Career Path Writing Solutions Blog | Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill

Ace Your One-Way Video Interview

Congratulations! You just received notification that you’ve been invited to interview for your dream job! This exciting news is quickly followed by detailed instructions for your interview—how to log in, record your answers with your webcam, and then submit them…

Avoid These 5 Common Resume Mistakes

Perhaps contrary to common belief, there are very few rigid rules around resume writing. There is no one, universal accepted format, font, strategy, or style. However, there are many modern conventions that people should pay attention to. To this end,…

How to Conduct an Effective Job Search When You’re Working Full-Time

Looking for a new job while you’re working full-time can be difficult. I’ve observed these challenges from many of my clients, and I want to share strategies you can implement immediately so your job search campaign is effective and does…

Vital Tips for a Successful Video Interview

Video interviews—interviews occurring while using live video conferencing software—are increasingly common for many reasons: ease of use, preference over phone interviews, cost effectiveness, and the ubiquity of the software, to name a few. Because of these reasons, it’s imperative that…

Update Your Resume to Optimize Career Success

Much like changing the oil in your car, it’s best to update your resume regularly if you want to optimize the mileage you’ll get out of your career. How far do you want to go?

Non-Traditional Continuing Education to Keep You Sharp

Continuing education keeps professionals sharp and relevant in their respective fields. Even the most seasoned professionals can benefit from continuing education: it provides the opportunity to make new connections, gain new perspectives, stay on top of trends, set an example by taking initiative for growth, and deepen knowledge and expertise.

Achieve Writing Goals by Mastering Time Management

You can have every intention to produce your best writing, but if you fail to manage your time wisely, what happens instead is a sloppy email sent from your iPhone while you’re pumping gas that says, “Yup, got it last week wll be in touch ASAP.” Or, a hastily written blog post that you are mildly proud of—or at least not embarrassed of. From my own experience as a writer and more than 10 years as a writing consultant, here are my top time management strategies.

Proofreading Strategies for Catching Small Mistakes That Have a Big Impact

Errors, typos, and inconsistencies diminish your content, look sloppy in public-facing documents, and can bring your credibility into question—especially in job application materials. To be taken seriously as a professional and add that extra polish to make your written material stand out (in a positive way!), always build in time to proofread. In fact, when proofreading is done properly, your audience won’t be aware of it at all—they’ll just notice clean, consistent content.

Editing Techniques for Leaner, More Powerful Writing

“Rewriting is where the game is won or lost; rewriting is the essence of writing.” These are the words of famous American writer and journalist William Zinsser in On Writing Well, a resource familiar to the majority of professional writers. Now, I’m not suggesting you repeatedly rewrite a simple email to ask a colleague to lunch.

5 Best Practices for Writing Diplomatic Emails in Difficult Situations

Dealing with problems, conflicts, volatile personalities, and other difficult situations at work is challenging; addressing these situations in writing via email can add another layer to the challenge. However, for any number of reasons—geographic location, the need for a written documentation trail—it may be necessary.