Monday, December 29, 2008

To spell or not to spell........word bain.....

We came upon a terrific post by Sentence First that we got carried away and in error blogged the complete post! For those who are new to blogging that is a No No...and we would like to apologise to Sentence First.

The complete post is worth reading as spelling errors can let us down at very important times. I have received job applications, business emails and letters where misspellings have cost the sender a job interview and possibly a job.

Sentence First gives suggestions that are handy and easy to follow with a list of common spelling errors. I plead guilty to some (thank goodness for spell check) but I have also followed one of his suggestions and found it the perfect remedy for my slip ups.

The following is just a snippit of the post, the complete post can be read under the title 'Spelling Mistakes'.

Sooner or later everyone has trouble spelling a word. Certain words pose more trouble than others, for a variety of reasons. Some spellings are inherently tricky (e.g. sacrilegious) or counter-intuitive (e.g. pharaoh). Some errant forms are widely mimicked (e.g. accomodation – two cs, two ms and two early os please), while others mislead because they resemble more familiar words or word parts (momento for memento, miniscule for minuscule). Pairs of similar words are often mixed up (e.g. principal and principle).
If you have recurring difficulty spelling certain words, it can be useful to keep a list handy, or to learn mnemonics to help you remember the correct form. For example, if you’re unsure whether it’s hypocrisy or hypocracy, you could use a mantra like “hypocrisy is a pox” or “hypocrisy is a shock, Chrissy”. Is it ad nauseum or ad nauseam? You could say to yourself, “I am nauseated that I can’t remember.” Mnemonics don’t have to make any sense; indeed, sometimes the more absurd ones are easier to remember.
Again our apologies to Sentence First for quoting his entire post.
Courtesy of Sentence First

Friday, December 05, 2008

Getting Back to Work After Redundancy

Is the credit crunch affecting you or a member of your family? We are hearing every day about unemployment and how the numbers are rising due to the recession. If redundancy has happened to you or that threat is on the horizon, what steps can you take?

Once the initial shock has worn off it is important to sit down and plan. While it may seem obvious that there are not that many job opportunities out there; there are always some jobs available. 'But I don't have the relevant skills' you reply. Then this is the opportunity to retrain and look for that new job.

Put together a plan of action.

* List what skills you have that are transferable.
* Gather information from employment centres, agencies, newspapers, job sites online, about what additional skills they are looking for that combined with what you already have makes you more easily employable, (or indispensable to your current employer)
* Take a course or courses to upskill.


Putting together your plan of action and up-skilling keeps you positive during a difficult time in your life.

Here is just a short list of some courses that will get you started on the road back to employment that are being run by providers listed with Courses.ie.

Interview soft skills
Computer Course
Security
Safety & Risk Management
Microsoft Office
First Aid
Languages
Customer Care
Buildings Energy Ratings Assessor
Tourism
Complementary Therapy