How Can Power Words Help You Land Your Dream Job?

There’s no silver bullet to get you the job you want, but power words might be the closest thing.

What are power words, you ask? Power words are buzzwords and special phrases that signal to a company that you’re on their wavelength. Use them to tailor your application to a specific company and show that you know their mission, their approach, and their values—and that you’ve done your homework. These are the words that they’re watching for to find out which applicants are best suited to join the team.

Why Power Words Are Your Friends

Power words are like hypnosis. Use the words your potential employers want to hear and they’ll come knocking at your door.

Okay, it’s a bit more complicated than that. But the right power words can help your resume stand out, and that can give you the edge you need to get the job.

Here’s why. Some companies use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which searches resumes for certain keywords and forwards only the resumes of candidates who jam-packed their applications with the power words companies are looking for.

And for companies that do have a human reading applications, that human is often trying to get through a lot of resumes in a short time. They may not be a computer, but they will have superbly trained eyes that speedily scan for buzzwords and phrases.

So, the better you train yourself to use those words and phrases, the more your resume will stand out.

How do you find the right power words to make your resume pop? Try these tips to find and use power words in any job application.

Get Power Word Gems from the Job Description

A big, juicy job description is like a math textbook with the answers in the back. It lists the requirements, skills, and daily tasks of the job you’re applying for, so all you need to do is say that you meet those requirements, have those skills, and are up to that set of daily tasks. Piece of cake, right?

Of course, you don’t want to copy the job description word for word. Instead, imagine which words and phrases would be highlighted. Those are your power words. As you write your resume and your cover letter, work the words from the job description into your description of who you are and what you do.

For example, if the job description says you’ll “influence strategic decisions by working with cross-functional partners,” you might include phrases like “guided strategy,” “engaged in cross-functional collaboration,” or “coordinated decision-making with multiple teams.” By using some of the same words and some synonyms, you demonstrate that you can do what they’re asking, and you have the smarts to phrase it in a different way.

Select Company-Specific Power Words

You’re not just applying to do a job; you’re applying to work at a company. While applying, make sure you familiarize yourself with the company and what makes it unique, and incorporate some of that information in your application materials.

How do you find that information? Most job descriptions include some information about the company, and sometimes explain why that job is important to that company’s development. Use that information to explain why you’re not just a good fit for the daily work; you’re a good fit for the company culture, too.

RELATED: 4 Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

You can expand on that by looking at the “about” information on the company website and its mission statement, if it has one. For example, if the mission involves “introducing our product to a global market,” you can mention how your abilities will suit you to developing the product, and also how reaching an international audience is something you value.

Double benefit: you show that your skills suit the work you’ll be doing, and that your personality is in line with what the company is trying to accomplish overall.

Use Industry Jargon (Appropriately)

A/B testing. Malfeasance. Amortization. Socratic method. SEO, UX, UI.

Doesn’t matter if you’re a marketer, lawyer, teacher, or techie: every industry has its jargon. Get a handle on the specific words people in your line of business use to describe the work they do, because guess what: those are power words. In your resume and cover letter, include jargon that shows that you not only know how the industry works but also how it talks.

But strike a balance: show what you know, but don’t make your writing so chock-full of jargon that there’s no sign of a human in there.

Pick Verbs with Verve

Verbs will help you express yourself, convey your skills, and win at life. See how great verbs are?

Most resumes are essentially souped-up lists of stuff you did. And it sounds a lot better to say you orchestrated, designed, spearheaded, or led instead of just did. That’s right: most power words are power verbs.

Now you know why power words can help you land a job, where to look for the right power words in the job and company descriptions, and how to show what you can do with the right set of vivacious verbs. But which verbs in particular, you might ask?

If you need more tips on seeking superb synonyms to power up your resume, we’ve got a handy list of 65 powerful words to take your resume to the next level. So now that you know how power words work, find your favorites and get them working for you.

