Which is correct:
Required:
or some variation thereof?
I assume it is not A, probably C, but I can’t quite be sure. Help me, guys!
I’ll say B. Two years work experience. I think it’s not C because that says “work experience” is possessed by “2 years” when I think you want “2 years” to be an adjective describing the "work experience. I don’t have my WS2K with me, so I’ll have to verify this later.
D’oh. Ok, I stand by my above guess if there is an understood “of” between “years” and “work” or something of that sort. If not, then I think “Two years” should become “Two-years” to form a compound adjective. Jeez, I shouldn’t have even entered this thread.
There is an understood “of”
But…
“two-year work experience” would mean experience doing two-year work, correct?
And then with “two-years work experience” I don’t think the dash is appropriate. Hence I suggested an apostrophe after years to suggest “of.” I think I’ve seen “two years’ work experience” written before.
However, I settled on “two years work experience.” Seems like the safest guess, especially with the implied “of.”
I think the apostrophe is appropriate, as implying “of,” but I also think that leaving it out is OK.
Is this going in your resume or your cover letter? In the cover letter, I would use “two years of work experience.” In the resume, I would not tend to use the phrase “work experience” at all - you’re listing your jobs, so of course they’re work experience.
No, no, no…no resume. Just copy editing a list which needs to be in a fairly tight form, and the “of” needs to be left out. Leaving it in would simplify matters totally.
It’s “two years’ work experience”
Two modifies years.
Time is possessive.
If it helps, reverse it so that it’s “work experience of two years”. Ugly, but correct.
Definitely, without a doubt, unequivocally, it’s C. It is indeed the “experience of two years” possessive. As I tell my students, look at the apostrophe, say “of the,” then look to the left. Can’t go wrong that way.
‘Nother English major checking in here. Technically you want two years’ work experience. But since you want it short, go with 2 years’ work experience. People will think it’s wrong, but they’re stupid:)
Think of it as “two years’(worth of) work experience”.