Reference · module 27
Work and applications
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Applying for a job
Write the opening of a job application.
- apply for a job, apply to a company. The preposition changes with what follows, and getting it wrong is noticed in a first line.
- The documents: a CV in Britain, a résumé in America, and a cover letter with both. The cover letter is where the sentences matter.
- experience in a field, experience with a tool: experience in marketing, experience with spreadsheets. Two prepositions and two kinds of experience.
The mistake you are about to make
I'm applying to the position.
I'm applying for the position.
Apply takes both prepositions and they are not interchangeable: for goes with the job, to goes with the company.
The interview
Answer the three questions every interview asks.
- Tell me about yourself expects three sentences: what you have done, what you do now, what you want next. Not your life story.
- responsible for takes -ing or a noun: I'm responsible for training new staff. It is the phrase every job description is built from.
- For weaknesses, name a real one and what you do about it. The answer that fails is the one that pretends there are none.
The mistake you are about to make
I'm responsible for train new staff.
I'm responsible for training new staff.
The for here is a preposition, and a preposition is always followed by -ing. Responsible for training, never for to train.
In a meeting
Say something in a meeting without waiting to be asked.
- Sorry to interrupt, but … and Can I just add something? are how English gets a word in. Both start with an apology and neither is one.
- To agree: Exactly, or That's a good point. To disagree: I see what you mean, but … The but is where the actual disagreement lives.
- And when you have not followed: Sorry, could you clarify that? or What exactly do you mean by …? Asking is cheaper than guessing.
The mistake you are about to make
I don't agree.
I see what you mean, but …
A flat disagreement is neutral in many meeting cultures. In English it lands hard: acknowledge the point first and let but carry the disagreement.
Work emails
Open and close an email at the right level of formality.
- Dear Ms Weber for somebody you do not know, Hi Anna for somebody you do. Dear Sir or Madam only when you have no name at all.
- Then a first line: I hope you're well, or I'm writing about … The second is more direct and wastes nobody's time.
- Close with Best regards for formal, Best or Thanks for everyday. Yours sincerely and Yours faithfully belong to letters on paper.
The mistake you are about to make
Dear Mrs Weber
Dear Ms Weber
Mrs states that she is married, which you have no way of knowing. Ms states nothing, and that is exactly why it is the business default.