JOB MARKET

A Sampling of Books to Help Bolster Writing Skills

While dozens of sources advise how to make sure cover letters and résumés

SAMPLES OF E-NEWSLETTERS: Why Cover Letters Matter, and How to Create Good Ones

have a format that is stylish and eye-catching, it is probably more critical for most job seekers to concentrate on improving the substance of their materials: the writing. Nonprofit employers often complain about the poor spelling, grammar, and usage they routinely see in correspondence from candidates. Here are several concise, easy-to-use resources to help job seekers write, edit, and proofread their own work:

Cover Letters That Knock 'Em Dead, by Martin Yate (Adams Media, 2002, $10.95).

Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works With Words, by Bruce Ross-Larson (W.W. Norton & Company, 1996, $11.95).

The Elements of Style (4th Edition), by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, and Roger Angell (Allyn & Bacon, 2000, $7.95).

Grammar Smart: A Guide to Perfect Usage (Princeton Review, 2001, $12).

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, by William K. Zinsser (HarperResource, 2001, $14).

Powerful Proofreading Skills: Tips, Techniques and Tactics (Fifty-Minute Series), by Debra A. Smith and Helen R. Sutton (Crisp Publications, 1995, $13.95).

Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, by Patricia T. O'Conner (Riverhead Books, 1998, $12). -- Sandy Asirvatham