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Spelling and grammar errors on CVs

Red About Town

I spent most of a last week at work interviewing a large number of candidates for new roles my company were advertising. The roles are junior positions and most of the applicants were in their early 20's. The candidates had to send in a CV and answer an online questionnaire prior the interview.

The one thing that stood out to me was how many very basic spelling and grammar mistakes were made by the vast majority of applicants on their CVs and applications. Examples being candidates using i instead of I, spelling words like 'college' wrong and not using full stops.

The majority of the candidates also had a third level education/qualification.

Why has basic English spelling and grammar become so poor among today's youth? Is there as much focus on it in school as there used to be? Do young people think it even matters any more?

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Fr_Dougal

I think your been to hard on the applicants.

Redlion

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

I think your been to hard on the applicants.

Unpossible!

randylonghorn

Red About Town wrote: »

Why has basic English spelling and grammar become so poor among today's youth? Is there as much focus on it in school as there used to be? Do young people think it even matters any more?

I'm not sure that there is as much emphasis on it in the school system as previously, but I suspect the internet / texting / etc. are a major contributing factor.

Buck Fizz

It's mainly because they're too lazy to even think before they write. And they don't care that they are making these mistakes either, whether it's on their CV or in general.

Max Power

Red About Town wrote: »

I spent most of a last week at work interviewing a large number of candidates for new roles my company were advertising. The roles are junior positions and most of the applicants were in their early 20's. The candidates had to send in a CV and answer an online questionnaire prior the interview.

The one thing that stood out to me was how many very basic spelling and grammar mistakes were made by the vast majority of applicants on their CVs and applications. Examples being candidates using i instead of I, spelling words like 'college' wrong and not using full stops.

The majority of the candidates also had a third level education/qualification.

Why has basic English spelling and grammar become so poor among today's youth? Is there as much focus on it in school as there used to be? Do young people think it even matters any more?

What?

My name is URL

It's the way of the world these days.. easier just to except it.

Son Of A Vidic

Veiled Subtle look at me I have a job thread.

grey_so_what

Look at the ad beside the "Quick Reply" box for "Instant Gramar Checker".........

Is this your company??????......

eth0

Red About Town wrote: »

spelling words like 'college' wrong

Collitch.

Fishooks12

Red About Town wrote: »

Examples being candidates using i instead of I

That should actually be:

Examples being, candidates using i instead of I

Don't be so anal in future if you yourself are prone to a grammatical error or two.

uberalles

People who don't get their CVs proof read by at least one person for obvious mistakes dont deserve an interview.

It shows a casual attitude.

kowloon

Was once told about a British Army colonel who would ask prospective officer candidates to spell 'Mediterranean'. If they couldn't spell it they were out. It was harsh but fair.

Max Power

uberalles wrote: »

People who don't get their CVs proof read by at least one person for obvious mistakes dont deserve an interview.

It shows a casual attitude.

You should try that.

Marcusm

Although your use of "grammar mistakes" is not strictly incorrect, I find it inelegant. I would proffer "grammatical mistakes" as an alternative.

Grayson

My spelling is horrific now. I don't think I could survive without a spellcheck.

Then again, what were the applicants typing their CV's on?

9959

Even Bono's grammar is deplorable.

'I still haven't found what I'm looking for'

should read,

'I still haven't found, that for which I am looking'

There you go, much better.

Idea for a thread, grammatically incorrect song titles, film titles, eh, maybe not....

Gyalist

Search boards using the word "collage" and you'd be amazed at how often it is misspelled.

Canis Lupus

Once upon a time children had spelling and grammar beaten into them, sometimes literally. Nowadays, I don't feel it's given as much emphasis in the UK and Ireland.

My 'knowledge' of the English language is awful however. I couldn't tell you what an adjective or noun is etc. I tend to do alright because I read so much but I do struggle at times.

Modern technology is also a curse. Children today rely more on their phones and computers to correct stuff as they go and I also have to admit it's affecting my spelling as well. I'm misspelling common words on paper like necessary and occassion and I often find myself typing American spellings so color, apologize and so forth..

The King of Moo

Fishooks12 wrote: »

That should actually be:

Examples being, candidates using i instead of I

Don't be so anal in future if you yourself are prone to a grammatical error or two.

The comma isn't necessary.

What would be necessary (strictly) would be quotation marks around both "i" and "I" to indicate that both words are being referred to as objects.

I wouldn't expect that level of attention to detail in an online post though, so there are no problems in the OP from my perspective.

Scioch

I don't believe for a second that college graduates writing CV's on word processors which will have an auto spell check would make such mistakes.

I call bullshít.

[Deleted User]

Mod

Lads, this is a thread about spelling errors on CVs. It's not an excuse to point out other posters' grammar or spelling mistakes - that is still against the charter.

Custardpi

9959 wrote: »

Even Bono's grammar is deplorable.

'I still haven't found what I'm looking for'

should read,

'I still haven't found, that for which I am looking'

There you go, much better.

He's singing in English, not Latin. Ending a sentence with a preposition is perfectly acceptable English these days. As are split infinitives.

randylonghorn

eth0 wrote: »

Collitch.

Only about 14% of third level students get that though, and there's a pretty good medicated ointment for it now.

Pilotdude5

I used to cheat in my senior infants spelling tests.

The King of Moo

Scioch wrote: »

I don't believe for a second that college graduates writing CV's on word processors which will have an auto spell check would make such mistakes.

I call bullshít.

I've seen many such mistakes on CV's/CVs (the spelling of "curriculum vitae" seems to be a particularly sticky wicket) and in college essays. They're very common.

I'd imagine some people don't know they have a spellcheck function available to them, are aware of it but don't think they've made any mistakes, or simply don't think about whether they've made any mistakes or not, because they're used to seeing words spelled/spelt in a variety of mostly incorrect ways.

uberalles

Scioch wrote: »

I don't believe for a second that college graduates writing CV's on word processors which will have an auto spell check would make such mistakes.

I call bullshít.

Bullsh1te ?

[Deleted User]

Scioch wrote: »

I don't believe for a second that college graduates writing CV's on word processors which will have an auto spell check would make such mistakes.

I call bullshít.

Spellcheck only shows up words that do not exist. It will not point out that collage is not the correct spelling for college as collage is a word itself.

Gyalist

Scioch wrote: »

I don't believe for a second that college graduates writing CV's on word processors which will have an auto spell check would make such mistakes.

I call bullshít.

How would a spellchecker know that "collage", for example, is incorrect?

Scioch

The King of Moo wrote: »

I've seen many such mistakes on CV's/CVs (the spelling of "curriculum vitae" seems to be a particularly sticky wicket) and in college essays. They're very common.

I'd imagine some people don't know they have a spellcheck function available to them, are aware of it but don't think they've made any mistakes, or simply don't think about whether they've made any mistakes or not, because they're used to seeing words spelled/spelt in a variety of mostly incorrect ways.

I dont think I have ever used a word processor that didnt have it enabled by default though. In fact they auto correct misspellings dont they ? Lower case i's will be automatically fixed etc.

They would have to ignore it all and I'd get a small percentage doing that as there is always a couple of numpties. But the vast majority of applicants ? Find that hard to believe.

admiralofthefleet

should spelling and grammar matter though? in my book, as long as the person is qualified for the job and has experience their grammar doesnt matter