K. WOODWARD PERSONAL FINANCE
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Typos Could Be Keeping You In Low-Income Jobs

29/4/2015

1 Comment

 
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On occasion I have had people write in to me to say they want to build a business but in order to start they need to save some money. The problem: they can’t save a thing because their job doesn’t bring in enough money for them to save at all.




What can you do if you are in this position?

Firstly, have an independent person look at your personal finances (especially how you spend), to see if they can find additional savings. If you want to do a re-analysis yourself then get my book, Build Super Savings. This book takes you through your entire financial profile including tips on how to make more money and save a little extra.

Secondly, figure out how you can earn more. Finding another job is a good way to gain a bump in salary but there is one little problem that I find many more people than you would expect make: typos!

A good employer, that is, one that will pay you what you are worth uses what’s on paper to determine whether you are worth an interview. If you have too many typos and grammatical errors your CV/resume will go straight into the rubbish pile without consideration.

I had to fire the very first person I employed for this very reason after a week. For every sentence he wrote there were at least 3 typos; he was using spell check function to autocorrect himself, however, his spelling was so bad that the suggestions he was getting were frequently also not the correct words.  

I sat very close to him so I observed all the work he was doing and I wasn’t impressed. He was meant to be my marketing manager which includes responding to emails and some social media and I could not rely on him to write a decent email response or represent the Neno Natural brand correctly in any public domain. 

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I raised the issue on the second day and he said he thought he may be dyslexic but he had never been tested. Two days later my trust was falling even lower so by the end of the week I had to make a decision. He was a nice guy and I liked him but to keep him would be damaging to the business so I let him go.

On paper, he looked great and even when you saw him, he looked very executive. However, within one week I was sure that he didn’t write his own CV because he didn’t match up to it at all in reality. 

When I hired him he had been struggling to find a job except for one as a delivery man for a courier company. Delivering packages fortunately doesn’t require you to write any sort of copy. The main thing standing between this man and the well-paying marketing job he wanted was English grammar skills. He had signed up to marketing courses to improve his CV but all he needed was an intensive English grammar course. How he had made it through the English education system right through to university with such low writing skills, I do not know.

It’s very hard to admit to being bad at English especially when it is meant to be your native tongue – but if you’re in this boat, man up – get onto a course and get your English, written and spoken, polished up.

If you’re not sure how good your English is write a few things and get an independent opinion. Small things you can do now to improve your written English include:

  • Read a quality book for at least one hour daily 
  • Highlight words you don’t know and look them up (this is even easier nowadays because e-readers show definitions when you click on the unknown word using an in-built dictionary)
  • Ideally, write all the words you don’t know in a books of definitions or some piece of paper to expand your personal vocabulary, or deliberately use a vocabulary building tool like Verbal Advantage. 

It’s going to sound very sad but throughout my teens I used to carry a little dictionary / thesaurus around. I enjoyed reading it when I had breaks. I also used to list and define words I didn’t know on paper well into my twenties. You don’t have to go this far but the more literature you engage with the better your writing and reading becomes. The better you can write, the better the job you will find.

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Want to Build a 6-Figure Beauty Business from the comfort of your sofa? Then my course is designed for YOU! 

"Beauty" includes a WIDE range of products from the not so obvious non-perishable foods and crafts to the more obvious hair, makeup, fashion, health & fitness.

1 Comment
Leera
1/5/2015 09:57:51 pm

I fully agree wiry you!! I stopped using the informa texting style as it was having a negative effect on my spelling. Thank you Heather!!

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    I enjoy helping people think through their personal finances and blog about that here. Join my personal finance community at The Money Spot™.

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Heather Katsonga-Woodward, a massive personal finance fanatic.
** All views expressed are my own and not those of my employer ** Please get professional advice before re-arranging your personal finances.
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