This is the Business English Podcast, episode 145.
How to be clear about your skill gaps in English.
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Hey, Michelle, how's everything going? Everything good.
Is everything good? I think you need to edit my speaking.
Are we talking about editing today? We are actually talking about editing today.
Lindsay, are you confident with editing like someone's papers or resumes or how do you feel about your editing skills?
I don't know. I'm not really, I've never really been a writer.
Like I, you know, my, my grammar is good.
My writing is good, but I'm not an editor, right?
There's a difference between an editor slash copywriter slash writer and a teacher or a presenter.
I could edit it, edit something, but I would probably ask the person to have someone else take a final look at it.
Do you know what I mean? Yeah. It's a, it's a profession.
It's a specific profession being an editor.
Yes, absolutely. Especially if it's something like that's really high stakes, right?
You don't want like that pressure on you, right?
Yeah, 100%. Yeah. So today we're going to talk about that, that feeling of like not being so comfortable with editing something.
Specifically, we're going to talk about resumes, but this could go with other things as well.
So guys, episode 137, a few episodes back, we did, can you look over my resume, how to ask for job application help?
Yeah. so on that episode we spoke about how to ask for help right oh can you look at my resume things like that and today we were talking about that we should flip it and how to answer when someone asks you for help because we spoke about this feeling of having a little bit of pressure because a resume I would say is a high stakes thing and you can miss one little thing and someone catches it and you know, you know, they're really that it's not professional to have mistakes on your resume.
So it's really important. So yeah. It's one of those things where it feels like you could determine their career trajectory by using something very small, like a period or something.
Yeah, it feels high stakes. What I would try to tell myself, my logical brain would say, no, it's about them as professionals.
What have they done? Where did they intern?
All these things. But then there's still that nagging feeling.
Did I miss something? Yeah. in their resume, right?
Right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I mean, I think, right, like on a resume, of course, the experience is the most important thing.
But still, like if if there's a typo, if there's something that comes up, you know, you know, you just want to make sure that you set expectations with the person if you're especially if you're not a professional editor.
But if you I mean, who knows if, you know, We're confident and, you know, to trust your abilities.
But if you're feeling a little bit uncomfortable about something, you know, I think it's good to set those expectations.
What do you think? Yeah, totally. And there are resume services.
I think monster.com has a service where they'll edit your resume.
It's actually a good deal. I know someone that used it.
It's better than these, like, than a lot of people that I've seen as like career coaches or people who do more of the boutique style, like the monster.com, they have so much data in their database around job applications.
They do, they do a good job of editing resumes.
So that's an option. You know, always going to someone that's truly a resume editor is a good move.
Right. I think. Yes, I agree. I agree. So, guys, if you aren't watching today and you're listening, you should know that we are also over on YouTube.
This episode is on YouTube. So you can go over and find us over there.
Lindsay, how can they find us? Oh, check out our YouTube channel, guys, All Ears English.
Go to YouTube, type in All Ears English.
And you're going to see more episodes actually from the All Ears English podcast on YouTube.
So go and hit subscribe immediately on there because a lot of people do prefer to actually watch the videos of the episodes.
So you can see where we're smiling. You can see our hand gestures.
You can see our connection. So good stuff.
All right. So what can you say? So if somebody asks you, can you take a look at my resume?
Let's see. What's one thing you can say?
Sure. I can look it over. I'm not a professional, though, but I'll give it my best shot.
Right. So if you're not a professional resume editor, you might want to say this.
Just as you said, Michelle, set expectations.
I love the phrase manage expectations. We use this a lot in the corporate world.
Just put it all out there so they can make decisions accordingly.
Right. Right. Exactly. Just so they know, like, it's kind of like taking the pressure off of you a little bit.
It's like, you know, it's not all on me.
And again, maybe you're not that type of person.
Maybe you are confident in even though you're not a professional editor and you feel fine doing this.
Like, but this is just for that feeling of like, yes, I want to do it.
And I'm sure it's good. But like, I don't know, I would have that feeling just a little bit.
