2014-15 TENURED/TENURE-TRACK FACULTY SALARIES SURVEY

Job Title	All Institutions	Research	Other Doc.	Master's	Baccalaureate
All Disciplines Combined
Professor	$100,087	$122,030	$102,255	$90,694	$85,377
Associate Professor	$77,729	$89,442	$79,762	$73,491	$68,383
Assistant Professor	$67,881	$77,956	$70,052	$64,156	$58,873
New Assistant Professor	$69,096	$78,280	$68,189	$64,212	$58,205
Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences
Professor	$109,452	$89,011	$87,638	$72,733	$99,778
Associate Professor	$77,534	$82,633	$76,954	$63,162	$62,074
Assistant Professor	$68,290	$74,035	$63,513	$57,278	$55,078
New Assistant Professor	$73,763	$78,588	*	*	*
Natural Resources and Conservation
Professor	$102,221	*	$83,873	$97,758	$105,567
Associate Professor	$74,327	$78,755	$76,352	*	$65,429
Assistant Professor	$65,302	$70,174	$64,065	*	$61,965
New Assistant Professor	$64,125	$67,840	*	*	$61,997
Architecture and Related Services
Professor	$108,094	$109,795	*	*	*
Associate Professor	$81,618	$82,532	$84,239	*	*
Assistant Professor	$66,953	$67,774	$65,785	*	*
New Assistant Professor	$65,022	$64,600	*	*	*
Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies
Professor	$105,304	$113,379	$95,510	*	$109,613
Associate Professor	$78,433	$82,393	$74,732	*	$82,016
Assistant Professor	$65,227	$67,059	$59,934	*	$67,946
New Assistant Professor	$62,730	$64,111	*	*	$64,967
Communication, Journalism and Related Programs
Professor	$91,846	$109,782	$94,803	$84,495	$76,033
Associate Professor	$70,343	$78,464	$73,756	$66,540	$62,694
Assistant Professor	$59,262	$64,276	$62,153	$55,826	$54,044
New Assistant Professor	$59,687	$63,688	$61,626	$54,140	$52,693
Communications Technologies/Technicians and Support Services
Professor	$89,799	*	*	*	*
Associate Professor	$73,470	*	*	*	*
Assistant Professor	$59,012	*	*	*	*
New Assistant Professor	*	*	*	*	*
Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
Professor	$111,783	$136,788	$113,746	$100,133	$92,750
Associate Professor	$91,146	$107,105	$93,489	$87,630	$77,778
Assistant Professor	$79,515	$94,099	$81,504	$75,812	$64,601
New Assistant Professor	$83,430	$95,640	$82,871	$77,056	$65,135
Education
Professor	$90,759	$106,565	$91,856	$82,545	$76,112
Associate Professor	$70,103	$77,049	$70,970	$66,797	$62,909
Assistant Professor	$60,114	$64,782	$62,035	$56,545	$53,873
New Assistant Professor	$59,118	$62,983	$60,258	$55,852	$51,882
Engineering
Professor	$126,653	$139,072	$119,875	$110,224	$100,526
Associate Professor	$95,361	$100,515	$92,425	$88,275	$80,332
Assistant Professor	$83,196	$86,996	$82,148	$75,168	$72,677
New Assistant Professor	$83,014	$87,017	$80,646	$76,045	$67,501
Engineering Technologies and Engineering Related Fields
Professor	$96,282	$121,811	$105,223	$90,155	$73,051
Associate Professor	$77,818	$86,650	$78,792	$73,367	$65,391
Assistant Professor	$68,240	$75,953	$69,610	$61,978	$60,519
New Assistant Professor	$66,289	$72,584	*	*	*
Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
Professor	$92,407	$104,163	$91,114	$80,661	$94,300
Associate Professor	$70,375	$73,780	$69,072	$66,900	$72,761
Assistant Professor	$59,124	$62,726	$58,524	$56,183	$59,557
New Assistant Professor	$58,427	$62,540	$59,286	$52,142	$56,054
Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
Professor	$96,162	$111,482	$88,275	$76,658	$76,974
Associate Professor	$74,793	$80,123	$72,406	$64,849	$65,255
Assistant Professor	$63,174	$68,238	$60,111	$58,592	*
New Assistant Professor	$64,790	$69,965	$58,845	*	*
Legal Professions and Studies
Professor	$143,509	$167,211	$152,496	$120,542	$107,668
Associate Professor	$109,354	$123,437	$115,376	$90,540	$88,785
Assistant Professor	$96,780	$108,031	$99,456	$87,342	$86,400
New Assistant Professor	$87,215	$101,436	*	*	*
English Language and Literature/Letters
Professor	$86,508	$101,298	$88,635	$81,456	$79,934
Associate Professor	$66,910	$73,827	$67,661	$63,032	$63,849
Assistant Professor	$57,227	$62,105	$60,071	$54,477	$54,943
New Assistant Professor	$58,118	$63,082	$59,269	$53,637	$56,980
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
Professor	$89,888	$111,618	$97,005	$73,859	$80,386
Associate Professor	$69,471	$77,903	$71,538	$62,051	$66,280
Assistant Professor	$58,394	$63,014	$61,898	*	$52,639
New Assistant Professor	*	*	$58,367	$62,051	*
