An IEEE society dedicated to understanding and promoting effective communication in engineering, scientific, and other technical environments
Kyle Wiens, writing in the Harvard Business Review, has offered important observations about what your errors in writing may say to a prospective employer. In a blog post entitled "I Won't Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here's Why," Wiens explains that when he reads an applicant's resume or job letter and sees grammar, spelling, … [Read more...]
Ben Yagoda has provided more information on the m-dash in today's New York Times. I am pleased that my own ramblings on the subject in a previous blog inspired others to explore this dainty bit of punctuation goodness! … [Read more...]
I am ready to confess: I do care a lot about the Oxford comma. The purpose of this post is to make you care too. The Oxford comma, or "serial comma," is meant to separate three or more items that appear in a series, with the comma appearing before the coordinating conjunction. For example, a certain advertising jingle should be punctuated … [Read more...]
My day job -- as an English professor at an engineering college -- gives me plenty of opportunities to comment on and correct the grammar of my students. I don't often do the same kind of correcting for my faculty colleagues, however. Quite the contrary, they are by and large effective communicators, and they want to know they are following best … [Read more...]
