Attention to detail is a skill which us students tend to stamp on our CVs for good measure but don’t really understand the importance of.  

Practically speaking, common faults in this area include typos, poor formatting and poor citation use. The aim of the skill is to set you apart from those candidates who rush an application, complete things last minute and, quite frankly, do not demonstrate enough care for the things they are working on.  

Although (realistically speaking), nobody cares about typos in casual situations, a typo or failure to paragraph accordingly can make or break your claim to be a suitable employee. If you fail to prove that you have this basic skill, what else should an employer question about your CV?  

Importance 

This skill is important because in business (for example), a misplaced comma can be the difference between catastrophe and a smooth transaction. It is not only crucial to yourself as a prospective employee that you are precise, but it can also put your future team in jeopardy.  

Consequences of lacking attention to detail 

Real life consequences in this area, often look like very serious and very awkward situations: sending emails to the wrong person, entering inaccurate data or destroying the validity of a contract. 

How to improve in this area 

Thankfully, there are several tools nowadays that can aid you in this area. The truth is, you are better off regulating your precision with an app than wishing you had used something like Grammarly before. It may also be helpful to ask someone who is unfamiliar with your work to just double check it. Sometimes we are too used to our own work, and miss the opportunity to notice errors. 

Other ideas include: 

• Going through a random newspaper and jotting down how you would improve certain sentences to make them more accurate 

• Triple-check your work 

• Play games and complete puzzles  

• Manage your time to ensure you have enough time to double check for errors 

• Take breaks