Write It Right: Which Word is Correct?

I've shared some of Michelle's columns on Write It Right in the past. Michelle works on our Communications team and keeps our employees on their toes when it comes to all things prose. Take this fun quiz to test your “word choice” acumen.


Ah, word choices. We’ve covered a lot of them in this column over the years, including many of the examples in this quiz. Now it’s time to see if you’ve been paying attention! (answers at bottom)

1.He’ll get his just desserts/deserts in the end.
2.We’ll have to grin and bare/bear it just the same.
3.Apple fans have been waiting for the new iPhone with baited/bated breath.
4.The speech struck a chord/cord with many listeners.
5.He commanded a full complement/compliment of soldiers.
6.She didn’t seem fazed/phased by the outcome.
7.This quiz will test your medal/meddle/metal/mettle.
8.The students paid rapt/rapped/wrapped attention to the guest speaker.
9.After all, a friend in need is a friend in deed/indeed.
10.The smoke in the distance peaked/peeked/piqued their interest.
11.It’s a matter of principal/principle.
12.They’ll do better with free reign/rein to complete the project.
13.That new restaurant in Capitol/Capital Hill is great.
14.We pored/poured over the contract all week.
15.The ship floundered/foundered in the storm.

Answers:

1.deserts; only one s in the middle … think “get what you deserve”
2.bear; carry the load
3.bated
4.chord
5.complement; because it's complete
6.fazed
7.mettle; quality of temperament or disposition
8.rapt; wholly absorbed
9.indeed
10.piqued
11.principle; remember “the principal is your pal”
12.rein; “let go of the reins”
13.capitol; a building; think o in dome; but: Denver is the capital of Colorado.
14.pored; to gaze intently
15.foundered; founder means to sink; flounder means to thrash about wildly

Business Director Assistant position now available!

We are looking for a Business Director Assistant to provide support to three of our business team leaders and their multi-functional teams. Our Business Director Assistants perform a broad range of administrative duties such as: preparing reports and presentations using charts, graphs, and narratives , handling customer correspondence and customer relations, and work on special projects assigned by Business Directors. This position also maintains calendars for Business Directors, schedules meetings, makes travel arrangements and prepares team expense reports. Our Business Director Assistants also maintain calendars and time off schedules for the team and review staff timesheets for accuracy. They also plan and execute various events including group volunteering and team building activities.

Successful candidates must be able to handle multiple projects simultaneously with minimal direction while exercising frequent independent judgment within agreed-upon limits. Business Director Assistants must be able to act independently and exercise initiative in the coordination of administrative policies, regulations, and guidelines, projects, and financial analysis and be able to maintain effective working relationships with people throughout the organization while communicating effectively with the public and other agencies and organizations. Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, excellent verbal and written communication skills, along with the ability to analyze, assemble, and compile information for reports and 3-5 years of experience in support of managers are required. If this sounds like you we'd love to hear from you! Please apply online at www.pinnacol.com/careers. 

Picks and Nits...

If you were scheduled for an interview with company 'A' and then accepted another position with company 'B' before your interview with company 'A' would you:

1. Not call company 'A' and blow off the interview since you already have accepted another job
2. Call company 'A' and let them know that you had accepted another job and needed to cancel your interview but thank them for their interest in you
3. Go ahead and interview with company 'A' anyway since it never hurts to see what they might have to say

Recently we've seen some candidates select option number 1. Most of us might think this is obviously the wrong choice for a variety of reasons. First, it's exceptionally rude to accept any appointment, interview or otherwise, and then not show up and not call ahead to cancel. Second, it burns bridges. Most employers would think long and hard before reconsidering a candidate for future positions who has pulled a no call/no show in the past.

Option 2 is a good choice. We understand that people looking for a job are interviewing with companies other than ours and occasionally receive an offer from another company before they actually come in for their interview with us. However, the thirty seconds it takes to give us a call to cancel while thanking us for our interest keeps the individual in good standing regarding future opportunities they might be interested in.

I personally would opt for Option 3 based on my belief that it never hurts to hear what a company has to offer. The bird in the hand philosophy in a tough job market is understandable, but you never know - you might end up entertaining two job offers and be able to select the one you really want. I see that happen frequently enough that I always recommend this course of action.

On another note, three words that should never show up on an official application for employment are "Please see resume." I've blogged about this before but am starting to see this crop up more often with recent candidates completing their applications with us. If we were willing to simply accept the resume in lieu of an application we would tell you that and wouldn't ask candidates to go through the ordeal of filling out the application. The application is an official form and the information on it should be an accurate and complete reflection of your work experience. Resumes on the other hand are really just your personal advertisement of what you want a company to know and companies very clearly understand that they are not always an accurate reflection of past experience. "Please see resume" listed on our application also comes across as the candidate being too lazy to give us the information we have asked for. Candidates who take the time to completely fill out their applications get far more consideration with us than those who do not.

VP of Corporate and Community Affairs opportunity

We have an opening for a newly created position of Vice President of Corporate and Community Affairs. The primary role of this position is to develop, implement and communicate Pinnacol’s corporate and community strategies and policies to protect and promote business interests with respect to policyholders, agents, business associations, and regulatory and government officials. This role also directs and coordinates the policyholder, community and government relations activities of Pinnacol in support of business goals and objectives established by our Board of Directors, CEO and Executive Team and in conjunction with our CEO and General Counsel retains external lobbying services on the company's behalf.

What are we looking for in this position? The successful candidate must be able to build credibility while establishing trust with key corporate stakeholders and within all levels of the company. They must also be able to demonstrate an extensive knowledge of worker’s compensation industry, economic, regulatory, legislative and marketplace issues. The ability to assess, analyze and integrate information from stakeholders, competitors, markets and industry trend data to drive strategic and tactical decisions is critical. They must also have proven experience developing, and successfully advancing, policy initiatives along with extensive knowledge of politics and the legislative process at the state and local level.

In terms of education a Bachelor’s degree in government relations, political science, public relations, or a related field is required with a master’s and/or legal degree preferred. Extensive experience in community, legal and government affairs, interacting with community groups, business associations, legislators and regulators, and experience interacting and working with external lobbyists is also required.

If this position sounds like something you would be interested in we would love to hear from you. As always, we ask candidates to apply on-line via our company website at www.pinnacol.com/careers.