English Mistakes That Can Kill Your Chances Of Getting A Job

Whether you're preparing for a job interview, writing that resume, preparing to give a speech before a crowd, or writing up a business presentation, it is critically important for you to make sure everything is correct. When it comes to your career, you can't afford to make any mistakes.

Using improper English during a job interview, as well as on your job resume can cause you not to get the job. If you are giving a speech, using improper English will make your audience think you're uneducated. If you submit a written proposal to your superiors, and it is written with improper English, it may very likely be rejected. As you can see, failure is not an option.

Here are some of the most common English mistakes that can destroy your chances of career advancement, or you chances of getting the job you want.

· The first of these mistakes is pronouncing words incorrectly. While this mistake may sound easy to avoid, it is one of the most common mistakes that people make. I had a friend that used the word obsese instead of obese. Was she a dummy? Certainly not - just not careful. To become a master at English, it is not enough for you to know a word, or understand its definition. You must also be able to say it correctly. When you fail to pronounce a word correctly, even if people think you're somewhat intelligent for using the word in the right way, you will be criticized for not saying the word properly. One of the best ways to correct this issue is to break the word down into its syllables, and pronounce it accordingly. This is how we teach children to read and speak English. By breaking a word down we can sound each piece out until we know it well enough to say it correctly every time.

The second mistake you can make is using slang words. Those who use these words are often seen as being unintelligent or at least illiterate in the business sense. Unless you are speaking to an audience that doesn't mind if you use slang, you will want to avoid using it at all costs. While slang may sound cool when you're talking with your friends, you will not want to use slang words during a job interview, during a speech, and definitely not on your job resume. If you do, it is very likely that you just killed your chances of being successful. There is nothing wrong with simplicity. But being over-simple by trying use slang just makes you sound like you didn’t get a good education.

Many people try to sound sophisticated by speaking with complex sentences. This can be extremely risky. When you speak with complex sentences, you increase the chances of mixing up the words. With English, you can be simple, but sophisticated at the same time. People will be much more receptive to the things you have to say if you speak in every day language (just not slang). Unless you are highly skilled, avoid the use of complex sentences.

This is a mistake that gets a lot of people in trouble. They speak without taking the time to think carefully about the words that come out of their mouth. Not only can this cause your audience to become confused, it may also cause them to become offended if you say the wrong things. We all have been guilty of this from time to time and it is something to carefully watch.

When I say speak or write carefully, I am talking about grammar as well as the impression you make on your listeners or readers. Unfortunately this is something that many of our schools don’t teach well. I have a very good friend, a college graduate from the University of California who writes terribly. Why? I am not sure, but I know that when she was doing business proposals she would always send them to my wife (an English major) to correct the grammar. Without the corrections our friend would have seemed illiterate, yet she isn’t. And she does not speak like she writes. Interesting isn’t it? She is brilliant but a poor speller.

Conclusion

These are the basic mistakes that people make when they speak or write. This is extremely important when you prepare your job resume. It can literally be the difference between getting the job you want or not.