relative 10

Use periods correctly at the end of declarative and imperative sentences, courteous requests, and indirect questions.. Identify miscellaneous uses of the period.[r]

The Period and the Comma

Objectives

Use periods correctly at the end of declarative and imperative sentences, courteous requests, and indirect questions.

Identify miscellaneous uses of the period.

Use commas correctly between items in a series and in compound sentences.

Use commas correctly with independent adjectives.

The Period and the Comma

The Period and the Comma

Declarative Sentences

Use a period at the end of a declarative

sentence

Rick finds job openings on the Internet.

Sara’s final interview with the company is on

Friday.

The Period and the Comma

Imperative Sentences

Use a period at the end of a sentence that

indicates a command or a strong suggestion

Proofread your cover letter carefully.

Fill out the job application within 24 hours.

The Period and the Comma

Courteous Requests

Use a period at the end of a sentence that

makes a courteous request

Will you please call the applicants to tell them that

the position is filled.

May I have the phone numbers of your last three

supervisors

The Period and the Comma

Indirect Questions

Use a period after an indirect question

I wonder whether Bob applied for the accounts

payable position.

Jamey asked how I posted my résumé on the

Internet

The Period and the Comma

Decimal Points

Use a period to separate dollars and cents

Do not place a period after a dollar amount if

there are no cents involved

Use a period as a decimal point to express

whole numbers and fractional amounts

The Period and the Comma

Abbreviated Words and

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Abbreviated Words and

Measurements

Do not use a period after a measurement that

is abbreviated on most business or technical

forms

Ft foot, feet oz ounce, ounces

hr hour, hours yr year, years

continued

Spell out measurements when they are used

in general or nontechnical writing

The Period and the Comma

Small and Capital Letters

Use a period after each letter in abbreviations that

consist of small letters

a.k.a. also known as

c.o.d. collect on delivery

f.o.b. free on board (within sentences)

Do not use a period after each letter in most

abbreviations that consist of all capital letters.

CEO chief executive officer

HMO health maintenance organization

PIN personal identification number

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Small and Capital Letters

Exceptions

P.O. post office

M.A. Master of Arts

M.D. Doctor of Medicine

B.C. before Christ

continued

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Personal Names and Corporate Names

Use a period after the initials or with abbreviations of most names.

J C Williams Thos C McGraw

Do not use a period with a nickname

Skip Jenner Red Stocker

Use the same format that an individual uses in a

signature or that a company uses on its letterhead as its official designation

Harry S Truman JCPenney

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Titles, Academic Degrees, Professional Identification

Use a period after an abbreviation of a

person’s title

Use a period after each element in the

abbreviation of an academic degree or

professional identification

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Titles, Academic Degrees, Professional Identification

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Seniority Designations

Use a period after an abbreviated seniority

designation

Jason Harrison Jr accepted a position in Nevada.

Anthony Biasi III applied for an international

banking position.

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The Period and Geographic Locations

Use a period after an abbreviation of a country,

state, or province unless the abbreviation

appears in ZIP Code format

The Period and the Comma

Shortened Forms of Words

Do not use a period after shortened words or

foreign words that are not abbreviations

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Outlines and Lists

Use a period after the numbers or letters that

identify items in an outline or list unless the

numbers or letters are in parentheses

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Outlines and Lists

Use periods after complete sentences,

dependent clauses, and long phrases in a list

or outline

continued

The keys to salary negotiation are the following:

1 Discuss salary at the end of the interview .

2 Let the interviewer introduce the issue of salary .

3 Do research on salaries for your field .

The Period and the Comma

Outlines and Lists

Do not use periods after short phrases listed

on separate lines if the lead-in statement is

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Compound Sentences

Use a comma to separate two independent

clauses in a compound sentence

Place the comma before the coordinating

conjunction (and, or, nor, but) that joins the

two clauses

Most public libraries have company directories, and most

online services also offer access to these directories.

Everyone knows about doing job hunting research, but few

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Compound Sentences

Omit the comma before a coordinating

conjunction in a compound sentence if either

or both of the two independent clauses are

very short (four words or less)

Read the job description and fax your résumé

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Compound Sentences

Use a comma before the coordinating

conjunction when a subject is not expressed

(but implied) in one or both clauses in an

imperative sentence

Call companies that interest you, and ask to speak to

people who can give you specific information about

available positions.

Prepare a portfolio of your best work, and bring it with you

to the interview

continued

The Period and the Comma

Compound Sentences

Do not use a comma before a coordinating

conjunction that joins a compound subject,

predicate, object, or subject complement

Stress educational achievements and extracurricular

activities in your cover letter.

Working in temporary positions will introduce you to

different industries and help you discover the types of

jobs available.

continued

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Series

Do not use commas to separate items when

each item is connected by a conjunction

Cover letters require the exact last name of the

person and the exact spelling of the name and

the title of his or her position.

continued

The Period and the Comma

Series

Use commas in a series of names in an organization

exactly the way that the organization uses the commas on its letterhead or on another verifiable source.

Do not use a comma before the ampersand (&) in the

name of an organization unless the company itself does.

The firm of Farrell, White, and Jones specializes in

recruiting hospital employees.

Henderson, Hernandez, & Holmes fills its positions

through networking

continued

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The Comma and Etc

Use a comma before and after the

abbreviation etc When etc appears at the

end of a sentence, use a comma before the

abbreviation only The abbreviation etc

means and so forth or and others.

Do not use the phrase and etc.

Most experts recommend cream, white,

off-white, etc., bond paper for résumés.