Presidential Debate Grammar Power Rankings

Ready or not, the U.S. presidential campaign season is upon us. Whoever your pick for POTUS, one thing’s certain—political topics inspire passionate discussions. With a light heart and heavy-hitting algorithms, we visited each candidate’s official Facebook page and looked at the comments there to see how well their supporters handle themselves when they communicate their ideas in writing.

Our first study put followers of Republican candidates—the participants in the first national presidential debate on August 6—in the spotlight. The Democratic candidates climb into the debate ring on October 13, so this time we put their supporters to the test. Then, in the spirit of friendly competition, we combined the studies into one infographic to allow for comparisons between the parties.

Whether your discussion style is passionate or placid, as the 2016 presidential election approaches there’s no better time for intelligent discourse.

 

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Please attribute this infographic to https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check.

Methodology

We began by taking a large sample of Facebook comments containing at least fifteen words from each candidate’s official page between April, 2015 and August, 2015. Next, we created a set of guidelines to help limit (as much as possible) the subjectivity of categorizing the comments as positive or negative. Since the point of the study was to analyze the writing of each candidate’s supporters, we considered only obviously positive or neutral comments. Obviously negative or critical comments, as well as ambiguous or borderline negative comments, were disqualified.

We then randomly selected at least 180 of these positive and neutral comments (~6,000 words) to analyze for each candidate. Using Grammarly, we identified the errors in the comments, which were then verified and tallied by a team of live proofreaders. For the purposes of this study, we counted only black-and-white mistakes such as misspellings, wrong and missing punctuation, misused or missing words, and subject-verb disagreement. We ignored stylistic variations such as the use of common slang words, serial comma usage, and the use of numerals instead of spelled-out numbers.

Finally, we calculated the average number of mistakes per one hundred words by dividing the total word count of the comments by the total number of mistakes for each candidate.

Monday Motivation Hack: Take a Break

Ah, motivation. Sometimes you can feel it coursing through your veins, and sometimes it seems as fleeting as snow in the spring. When you feel completely out of motivation, burned out, or exhausted, what do you do?

So far in our Monday Motivation Hack series, we’ve covered things that help you when you’re highly motivated, like to-do lists, morning routines, and mindfulness. But what about those days when getting out of bed seems like a struggle?

These are the days when it’s time to switch gears and do something radical—give yourself a break.

So today, I’m not going to write thousands of words on how to keep motivated. Instead, I’m giving you the space to take a breath, drink some water, and take that break.

If you want to read something while you take a break, consider one of these. If you just want to walk around the block or watch pandas on YouTube, that’s fine, too. You deserve it.

1 How to Take a Break Without Breaking Focus

2 7 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You’re Exhausted

3 How to Stop Procrastinating and Take Control of Your Life

Presume vs. Assume

• Presume is a verb that means to suppose, to take for granted, or to dare.
• Assume is a verb that means to suppose, to take for granted, to take upon, to don, or to undertake.
• In the shared meaning of “to suppose,” presume is usually used when you suppose based on probability, while assume is used when you suppose without any evidence.

What’s the difference between “assume” and “presume”? “Assume” is to “presume” as a brother is to a sister. The previous statement is an analogy, a comparison of how two things relate to each other. Analogies are used to explain or to clarify. For those who confuse “presume” and “assume,” an analogy is just the thing!

Difference Between Assume and Presume

Just as a brother and sister have the same parents, “assume” and “presume” have the same etymological roots. “Assume” has Latin roots. It comes from a verb that means “to take up or adopt.” “Presume” derives from a Latin verb that means “to take upon oneself, to take liberty, or to take for granted.” Both Latin verbs can be traced to a common root, sumere, which means to put on or take up.

A brother and sister have similar features. “Assume” and “presume” are spelled in almost the same way, except for their prefixes. “Pre-” means “before.” The “as-” of assume might have been “ad-” originally. The “-ad” prefix means “to” or “up.”

A brother and sister are not interchangeable. Because of their unique personalities, parents may give them different chores. Assume and presume have different meanings and usages.