Library Science
Professor	$86,294	$101,963	$77,752	*	*
Associate Professor	$68,926	$78,588	$67,847	*	$50,941
Assistant Professor	$59,658	$67,729	$56,113	*	*
New Assistant Professor	$60,395	$67,672	*	*	*
Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Professor	$101,974	$125,595	$105,228	$85,135	$81,657
Associate Professor	$75,558	$87,408	$80,458	$66,970	$65,043
Assistant Professor	$65,093	$75,722	$69,762	$57,832	$55,997
New Assistant Professor	$63,193	$73,193	$67,704	$54,444	$55,561
Mathematics and Statistics
Professor	$92,388	$111,340	$93,469	$84,298	$82,641
Associate Professor	$71,333	$82,434	$73,481	$65,696	$66,063
Assistant Professor	$62,442	$74,740	$63,553	$58,114	$55,798
New Assistant Professor	$65,138	$76,821	$65,265	$57,917	$57,763
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
Professor	$102,196	$122,812	$100,989	$81,693	$88,365
Associate Professor	$76,543	$83,660	$76,922	$64,353	$69,566
Assistant Professor	$64,763	$68,729	$68,479	*	$58,830
New Assistant Professor	$64,337	$70,084	*	*	$59,322
Parks, Recreation, Leisure and Fitness Studies
Professor	$86,902	$109,992	$89,973	$82,387	$72,073
Associate Professor	$70,069	$80,256	$71,902	$66,769	$61,244
Assistant Professor	$59,166	$68,256	$62,693	$55,018	$51,760
New Assistant Professor	$59,091	$68,496	$59,505	$57,888	$47,337
Philosophy and Religious Studies
Professor	$92,062	$107,593	$100,437	$85,348	$86,923
Associate Professor	$69,160	$76,175	$71,968	$65,449	$66,780
Assistant Professor	$54,336	$56,835	$58,508	$63,301	$59,861
New Assistant Professor	$58,084	$63,051	$59,166	$52,811	$54,692
Theology and Religious Vocations
Professor	$80,682	$111,868	$81,562	$79,951	$70,456
Associate Professor	$65,710	$81,026	$63,521	$64,685	$61,276
Assistant Professor	$56,947	$71,921	$58,593	$56,971	$53,489
New Assistant Professor	$54,675	*	*	*	*
Physical Sciences
Professor	$96,427	$118,254	$96,090	$85,769	$86,453
Associate Professor	$73,191	$85,117	$74,161	$66,657	$67,568
Assistant Professor	$63,349	$74,144	$64,502	$57,832	$56,925
New Assistant Professor	$64,518	$73,934	$63,505	$59,476	$58,022
Psychology
Professor	$92,568	$115,379	$94,930	$85,832	$83,160
Associate Professor	$70,336	$79,636	$72,562	$66,234	$65,298
Assistant Professor	$60,195	$68,968	$63,212	$57,122	$55,627
New Assistant Professor	$59,920	$68,388	$59,521	$57,464	$52,649
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting & Related Protective Services
Professor	$91,643	$114,351	$97,099	$85,605	$71,140
Associate Professor	$70,793	$79,850	$68,945	$70,171	$59,097
Assistant Professor	$59,527	$64,758	$60,668	$60,700	$54,033
New Assistant Professor	$59,933	$64,778	$61,717	$60,194	$53,950
Public Administration and Social Service Professions
Professor	$98,604	$119,956	$99,491	$78,324	$73,152
Associate Professor	$75,031	$85,322	$76,061	$64,563	$60,288
Assistant Professor	$63,089	$71,233	$61,309	$59,103	$52,367
New Assistant Professor	$64,332	$75,031	$61,754	$59,341	$49,816
Social Sciences
Professor	$97,729	$115,904	$99,368	$87,859	$91,082
Associate Professor	$69,404	$71,606	$75,089	$83,933	$77,137
Assistant Professor	$64,177	$71,672	$64,480	$59,032	$61,204
New Assistant Professor	$65,361	$72,848	$62,953	$56,559	$61,446
Visual and Performing Arts
Professor	$85,634	$95,640	$89,848	$80,100	$82,567
Associate Professor	$66,975	$71,616	$69,662	$63,438	$65,235
Assistant Professor	$56,692	$59,646	$58,288	$54,934	$55,272
New Assistant Professor	$55,663	$58,631	$54,561	$55,250	$54,847
Health Professions and Related Programs
Professor	$105,614	$125,309	$97,844	$84,106	$80,569
Associate Professor	$81,915	$91,652	$76,888	$73,599	$67,897
Assistant Professor	$69,155	$76,148	$67,742	$62,966	$58,668
New Assistant Professor	$68,243	$75,024	$67,823	$62,638	$55,528
Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services
Professor	$126,659	$165,684	$132,422	$111,044	$93,973
Associate Professor	$107,183	$133,199	$111,386	$100,692	$82,349
Assistant Professor	$103,438	$130,023	$107,994	$94,749	$76,243
New Assistant Professor	$110,865	$134,016	$107,132	$95,749	$78,144
History General
Professor	$88,596	$104,995	$89,083	$82,297	$84,659
Associate Professor	$67,342	$74,841	$69,768	$64,089	$64,120
Assistant Professor	$57,773	$61,857	$59,822	$54,167	$56,998
New Assistant Professor	$57,514	$62,308	$56,475	$53,220	$54,675

