Posted in seccion blog - Blog
It was about midday, when I was returning from a meeting with a client back to the office. While I was waiting for the metro, I was trying to relax and was reading everything that appeared in front of me: starting with the announcements of the Community of Madrid and even the names of stations of the line Nº 6, that I had seen many times already. When everything was read, I started to observe the television screens that the Metro of Madrid has provided us with so kindly. I started to watch the news. They were about to show the weather forecast for the region, so I remained with my eyes wide open.
- “… during the morning there will be some stitches of clouds …” “…Tuesday will be characterized by strokes of sun …”
Stitches of clouds? Strokes of sun? The first thought that entered my mind was “Who is writing those texts anyway?” I dared to presume that perhaps the editor was very creative maybe because of the cold and eventual freeze of his ideas. Or maybe they had allowed an intern to innovate the linguistic style of the news. In any case, both “stitches” and “strokes” made me think about the importance of the ability to use a correct language and style adapting it according to a particular context or communication channel, because depending on the usage of a word it can be valued as precise and professional or, on the contrary, as a joke.
Every day we are dealing with a multitude of texts and messages, in my particular case, texts related to résumés, covering letters and e-mails with job applications. These are agile ways to get to know and to evaluate a candidate, at least at the first point. It also may become an easy way to discard a candidacy. It is not only the matter of enumerating all the functions and the responsibilities that you are able to assume. You need to know how to demonstrate your level of interlocution, your capacity of applying the exact language in every situation as well as to be able to transmit your professionalism. You might have never thought about it, but these things can be shown in only a few lines of a text. It is better to be a little too formal than too friendly. It is better to use simple structures than try to demonstrate a wide vocabulary that turns out to be inappropriate. It is preferable to be concrete and discreet in a conversation than to extend your answer too much and finally not to give an answer to the question that you were asked.
As my friend´s father once said, even if it sounds a little bit rough: “You will be treated by the way you look”, in this case I would dare to say “You will be valued by they way you are read”.
C.Díez
