Yesterday’s post about avoiding errors on your resume and job search materials was actually inspired by THIS post by Rachel Rose, an independent multimedia communications professional based in Atlanta. (And, I’m happy to say, a Twitter friend!) Rachel wrote about 42 commonly confused English words – AKA – homophones.

Homophones are defined by dictionary.com as:

Phonetics. a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as heir and air.

While receiving documents addressed to “Dear Sir or Madman” or suggesting that the candidate has a “keen eye for derail” might provide a chuckle, as it is an obvious error, misspelling homophones does not even offer a chuckle. Assuming the reader knows the difference, I think these errors are even more serious, as they indicate that the applicant may not be smarter than a 3rd grader!

My personal pet peeves – and errors I see over and over again:

There – There is going to be a party after the play.

Their – Their children are very well behaved.

They’re – They’re having a lot of trouble on the spelling test.

Incidentally, I personally learned the difference between their and there from a beer commercial. It said something along the lines of it’s the Bud (?) and then inserted ‘ir” for it’s their Bud…Not sure why I remember that…

Your – Your dress is lovely

You’re – You’re going to be sorry if you don’t edit that resume!

Its – The doll lost its shoe.

It’s – It’s going to be a very long day.

Read Rachel’s post and learn what other homophones you should know!

No matter what, avoid these errors in your application materials!

If you need help mobilizing your networks and your job search plans, learn more about how I can help you! While you’re at it, be sure to become a fan of Keppie Careers on Facebook…I’d be thrilled to have you as part of the community!

photo by lexnger