2014-15 TENURED/TENURE-TRACK FACULTY SALARIES SURVEY ©2015 by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). All rights reserved.

* 4 or fewer institutions reported

猎头公司列表

商业周刊自第一次发布全球最有影响力的猎头50人以后，又一次发布了第二部分。以下是这些资深的顶级猎头的名单：

Sonal Agrawal, CEO, Accord Group IndiaGlenn G. Anderson Jr., Managing Director, Signium International Cleveland
Juraci V. de Andrade, Managing Director, Signium Brasil Consultores
Kimberly Bishop, Vice Chairman, Slayton Search Partners/Boardroom Consultants
Jeanne Branthover, Managing Director, Head of Financial Services Practice, Boyden Global Executive Search
Larry C. Brown, Managing Partner, Horton International
Tony Brown, Managing Director, Horton International
Samantha A. Carey, Partner, CTPartners
Simon Childs, Managing Director, CDS
Brian G. Clarke, Managing Partner, Kensington International, Inc.
Christopher J. Conti, Partner, CTPartners
James Cornehlsen, Managing Director, Future Search
Kenneth G. Daubenspeck, President, Daubenspeck and Associates, Ltd
Lauren Doliva, Managing Partner, Chief Advisor Network, Heidrick & Struggles
John R. Ferneborg, Partner, The Ferneborg Group
Dr. Dirk Friederich, Managing Partner, Boyden Global Executive Search
Albert H.A.W. Froom MA, Chairman, AltoPartners, Leaders Trust International/AltoPartners
Terence Gallagher, President, Battalia Winston International/Amrop Hever
Debra Germaine, Partner, CTPartners
Russ D. Gerson, CEO, The Gerson Group
Theresa Goh, Partner, ThreeSixty PartnershipChristrian Groh, Head, Investment Banking & Capital Markets, EMEA, Korn/Ferry International GmbH
Kai Gronblom Hammerich, Managing Director, head of global technology sector, Russell Reynolds Associates
Roy F. Hebard Jr., Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Slayton Search Partners
Miroslav Hofirek, Ph.D., Principal, Hofirek Consulting
Lawrence “Larry” Holmes, Managing Director, Columbia Consulting Group
Daniel A. Kaplan, Partner, CTPartners
Jay Kizer, Global Markets Managing Director, Life Sciences,Korn/Ferry International
Simon Laver, Managing Partner, Perrett Laver
Sylvia MacArthur, President, Madison MacArthur
Martin McEvoy, Managing Partner, McEvoy Associates Signium International
James L. Morice, CEO/Managing Member, Morice Consulting, LLC/Conboy Sur Morice Associates
Nels B. Olson, Managing Director, Eastern Region; Member, CEO/Board Practice, Korn/Ferry International
Dan Perrett, Managing Partner, Perrett Laver
Bernd Prasuhn, Ph.D., Consultant, Signium International
Eric Rehmann, Co-Managing Director, Financial Officers Center of Expertise, Korn/Ferry International
Gary Reidy, Managing Director, Australia, Korn/Ferry International
Robert Rollo, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles
Jeffrey Rosin, President, Canada, Korn/Ferry International
Mark Sadovnick, CEO, Sadovnick Partners
Henry J. “Terry” Scherck, Managing Director, Practice Leader, Slayton Search Partners/Boardroom Consultants
Doug Smith, Chief Executive Officer, B. E. Smith
Richard Spitz, Global Markets Managing Director, Technology, Korn/Ferry International
Roger W. Stoy, Senior Partner, Heidrick & Struggles
Warren T. Wasp, Jr., President, WTW Associates
B.J. van der Wijk, Partner, BJW Signium International
Roger Wilson, Managing Director, Boyden
Ken Taylor, CEO, Taylor Meyer Associates
Michael Travis, Principal, Travis & Company
Rene de Zwaan, Managing Director, Co-head Financial Services Sector, Europe, Russell Reynolds Associates

