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Resumes

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dianestory2

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 16, 2014
257
2
Should I refuse a resume because of two grammar errors in the cover letter?

This is for a somewhat high paying position, and grammar is key. The person has good qualifications, but "...what I've wrote..." as opposed to "...what I've written..." is not too pretty, and "consomption" instead of "consumption".... well, I'm not sure what sort of spell check they were using.

Should I forgive these errors?
 
Last edited:
High paying position doing what?

I work in IT. If we didn't hire people with poor grammar and spelling, then no one would get hired.

If you're hiring this person to be an editor at the New York Times, then you probably don't want to hire them.
 
Also depends on the other applicants. If they are 1 of 300 people and otherwise down on the list, drop them. If there are only 3 applicants or are otherwise well above the rest in critical areas.

In any case, the question is: are you willing to watch / train this person on grammar for the next x years vs are you willing to continue the search for another y weeks?
 
I've worked as a hiring manager before, and I learned very quickly to be forgiving of things like that. (unless, like stated above, they would be writing for the new york times).

Too many people have issues with grammar, and if you eliminate a plurality of people who've applied because of grammar errors, you might find yourself with a very small amount of people leftover, and IF you don't like any of them...
 
Toss it. THat's what I do with resumes with spelling and grammar errors. Also those with unprofessional emails addresses.
 
yg17 said:
High paying position doing what?

I work in IT. If we didn't hire people with poor grammar and spelling, then no one would get hired.

If you're hiring this person to be an editor at the New York Times, then you probably don't want to hire them.
Click to expand...

mobilehaathi said:
Don't forget a pathological absence of "people skills." :D
Click to expand...

I did hire developers with solid grammar and communications skills, +and+ they all could easily engage directly with the client ... anti-developers, no-nerds, un-geeks - whatever you want to call them (one of the reasons my #2 was acquired :) )

yg17 said:
I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

:p
Click to expand...

Automatic +100 for OS quote :D
 
rdowns said:
Toss it. THat's what I do with resumes with spelling and grammar errors. Also those with unprofessional emails addresses.
Click to expand...

Agreed but problem is, 99% of resumes look like pure garbage. I've got a pile sitting on my coffee table at home, literally every candidate has great experience and education, but my god the formatting and polish of the resumes is horrid.

Makes me think I should be able to pull down a CEO position with the perfection on my resume.:confused:
 
I'm alarmed that a person who is applying for a writing job didn't take the time to ensure that there were no grammatical errors. That alone seems reasons enough to abandon the resume.

OP, you owe them nothing. If they have already proved to you that they can't do the job, don't waste anyone's time pretending that they are actually going to be good at the job. You'd end up with a crappy employee.

Eventually, someone with the proper skill and the desire to be employed will come along, and you will know them when you see them.
 
bruinsrme said:
Ask yourself, would you want someone to overlook 2 errors on your resume?
Click to expand...

Resumes are first impressions for investments in personhood. If I was careless enough to mess up on that first impression, I would not expect someone to invest in me.

If an alien had just encountered Apple for the first time at the exact moment that it was discovered the 6+ bent, I doubt the Alien would invest in Apple. It's all about that first impression, and if the applicant messes that up, I don't think it should be forgiven.

However, for the rest of us who are already invested in Apple, we are more forgiving of the company's mess ups.
 
vulcanvillalta said:
Resumes are first impressions for investments in personhood. If I was careless enough to mess up on that first impression, I would not expect someone to invest in me.

If an alien had just encountered Apple for the first time at the exact moment that it was discovered the 6+ bent, I doubt the Alien would invest in Apple. It's all about that first impression, and if the applicant messes that up, I don't think it should be forgiven.

However, for the rest of us who are already invested in Apple, we are more forgiving of the company's mess ups.
Click to expand...

First impression: someone doesn't know the difference between "resume" and "résumé".
 
bruinsrme said:
Ask yourself, would you want someone to overlook 2 errors on your resume?
Click to expand...


I'd expect to be disqualified if I submitted a resume with errors on it.

Is it me or do resumes with errors always come accompanied with a cover letter telling me how they are detail oriented or similar?
 
When job hunting, you are probably (not definitely, but probably) as careful about the entire submission process as you would be on anything else - ever. After all, this is the difference between making a living, and living on the street. If someone overlooks that in this critical case, imagine how poorly they'll do when it's not mission critical to him/her personally.

This is the same reason I force my students to speak properly. You want these things to already be habit when it counts.
 
dianestory2 said:
Should I refuse a resume because of two grammar errors in the cover letter?

This is for a somewhat high paying position, and grammar is key. The person has good qualifications, but "...what I've wrote..." as opposed to "...what I've written..." is not too pretty, and "consomption" instead of "consumption".... well, I'm not sure what sort of spell check they were using.

Should I forgive these errors?
Click to expand...

If the actual Resume doesn't have these kind of errors, it might be worth a phone interview first. I second the suggestion to ask for some work examples.

Some people don't pay much attention to the cover letter as they do with the Resume.

Ask for various references too, and do call and check them, ask about the candidate's grammar and other important things.

However grammar is just one factor.

It's better to weed out first if the candidate is mentally healthy, later focus on grammar.

Some people are great at writing but no necessarily great at other relevant skills needed to perform the job.
 
I'd suggest like others have said, ask for some writing examples. Point of the mistake to them. Yeah it's great and all you caught it but tell them. Not to be a lovely person, let them know about it so they can see you took the time to read it.

What is the job for? We don't need specifics but something like a Software Engineer in Test is better than engineer. If the person is going to be writing a lot then it's important to not make mistakes but it's very different, trust me writing in code for example. Two different things. That's just my personal experience anyway.

Give them another way to redeem themselves. You have plenty of time to say they're not right for the job, so it's not like giving them this chance is going to screw things up for you and the company and lose money.
 
I have reviewed thousands of resumes.
Resumes tell a story of a person as much as lists their career achievements.

I have had the opportunity to interview some of the people that had errors on their resume.
If you feel the person is qualified based on their achievements I would recommend bringing them in.
If you feel they are a strong candidate mention the errors to them and see how they handle it.

On my last resume I used lead instead of led.
The hr person mentioned it to me. Sure I was completely embarrassed. At the same time appreciative that someone that only knew me by my resume,valued my credentials enough to forwarded a professional courtesy.
I go out of my way to help this person.
Looking for jobs sucks. My last job was nothing but a bucket of stress. Then on top of that, looking for a new job and the stress of that.
Having a job and looking is one thing. Having kids, mortgage, no health insurance while not having a job is stress x 100.

If you brought me in and pointed out an error, I personally would have the utmost respect for you. What you just demonstrated to me is; you are a leader, mentor and want to see your people to succeed.
Who wouldn't want to work in such an environment.

Or the resume can be tossed aside and move on to someone with a perfect resume.
 
dianestory2 said:
Should I refuse a resume because of two grammar errors in the cover letter?

This is for a somewhat high paying position, and grammar is key. The person has good qualifications, but "...what I've wrote..." as opposed to "...what I've written..." is not too pretty, and "consomption" instead of "consumption".... well, I'm not sure what sort of spell check they were using.

Should I forgive these errors?
Click to expand...

If the person is native french speaking, it should be forgiven.
 
Well, in my opinion, your topic title is also bad. How am I supposed to get any information about the thread content with a one-word title like that? :p
 
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