Checking Your Grammar: How to Say It Correctly

From: Karen Silins

One of the questions that people ask time and time again is whether to use the words "I" and "my" in the context of a business cover letter.

This relates to the problem I discussed earlier: few people are comfortable discussing their accomplishments. You may feel as if you're bragging when you say "I delegated," "I utilized," "I increased," "my record of achievement," and so on.

I'll state it plainly: when it comes to cover letters, you must write in the first person. Your cover letter is about you and what you have done. It's not about your team or your boss. It's entirely about you.

Of course, there's a happy medium. You don't want to start every single sentence with "I." In fact, you typically don't want to start any two consecutive sentences with the same word. Still, there's no way to write a successful cover letter that effectively sells your skills without using the word "I" or "my."

If you're feeling modest and tempted to hide behind words like "we" or "they," forget it. It's got to be "I" or "my." Does it really make that much of a difference? Yes, it does!

Whenever you try to avoid the first person by saying "we" or "they," you come across as evasive and impersonal. The reader loses the sense that he's talking to a real person – the person he's thinking of hiring.

Furthermore, mentioning other people via the word "we" lessens your role in the accomplishments you'll cite later. Remember, that feeling of having a face-to-face conversation is exactly what an employer is looking for in a cover letter. So, create that feeling with the first-person pronouns: "I," "me," and "my."

If you find it hard to talk about yourself in the first person, try writing your cover letter in the third person – using "he" or "she" – and then changing it when you're done. Thinking about yourself from another person's perspective can give you the objectivity you need to analyze your strengths and weaknesses.

Pretend you're writing a recommendation letter for yourself. Try to imagine what one of your colleagues would say if he were discussing your accomplishments and your unique personality traits. After you've written an entire first draft in the third person, go back and change every "he" or "she" to an "I" and every "his" or "her" to "my."

This is a great tip for anyone who feels shy about using the first person because it's as if you're writing about someone else. The employer, on the other hand, will feel as if you're speaking directly to him.

Be very careful to sound as polished and professional as possible. This means paying attention when the little green squiggle appears under a phrase in Microsoft Word or when something just doesn't seem right to you.

When in doubt about a grammar issue, don't just let it slide. Ask a friend who has great grammar skills or check out one of the grammar books available at your local library. Better yet, ask a career counselor who specializes in these types of things to look at your letter. Check your letter for the following common grammar mistakes:

»        Have you correctly used "your" and "you're"?

»        Have you correctly used "their" and "there"?

»        Did you mix up "to" and "too"?

»        Did you start a sentence with "and"? If so, change it because this is considered improper in formal writing.

Always read your cover letter out loud. If something sounds wrong, it probably is! Poor grammar is a fatal flaw for any cover letter. Don't let it ruin your chances for success!

Karen Silins has been a professional resume and cover letter writer for 16 years and is the acting president and executive board member of the Association of Online Resume & Career Professionals

For more information about writing a cover letter that will grab the employer’s attention, please visit: http://www.breakthrough-cover-letters.com/