Should the Semicolon be Retired?

Star Wars vs. Star Trek: You Can’t “Force” Good Writing

Today, millions of online voices will cry out, “May the 4th be with you!” to celebrate Star Wars Day. When it comes to space, two franchises arguably rule the sci-fi universe—Star Wars and Star Trek. One struggles fiercely for independence in a galaxy far, far away while the other explores strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations. We wanted to see what things are unique about the way their fandoms communicate, so we took a broad look at the writing styles and accuracy of their Reddit fan communities by analyzing nearly 2,000 comments.

We found some interesting data. (No, not the android named Data, although he proved to be a popular Star Trek character.) For instance, we discovered that Star Trek fans talk about Star Wars 3.8 times more often than Star Wars fans discuss Star Trek. Is it because Star Wars is the bigger titan of sci-fi pop culture? Our research showed that Star Wars certainly has the larger fan community with 456,728 Reddit members, versus 97,846 members talking about all things Trek.

Have a look at our infographic for more insights and to learn which characters, episodes and series from each franchise were the most popular.

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Methodology

We visited Reddit to gather the top 200 upvoted posts from both the Star Wars and Star Trek subreddits between April 18, 2015, and April 18, 2016. To get a broad range, we selected the top five upvoted comments with 20 words or more from each thread.

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 intentional misspellings, acronyms, common slang, and foreign or invented language.

7 Ways You’re Scaring Off Recruiters and How to Fix the Mistakes

Job searching is like dating: each side involved is trying to find the perfect fit. You’re sizing up an employer to see if they’ve got what it takes to make you happy. The employer is evaluating whether you can make their dreams come true as a productive, successful team member.

However, much like dating, there are some behaviors that can be a turn-off. No, we’re not talking about things like mansplaining at the dinner table or endlessly sharing stories about an ex. Instead, we’re talking about ways that you may — knowingly or unknowingly — be discouraging recruiters from giving you an interview or even that coveted offer letter.

Here are seven ways you may be scaring off recruiters and hiring managers. Job seekers, beware.

1 Unfocused resume and social media profiles

It’s great that you have three certifications, loads of hobbies, and the ability to multitask like the best of them. However, when you are applying for a role, it’s vital that your resume and LinkedIn profile clearly tell a compelling narrative about why you are the ideal candidate for the job. This is why some experts recommend having more than one resume. Your resume should clearly convey why you are a good fit for the specific role, as opposed to being a catch-all document for all of the jobs you’ve worked in your life. Similarly, your LinkedIn profile should mirror your resume and expound on some of the details, including projects you’ve worked on, articles you’ve been featured in, professional organizations you are a member of, etc. Recruiters, on average, take six to seven seconds to read a resume. If yours is a mash-up of your greatest hits, they won’t know what to take away from it. In the end, an unfocused resume may be the reason recruiters aren’t calling you back.

Here’s a tip:  Grammarly runs on powerful algorithms developed by the world’s leading linguists, and it can save you from misspellings, hundreds of types of grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and words that are spelled right but used in the wrong context. Learn More 

READ: 9 Mistakes to Avoid on Social Media While Looking for a New Job

2 Excessive numbers of applications

While you may be uber passionate to work at a particular company, resist the urge to apply to every open role that you might qualify for. Seeing your name and application pop up for four or five job listings sends a clear message to recruiters: You don’t know what you want, or you’re not decisive. If there are a handful of roles that, initially, you think you’d be a good fit for, print our the job descriptions and really read them. Compare them with one another. Notice the differences, and then start prioritizing which ones are a better fit given your skills, experience, and education.

Don’t be that person whose name pops up in an inbox multiple times, like an email stalker. Home in on one or two roles that you feel strongly about and apply to those.

3 Overeager emails, calls, and follow-ups

You’ve applied to a position. You’re feeling good, but then . . . nothing. Silence. A couple of weeks go by and you haven’t heard back from a recruiter. If you’ve found yourself in the job search black hole, it’s okay to follow up with a professional email. However, if you have emailed twice, called three times, and left a Facebook message for the recruiter, you’ve gone too far. You are scaring him/her. Hell, you’re scaring us. Begging for a response doesn’t make you look like the professional, informed candidate that a company would want to hire. It’s safe to say that if you haven’t heard from an employer after three weeks and a follow-up email, you should move on to the next opportunity.

READ: How to Write a Follow-up Email After a Job Interview

4 Repeatedly rescheduling calls, interviews, and meetings

Recruiters get it. Schedules get busy and calendar conflicts arise. However, if you’ve rescheduled a phone interview, in-person interview, or follow-up call, be cautious about continuing to reschedule. Most talent acquisition pros are juggling multiple requisitions and dozens of applicants. You’re making their job harder by constantly rescheduling, and what’s worse is that you’re giving yourself a bad reputation. Be punctual and reliable.

