The Active and Passive Voices

The Editor was confused by his teachers. His knowledge and understanding were not increased by their methods.

However, I have come to understand that the use of the active voice makes language cleaner and tidier, and uses less words!

Active voice: The cat ate the fish
Passive voice: The fish was eaten by the cat

Why would you do this? Well, sometimes you don't actually. For example, when the object of the action is more important: John F Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald (is better than Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated John F Kennedy...because we are more interested in JFK than Mr Oswald)

But most of the time, the passive voice is waffle, and is often used to obscure and confuse deliberately:

A mistake was made that resulted in an overcharge to your account that has now been corrected and will be shown on your next statement.

How much sweeter would it be if the message read:

Our data entry clerk made a mistake and overcharged your account, but she corrected the entry. Your next statement will show the correction.

All this is explained clearly by the author of the link below (oops!)

http://www.businesswriting.com/tests/activepassive.htm

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There will be a Christmas! (Recession nearly over!!)

Earlier in the month I wrote this article, following an optimistic report in The Guardian:

The CBI has given Gordon Brown a boost as he attempts to revive the government's fortunes, predicting that Britain should emerge from recession by the end of the year.
As the prime minister prepares to rally his party at next week's Labour conference the business lobby group has published its forecast today saying that Britain will emerge from the worst recession in decades by the end of this month as consumers rush to the shops ahead of January's VAT increase.
In its latest health check of the British economy, the CBI said gross domestic product would grow by 0.3% in the third quarter of the year and by 0.4% in the final three months, after five consecutive quarters of contraction.
The return to growth would be much earlier than the CBI forecast in June, when it said that recovery would not come until next year.

From The Guardian Wednesday 23rd September 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/sep/23/cbi-forecast-recession-over

How it seems as though the pundits were talking through their, errm..where the sun don't shine:

From The Guardian Friday 23rd October 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/23/uk-economy-lonest-recession-record

One thing it seems, that Britain does really well: recessions! Ours is the longest one ever! The only remaining question I suppose, is: will the recession last longer that Liverpool FC's losing streak?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/poll/2009/oct/23/liverpool-manchester-united-rafael-benitez

Anyway, a cheerful note from The Editor: Don't jump off a cliff just yet! From 26th October there are just 60 days until the recession is over aka shopping days until Christmas!

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Bang Bang!

After having their 11th child, a Liverpool couple decided that was enough, as the social wouldn’t buy them a bigger bed and they weren’t strong enough to nick one.
The husband went to his doctor and told him that he and his wife didn’t want to have any more children.

The doctor told him there was a procedure called a vasectomy that would fix the problem but it was expensive.  A less costly alternative was to go home, get a firework, light it, put it in a beer can, then hold the can up to his ear and count to 10.

The Scouser said to the doctor, ‘I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but I don’t see how putting a firework in a beer can next to my ear is going to help me.’

‘Trust me, it will do the job’, said the doctor.

So the man went home, lit a banger and put it in a beer can.  He held the can up to his ear and began to count, ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5,’ at which point he paused, and placed the beer can between his legs so he could continue counting on his other hand.

Attributed to Tommy Cooper -

http://epicfireworks.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/fireworks-jokes-and-guy-fawkes-jokes/

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Hot Jobs

Remember, remember the Fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot!

Here is a bumper box of Guy Fawkes night jobs to put a banger under your flagging career and send you on a rocket to the heights!
Or, if you're an employer looking to improve the stock of your flock, here is a veritable treasure chest of bonfire night candidates - airbombs to explode your revenues, sparklers to bring childlike glee to the faces of your customers, and jumping jacks to get your shareholders hopping up and down in anticipation of your enhanced profits!

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£35,000 basic

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• Summary: This is the opportunity for you to join a company which sells cutting edge technology in the flow/cell imaging arena. You will be responsible for the sale of cell imaging instrumentation and associated products into the pharmaceutical, research and academic markets.
• Why you should apply for this job: This is a great opportunity for you to combine your technical knowledge in the cell imaging area with the thrill of a sales role!
  

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£38,000 basic salary

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£42,000 OTE, car, pension, healthcare, 25 days holiday

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• Summary: Your responsibilities will be to develop and implement the annual marketing plan across EMEAA, and management of the marketing mix by target segment. The promotion of products, managing launches and maintaining key customer relationships will be another one of your key tasks. You will also develop the regional marketing budget, monitoring and reporting revenues and results.
  
• Why you should apply for this job?  This company is one of the world’s most successful biotechnology companies and has achieved outstanding growth in its history. As a leading worldwide provider of innovative DNA, RNA, and protein purification technologies and molecular testing solutions to the life science market and to diagnostic laboratories, they have consistently delivered impressive year-on-year revenue increases.

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Clinical Sales Specialist

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£35,000 basic salary

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£41,000 OTE, car, 25 days holiday, pension, healthcare

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• Summary: You will concentrate on a unique range of products . These will range from automated assays to point of care and large instrumentation. The company has just launched a new product which is a marker for myocardial infarction, and you will promote the products to consultant anaesthesiologists, cardiologists, consultant microbiologists and biochemists.
• Why you should apply for this job: This is an outstanding opportunity to join a global medical company that is going through a period of expansion. This will be an exciting and challenging opportunity for a sales person looking for the next step in their career.
  

Clinical Jobs

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• Summary: This is a senior level, global project/programme management role with a focus on respiratory and internal medicine! It's a permanent position with a market leading, global company providing full scope clinical development services to all of the top blue chip pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies worldwide!
• Why you should apply for this job: Enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, generous salary and car allowance, and performance related bonus scheme.
  

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• Summary: Here is a rare and exciting permanent opportunity for a medical doctor with oncology expertise to join a world leading biotechnology company! This challenging role combines clinical, medical and scientific development activities to support clinical oncology programs on an international level!
• Why you should apply for this job: More money to spend at Christmas! A competitive salary and benefits package, excellent career development opportunities and the chance to work for the most innovative and progressive biopharmaceutical company in the world!
  

Hot Candidates

Scientific Sales & Marketing Division

Applications Specialist

• BSc Microbiology, MSc Management of IT, PhD Molecular Microbiology
• Excellent commercial experience: technical sales and distributor management
• Proven organizational and planning skills through key account management
• Technical training and experience in: siRNA, qPCR, sequencing, microarray, nucleic acid extraction (incl. automation), protein extraction and analysis
• Knowledge and experience of university, biotechnology and pharmaceutical markets in both a clinical and life science research environment
• Broad range of IT skills and experience php, Java, perl, ASP, computer security, software design, MS Visio and MS Project, software project management
  
• Why should you employ this candidate: Outstanding communicator, extremely comfortable at the technology/customer interface...the perfect individual to convey your company's technical message to your customers!

Reference 55608PSP
£30,000 basic
Midlands

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Trainee Field Sales

• BSc Genetics, MSc Biotechnology
• Currently a Business Development Manager (sales) with a commercial company
• Achieved revenue targets from new and existing clients
• Successfully built up strategic selling, presentation, proposal writing and packaging bespoke solutions skills
• Brilliant range of highly technical biological skills
• Why you should employ this candidate: An astute, quick learner with a strong work ethic who is team spirited, self-motivated and committed!

Reference 103188CRD
£24,000 basic, £35,000 OTE
Anywhere!