Attention to detail is something everyone can and should do-especially in tight job market.

Bob Crossley,a human-resources expert notices this in the job applications that come across his desk every day."It's amazing how many candidates eliminate themselves,"he says."Resumes arrive with faults.Some candidates don't bother to spell the company's name correctly.Once I see a mistake,I refuse the candidates,"Crossley concludes,"If they cannot take care of these details,why should we trust them with a job?"

Can we pay too much attention to details?Absolutely not.

Perfectionists struggle over little things instead of something larger they work toward."To keep from losing the forest for the trees,"says Charles Garfield,the professor at the University of California,San Francisco,"We must constantly ask ourselves how the details we're working will influence the larger picture.If they don't,we should drop them and move to something else."

Garfield compares this process to his work as a computer scientist at NASA."The Apollo II moon launch was slightly off-course 90percent of the time,"says Garfield."But a successful landing was still likely because we knew the exact position of our goal.This allowed us to make adjustments as necessary."Knowing where to go helps us judge the importance of every task we undertake.

Again and again,we see that by doing little things within our grasp well,large rewards follow.

Answer this series of questions:

1. Where does Garfield work?
2. What does he do there?
3. Which Apollo mission was he involved with?
4. Was he involved with the Challenger?
5. What made a successful landing of the Apollo II likely?
6. Is it important to know where you want to go?
7. What does that allow us to judge?
8. What's Bob Crossley an expert in?
9. What type of apps does he see every day?
10. How come he sees them?
11. What do candidates do to themselves?
12. What do their resumes arrive with?
13. Can you give an example of one?
14. What does Bob do if he sees a mistake?
15. Does he trust them with a job?
16. What does Bob want them to be able to take care of?
17. Is it possible to pay too much attention to them?
18. Where does Garfield teach?
19. Where's that?
20. Should we care how details influence the larger picture?
1. NASA
2. he's a computer scientist
3. The Apollo II
4. unknown
5. they knew the exact position
6. yes
7. the importance of tasks
8. human-resources
9. job applications
10. it's part of his job
11. eliminate themselves
12. faults
13. spell the company's name wrong
14. refuses the candidates
15. no
16. details
17. Absolutely not
18. University of California
19. San Francisco
20. yes