Top 100 Misspelled Words in Resumes
February 21, 2008 (10:19AM) by Julie O'Malley, CPRW
In my never-ending quest to learn everything there is to know about resumes, I came across the web site of the Kentucky Office of Employment & Training, which has a handy list of 100 commonly misspelled words on resumes, cover letters, and job applications. It's nice to have them all in one place.
I was not all that surprised to see that words such as business, knowledge, recommend, responsibility, and grammar all made the list. So did the word writer, which is kind of disturbing.
But the most puzzling entries in the commonly misspelled resume words have to be prophecy and prophesy. Really. How many people are out there looking for work as prophets?
Come to think of it, I guess the gift of prophecy would make you stand out from the crowd. (Talk about a soft skill!)
Anyway, I'm curious, what are YOUR favorite — or most hated — misspellings?
Here are mine: I can never remember how many r's are in embarrass and exaggerate, and it drives me CRAZY when people write loose when they mean lose.
And you?
Great post Julie! It can not be stressed enough how important it is to check and double check your resume for misspellings. I've seen resumes tossed it the trash over a spelling error. I am even more frustrated with poor grammar. The one that gets me the most is, "should of, could of, would of..." instead of "should have, would have, could have."
Yes, those are also painful ones, Amy. You just reminded me of a couple more... "use to" and "suppose to," instead of "used to" and "supposed to." - J.
I frequently find misspellings on resumes because the writer only used spell check and didn't bother to have someone else proofread it. Spelling "pubic" when you meant to spell "public" could land your resume in the round file.
Yikes, that's another excellent example, Amy J.! Spell checkers can get us in trouble!
With regards to the comment on misspelled words, including "use to" and "suppose to". These are CORRECT if the verb is in the past tense:
For example it is correct to say I "used to" drink coffee OR I didn't "use to" drink coffee
I am an english teacher and include this very grammar usage in my lessons.
B. MCCOOK
Well, B. MCCOOK, I must confess that when I first saw your comment I thought you were nuts. :)
However, I immediately did some Googling, and after finding several references that state flat out that it's always wrong to drop the d, I found one source that (almost) agrees with you. (There may be others; I stopped at one.)
Found at: http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/065.html Taken From: The American Heritage Book of English Usage. 1996.
used to We use the verb use in its past tense with an infinitive to indicate a past condition or habitual practice: We used to live in that house. Because the -d in used is not pronounced in these constructions, people sometimes mistakenly leave it out when writing. Thus it is incorrect to write: We use to play tennis. When do occurs with this form of use in negative statements and in questions, the situation is reversed, and use to (not used to) is correct: You did not use to play on that team. Didn’t she use to work for your company?
So it's not the past tense per se that makes it correct to say, "I didn't use to drink coffee," it's the appearance of the past tense of the verb to do (in this case taking the form of didn't).
Therefore, I'm thinking this works for use; but not suppose. I can't think of a construction where suppose goes with to do.
First time I've ever seen that in 20+ years of editing. Thank you for enlightening me (and our readers)!
Isn't the English language fun??? Please let me know if there is some other reference about this. I'm intrigued! -- Julie
Please help me! Rules or conventions aside, I cannot make any sense out of "use to" at all. This is the first time I, too, have run across a defense for this in 20+ years of editing. The best I can do in interpreting "She didn't use to work for your company" changes the intended meaning. I suppose (:-)) I have thought of "used to" as idiomatic. If I were tempted to use "I didn't use to drink coffee," I'm pretty sure I'd change it to "I didn't drink coffee before."
Julie, I just reread the quotation you found that (almost) agrees with B. MCCOOK, and am struck by the fact that it occurs in a usage reference, which, to me, seems more descriptive than prescriptive in nature. Teaching it in a grammar context, though, still puzzles me.
Now I wonder if "You weren't suppose to do that" is correct! Does it seem a parallel construction to either of you?
I would like to contribute the increased use of the nominative case personal pronouns used as the object of prepositions as a pet peeve (e.g., "for she and I"). And has anyone else noticed that if an undetected space sneaks in, "therapist" becomes "the rapist"? :-)
Julie Roberts, This whole topic makes my brain hurt. I was so content in my certainty that one ALWAYS uses the past tense for supposed to and used to! The thought that there might be an exception is disconcerting (though, just between you and ME, I remain unconvinced.)
I think I can at least allay your fear that "You weren't suppose to do that" might actually be correct. It's not.
"To be supposed to" is passive; someone else is supposing something about us. Therefore the verb is the past participle:
=We were supposed to leave at 10:00. =We were meant to leave at 10:00. =We were told to leave at 10:00.
It's that dang "used to" that is driving me bonkers.
There's "used to" as in, "A hammer is used to [utilized to] drive a nail." There's "used to" as in, "I got used to [accustomed to] the new method." There's "used to" as in, "I used to [did in the past] go to that school."
#1 is a simple passive construction, very clear. But #2 and #3 are the ones that confuse me. Like you, I always assumed they were idiomatic, and basically I still do. There's just that one bothersome reference that calls it into question. Grr.
From now on, if I find myself inclined to use the verb "to do" with the expression "used to," I am just going to choose another way to say it.
I didn't [use? used?] to have this problem. What I mean is, I never had this problem before!
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