原文参见这里。

资深HR告诉你猎头公司真相，想做猎头以及被猎的请进

 有的人投递了半年简历都没有回音，但有的人却被猎头公司的电话追到心烦。要想你的职业规划步入到一个更高的层次，能够被猎头公司盯上，或许会给你的职业发展增加不少机遇。在我们职业规划咨询的客户中，就有被猎头公司成功盯上的，待遇比以前翻了一番。如果你想挑战自己，进入猎头公司谋求一份良好的职位；或者成为猎头公司的猎物，为以后的职业生涯创造更多的机会，这篇文章不妨仔细看看。

猎头，对大部分的应届毕业生而言还是个很陌生的词眼，相信大部分人也要到工作满3年以后才会陆续接到猎头的电话，但是之前的HR的帖子发的时候就说过以后 有机会谈谈猎头这档子事，而最近站内消息不少想从事HR工作的同学都纷纷留言问接到猎头公司Offer要不要接，所以就当是那个关于HR的帖子的延续，谈 谈猎头这个行业。而且相信看了以后，大家也可以自己去对照下自己未来是否可能被猎头猎到？呵呵。

说到猎头，想起前阵子我们HR的一个玩笑话，说在上海，80%以上的猎头不叫猎头，叫做猎腰甚至猎脚，为啥这么说，因为现在国内一线城市（上北广深，特别是上海北京），很多工程师级别的只要3年以上经验的职位都已经交由猎头来做了，于是这个头自然也变成脚了。

猎头公司在中国的发展

猎头公司在中国最早开始应该在90年代初期，80年代末期，那时候出了极少数的亚洲背景的猎头外（香港猎头偏多），大部分的猎头都是极其牛的公司，例如光 辉国际等，那时候的中国，基本上，经理级别职位还不那么多，而且要求也不那么高，然后高层大部分是从海外直接派过来的（外企，国企那时候估计连猎头是什么 都还不知道呢），后来，一点点随着经济的发展，老外要回国了，需要本土化人才了，猎头开始进入了平稳的发展阶段，但是那个时候还是大部分外资猎头把持，只 是外资猎头不再只有那些牛B的猎头，一些中等档次的猎头也开始进入了市场，例如Hudson，Manpower之类的，再03年以前，猎头行业的增长一直 是比较平缓的，绝大部分猎头公司（不包括类似manpower这种还搞外包的公司），人员都在20个人之内，最棒的几个猎头公司，人员甚至更少，一般在 15个以内，但是那时候，那批猎头也是中国最早的一批金领。到了03，04年，猎头开始进入爆炸增长，一直到08年金融危机，猎头行业每年增长都超过 50%，上海的各色猎头从几十家一下子变成了5000多家，鱼龙混杂，很多猎头公司，只有1-2个人，也能借个人力中介师的牌照开起来甚至直接挂牌在其他 企业只要能开发票就行，于是，现在我已经不知道什么企业好什么企业不好了，而且除了超级猎头还要收定金意外，绝大部分的猎头已经不收定金了，费率也下降不 少，（特别是IT类case，因为IT行业用猎头用的很厉害）。我平时工作还有一块就要做供应商管理，但有时候真的很头疼，那些听也没听到过的企业来做 BD，不理他们吧，说不定真的挺认真干活的（后面会说很多企业虽然小，但猎头公司是靠口碑的，口碑好生意依然很好，也就是C类猎头），理他们吧，有真的 80%以上乱七八糟的，还容易败坏公司声誉。所以，这里我仅列出我知道的真的是名气比较响的几家给大家参考参考。