The Period and the Comma

Independent Adjectives

Place a comma between independent adjectives that precede a noun unless they are already

separated by a coordinating conjunction.

To determine whether adjectives are

independent, reverse their order or place the

word and between the two adjectives If both

revisions sound satisfactory, place a comma

between the two adjectives.

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Independent Adjectives

Examples

continued

James offered vague, disorganized answers

to the interview questions.

Anne conducted a successful,

well-organized job search.

A study of successful female job hunters

indicated that attention to detail is vital.

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Appositives

Use commas to set off an appositive if it is not essential to the meaning of a sentence

Kris Hing, CEO of Hing and Associates, looks

for candidates who speak at least three

languages.

JOBS, an online listing of professional

positions, helped me narrow my job search.

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Appositives

Do not use commas to set off an appositive

that explains or clarifies the noun preceding it

The newspaper National Business

Employment Weekly offers job hunting

strategies.

The year 2001 was the year that I was

promoted to assistant manager

continued

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Parenthetical Expressions

Parenthetical expressions interrupt a

sentence These side remarks do not add to

the clarity of a sentence, and they are set

aside by commas

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Parenthetical Expressions

Below is a partial list of parenthetical

expressions

continued

after all as a consequence

as a matter of fact as a result

as a rule as you know

at any rate believe me

by the way for example however I am sure

I assure you I believe

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Unfortunately, Jack lost his disk that

contained his résumé.

Group interviews, by the way, are popular with

educational institutions

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Introductory Expressions

Dependent Clauses

Use a comma to separate an introductory

dependent clause from the independent

clause

If I have to move to another state, I will turn

down the job offer.

Although the competition was intimidating,

Carrie still secured the job

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Introductory Expressions

Dependent Clauses

Generally, do not use a comma when the

dependent clause follows the independent

clause or when the comma is necessary for

the meaning of the sentence

Do thorough research on a company before any

job interview.

continued

The Period and the Comma

Introductory Expressions

Prepositional Phrases

Use a comma to set off an introductory

prepositional phrase from the independent

clause that follows

Within one year, he received a promotion to the

position of accounts payable supervisor.

From an employer’s standpoint, a thank-you

note that is sent after the interview is important.

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Introductory Expressions

Infinitive Phrases

Use a comma to set off an introductory infinitive

phrase from the rest of the sentence.

To save time, more companies are using résumé

scanning software

Do not use a comma when an infinitive phrase is the subject of a sentence

To purposely lie on your employment application may

cause dismissal from most positions.

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Introductory Expressions

Participial Phrases

Use a comma to set off an introductory

participial phrase from the rest of the

sentence

Surprised by the results of my skill tests, I decided to

set new goals.

Reviewing my cover letter, I realized that I had used an

incorrect telephone number.

The Period and the Comma

Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses

Use commas to set off a nonrestrictive

adjective clause from the rest of the sentence

Drug testing, which is becoming more

prevalent, is a requirement for some occupations.

I carry my resume in a leather portfolio, which

was a graduation gift.

The Period and the Comma

Restrictive Adjective Clauses

Do not set off a restrictive adjective clause

(necessary for the meaning of the word it

modifies) from the rest of the sentence

Job applicants who arrive late for their

interviews are usually not hired at our firm.

A college degree that emphasizes

communication skills is valuable in today’s job

market

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Contrasting Expressions

Use commas to set aside a contrasting

expression from the rest of the sentence A

contrasting expression often begins with the

word not or never A contrasting expression

contradicts the noun or idea it follows

The interview, not the résumé, gets you the job.

The position for which Nina is interviewing is an

existing position, not a new one

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Direct Address

Use commas to set off the names of

individuals who are being addressed directly

You will be pleased to know, Larry, that you will

receive a bonus this year.

Sheila, you are a finalist for the position.

The Period and the Comma

Tag Questions

Use a comma to separate a tag question from the rest of the sentence

We have five job candidates to interview

today, don’t we?

We do not need to interview the job

candidates on Saturday, do we?

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Quotations

Use a comma to introduce a direct quotation

or set it off from other parts of a sentence

Mr Bertoli asked me, “How do you define success?”

“Success,” Mr Bertoli said, “depends upon your own

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Dates

Use a comma before and after the year when a

date includes a month, day, and year.

I hope to graduate by June 30, 2005, or at the latest

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Addresses

Use commas to separate parts of an address

or geographical location

Do not place a comma between a state name

or a two-letter state abbreviation and the ZIP

Code within a document or on an envelope

I applied for a position at Sonoma State

University, 1801 East Coati Avenue, Rohnert

Park, CA 94953, last week.

The Period and the Comma

Occupational Designations,

Academic Degrees

Use commas to set off occupational designations or

academic degrees when they follow a person’s name.

Do not use both a personal or job title before a name and a job or academic degree designation after the

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Seniority Designations

Do not use commas to separate seniority

designations from the name unless the person being referenced prefers to use commas

Lonnie Lamont Jr works for Diamond Lane

Communications.

Nielson Electronics promoted Richard Whitmore II

to the position of comptroller of their Canadian

operations.

The Period and the Comma

Company Names

Do not use commas to separate Inc or Ltd

from the rest of the company name unless the company’s letterhead or other official source

indicates commas are necessary

Fantastic Foods Inc offers excellent profit

sharing bonuses to its employees

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Numbers

Use a comma in a whole number with more than four figures Some prefer to insert a comma in a number such as 3,482.

Rhonda discovered 12,325 career sites on the Internet

Do not use a comma in a policy, account, page,

serial, model, or check number or in a house

number in an address.

Policy 1503 describes our hiring procedures.

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