With powerful tools like Grammarly there are no excuses for having a CV with spelling and grammar mistakes. After all, your CV and LinkedIn profile are designed to demonstrate your capabilities and professionalism. Careless mistakes and errors let you down. So let's get rid of silly mistakes for good!

In this article, I’m going to share with you a free online tool that I firmly believe every job seeker should use.

In fact, I’m going to go a step further and say that this tool should be used by everyone who sends emails, writes professional documents or produces written work of any kind.

Important Disclosure: We are affiliates for some of the products and services referenced in this article. Learn more over here.

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Coming up

In this article I'm going to explain what Grammarly is, and show you how to use Grammarly as a CV and resume checker, how Grammarly can enhance your emails and job applications and how Grammarly can be used to correct your LinkedIn or other social posts.

Discover the top 5 mistakes that I see on CVs, in my dedicated blog post!

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What is Grammarly?

In case you didn’t know, Grammarly is a free spelling and grammar checker that can be integrated into your web browser and word processing applications.

It's free to sign up for Grammarly and it's really easy to use.

As a CV Writer and business owner, I often spend entire days writing CVs, blog posts, emails and social media content.

I’m also a huge perfectionist and self-proclaimed grammar nerd, so nothing frustrates me more than failing to spot a mistake in something that I have just published.

This is why Grammarly has become one of my all-time favourite tools, one that I simply could not live without.

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Why is Grammarly important for job seekers?

First impressions are really important.

A successful job search involves reaching out to recruiters, hiring managers and HR managers directly.

The emails and LinkedIn messages that you send are your first impression, and it's imperative that you send messages that are well-written and free from errors.

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Why do you need another spell checker?

Grammarly is a lot smarter than most in-built spellcheckers and so it spots mistakes which would normally go unnoticed.

Because it integrates with your web browser, it means that you can check your spelling everywhere you write, this includes LinkedIn InMails and social media posts.

If you are in the process of sending out your CV, sending your cover letter, applying for jobs, writing emails, LinkedIn InMails or posting anything on social media, you should install Grammarly.

How do you use Grammarly?

I'm going to show you four tasks that I use Grammarly for, and explain how you can do the same to enhance your job search process.

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1. I use Grammarly for an spelling and grammar check

I’ve integrated Grammarly into Microsoft Word to provide seamless document checking. When writing an important document, like a CV or cover letter, it’s really important to me that there are no mistakes.

Grammarly does an incredible job of finding mistakes which may otherwise be missed, such as missing hyphens, wrong word usage and inconsistent sentence structures.

If you are in the process of writing your CV, Grammarly will help you to avoid embarrassing mistakes.

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2. I use Grammarly to improve my writing

One of the best features of Grammarly is that it will highlight sentences or phrases which are correct but could be improved.

For instance, Grammarly will alert me when my phrasing could be more concise.

The example below shows that Grammarly does not like it when I write ‘in order to’ and suggests that I shorten it to ‘to’. With the help of Grammarly, my writing has become a lot clearer and more concise!

The premium version of Grammarly will advise on even more advanced issues such as word choice, punctuation in compound/complex sentences, passive voice misuse and inappropriate colloquialisms. A dream for grammar nerds and prolific writers like me!

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3. I use Grammarly to check my emails

Probably like you, I send a lot of emails, and although I’m generally good at spelling and grammar, Grammarly catches all those little mistakes and typos I might have missed as I quickly type out my reply or message.

This works especially well if you are sending lots of messages on a platform such as LinkedIn, as Grammarly can be integrated into your web browser.

If you are currently looking for a job and sending out messages to your network or hiring managers, then Grammarly is a must. Don’t send a bad first impression with a message full of typos which shows lack of care and attention to detail.

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4. I use Grammarly to check my social media posts

Yes, I could write my posts out in Microsoft Word first, do a spellcheck and then copy over to social media, but who has time for that?!

When writing content for social media, whether to promote yourself or your team, it’s so important to write clearly and accurately.

If your audience are not confident that they understand what you’re communicating, then they are unlikely to engage, and your piece of content will disappear, and the time you spent writing it will have been wasted.

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While mistakes can be forgiven in some instances, it is always better to write accurately. In some instances, how you write on social media can directly impact on the results you are trying to achieve.

I’ve been amazed to see copywriters and marketers sharing misspelled content on LinkedIn in the hopes of finding a new job. I wouldn’t hire a copywriter that doesn’t check their work. Would you?

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How do you get Grammarly?

It’s really simple, click here and follow the instructions. In total, it shouldn’t take longer than 3 minutes to get set up and begin making an incredible first impression with all of your writing.

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Conclusion

Grammarly is brilliant! I swear by it and believe that all job seekers should use it to ensure that all their written communication makes a fantastic first impression, and doesn't let them down.

I advise all of my clients and followers to use Grammarly, and I hope that this article has shown you just some of the ways that Grammarly can be used to enhance your CV, and your chances of being hired!