一些著名的外资和本土猎头

世界著名的公司

这几家是我抄录别的论坛而我也比较清楚情况的，的确是好公司，不过很快你们也会发现很多公司和你们可能一辈子没有交集，因为他们太高端了。

· 光辉国际咨询顾问公司

（Korn/Ferry，一般只专注于顶级的岗位，雇佣他的除了一些极大的企业外，还有一些比较有钱的企业雇佣真正的高管，比如银行信用卡中心老总这类位 置，国企和私企也会用，但他们收取Retainer也就是定金，费用也在25-33%左右，收费高是特点，属于顶级猎头，但也属于离大家比较远的猎头，简 称A类型猎头公司）

· 海德思哲国际有限公司（和前一家差不多水平的公司，客户群不同，然后规模有些差异，一般人也不会接到这类公司的电话，A类型公司）
· 亿康先达国际咨询公司（一样的A类猎头）
· 罗兰贝格尔国际有限公司（他家严格说是咨询公司，虽然在咨询公司方面和麦肯锡，Boston想比较弱一些，但猎头也算是个特色了，不过中国区这个业务规模不大，也属于A类猎头）
· 优异人力资源顾问公司（这个公司我直到最近收到发票才知道是Sterling，这中文名字起的，属于B类猎头，就是高高低低职位都有，但总体猎头的素质还OK，大家毕业5年后某些人们岗位的人，或者4大的4年工作经验后可能会受到他们的猎头电话）
其他还有些公司，我不知道中文名字，只知道英文名字，给大家参考参考
Future Step－这家和Korn/Ferry其实是一个公司但是重点不同，他家属于B类中比较高端的，一般case低端不多，大部分会猎那些年薪在 50-100w的人。Korn/Ferry他们家猎头基本上，刚才说的那个信用卡中心老总的职位，基本年薪500万以上，差不多这个level的。
Michaelpage－这家最早只做Finance的招聘但是很有特色，而且里面很多猎头Finance出身，所以看人很准，现在业务拓展了，也会做一 些supply Chain，Manufacturing，Luxury甚至Operation的职位，中端偏多，属于B类猎头， 规模不小，这家有个特色就是不猎人，等着你自己去投递简历，一般他不会主动为客户做mapping。所以财务人员想跳槽的话，可以去他们网站投递简历。一 般这类公司不打cold call。
Robert Walters Robert Half－这几家企业和前面michaelpage比较像，都是从finance出身的猎头公司（finance的人贵吗，利润好，所以才那么招人 爱）Robert Half甚至还有自己的财务外包部门，也有些猎头从事工业等单子，但也属于找人上，等人家来或者通过互相介绍来简历而不主动approach的类型。
Kelly Service－介于A与B之间，有些Case很高端。同样的还有Randson等企业。
相同处境的公司还有伯乐（一个香港公司最近好像卖给了日本公司，但总体招聘level还OK的），Boyden（这家应该也算准A级的猎头），都是高端case不输给Korn/Ferry，低端case 也就1w多月薪的人。
Hudson－等公司主攻低端到中端职位，情况类似于 Kelly Service，偶尔也有很高端的职位。而且Hudson还收购了另一家做IT非常有名的公司TonyKeith，所以IT的人才们要找工作的话不妨投投简历？
此外还有些本土猎头，就是我们说的，虽然属于C类猎头没有国际背景，但是其实本身提供的service很不错的，生意也很好的那种。
另外还有些例如Horton，Russell Reynolds 之类的公司，虽然名气很响，但中国的operation比较小，暂时不多说。

