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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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Qualitymark

The King of Moo wrote: »

I know, it's actually plurals of abbreviations I'm referring to, like "CD's" and "DVD's," in which cases the apostrophe is optional.

Ah yeah, sorry, shouldn't have been so picky; forum posts get leeway

The King of Moo

Qualitymark wrote: »

You want logic from English grammar?

I have *no* idea why the apostrophe is acceptable in making a numeral plural; nor why an apostrophe is used for all possessives except possessive pronouns and occasional names like Guinnesses, which is 'correctly' so expressed. The language is mad, I tell you, mad.

(But you don't put the apostrophe before the s in possessive plurals, Your Magesty of Moo, it's always after the s. The boy's (Sean's) ice cream; the boys' (Sean's and Seamus's) ice cream.)

I know, it's actually plurals of abbreviations I'm referring to, like "CD's" and "DVD's," in which cases the apostrophe is optional.

Qualitymark

wilkie2006 wrote: »

How so? There's no omission of anything, nor is it possessive...

(Not being aggressive, just interested)

You want logic from English grammar?

I have *no* idea why the apostrophe is acceptable in making a numeral plural; nor why an apostrophe is used for all possessives except possessive pronouns and occasional names like Guinnesses, which is 'correctly' so expressed. The language is mad, I tell you, mad.

(But you don't put the apostrophe before the s in possessive plurals, Your Magesty of Moo, it's always after the s. The boy's (Sean's) ice cream; the boys' (Sean's and Seamus's) ice cream.)

The King of Moo

wilkie2006 wrote: »

Here's another one:

"20s", not 20's.

Hope your boss isn't reading all this...

wilkie2006 wrote: »

How so? There's no omission of anything, nor is it possessive...

(Not being aggressive, just interested)

I think the reasoning behind adding an apostrophe in such a case is to make a clear distinction between the number and the "s," as "0s" can look like "os" and be a little confusing to the eye.

Like the option of putting an apostrophe before the "s" in plurals of abbreviations, to make it clear that the "s" indicates that it's a plural, and isn't part of the abbreviation itself.

MaxSteele

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Not that I'm in the position to hire but a lack of attention to detail on something like a cv doesn't bode particularly well for the applicant.

What if the job was secretarial, corporate relations, advertising etc etc?

Suppose it depends, but the fact that the OP was spell checked a couple of times is ironic

Canis Lupus

MaxSteele wrote: »

:rolleyes:

So because they didn't capitalize the "i" to "I", they probably don't get the job or have the CV thrown into the bin ?

Christ.

Not that I'm in the position to hire but a lack of attention to detail on something like a cv doesn't bode particularly well for the applicant.

What if the job was secretarial, corporate relations, advertising etc etc?

Archeron

Try receiving a hand delivered cv with a huge watery snot smeared down the front page. We never even made it to the grammar.

wilkie2006

Qualitymark wrote: »

Actually both are acceptable, though I prefer 20s myself.

How so? There's no omission of anything, nor is it possessive...

(Not being aggressive, just interested)

Pherekydes

MaxSteele wrote: »

:rolleyes:

So because they didn't capitalize the "i" to "I", they probably don't get the job or have the CV thrown into the bin ?

Christ.

It's a doggy dog world out there. :pac:

Qualitymark

wilkie2006 wrote: »

Here's another one:

"20s", not 20's.

Hope your boss isn't reading all this...

Actually both are acceptable, though I prefer 20s myself.

MaxSteele

:rolleyes:

So because they didn't capitalize the "i" to "I", they probably don't get the job or have the CV thrown into the bin ?

Christ.

EoghanIRL

Redlion wrote: »

Unpossible!

I see what you did there

Fr_Dougal

wilkie2006 wrote: »

I don't think you could have grammar beaten into you literally (unless you could shove a hyphen up someone's ar$e?)

You could have it shoved up your colon.

2rkehij30qtza5

I wouldn't hire someone who couldn't spell or punctuate properly. Unless the job didn't involve any kind of written communication whatsoever.

steddyeddy

Qualitymark wrote: »

I'm an editor by trade. Throw me a few quid and I'll gladly tidy up the spelling and grammar of your CV.

Ill think of you when Im writing my thesis!

wilkie2006

Canis Lupus wrote: »

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.

