Sunday, February 13, 2011

Plan, Prepare, Plan, Prepare...

Sometimes you think you are all grown up and professional and then you do something so, well…dumb.  My husband calls it my "bull" as in "Bull in a china shop" but I call it my Sagittarius.  We Sagittarians are known for speaking off the top of our heads; sometimes just not thinking before something pops out of our mouths.  I've been like this for as long as I remember and don't know if it has to do with my astrological sign or if it is just something inherent in my being. My son has it too.  I vividly recall when seeing a man with an ill-fitting toupee in the grocery store, be blurted out loud in front of everyone, "What's that man got on his head?" I'll let that one slide because he was younger then and didn't yet realize that some things are better left unsaid. After a talk about it on the ride home he realized that words can be hurtful. 

Anyway, today on my facebook business page I posted a very informative article that I found on tips for getting back to work after a long absence.  It was for the age 40+ job seeker.  In my Sagittarian haste I wrote, "Here is a great article for the old job seeker", rather than, "Here is great article for the older job seeker." I know it may sound trivial and wasn't intentional but still, I didn't proof it before posting. So does this relate to the job search? Yes, plenty. 

1. Proof, proof, proof.  Run your resume and cover letters through spell and grammar checks. Then run it past real life "people" checks. 
2. If you are replying to comments or starting a comment in a LinkedIn or other group, copy and paste the comments in Word first, check them and then post them. 
3.  If you are interviewing, think before you speak - be prepared.
4. Going in a thousand directions at once is going to cause mistakes. Slow down.

These are the rules I try to follow but sometimes my “Bull” or Sagittarius comes out.  We're only human, right?

2 comments:

Doug said...

Boy is this ever so true. I try to protect myself every time but goof in choosing wrong words, commas, you name it. Politically correct? damn what year did that start to be used. There are add-ons ( spell checkers ) for Firefox and most other browsers that are available for free to help out.

Nancy Range Anderson said...

Hi Greg,
I think that we are in such a rush too. Our minds are going a mile a minute and with trying to multi-task, we just screw up sometimes. I will check out the add-ons that you mentioned. Thanks for responding!

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