C类猎头，就是那种一般只猎猎2-3w月薪以内的职位，甚至很多月薪也就1万来块钱的公司，那个鱼龙混杂，几家有点名气的，比如 Manpower，Career International科瑞国际 ，也叫做万宝盛华，这类公司里面还有几千家小规模的私人企业，说白了，猎头公司猎头公司，只要你有条电话线就可以干活，甚至有些地方出租那种A级写字楼格 成很多间，然后公共会议室那种，窝着很多小猎头公司，人数从1-10不等，这类公司是大家毕业3年后最有可能接到电话的猎头，名字千奇百怪。呵呵。

猎头公司的工作模式

说完了猎头公司大概那些还有点名气，再来说说猎头公司的工作流程。说白了就是找人，卖人+卖好价钱。整个一个人口贩子的感觉。这点上，我一直记着过去我们 一个MD说的，虽然猎头电话有时候很烦人，但有一点和推销或者保险不同，他可能给你带来机会。在没听说过的公司也可能给你带来一个很不错公司的很不错的职 位（不一定高端因为每个人情况不同，但可能带来的机会所在公司很好，职业前景不错，事实上很多很厉害的企业现在用的猎头都是C类猎头，因为他们相对比较便 宜），所以我当猎头那会给每个候选人电话的时候都是信心满满的，因为我觉得我再给他们带去希望。

猎头公司的工作模式，这5，6年经历了很大的变化。再02年的时候，那个主要靠的就是电话拨打。我当时成为实习生，第一个项目就是一个超级牛企的领导力项 目，要求招聘的4-5年工业品销售经验的英文好的人，参加他们的项目（聪明的人应该可以猜出那个牛企，美资的），然后，再2年项目结束后，再全国20多个 城市生根工作。所以，我的第一个电话迄今记忆犹新。那是我拨给了西安的一个著名的资企业的销售处。那时候前台MM还很友善，问我找谁，我要找你们销售，你 要找什么销售，你们有什么销售，我们有高压销售，低压销售，变电销售，我要高压的谢谢，估计这种场景，今天的猎头很难再碰到。因为前台们在身经百战后已经 不会再那么Nice面对你的提问了。但我的确通过这个电话找到了一个销售，并最终让他成为了一个成功的候选人。所以，猎头的基本功之一就是“骗”，我们叫 做Cold Call，这个call可不是有名有姓的，而是你得通过你的“骗术”让人家乖乖的告诉你。记得当年我给一个模具厂商找项目工程师，就曾经给苏州一个著名的 台资手机膜具公司cold call，最后用我要发礼品给你们的方式，从一个菜鸟级工程师的嘴巴里，一个一个吧部门所有40多个项目工程师的姓名，电话都弄到了手。而我同事也曾经靠 展览会发票的方式，骗到了一个空调公司研发部namelist（人家还特地传真给她，把她给乐翻了）。这种骗的方式再06年以后有一阵子到了登峰造极的地 步，很多不道德的猎头，甚至为了取得某人的手机，骗他同事说家里出急事，而打外企的时候，最常用的招数就是我们是美商会的，以至于06年，美商会曾经特地 出过一个公告，说在发现冒用他们名义的猎头，就要起诉他们了。
字数限制，完整版本见http://bbs.career001.com/read.php?tid=25408

