Illiterate? You be the judge

JudyT929 · October 2003

I'm recruiting for an educational conference planner and received the following email:

I am interesting in this position. Attach is my resume.. Please review and reply to my email or give a call. I had have managed dept. budget when worked at xxxxxxx as a Lead technician/acted Associates Manager when former boss left for a position elswhere. Attended Production daily meeting and Engineering/NPI (New Product Introduction) weekly meeting. Assigned daily worked to lower Operators/Technicians on most of my previous jobs. Be able to write annual review with individual employees. Reported to Production Manager, Director of Manufacturing, Engineering Manager.
Recently, I just completed Network Engineer Program at Texas Tech University-Academy 2000 (Certificates), CompTIA A+ ,MCSA Working toward MCSE, MCDBA . Please forward my resume to the hiring manager and personel.

Not only is the grammer horrendous but what does this have to do with educational conferences????? Needless to say I didn't bother opening the resume.

ray a · October 2003

Right now I am reading resumes looking for an Electrical Engineer with specific qualifications spelled out in the job posting. Most of the applicants are mechanical engineers even a few civil engineers. Some with no education or just a 2 year certificate. Out of a stack of resumes, not one meets the requirements. But, they all have to be logged and filed.

Whatever · October 2003

Maybe it is a sign of the times but, I get a tremendous amount of resumes that don't even come close to the job requirements. I guess people are hoping that I will be so impressed with their resume that I'll overlook that they are not qualified for the job.

HRQ · October 2003

I'm pretty tolerant of typos, but poor spelling and grammar are HUGE pet peeves of mine - especially on professional documents. (Having said that, be NICE if I commit a writing faux paux! x:D)

Most of the positions in our company only require a high school diploma, so I don't expect too much. (Sad, isn't it? Earning a high school diploma doesn't necessarily mean one can write.) On the other hand, many of our teachers are expected to teach children how to read and write. Kind of scary if they don't have the skills themselves.

You know, after I read your post again, I wonder if English is not this person's first language. The errors are pretty common for one who learned English as a second language.

And yeah, I also wonder if this person knows what she is applying for!

rad · October 2003

There is no excuse for this. Perhaps, as HRQ suggested, English is not the person's first language, but surely he or she must know someone, anyone, who can proof read - friend, librarian, clergyperson, grab the mailcarrier for crying out loud! I am a grammar freak when it comes to professional documents, including e-mail, and shake my head at half of what I see.

Now, when on the forum, I can sometimes let my hair down and be a bit more casual with the language x:P

mushroomHR · October 2003

This resume definitely sounds like some of the ones we have received in our organization. A large amount of our employees are European and this resume reads like they speak. We too get a lot of resumes/applications with qualifications that don't even come near the job we advertised for. Once people see that you are looking to fill a position they come out of the woodwork and inundate you with resumes that are a waste of their time and yours.

marc · October 2003

i dno't get the porbelm. Is the cumuneikashum scuh a big dael?

ray a · October 2003

Right on, Marc. Dislexics unite!

Whatever · October 2003

And use speel cheker before posting.

Don D · October 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-16-03 AT 02:01PM (CST)[/font][p]Judy: I'm going to give you an alternate point of view. If it were not for resumes and the like, there would be no need for us. It is a given that when we run an ad we try the best we can to clearly outline the job's requirements. We fool ourselves if we think only those who fit the mold of the ad will respond. It is also a given that people think if you advertise for one position, in all likelihood you may have another, so they send a resume. I imagine it's pretty rare that this works for them, but who knows. We all have our separate experiences with running ads. In my case, I have determined that in the first two days after the ad I get a double handful of resumes from unqualified people. Day 5 through about day 10 I get pretty good resumes that look promising and some get interviews. Day 15 through the second running into week three and four I get luke warm resumes and those from people whose relatives sent them the ad or who might want to move back here and spotted the ad. All throughout the process I get as many or more that don't match the ad as those who do or almost do. reading them is all in a day's work.

I try not to be critical of those who respond, assuming they are looking for work at some level. I don't judge the grammar or resume composition unless it is a job requiring those skills; a position in creative writing, perhaps customer service, marketing or sales, executive assistant, HR or some director levels, etc. The best electrical maintenance genius we have has grammer problems and could not put a resume together. But he could wire the White House single handed and re-plumb it overnight. I posted last year about having to lay off a 22 year supervisor with a company during a reduction in force. I will post part of that again now. The guy (Will) came to my office and told me how much he appreciated the 22 year career he had had with the company and how much he loved it. Then he asked me this: Mr. Don, could you do me a favor? Would you help me do a resume? I don't write too good.

JudyT929 · October 2003

If I worked in a maybe a manufacturing type environment, or something like that, I might consider looking at a resume with poor grammer, spelling, but I don't. I work for a professional association and everyone here from the mail clerk to the CFO is required to be able to communicate professionally. I know some people respond to any ad, however,I will never understand why. I've been out of work before, and with my experience being predominately HR, I would no more respond to an ad for an experienced waitress than I would for a medical doctor.

Don D · October 2003

Judy: I wouldn't apply for a waitress or medical job either. But, I might apply for one in an occupation related to what I do or have done if I thought I had a shot at an interview. I have probably worked in environments 300 times the size of your 'professional association'. Don't look down your nose at what you call a 'manufacturing environment'. I currently work for what you might call a manufacturing environment with over 50 thousand employees including every support function and professional occupation you can imagine in a company of any size. An HR professional in a manufacturing environment also recruits for accountants, corporate attorneys, engineers, sales professionals, ad writers, manufacturing managers, regional sales manager, corporate level comptrollers, design specialists, safety directors, quality managers, marketing managers, customer service managers, transportation directors and IS Directors, most if not all of them degreed. We see those resumes as well as the handwritten ones for forklift operator and shift supervisor. It's important to not be overly judgemental of those hoping to find work and not critical of their lack of skill or expertise at writing a resume, no matter what their pursuit. If a misworded resume or one that you enjoy redlining for grammatical errors is a turnon for you, welcome to the wrong line of work. Otherwise, have a good day. x:-)

gillian2 · October 2003

Does communicating professionally, each and every person, mean that the only people who work there speak English at the level that meets what you think is "professional". If so, you could be discriminating by race, color or national origin, especially national origin, since it is that group which may not speak English as well as you would like.

HRgalME · October 2003

I have to agree with the person that said this is probably an individual for whom English is a second language. If there is a possibility that their resume shows potential for a current opening, bring them in. Some of the candidates I've hired in my short career so far have not always had the most stellar of resumes. Sometimes, the stellar resumes just mean the person had someone do it for them.

Cyndy

HRQ · October 2003

Good point, HRgalME.

Many times, I've called in an applicant based on their impeccable resume, only to be shocked at the applicant sitting before me when they come in for the interview. #-o

Illiterate? You be the judge

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