I mean, today's skill will translate into editing speeches.
Right. Exactly. Not a professional public speaker.
I don't know if this is the right technique, but here's what I think is a lay person.
Exactly. Exactly. This can translate into a lot of different things in the workplace.
So what's another thing? You could say, of course, I'd be happy to.
I'm just not that strong at X. Maybe you say, I'm just not that strong at formatting.
Formatting is difficult in Microsoft Word around, what do you call it, margins, things like that.
So maybe double check with someone else also.
Right. Yes. Right. So just, you know, kind of saying that one area they should, you know, that's not your strong point.
So maybe just have somebody else look at it for that if they if they want.
Or another thing you could say is absolutely.
Do you have anyone else looking it over, too?
I think it's good to get a couple sets of eyes, a couple sets of eyes.
What does that mean? Sets of eyes to get another set of eyes.
Yeah. Just another person. Cause each person has, most people have two, two eyes, right?
Yeah. Another set of eyes. Got it. Good.
And you wouldn't say another eye on it, right?
Would you? You would. Oh, I think it's good to get another eye on it.
Could we say that? No, no, no, no. You would say like another, like another set of eyes.
Yes. Got it. All right. What else, Michelle?
What else can we say? All right. And so the other thing you can do is you can avoid you can you can avoid you can invite them to share in this experience together.
So you can say something like, of course, let's look at it together so we can talk it through.
Right. So this lets them be a part of it.
And also it gives you more information. So maybe you have a question like, oh, so this job, you know, you might want to clarify things.
So, oh, this this this point seems really interesting.
Is there anything else? You know, like, yeah, yeah.
It depends. If you're just looking it over for punctuation, that's different.
But maybe if you're helping them with content as well, there might be some things that you have questions about and that you can just look at it together with them.
It could be useful. Yeah, I would definitely want to do that no matter what.
I wouldn't want to edit that in isolation because you don't know what someone's trying to say, right?
What are they trying to say? What's something else they could say?
That needs to be part of the conversation as well.
So why should we do this, Michelle? Why should we push back a little and just give a warning?
Yeah. Well, we talked about this, you know, like setting expectations just so that person might know, OK, maybe Tracy is looking at this and she's really good at formatting.
Like she's like going to design this really nicely.
But she mentioned to me that, you know, that she's not so confident on her commas, you know, like, oh, maybe I should have somebody else look at it for the grammar, for the punctuation, things like that.
Yeah. Yeah. And it shows that you care. Right.
It's good to you know, it's the opposite situation would be coming in and maybe you have some gaps in your skills, but you just do it and then you don't really care as much.
Right. If you've missed something. So it shows a conscientiousness that I think is good.
Yeah, right. Yeah, I think so, too. But I mean, here's on the flip side.
Do you think it shows a lack of confidence?
Like, is there anyone you don't want to say these things to that you would sound like you're not confident in your abilities?
Or is it better to be honest, even in the workplace?
Well, I think if it's specifically what you do for your job, like if you are a resume editor, if you're a copywriter and editor, and then you're saying this, that'd be a little weird, right?
But if you're in a related field, it's not exactly what you specialize in.
I think that creates confidence that you could say that there are some gaps.
I think we're usually more suspicious of people that think they know everything because usually if you think you know everything, you don't know enough to know you don't know the thing.
That's right. Yeah. And you can always, if you feel funny saying, oh, I'm not sure about this, do that other suggestion where it says, let's look at it together.
And then you can kind of I mean, like Lindsay said, it's not fun to edit in isolation.
I think it is a good idea to do it together in any case.
But yeah, I mean, I personally, I might not be so confident in the layout or the commas, but I think, you know, it's also, you don't know the hiring manager.
Maybe if it's in a related field, you know more, but if it's a field like that you have no idea about, you might not feel that comfortable editing it either.
Well, it's kind of hard just because if you're a general resume editor, there are different expectations in different industries.
Like you said, different fields. Like I doubt that a resume for an engineering position is the same as a nursing resume.
Right. Like the format, how long it's or an academic.