40 Incorrectly Used Words That Can Make You Look Dumb

While I like to think I know a little about business writing, I still fall into a few word traps. (Not to mention a few cliché traps.)
Take the words "who" and "whom." I rarely use "whom" when I should -- even when spell check suggests "whom" I think it sounds pretentious. So I use "who."
And then I sound dumb.
Just like one misspelled word can get your resume tossed onto the "nope" pile, one incorrectly used word can negatively impact your entire message. Fairly or unfairly, it happens -- so let's make sure it doesn't happen to you.
Adverse and averse
Adverse means harmful or unfavorable: "Adverse market conditions caused the IPO to be poorly subscribed." Averse refers to feelings of dislike or opposition: "I was averse to paying $18 a share for a company that generates no revenue."
But hey, feel free to have an aversion to adverse conditions.
Affect and effect
Verbs first. Affect means to influence: "Impatient investors affected our roll-out date." Effect means to accomplish something: "The board effected a sweeping policy change."
How you use effect or affect can be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by influencing them and can effect changes by directly implementing them. Bottom line, use effect if you're making it happen, and affect if you're having an impact on something that someone else is trying to make happen.
As for nouns, effect is almost always correct: "Once he was fired he was given 20 minutes to gather his personal effects." Affect refers to an emotional state, so unless you're a psychologist you probably have little reason to use it.
Bring and take
Both have to do with objects you move or carry. The difference is in the point of reference: you bring things here and you take them there. You ask people to bring something to you, and you ask people to take something to someone or somewhere else.
“Can you bring an appetizer to John's party”? Nope.
Compliment and complement
Compliment means to say something nice. Complement means to add to, enhance, improve, complete, or bring close to perfection.
I can compliment your staff and their service, but if you have no current openings you have a full complement of staff. Or your new app may complement your website.
For which I may decide to compliment you.
Criteria and criterion
"We made the decision based on one overriding criteria," sounds fairly impressive but is also wrong.
Remember: one criterion, two or more criteria. Or just use "reason" or "factors" and you won’t have to worry about getting it wrong.
Discreet and discrete
Discreet means careful, cautious, showing good judgment: "We made discreet inquiries to determine whether the founder was interested in selling her company."
Discrete means individual, separate, or distinct: "We analyzed data from a number of discrete market segments to determine overall pricing levels." And if you get confused, remember you don't use “discretion” to work through sensitive issues; you exercise discretion.
Elicit and illicit
Elicit means to draw out or coax. Think of elicit as the mildest form of extract. If one lucky survey respondent will win a trip to the Bahamas, the prize is designed to elicit responses.
Illicit means illegal or unlawful, and while I suppose you could elicit a response at gunpoint ... you probably shouldn't.
Farther and further
Farther involves a physical distance: "Florida is farther from New York than Tennessee." Further involves a figurative distance: "We can take our business plan no further."
So, as we say in the South (and that "we" has included me), "I don't trust you any farther than I can throw you," or, "I ain't gonna trust you no further."
Fewer and less
Use fewer when referring to items you can count, like “fewer hours” or “fewer dollars.”
Use “less” when referring to items you can’t (or haven’t tried to) count, like “less time” or “less money.”
Imply and infer
The speaker or writer implies, which means to suggest. The listener or reader infers, which means to deduce, whether correctly or not.
So I might imply you're going to receive a raise. And you might infer that a pay increase is imminent. (But not eminent, unless the raise will somehow be prominent and distinguished.)
Insure and ensure
This one's easy. Insure refers to insurance. Ensure means to make sure.
So if you promise an order will ship on time, ensure that it actually happens. Unless, of course, you plan to arrange for compensation if the package is damaged or lost -- then feel free to insure away.
(While there are exceptions where insure is used, the safe move is to use ensure when you will do everything possible to make sure something happens.)
Irregardless and regardless
Irregardless appears in some dictionaries because it's widely used to mean “without regard to” or “without respect to”... which is also what regardless means.
In theory the ir-, which typically means "not," joined up with regardless, which means "without regard to," makes irregardless mean "not without regard to," or more simply, "with regard to."
Which probably makes it a word that does not mean what you think it means.
So save yourself a syllable and just say regardless.
Number and amount
I goof these up all the time. Use number when you can count what you refer to: "The number of subscribers who opted out increased last month." Amount refers to a quantity of something that can't be counted: "The amount of alcohol consumed at our last company picnic was staggering."
Of course it can still be confusing: "I can't believe the number of beers I drank," is correct, but so is, "I can't believe the amount of beer I drank." The difference is you can count beers, but beer, especially if you were way too drunk to keep track, is an uncountable total and makes amount the correct usage.
Precede and proceed
Precede means to come before. Proceed means to begin or continue. Where it gets confusing is when an -ing comes into play. "The proceeding announcement was brought to you by..." sounds fine, but preceding is correct since the announcement came before.
If it helps, think precedence: anything that takes precedence is more important and therefore comes first.
Principal and principle
A principle is a fundamental: "Our culture is based on a set of shared principles." Principal means primary or of first importance: "Our startup's principal is located in NYC." (Sometimes you'll also see the plural, principals, used to refer to executives or relatively co-equals at the top of a particular food chain.)
Principal can also refer to the most important item in a particular set: "Our principal account makes up 60% of our gross revenues."
Principal can also refer to money, normally a sum that was borrowed, but can be extended to refer to the amount you owe -- hence principal and interest.
If you're referring to laws, rules, guidelines, ethics, etc., use principle. If you're referring to the CEO or the president (or an individual in charge of a high school), use principal.
Slander and libel
Don't like what people say about you? Like slander, libel refers to making a false statement that is harmful to a person's reputation.
The difference lies in how that statement is expressed. Slanderous remarks are spoken while libelous remarks are written and published (which means defamatory tweets could be considered libelous, not slanderous).
Keep in mind what makes a statement libelous or slanderous is its inaccuracy, not its harshness. No matter how nasty a tweet, as long as it's factually correct it cannot be libelous. Truth is an absolute defense to defamation; you might wish a customer hadn't said something derogatory about your business... but if what that customer said is true then you have no legal recourse.
And now for those dreaded apostrophes:
It's and its
It's is the contraction of it is. That means it's doesn't own anything. If your dog is neutered (the way we make a dog, however much against his or her will, gender neutral), you don't say, "It's collar is blue." You say, "Its collar is blue."
Here's an easy test to apply. Whenever you use an apostrophe, un-contract the word to see how it sounds. Turn it's into it is: "It's sunny," becomes, "It is sunny."
Sounds good to me.
They're and their
Same with these: They're is the contraction for they are. Again, the apostrophe doesn't own anything. We're going to their house, and I sure hope they're home.
Who's and whose
"Whose password hasn't been changed in six months?" is correct. Use the non-contracted version of who’s, like, "Who is (the non-contracted version of who's) password hasn't been changed in six months?" and you sound a little silly.
You're and your
One more. You're is the contraction of you are. Your means you own it; the apostrophe in you're doesn't own anything.
For a long time a local nonprofit displayed a huge sign that said, "You're Community Place."
Hmm. "You Are Community Place"? No, probably not.
Now it's your turn: any words you'd like to add to the list?

