Comments on: Truth in Your Own Advertising

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:21:39 +0000

Happened to us last year, Paula. The minute we paid for the pool membership, voila! Cold for a week.

By: Paula

Paula — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:55:05 +0000

Our heatwave FINALLY broke yesterday. As predicted: as soon as I got the new window AC in, it cooled off.

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:49:05 +0000

I did get that sense, Paula. 🙂 It was a nice, hot day. Maybe they were all fanning themselves and sipping iced tea somewhere….

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 22:20:41 +0000

Hmm...I guess, technically, I'm an award-winning writer, too. In high school I won $200 in a city-wide essay contest. I won the top prize, which tells me no one else probably entered.

Oh! I also "won" a "prize" from one of those national poetry presses that strongly encourage winners to buy a copy of the collection of winning poems. Never bought the book, but maybe I should add that to my résumé. LOL.

One thing I did put on my résumé the first couple of years out of college was that I won my school's prestigious writing award for an essay. The school is well-known in academic circles, so it made sense for that to be on my first real résumé. Now, it's totally irrelevant.

Get the feeling everyone else went out to play and left us here by ourselves, Lori?

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 20:03:57 +0000

Let me clarify something -- when I say don't overstate by saying "I'm an award-winning writer" I mean don't say it unless it's true. For example, I could say I'm an award-winning writer. I've won three or four blog awards from various people you may/may not have heard of and the Pittsburgh Press Bad Writing Contest. Doesn't that make me "award-winning writer" material? No? Exactly. :)

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:53:23 +0000

I forgot to leave out the main thing someone needs to do the job: talent.

Of course, around here that's a given.

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:41:10 +0000

Paula, that's just weird, isn't it? Of course you can write about anything from anywhere -- it's amazing the perceptions of time and place that still exist.

I've had people (men mostly) in the insurance and risk management world start out their interviews with me by either A) over-explaining the concepts, or B) dumbing down the language to match what they think is my beginner status. Nice, but the assumption is I couldn't know this stuff. I usually ask them something specific with insider info and that brings them around.

I can't believe I still have to do this after 12 years, but some people are slow learners. LOL

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:47:12 +0000

My personal favorite is when people claim to have superior verbal and written communication skills when the awkward wording on their résumés indicate otherwise.

I don't exaggerated anything on my résumé or LOIs, but sometimes people will suggest I'm padding it - or worse, lying. Why? They don't believe someone in the hinterlands couldn't have some of my credits. No, you don't have to live in LA to write about TV. I have successful colleagues in Chicago, Milwaukee even Colorado. If you have a phone and computer, you can do my job from anywhere.