“I fxs wit dis da looong way!!” <– That’s not English

As many of you know, I have a love for words that includes reading and writing. The English language is vast in its volume of words, descriptive and otherwise. Haven’t we all heard that there exists something like 23 words to say “love” in the English language? It is a powerful tool that should be respected and treated properly.

I recently began thinking about this topic thanks to the Android Marketplace’s list of application reviews as well as Carter Groome’s recent post about resume jargon. I certainly agree with Mr. Groome that resumes often become homes for over-used words like “innovative.” This makes me ponder the thought that if everybody is “innovative,” then really, nobody is.

Back to Android Marketplace reviews; the title of this blog is a direct quote from an application review. I am appalled by all the poor English that texting, Twitter, instant messaging, etc. has left us. What does that even say?! Not posted here for professional respect reasons, I recently read a blog post by another healthcare IT recruiter about grammatical and spelling mistakes that was rife with those exact errors. How hypocritical! If one is going to criticize, look to thyself first.

I review an astounding number of resumes daily and like my colleagues mentioned above, do not like to see spelling or grammatical mistakes. However, I am apt to forgive a typo here or a comma there, but what I will not forgive and will reject a candidate immediately for, is written communication in emails and cover letters. I recently asked a family friend and the CEO of Idaho Blue Cross Blue Shield what he looks for in leadership candidates and his response was the ability to write. Not an MBA or project management skills, but the ability to cogently write.

Here is a sentence taken directly from my email inbox, “I do want  anything in both category…Single contract, multiple or long term contrack as well as a full time employee of the hospital.” Mistakes in spelling, spacing, grammar and the inability to assemble a correct and meaningful sentence are all present here. This candidate was immediately rejected because I could never feel comfortable with her tangible and intangible abilities. Could you imagine seeing this in an email that is client facing?!

So here is the scoop candidate: Watch your resume and your email communication because recruiters are sizing you up based on both. Finally, like, your verbal, like, communication is pretty, um like, important, too.

About the author

Cassie Sturdevant

Cassie Sturdevant is a Senior Recruiter for Impact Advisors, a healthcare IT strategic and implementation services consulting firm just named 2013 Best in KLAS for Overall Services. She specializes in humor and follow up.

2 Comments

  • Here are two responses from my Facebook page:

    Doug said:
    I used to put a large number of “F” grades on papers if there was any text-style wording or bad grammar….anything that wouldn’t fly in a business environment. They hated me for it, but most learned that written and verbal communication is a lot more important than any technical skills….

    Jarett said:
    I think it’s more important than ever to make that example to the youth growing up in this Twitter/Facebook/Texting era. I’ve always been a huge stickler for punctuation and grammar when it comes to any medium of communication. I’m certainly not perfect but I would never dream of presenting myself professionally with short hand writing and communication.

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