I'm not sure you mean that. I don't think you could have grammar beaten into you literally (unless you could shove a hyphen up someone's ar$e?)

Qualitymark

I'm an editor by trade. Throw me a few quid and I'll gladly tidy up the spelling and grammar of your CV.

wilkie2006

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?

Here's another one:

"20s", not 20's.

Hope your boss isn't reading all this...

steddyeddy

Ficheall wrote: »

Hmm.. do you not care about us, steddyeddy?

I do of course. I have made massive efforts to imrpove my grammar on boards! It's an excellent place to practice in fairness!

Ficheall

steddyeddy wrote: »

Evening if I am mailing another lecturer I am very careful about how my grammar.

Hmm.. do you not care about us, steddyeddy?

steddyeddy

Grammar does matter. It shows that the person typing out the cv cares about the job. Evening if I am mailing another lecturer I am very careful about how my grammar.

bnt

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

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

In my experience, most job descriptions include something along the lines of "attention to detail". If the job involves communication of any sort, spelling and grammar are important details. If someone sends me something with those sorts of errors, I can't take it seriously, and therefore can't take the writer seriously.

The other day I sent an email to someone in my company, on official business, and in his reply he spelled my name incorrectly. He had absolutely no excuse - it was correct in the "From" field and at the end of my message. It showed a total lack of respect for me, and ensured that I knew that I was dealing with someone who will be just as sloppy in anything else he does. If you're going to get one thing right, make it the other person's name.

PS: my CV does indeed have "Curriculum Vitæ" at the top. Note the special character in "Vitæ". Most recruiters won't even notice that detail, but anything that could give you an edge is worth trying. :cool:

The King of Moo

Greenmachine wrote: »

Who the hell writes "curriculum vitae" on top of a C.V.

For a start if you were to write it would be written "Curriculum Vitae" surely
and the abbreviation would contain a stop after each letter.

I will hide now. I am bound to have made an error here somewhere. A room full of pots and kettles perhaps.

Lots of people whose CV's/CVs I've looked at write it, perhaps to make their CV (full stops not necessary) look better.

I didn't capitalise "curriculum vitae" as it wasn't necessary to do so, as I was using it as a general noun, and not a title, though naturally it would be correct to capitalise it in an actual CV.

RE: pots and kettles - I don't think I've made any spelling or grammar mistakes in my posts in this thread. I've certainly striven not to do so. If I have made any mistakes, they're minor ones I won't lose sleep over.

I would, however, ensure I made no such mistakes in the writing of a CV.

pickarooney

Gyalist wrote: »

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

It's something they often get stuck on.

Greenmachine

Who the hell writes "curriculum vitae" on top of a C.V.

For a start if you were to write it would be written "Curriculum Vitae" surely
and the abbreviation would contain a stop after each letter.

I will hide now. I am bound to have made an error here somewhere. A room full of pots and kettles perhaps.

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.

steddyeddy

My grammar isn't the best really but I do care about it enough to try and improve it. My grammer has improved slightly and I'll continue to work on it. Imho though grammar bullies are the enemy of grammar. Nothing turned me off imrpoving my grammar more than some sh1t make snide remarks about it.

Meangadh

You only need to go on facebook to see the state of spelling and grammar by the general public. I don't know, perhaps it's the people I'm friends with, but for the most part we all have pretty good spelling and grammar. But groups that I'm a member of (or should that read "groups of which I am a member

) or other various things that show up on my page- sometimes I actually cannot understand how in God's name people think that some of the stuff they write is acceptable.

I'm not even referring to text speak here, mostly just horrifically bad spelling and brutal over-use of apostrophes or an incapability to use your/you're and their/there/they're properly. It's not that bloody hard- and having it incorrect on a CV is completely unacceptable in my book, regardless of what position you're applying for.

BrokenArrows

I live in the UK and I'm amazed at how people can't compose a simple email.

I've honestly had to call people up after receiving an email and get them to explain themselves because I couldn't decypher what they were trying to get across.

I'm not that picky about spelling but when a sentence is absolute jibberish you have to question how the person got to where they are.

Ficheall

Can you inform the applicant that their application is being rejected on the grounds of the applicant having atrocious English? Or would they sue you for unfair rejection or somesuch?

9959

Custardpi wrote: »

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

I assure you, I was taking the Michael, but well done you!