Anything wrong with this job application?

Spie said:
I think you all know what's wrong with it.

Correct punctuation is very important. Sadly, over half of all written applications received don't even use capitalisation for I. People need to understand the difference between the written word and text messages, although I always use correct punctuation for both.

If I get time I'll post one or two of the worst ones later.
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It's amazing how quickly punctuation and spelling is going downhill in todays society.
I find myself getting affected from the use of spell checkers, predictive text, txtspeak (OMGLOLZ) and other things like that and it saddens me :(
But some people have a serious problem and they need to sort it out!

At work, our new Positioning statement begins a paragraph with the word "And". Everyone is moaning about that one.
 
Spie said:
I think you all know what's wrong with it.

Correct punctuation is very important. Sadly, over half of all written applications received don't even use capitalisation for I. People need to understand the difference between the written word and text messages, although I always use correct punctuation for both.

If I get time I'll post one or two of the worst ones later.
Click to expand...

Is correct punctuation really SO important for a PC technician? I can understand that there are times when they may need to write something down, possibly even email a customer, I can understand rejecting them due to the way the letter is worded or the number of mistakes but a few punctuation mistakes?

The world would have lost some pretty important people if they had all been denied opertunites purely down to the way they wrote.

Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Enterprises
John T Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems
Henry Ford.
William Hewlett, Co-Founder, Hewlett-Packard
Craig McCaw, Telecommunications Visionary.
O.D. McKee, founder of McKee Foods.
David Neeleman, CEO of jetBlue Airways.
Paul J. Orfalea, founder of Kinko's.
Charles Schwab , Investor.
Ted Turner, President, Turner Broadcasting Systems
F.W. Woolworth

Ann Bancroft, Arctic Explorer.
Alexander Graham Bell.
Thomas Edison.
Albert Einstein.
Michael Faraday.
Dr. James Lovelock.
Willem Hollenbach, astronomical photographer and inventor.
John R. Horner, Paleontologist.
Archer Martin , Chemist (1952 Nobel Laureate)
Pierre Curie, Physicist (1903 Nobel Prize)
John Robert Skoyles, Brain Researcher.
Werner Von Braun

http://www.dyslexia.com/qafame.htm

Yes, I am playing devils advocate a bit because I agree the original post is quite poorly written I just wondered if you would reject based on just a few common punctuation mistakes or if this was an extreme case?

MB
 
Spie said:
I think you all know what's wrong with it.

Correct punctuation is very important. Sadly, over half of all written applications received don't even use capitalisation for I. People need to understand the difference between the written word and text messages, although I always use correct punctuation for both.

If I get time I'll post one or two of the worst ones later.
Click to expand...

Is spot on punctuation a pre-requisite for the job? Because to me (and i've never interviewed anyone before)... that guy sounds fairly genuine, and if he had the correct qualifications and experiance, I wouldn't heisitate in giving him an interview. (So long as his surname had less than 2 syllables)
 
The problem is, due to generally high numbers of applicants for one position, there has to be a way of filtering out people of similar capabilities.

Paper sifting will always be one. And spelling and grammar will always be one of the first things that people who are sifting through the applications will use as a way to determine who goes through to the 'next round' or not.

If someone was dyslexic, I'd hope that if they put that in their covering letter, then it may well be taken into consideration, especially if they have made the effort to spellcheck etc, and have made few mistakes. I believe it is a case of making the effort to come across well that matters, not the actual capability (of spelling, not the actual job requirements) in many cases. It gives you an idea of someone's attitude and attention to detail which can be make or break in a business situation. It's no good being a fantastic software developer if you can't put together a readable email/piece of documentation.

If someone comes along to an interview and you like them/think they're up to the job, then it won't necessarily come into it whether they can spell or not (they could have had someone on here write their letter for them, for instance), but it's getting through that first filtering process and to the interview stage that matters - and that's how to do it.
 
Simon said:
Nothing like a bit of confidentiality.

I wouldn't want to work for a company whos MD makes fun of applicants on the internet anyway to be honest.
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Cool. I wouldn't want people with your kind of attitude here either. Have a 7-day holiday.
 
Matblack said:
Is correct punctuation really SO important for a PC technician?
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Yes, but he did apply for other jobs.

Technicians have to e-mail suppliers and customers on a regular basis every day. People judge you and the company you work for on the quality of your written word. It doesn't have to be at degree standards, but it does have to be better than primary school grade.
 
It's touching that some people have managed to be a success in business despite their dyslexia, these people obviously have other skills that didn't rely on written communications. I imagine they were smart enough to get someone to proof read their application letters too.
 
iCraig said:
A holiday round here refers to a suspension.
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Yes am aware of that, thats not why I am confused though. I thought the guy was fair in his statement, I may not agree or disagree with it but it was mannered in its structural content.

Anyhow there we go. :p :D
 
NiCkNaMe said:
Is spot on punctuation a pre-requisite for the job? Because to me (and i've never interviewed anyone before)... that guy sounds fairly genuine, and if he had the correct qualifications and experiance, I wouldn't heisitate in giving him an interview. (So long as his surname had less than 2 syllables)
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why only two syllables - is that so he can spell it?
 
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