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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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EoghanIRL

Redlion wrote: »

Unpossible!

I see what you did there

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.

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.

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:

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)

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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

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

maddragon

Their only trying there best with they're CVs.

Greenmachine

maddragon wrote: »

Their only trying there best with they're CVs.

That's a strike. What beautiful execution of the poing.

Greenmachine

Was not directed at you in particular, or else I would have used it in it's singular more recognised form. Merely pointing at how much of a grammar nazi direction the thread had taken. Poster B point out poster A's mistakes and in the process making a few of his own, and the process continuing over a number of posts. I was happy to have myself corrected. It would be insane not to allow such a concession with the direction of the thread.
I may be a pot but you can make your own tea. :eek::pac:

The King of Moo wrote: »

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.

PhlegmyMoses

The kids are alright. When you were being interviewed for your job some office gimp was probably passing remark on the decline of the importance of spelling and grammar in society when reviewing that batch of CVs.

cartell_best

(sorry if this is a wee bit long) I was in a role up until a couple of years ago where I had to trawl through CV after CV. Sometimes I just wondered what some people were doing when they were laying out their CV's. Some of the thing's I had seen were just crazy! I shi*t you know, without placing pure emphasis on an initial cover letter or CV, to this day and from what I've learned, I am absolutely enlightened.

Frightening did not come into the equation. On quite a few occasions I genuinely had to make a call, just based on instinct. One instance that sticks in my mind, a girl with no experience, little qualifications for the role, but I do remember what I felt reading her CV. She came in for an interview, and I knew that despite the way she designed her CV and whatever HR departments "believe is valuable", she was good. I'm not in that role and haven't been for a while, but the last I found out was that she is a purchasing manager for one of the few non-grocery retail chains that have experienced considerable growth over the last 3 years. You could have someone submit a CV with PhD’s coming out their ears with great intelligence but with very little common sense. I would overlook a few spelling or grammatical errors, simply because at the end of the day, none of us can truly put on paper, what we are actually like.

Princess Peach

Stop! My job is in my university, I help the international students get to know all about the Canadian job market.

I spent a good while this weekend critiquing their resumes and cover letters. You wouldn't believe them!!

One guy went on for a whole paragraph in his cover letter about how great his English was, and he used to teach English and all the research he has done. I corrected all his spelling mistakes and referred him to the writing center...

I won't go on, feel mean to these poor students :pac:

Qualitymark

I would expect literacy in CVs; people who are applying for a decent job should be expected to be able to think; and part of being able to think properly is being able to use your language(s) properly.

languagenerd

Referring to the "Do spelling and grammar matter?" debate, I think that they definitely do on a C.V., no matter what the application is for.

Your C.V. is often the first impression a company gets of you. They know nothing about you, and you're trying to sell yourself to them (not literally, but you know what I mean :P). Why wouldn't you make it perfect? Even if the job doesn't involve writing, a poorly laid-out and badly-written C.V. is going to make a bad impression.

It's especially important nowadays, when you have hundreds of applicants for each position. If the company have to cut down the number of applicants, they'll pick the ones with the best C.V.s. Harsh, maybe, but necessary.

Considering the amount of technology available for typing nowdays and the existence of spellcheckers and internet grammar forums at the touch of a button, it's really easy to fix mistakes in a document. How lazy do you appear if you haven't bothered to proof-read and fix your C.V.?!

[Agh, I hate posting in grammar threads in case I make any glaring mistakes! ]

sam34

bnt wrote: »

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.

PS: my CV does indeed have "Curricilum 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:

:pac: oh the ironing

bnt

sam34 wrote: »

:pac: oh the ironing

As pointed out several times in this thread already, we are talking about CVs and other business communications, not postings on Boards. Mistakes that go unnoticed here are going to be noticed on a CV. By posting my opinion about the importance of getting CVs and names right, I am not claiming I am infallible. Horses for courses, and all that.

I could comment on your lack of Netiquette, quoting a whole long post just to add one line in response - that's more relevant to Boards than perfect spelling and grammar.

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

You could have it shoved up your colon.

Could be worse - it could be your semicolon. :eek:

sam34

bnt wrote: »

I could comment on your lack of Netiquette, quoting a whole long post just to add one line in response - that's more relevant to Boards than perfect spelling and grammar

You could, and did. However, you are incorrect in that I did not quote your "whole post", instead I deleted a paragraph that was irrelevant to the point I was making.

Wabbit Ears

I cant help wonder who's worse, Someone who hasn't proof read their CV so that its free on spelling and grammar mistakes or the agency or HR department person who isn't doing their job vetting these CV's properly and calling these slack jawed yokels for interview.

I'm so old..

poeticseraphim

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?

English grammar has not been taught in schools for a while. Students are not taught the body of rules that describe word structure, clause syntax, etc. They are not familiar with word classes, different types of phrases, clauses and sentences or the conjunctions which express a variety of logical relations between them. It is not really taught anymore.

There is a lot of disputed English grammar such as the generic 'you', preposition stranding or split infinitives. Unlike French English has no central authority. There is no authoritative governing academy. So culturally it is not important whereas in France it is. For this reason, different people often take different works of reference as authoritative. Others argue that, lacking a recognized authority, correctness is defined by common use. Or people take works of literature as authoritative. But literature often invents rules, as it is creative. Shakespeare invented a lot of language.

It can also be a matter of tradition versus newer constructions.

Even respected authors lend credibility to peculiar constructions. For example Earnest Hemingway was known for beginning sentences with And; this is not always a rule though and is considered incorrect in some dialects. I think sometimes children are taught mixed dialects in schools without realization or awareness and mix the rules. The prescriptivist and descriptivist methods can clash, with one describing how English should be spoken and the other, how it is spoken. I think children get confused. An extreme prescriptivist might maintain that even if every sentence in current English uses a certain construction, that construction may still be incorrect. An extreme descriptivist might maintain that there is no such thing as incorrect use.

I have to admit when I am not careful I am extremely lax.:o I use i for I all the time for example. I am only careless during leisure though.

But no one is perfect and whilst a certain standard is necessary I think those who stress over it in social situations are insecure, that is not to say it isn't worth respect though. But I know enough about it as a subject to be a little humble.

Kurt Vonnegut gave this advice to young writers , "Don't use semicolons. They stand for absolutely nothing. They are transvestite hermaphrodites. They are just a way of showing off. To show that you have been to college." I think i used one up above..UH OH:eek::o:P YEAH.... i..I i mean I or i..

THIS IS HILARIOUS!!! WATCH!!:):):)

Wacker The Attacker

It's spelling and grammatical errors.

poeticseraphim

Wacker The Attacker wrote: »

It's spelling and grammatical errors.

LEGEND.:):):)

endacl

randylonghorn wrote: »

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

FYP, dude!

Edit: Also FMP. Smartarse fail...

endacl

If one may also be a pedantic smartarse....

The plural of 'CV', is not CV's, or CVs.

Its CV.

Curriculum Vitae becomes Curricula Vitae.

I'm bored. Thanks for your time.

mcmoustache

kowloon wrote: »

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.

That's going to be question 11 of our test. The ability to spell that word displays skills in latin, grammar, conjugaation and few cúnts could spell it.

I just have to figure out what question should be asked to compel someone to use the word.