5 Incomplete or incorrect information

In the same vein, you may be scaring off recruiters with your incomplete application or incorrect information. As an informed candidate, you should not only be highly engaged and well-informed but also make a recruiter’s job easier by giving them the right information. That means full and complete information for your references, a fully filled out application, and an easily accessible portfolio or work samples. Ideally, you want to make a recruiter’s interactions with you as pleasant and seamless as possible so that hiring you is an even bigger delight.

READ: What Are the Best Ways to Show Your Skills to an Employer?

6 Bashing former employers on social media

Airing a former employer’s dirty laundry or badmouthing former colleagues is one of the quickest ways to scare off potential employers. After all, who wants to hire someone who has a track record of bashing? When critiquing former employers or colleagues on social media or even when you leave an anonymous Glassdoor review, always be fair and professional. Whether your name is attached to it or not, it’s important that recruiters see that no matter what may have transpired between you and a previous employer, you still know how to handle yourself with grace and class.

7 Inconsistent interview performance

Lastly, inconsistent interactions with team members of your potential employer can put off a recruiter, or at the very least make them question your fit for the role. Being inconsistent in interviews, phone calls, or work samples can send the signal that you’ll be an inconsistent employee, which is not what you want a recruiter or hiring manager to think about you. And while this final behavior may not scare off recruiters quite like the aforementioned actions, it’s important to remember that you must consistently perform during the application process with everyone you come into contact with so that they have a clear impression of the kind of informed candidate you are.

A version of this post originally appeared on Glassdoor’s blog.

More from Glassdoor:

The Ultimate Guide to Analyzing a Company’s Glassdoor Page

10 Smart Ways to Improve Your Chances for a Raise

8 Honest Reasons You Didn’t Make It Past the First Interview

Compound Words

When two words are used together to yield a new meaning, a compound is formed. Compound words can be written in three ways: as open compounds (spelled as two words, e.g., ice cream), closed compounds (joined to form a single word, e.g., doorknob), or hyphenated compounds (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-term). Sometimes, more than two words can form a compound (e.g., mother-in-law).

The most common spelling quandary writers face is whether to write compounds as separate words, one word, or hyphenated words.

Open Compound Words

An open compound word is created in cases when the modifying adjective is used with its noun to create a new noun. This isn’t quite the same as a noun with a modifying adjective. We just use a space between the adjective and the noun, so sometimes it can be hard to identify as a compound; however, if the two words are commonly used together, it’s considered to be a compound word.

living room

full moon

real estate

dinner table

coffee mug

When adverbs ending in -ly combine with another word, the resulting compound is always spelled as two separate words.

largely irrelevant

newly formed

Closed Compound Words

Closed compound words look like one word. At one point, these words weren’t used together, but they’re now accepted as a “real word” in the English language. Closed compound words are usually made up of only two words. Here are some closed compound examples.

notebook

Superman

waistcoat

bookstore

fireman

The English language is always evolving, and when words become used more frequently, they are often eventually written as one word. When the Internet first began, for example, we talked about going on-line. Now that this is a daily experience for most of us, the spelling online has become commonly accepted.

Hyphenated Compound Words

There are a great many grammar rules regarding hyphens in compound words. One important rule of thumb to remember is that in most cases, a compound adjective is hyphenated if placed before the noun it modifies, but not if placed after the noun.

a long-term solution

an up-to-date user guide

But…

This is not a good solution for the long term.

This user guide is not up to date.

This is just one of many rules concerning hyphens in compound words and it is often necessary to consult the dictionary to determine whether these terms should be hyphenated or not.

31 Words and Phrases You No Longer Need

Close your eyes. Imagine words as people in an office setting. The verbs scurry about, active and animated, getting things done. The adjectives and adverbs conjure ideas and images in the marketing department. But there’s always that one guy. See him? He’s over by the water cooler, leaning against the wall. He’s omnipresent, and yet nobody really knows what he does. He may be hanging around, but he sure doesn’t seem to be pulling his weight.

That One Guy could represent any word or phrase that always shows up in our writing but doesn’t contribute anything. Here’s a list of thirty-one words and phrases you need to take off your payroll this year.

Slacker Words and Phrases

At all times

Watch out for flabby phrases at all times.

Each and every

Look for filler words in your writing each and every day daily.

As yet

We don’t know as yet whether we’ll succeed.

In order

Eliminate excess verbiage in order to clean up your writing.

Basically, essentially

These words basically don’t add value. They’re essentially useless.

Totally, completely, absolutely, literally, actually

Without filler words, your writing will be totally fabulous.

Very, really, quite, rather, extremely

These very common words are really not useful. They’re rather dull.

