Writing skills
Writing an email or report for your daily work, drafting a CV and cover letter when applying for a new job – these are all tasks that are important to get right. Good communication with colleagues avoids problems, saves time and reflects well on you. A well-written CV and covering letter are essential if you want to be seriously considered for a new post.
CVs and covering letters
Employers often have a pile of CVs and covering letters to sort through during recruitment and want to narrow them down. Obviously, some applications end up ‘in the bin’ – rejected. Poorly structured, ungrammatical, rambling, irrelevant, unfocussed, with missing information or spelling mistakes – the list of potential problems is long! And to be rejected your application doesn’t actually have to be badly written – it just has to be not as good as the others.
It therefore pays to be very careful when preparing a CV and accompanying letter. You only get one shot – potential employers don’t email back and ask you to apply again with a better CV and covering letter! It’s also worth remembering that a good CV is all about getting you the all-important interview for the job – not the job itself.
There is no ‘perfect’ model for a CV – you can write it how you like. But to be effective it must be clear, concise and focussed. I can help you achieve this. Covering letters or personal statements have more of a pattern and should contain key information. I can help you include everything that’s necessary and leave out anything that isn’t – all in the right order!
Emails and reports
Whether you write emails in English every day or only a couple a month, you’ll want to communicate as well as you can. This means having control of your language – perhaps being direct on one occasion, more subtle on another, depending on the context. You’ll also want to control formality (the right way to talk to a boss, colleague or friend) and tone (assertive, sympathetic, neutral, helpful, etc). Reports are probably less complicated but still need to be clear and concise, without any misunderstandings – especially important if talking about technical issues.
I can help you achieve all this, either checking with you what you have already written or starting right from the beginning: how to write an email or report.
Price: €45 per 60 minutes