Today's tip: be careful, be professional

A big part of being a professional is acting like one. One area that is sometimes overlooked is communications.

Make sure you read over your email and all communication (cover letter, resume) before contacting people. Your email can not contain errors (spelling or grammatical). You need to be more formal in your communication to people such as employers, co-workers, staff, faculty and other professionals.

If an employer were to read something that contained errors you would most likely be eliminated as a candidate. The employer would think of you as being sloppy, careless and unprofessional.

So don't hurt your chances of getting the position you want because you didn't put the effort (check the spelling and read over the communication) in to make sure your communications are professional and formal.