Simply

Simply Don’t use this word often.

Pretty

It’s a pretty good idea to use this one sparingly, too.

Just

If your sentence works without it, you just don’t need this word.

That

This is a word that you should only use when you need it for clarity.

Up, down

We don’t care whether you stand up or sit down to write, just write cleanly!

In the process of

We’re in the process of learning to remove wordiness.

As a matter of fact

As a matter of fact, Your skills have improved.

All of

All of Your readers will enjoy reading cleaner copy.

As being

You’ll be known as being a proficient writer!

Being that

Being that Because you’re the best writer in your class, you’re sure to get good grades.

During the course of

During the course of the writing lesson, we learned some new tricks!

For all intents and purposes, For the most part

For all intents and purposes, Our writing has improved.

Point in time

You don’t need to use filler words at this point in time now.

Every word needs to have a purpose in your writing, and there are plenty that don’t contribute anything but clutter. Now that you have a list of common offenders, how many more can you think of? Leave a comment!

Everyday vs. Every day

• Everyday is an adjective we use to describe something that’s seen or used every day. It means “ordinary” or “typical.”
• Every day is a phrase that simply means “each day.”

Compound words, like anytime and any time, sometimes don’t have the same meaning as the individual words they comprise. It’s a case of the whole being different from the sum of its parts. Everyday and every day are like that—everyday (with no space) doesn’t mean the same thing as every day (with a space). In speech, however, they do sound the same. No wonder it’s so easy to confuse them with each other. What does each phrase mean and how do you use them?

Difference Between Everyday and Every Day

The everyday vs. every day dilemma is not an uncommon one. These two words suffer from the same problems as anytime and any time, or anyone and any one—compounds can be a source of much confusion. So let’s see how we define and use everyday and how we define and use every day.

Everyday

Everyday (as one word) is an adjective. Thesauruses list average, mundane, ordinary, and standard as synonyms. “Everyday clothing,” then, refers to the ordinary clothes you wear on regular days, as opposed to outfits designated for special events or holidays. Occasionally, people use everyday as a noun—it’s a shorthand way of referring to their everyday routines.

Every Day

Every day means “each day.” The easiest way to remember this is to think about the space separating the two words. Because of that space, “every” is simply an adjective modifying the word “day.” If you paired every with any other word, it would mean each—every day means “each day”, just like “every word” means “each word.” There’s nothing more to it.

If you’re still having trouble distinguishing between everyday and every day and you don’t know when to use which, you’ll be alright as long as you remember that in every day you can easily replace “every” with “each.” So, if you’re talking about how often you wear green pants, you’d say “I wear green pants every day. It still makes sense if you replace “every” with “each”: I wear green pants each day. On the other hand, you can’t say “I wear pants eachday” because there’s no such word.

Examples: Everyday and Every Day in Sentences

It’s sweaty foot season, so this week on Kinja Co-Op, we’re on the hunt for the best everyday men’s socks. —Lifehacker

For most Brazilians, everyday crime is a much more imminent threat than terrorism. —The New York Times

But the real point is this: You need to think and act like you are selling your business, every day. —The Globe and Mail

But people do it all across the globe every day. —The Huffington Post

 

Hyperbole

Hyperbole (hi-PER-buh-lee) is language that is obviously exaggerated and not meant to be taken literally. Writers often use hyperbole for emphasis or to be funny.

Hyperbole: The Best Thing Ever

You can find hyperbole in plenty of English idioms: She’s asked a million questions. You could have knocked me over with a feather. He’s as quiet as a mouse. Now I’ve seen everything.

Where and When to Use Hyperbole

Hyperbole, like metaphors and similes, is a type of figurative language. In fact, metaphors and similes often incorporate hyperbole. When done right, hyperbole can make your writing livelier and more engaging for readers. Consider the difference between these two sentences:

Many people heard Jeremy shouting when the spider landed on him. The entire tri-state area could hear Jeremy shouting when the spider landed on him.

Both of these sentences mean that lots of people heard Jeremy. But the hyperbole in the second sentence places particular emphasis on Jeremy’s volume. Of course it’s impossible for one person’s shout to travel for hundreds of miles—the point is that Jeremy was really freaking out about that spider.

Beware the Hyperbolic “Literally”

Sometimes, people use the word “literally” in a figurative sense to amplify an already hyperbolic statement. But unless your teacher has asked you to go out and, say, harass a cranky grizzly bear, This homework is literally killing me! is just a hyperbolic way to say that your homework is harder or more abundant than you’d like. Although this usage is widespread and even accepted by some dictionaries, it’s generally a good idea to avoid it because many readers find it annoying. In the example above, you can even get rid of “literally” without sacrificing the hyperbole: This homework is killing me!