Page 260 - Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Resume

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Part 4 ➤ Letters That Work

Bonus Check
Capitalizing a job title in the text of your letter is optional. If you want to give it impor-
tance or emphasis, capitalize it. If you capitalize one title, you must capitalize all other
titles in your letter. When referring to the official name of a department, the name
should be capitalized. For example, “I sent my resume to the Human Resources depart-
ment.” Don’t capitalize the name if you’re referring to it as a function. For example,
“I’ve worked in human resources for 10 years.”

Spell out numbers from 1 to 10. Use numerals for numbers 10 and
greater. The number 10 may be either spelled or numerated:
Our department oversees the work of eight engineers and five technical
writers. When all 13 employees are in high gear, things cook!

If two or more numbers appear within a sentence, their written form
Job-Hunt Hint should be consistent (either spelled out or numerated):
For clarity when referring to a ➤ We hired 12 waiters and 3 chefs.
range of figures, repeat the word
➤ We hired twelve waiters and three chefs.
thousand, million, or whatever
increment you’re speaking of
You can state large amounts of money in all numbers, all words, or a
each time you mention a
combination of numbers and words or numbers and letters. All of the
number. For example, write,
following examples are correct:
“20 million to 40 million,” not
“20 to 40 million.” $50,000,000 (insert commas in large numbers to make the quantity
easy to identify quickly)
fifty million dollars
$50 million

$50M

A Few Good Words
Career Casualty
Among the many frequently confused words, I’ve selected the ones
Avoid short, choppy writing most commonly misused in job-search letters. The following informa-
(short consecutive sentences) tion can keep you out of trouble when it comes to using these tricky
in your letter. In some cases, you words:
can combine two shorties with
➤ Anxious and eager. Use anxious to mean “fearful or concerned.”
a semicolon to create one com-
Use eager to mean “desirous or willing.” For example, I’m eager
prehensive sentence.
to work for this company, but I’m anxious about the repercus-
sions of quitting my current job.

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