Assume Definition

To assume means “to take for granted or to suppose,” and this is the meaning that leads to the most confusion between assume and presume. But that’s not the only thing you could be saying when you say assume—to assume might also mean to take responsibility for a duty, to appropriate, or to undertake a task. The same verb refers to adopting qualities or pretending to do so. So, you can assume a different identity, but also assume guard duty. In this sense, assume is synonymous with “take on” or “take up.”

Presume Definition

To presume also means “to take for granted” or “to suppose,” and just like assume, it has another meaning as well. “To act or to undertake with undue boldness or without permission” is another meaning presume can take on. In law, it refers to accepting something as true in the absence of proof of its falsity.

Of course, brothers and sisters may share some responsibilities. Both “presume” and “assume” carry the thought of supposing or taking for granted that something is true. In that sense, presume is often used as another word for assume, and vice versa. But there is a slight difference even when they are used in this sense—when you presume something, it can be considered that you’re doing so on the basis of probability. When you assume something, you’re supposing without proof. After all, the adverb presumably means “by reasonable assumption.”

Examples: Assume and Presume in Sentences

Did the analogy help you learn the difference between “assume” and “presume”? Like brother and sister, they have the same parentage. While they share some definitions, they are unique as a brother and sister would also be. If this didn’t help, here are some examples of how assume and presume are used:

May’s deputy spokesman said Johnson would assume the position of duty minister after Philip Hammond, the chancellor, who took the role last week. —The Guardian

But even that argument is narrow-minded because it assumes women are monolithic and all have the same needs, interests and political positions. —Chicago Tribune

I hesitate to presume anything leggier than that, but a 2.8x multiplier like The Night Before gives Sausage Party a $37m debut weekend. —Forbes

Pressure has been mounting on policymakers to introduce presumed liability into civil law to protect vulnerable road users. —The Herald

Where to Find The Answers to Your Grammar Questions

How the Grammar Girl Team Answers All Those Grammar Questions

Guest post by Ashley Dodge

English is a complex, complicated, and often confusing language. It seems as if everyone, at one time or another, needs help with grammar. As Grammar Girl’s assistant, I’m lucky enough to help people find the answers to their grammar questions sent in by e-mail, whether it’s how to remember “affect” or “effect,” or how to use the semicolon.

We get a lot of the same grammar questions, and we also get tons of tips and podcast ideas straight from the e-mail we receive. Mignon and I work as a team to make sure we provide the right, or best, answers to people’s questions, and whenever I run into a particularly challenging or difficult question, I send it to Mignon.

Sometimes, however, there isn’t an answer. This is frustrating not only for me, but for the person who asked the question. A popular and frustrating question people ask is why we say “the Eiffel Tower,” but we don’t say, “the Buckingham Palace,” or why we say “I’m going to church,” but not “I’m going to museum.”

This is frustrating because we can tell you the answer to your specific question, and we can give you some guidelines about when to use determiners (“a,” “the”), but we can’t answer the question people want, which is “Why? Why do you need a determiner with countable singular nouns but not proper nouns?” Often people want the answer to that “Why?” question, and there isn’t one. It’s just one of the many examples of English’s complexity, complications, and confusion.

To support or find my answers to grammar e-mail, I start with Grammar Girl, of course! I search the Grammar Girl website, newsletters, and books. If I can’t find what I’m looking for in any of those sources, I do a Google search; search the dictionary; look through Garner’s Modern American Usage, the Chicago Manual of Style, the AP Stylebook, grammar blogs, books, or websites such as Grammarly; or search Google Ngram, which shows how often words or phrases are used in published books.

The latter source is fascinating and many people don’t know it exists. Grammar Girl has written about it, and when I use Google Ngram to support or find my answer, this is usually the first time people have heard of it.

