pre-existing /existing

rock_face

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but I'm writing a CV so I guess the Creative Writing forum is the appropriate place

What is the difference between pre-existing and existing?

alchemist33

Depends on context, but existing suggests something you have now and pre-existing something you had before a certain point.

echo beach

Pre-existing means that it existed before (pre-) a particular point in time. Existing means that it exists now.

If you had a medical condition before you took out an insurance policy it is a pre-existing condition (for the purposes of that policy). If you still have it then it is also an existing condition.

rock_face

So if I was talking about modifying/maintaining software which was already in place prior to starting the work, which should I use?

I've got:

Development of new software and maintenance of pre-existing software.

redser7

I would just go with existing

echo beach

I agree with Redser, or even use 'current software' but I doubt if word choice will be a deal-breaker in the IT world.

Fuzzytrooper

I've been in the interviewer's seat a number of times for a software company (I'm primarily a dev) and to be honest it doesn't really matter. I'd go with maintenance of existing software or possibly mention maintenance of live systems. The key thing would be to give context around the systems you are maintaining - enterprise systems, customer facing, application that's rolled out to user desktops etc

rock_face

Hi all - thanks for the replies.

Fuzzytrooper - this is going OT, but what do you expect to see in the skills and personal statement part of the CV? I'm struggling to fill in my skills section - which is not a good sign. The environment I work in used predominantly proprietary languages so I'm a bit short on buzzwords such as Java, C++, VBA etc. However, I've managed to pick up the proprietary languages with relative ease - which I think should count for something.
I don't want to start putting in wooly statements about my abilities/skills.

Fuzzytrooper

rock_face wrote: »

Hi all - thanks for the replies.

Fuzzytrooper - this is going OT, but what do you expect to see in the skills and personal statement part of the CV? I'm struggling to fill in my skills section - which is not a good sign. The environment I work in used predominantly proprietary languages so I'm a bit short on buzzwords such as Java, C++, VBA etc. However, I've managed to pick up the proprietary languages with relative ease - which I think should count for something.
I don't want to start putting in wooly statements about my abilities/skills.

Getting a bit away from creative writing but PM sent ☺