly, documents that are consistently poorly edited could lead to a dip in sales volume, as your client may be forced to review their relationship with the company. This will invariably have adverse effects on the bottom-line. Proofreading services are therefore essential to the survival of any organization

So, you don’t have to continue to lose clients, time, money and probably jobs to carelessness and indifference. The solution to these problems is to seek the services of tested and proven publication consultants to handle the frequent embarrassments.

DANIEL AZUH is the CEO of Mission Communications, an organization made up of consultants and professional writers dedicated to improving the quality of your manuscripts. Daniel has authored several articles in newspapers and journals and is on the verge of completing two of his books titled Credit Vocabulary and Marking Strategies in a period of Scarcity. Details of services being offered can be found in http://www.missioncomms.com

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This career tip is for you . . . if you’re serious about making a career or job change. Knowing your options and having a strategic plan are critical to your success in today’s job marketplace.

For instance, according to recent reports, your lifestyle may seriously affect your career or job choice. Did you know that people without spouses or children will represent one of the fastest growing segments of the workplace population?

As a result, employment law experts warn that discrimination suits based on parental status are likely to emerge.

That’s because in 2004 there were 46.4 never-married adults in the U.S.–more than double the number in 1970. The number of childless couples is expected to grow by 50% by 2010.

Already, people without spouses or children are seeking benefits better suited to their lifestyle. As a result, employers will have no choice but to explore a wider variety of work/life benefits instead of work/family benefits.

If you fall into these categories, your career planning should include these considerations. Earlier we reported that workplace privacy issues should also be part of your thinking. Checkout our website for more information on this emerging trend and how it impacts your job search.

For years EEI has recommended advance planning as a guarantee of solid and lucrative career growth. Now you can stay on top of the ever-changing job marketplace. So, don’t miss out on critical career news and innovative job search strategies. It’s so easy to have immediate access to current trends and alerts.

Because of the emerging trends we noted, it’s even more important than ever to be alert to the latest strategies and techniques that can assure you of success in your career or job change.

So, the most important career tip of all: know what your needs and options are. Then take the time to identify opportunities that best correspond to those needs.

Paul Megan writes for EEI, the world class leader in alternative job search strategies and non-traditional career advancement since 1985. Grab EEI’s stunning FREE REPORT: “How To Lock Up A High-Paying Job In 14 Days (Or Less)!” And click on RSS! http://www.fastest-job-search.com

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How to write a thank you letter to use after an interview, a phone interview, or even to someone who passed your name on to a hiring manager is an art that is not taught as often as it should be by placement services and others who help job seekers with finding jobs. They always cover the basics of resume writing, interview preparation, cover letter writing, how to create a reference sheet, and even how to prepare a salary history, which isn’t even required that often, but how to write a thank you letter is a subject that should be covered. It is a necessary skill that puts the capstone on the interview or other contact you had, makes you appear to be thoughtful and intelligent, and puts you above the crowd.

Some hiring managers are so swamped with resumes and cover letters when they post a listing on an online job bank or run a newspaper classified ad that they look for reasons to discard resumes. Having five hundred resumes in your email in box can be quite intimidating. Some hiring managers have been known to send out an automated response to all applicants letting them know that the resume was received. They will then sit back and wait for further communication. If an applicant knows how to write a thank you letter they have a jump on the competition immediately.

How to do it? As in all formal correspondence it should be block formatted with proper spelling, addresses and salutations. Keep it shorttwo or three paragraphs. In the first paragraph express your primary purpose by thanking the person you are writing to for their time and consideration. Business people are busy and time is a valuable commodity. In the second paragraph restate one or two key job skills you can bring to the position. Remind the reader as to why you are a good candidate for the job. In the third paragraph, thank the reader again, and reiterate that you are available by phone, email or in person should they have further questions. End with the traditional business ending “sincerely yours”.

An example of how knowing how to write it occurred with one job seeker a few years ago at a business brokerage in the Midwest. This job seeker was already working as a part-time telemarketer. She was competing for a full-time office manager position against two other. One of the men had a bachelors degree and the other was about to receive her bachelors. Both had several more years experience in office administration Obviously the other candidates were more qualified than the first applicant, but she knew how to write a thank you letter, and proved it. After her interview with the company owner, the managing broker and the old office manager (who was retiring and helping choose her own replacement) the fist candidate composed a thank you letter. She then printed out individualized copies for each person she interviewed with mailed them that evening. When the interviewers received them the next day they were impressed with her thoughtfulness and adherence to protocol. Despite the fact that the other two applicants were more qualified, she was hired. The fact that she knew how to write one probably got her the job she was seeking.

Many hiring managers will interview multiple candidates and only hire from those who send thank you letters. Some studies have shown that only one in ten applicants see the importance of thank you letters, so it should be obvious that if you know how to write a thank you letter you have a very important job skill.

Are you guilty of sabotaging your own job search along with the
opportunity to earn more money? Heather Eagar, a former professional resume writer and creator of ResumeLines.com, provides reviews of the top resume writing services that put you in charge of your career so you can get the job you deserve. Sign-up for your free Job Search Tips E-Course.

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