Showing posts with label perusal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perusal. Show all posts

Saturday, May 12, 2012

For your perusal

My company recently advertised for staff to fill a position.
In the many resumes I received, a common ending was "... for your perusal .."

Some of the applications were so short and simple that I really wonder if the writer actually knew what it meant.  What do you think "for your perusal" means ? I suspect most Singaporean having gone through local schools have the wrong idea of what perusal means.

Do you think that it means "have a quick look", or perhaps, "scan through the brief but important details".. or something like that, meaning a cursory glance at the contents.
I know of some colleagues in the past who submit reports and request for their dept heads to do a quick perusal. So I believe most assume the word perusal to mean a quick look. You agree?

Actually, the word perusal means the opposite of that above.
To 'peruse' is to do a detailed analysis of the data, to carefully study the contents.
Thus, "for your perusal" would entail spending a great deal of your time going over the details of whatever is being submitted for consideration.
It is certainly not a request to skim through the page.



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