Academic resumes are usually very long, I think, because all the publications they do.
Yes. True. So that's going to be different from someone trying to work in the marketing world or coding.
So that's another thing to consider. Do you have the industry insight?
So maybe you will do like the first look and then have the person go to someone in their industry to say, Hey, does this check out in our industry?
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Exclusions apply. See details online. Okay, Michelle, how about a little role play so we can practice how we might say this? all right so here we go you are asking me for a help here we go can you take a look at my resume michelle sure i can look it over i'm not a professional though but i'll give it my best shot well thank you okay so here now you're asking me here we go uh hey lindsay can you look over my resume absolutely do you have anyone else looking it over too i think it's good to get a couple sets of eyes Yes, my mom is looking at it too.
Okay, good. Should we go back through each of the things we said at the end or should we do it now?
What do you think? Let's do the first two now that we've... Okay, yeah, let's go back.
Okay, so in the first role play, Michelle, what did we say?
I said, sure, I can look it over. I'm not a professional, though, but I'll give it my best shot.
This is saying I'm going to give it my best effort.
But, you know, there are things that I can miss, you know.
But I think also the intonation is important there, right?
Like, I'm not a professional, though, that kind of thing.
And I think give it my best shot is a good bonus phrase for today.
It's a nice positive way of saying you're going to try to do something.
It's just kind of a nice phrase. I don't know.
I like it. I'll give it my best shot. Yes.
I like it. Exactly. I don't know why I like it.
I just like it. Well, that's good. I'm glad.
OK, what about in the second? All right.
And then you said, hey, Lindsay, can you look over my resume?
Absolutely. Do you have anyone else looking it over, too?
I think it's good to get a couple sets of eyes.
I like that strong start. Absolutely. And then I ask, is there someone else looking at it?
Right. Right. Because this one I don't think sounds like you're lacking any confidence.
It's just saying I want to get more information like it's like just so you know, I always think it's good to have multiple people look.
Well, I think we've done maybe years ago, we did an episode, I think, about starting a response with things like absolutely.
Yes. Wow. I think that was a long time ago.
Maybe we'll have to come back to it. It does sound confident, right?
And then you can always follow it up with a question like that or balancing out your answer.
But it is nice to kind of create confidence from the start, from the beginning of your answer.
Yeah. Yeah, I think so, too. All right. So those are the first two.
Let's get do a couple other ones. So here we go.
You're asking me. OK, can you check my resume for me?
Of course, I'd be happy to. I'm just not that strong at grammar.
So maybe double check with someone else also.
Okay, nice. Yeah, of course, I'd be happy to.
So again, a very positive response. All three of these are actually positive responses initially.
Yeah. And then we kind of ask a few follow up questions.
We kind of, you know, so it's good showing that you care that you want to help.
Right. So here I admit I'm not that strong at grammar.
So that was my weakness. All right. Last one.
Would you mind taking a look at my resume?
Of course. Hey, let's look at it together so we can talk it through.
Thanks so much. Yeah. And I added in a little hey, because that makes it feel casual, right?
And kind of connected. Of course. Hey, let's look at it together.
That's nice. Yeah, I like that. Yeah. Yeah.
So we did a lot today. We did a lot of role plays today.
So I think the key here, the takeaway for our listeners, know your skills, know your gaps.
If something is not necessarily exactly what you do as a professional, then no one can expect you to be perfect at it.
So make sure people know that. No one does everything perfectly.
Even if you are a resume editor, you know that maybe you specialize in editing resumes in certain industries and not others.
Be clear about your gaps, but also be friendly and be willing to help if it's a friend or maybe a coworker or a family member.
Right, right, right. Exactly. Yeah. Good point.
So, all right, guys. Well, good luck with this.
And we hope that whatever job you're applying to or resume you're trying to brush up goes well.
Yeah, we hope you get the job. Don't forget to hit follow right here on the Business English podcast and check out our YouTube channel to check out some videos on YouTube.
Good stuff. Michelle, I'll talk to you soon.
Bye, Lindsay. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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