Job Seekers: End An Interview With Strong Closing Questions

The interview is coming to a close. The conversation has gone well so far and you’re feeling good about the outcome and then it happens, “Do you have any questions for me?” they ask.
Oh the terror! If you’ve done your research, there are a few questions that you might already have whether it be about the organizational structure or business model, type of work, or management style. But nothing sticks out better in the mind of interviewers than a few polished, intelligent questions at the end of an interview. If you’re ending an interview with, “No, I have no other questions” you’re missing out on not only a chance to make a real memorable impact but also the opportunity to really learn more about the role, the interviewer, company, management style and more!
One thing that we can often forget is that we need to be interviewing the company just like they’re interviewing us.
Here is a list of some great interview questions you can ask:
What is a day in the life of this role like?
This is an opportunity to get into what the day-to-day responsibilities and expectations of the role will be and ensure you understand the scope of what they’re expecting from this role.
What are the 1 year and/or 5 year goals for the organization? And how do you see someone in this role supporting those goals?
Asking this question is always a hit. It really gives them a chance to talk about where they are planning to grow the business and help you get a roadmap for where that role could be headed in a year or five years. This also gives you a chance to brainstorm how to support the goals and support their growth plans.
What are the qualities of an employee who excels at this role?
Giving them an opportunity to explain their “ideal employee” helps you understand what they’re really looking for in an employee and can give you clues about the company and team culture, as well as paving the way for success in this role with an understanding of what their expectations are right away.
What are some of the challenges that one might face in this role?
From this question, you can start to identify potential problems that you’re walking into with this role, but it also gives you a chance to start to brainstorm solutions for the problem and knock their socks off!
What is the career path for this role within the company?
Employers want to know that you’re someone that will be committed for the long haul, and are eager to grow within the company. Be careful to not focus too much attention on the “next role after this one” in the interview though! They might not want to re-hire again in a year if you decide to seek promotion in the company. This question allows you to read them and find the balance.
What is the team culture?
You should be able to gather the company culture from your research prior to the interview, but asking about the team culture can give you a little more insight into what the day-to-day will be like.
Getting your closing interview questions ready beforehand will demonstrate your thoughtful preparation and leave a favorable impression with your potential employee, truly making you stand out in the crowd.

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