You might think responding to grammar questions would be easy, but sometimes it’s difficult to craft a polite response to someone who, let’s say, has had an ongoing debate about a specific grammar issue, and the side the writer has chosen is wrong. People don’t like to hear that they’re wrong or are going to lose a bet. I always try to keep a friendly, conversational tone. Mignon wants to provide a comfortable, supportive, and friendly place where you don’t have to worry about us making a comment if you make a grammar mistake. That’s what I try to create.

What’s the best part about answering grammar e-mail? It’s rewarding to know you’re helping people. I find that I’ve learned more myself about grammar, language, usage, and writing just by answering people’s questions.

About the Author

Ashley Dodge is Grammar Girl’s assistant, and a writer, social media manager, and lifestyle blogger. She lives in Reno, Nevada where she graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.  She enjoys knitting hats and having her pug model them. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and visit her blog.

You can follow Grammar Girl on Facebook and Twitter, and head to the Quick and Dirty Tips website to sign up for the weekly Grammar Girl newsletter, podcast, and tips.

8 Embarrassing (Yet Common) Malapropisms

You may or may not have heard of these funny little things: malapropisms. A malapropism is the misuse of a word that creates a ridiculous sentence, usually as a result of confusing similar-sounding words. This can create embarrassing situations for people, especially during public speeches. To get a better idea of how malapropisms work, check out some of the examples below.

”1”Supposively/Supposably

People sometimes say these when they mean to say “supposedly.” Supposively and supposably probably arose because they’re phonetically a little easier to say, but when you see them written down, their incorrectness becomes very obvious. Just remember, the word you’re looking for ends in “-EDLY.”

”2”Jive

Often, you’ll hear people say that one thing doesn’t “jive” with another. What they probably meant to say was “jibe.” And they’re so close to correct — only one letter off. But in meaning, the two words are completely different. The word jive means a few things, and none of them mean to complement or agree; that’s “jibe.” Jive, as a verb, either means to perform a dance called the jive or to taunt.

”3”Pacifically

When referring to anything in particular, don’t use the word pacifically. Specifically is the correct word to use here, as in the adverb for specific. Pacifically means to do something in a pacifying way, mildly, calmly, etc. Ironically, people often correcting the misuse of this word claim it relates to the Pacific Ocean. While this makes sense, you’ll have a hard time finding a definition of the word “pacifically,” capitalized or not, that relates to the Pacific Ocean. “Pacific” was an English word on its own, before applied to the ocean.

”4”It Was All an Illusion

Another close one, but not quite right. Things can be an illusion, like a magic trick, but people using this phrase typically mean to say “delusion.” A delusion means somebody was out of touch, or couldn’t understand the reality of a situation. An illusion refers to a mirage. Malapropisms like this can be the most dangerous to your writing, as spell check won’t help catch them.

”5”Could of/Should of/Would of

This might be the most frequent malapropism of all. You shouldn’t say any of these phrases. Our speech often slurs the correct words of the phrase “must HAVE” into a kind of contraction, like “must’ve.” This makes it sound like we’re saying “must of,” but the correct term is, and always has been “have.” For example: “I wrote ‘could of’ when I should have written ‘could have’.”

”6”For All Intensive Purposes

Another common malapropism, even those educated thoroughly in English seem to have a problem with this one. When you say “for all intensive purposes,” you probably mean to say “for all intents and purposes.” When you say, “for all intensive purposes,” you’re saying for intensifying purposes, or making things more intense. “All intents and purposes” should accurately portray the message you want to send.

”7”Please Precede

Sometimes, words seem purposefully confusing. Especially when it comes to words with the suffix “-cede.” In this case, when telling somebody they may precede, you probably meant to tell them that they may “proceed.” Precede means to go before something; proceed means to move forward.

”8”Sixteenth Chapel

The name of the Chapel is “Sistine Chapel.” No need to explain the meaning here; it’s just the correct name, and it happens to sound like sixteenth.

Remember, if you’ve fallen victim to these malapropisms, don’t feel too embarrassed; they can happen to anybody. When have you caught yourself using malapropisms?