Mis-spelling a sign of genius? Maybe. Mis-spelling on your resume a sign of genius? I don't think so.
If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say "poor spelling is a sign of genius", I'd probably have a quarter. But if I had a nickel for every time I saw a mis-spelled word on a resume, well, I'd have more than a quarter, I can tell you that.
Geniuses may very well have a difficult time with spelling. I'm no genius and every so often a real simple word stumps me. For the sake of argument, let's assume that the correlation between geniuses and mis-spelling is true. Now prove to me that every person that has spelling errors on his/her resume is a genius. Not so easy, huh? My point here is this: don't have spelling errors on your resume. I've done a little segmentation exercise with the people who have spelling errors on their resumes and have determined that they fall into 2 groups:
1) geniuses that didn't take the time to spell-check and proof-read their resumes
2) non-geniuses that didn't take the time to spell-check and proof-read their resumes
Get my point here? Poor spelling (or grammar) on the resume doesn't as much impact how we feel about your intellect as it does your attention to detail. With something so basic as spell-checking (and grammar checking) your resume...and, frankly, so easy...you are inviting someone to say "no". You might have some other great stuff on your resume and the recruiter might say "yes" despite the spelling errors, but you are taking a chance you shouldn't (and potentially putting doubts in the mind of the people interviewing you).
It doesn't take a genius to know you need to proof-read your resume. I'm just saying.
Comments
Anonymous
December 16, 2005
I've even seen some shops take an extreme stance in mis-spelling and, unofficially, skip resumes with obvious spelling mistakes.
But when you work in IT, attention to detail is important, can I trust somebody to admin a system to code if they don't know how to use a spell checker, something you learn in middle school!Anonymous
December 16, 2005
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December 16, 2005
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December 16, 2005
mis-spelling is one word misspelling
"With something so basic as" must be "as basic as"
I suppose you did this intentionaly ?Anonymous
December 16, 2005
I don't understand why recruiters pay so much attention to spelling erros. I don't think anyone can show any correlation between people having spelling errors on their resumes and their ability to do a good job. The main purpose of the resume is to present skills relevant to the job you're applying for and not to pass a writing test. In fact if it's not relevant to the job, one can consider it discrimination. Would you decline an interview to a person who doesn't comb their hair because they don't care how they look? I hope not. Then why would spelling errors on their resume be any different?Anonymous
December 16, 2005
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December 16, 2005
;-)
Well - you have answered on your own question.
Sometimes people do not care that much about their resume just like you don't care about this posting.
If you are going to review resumes only from people who spend 100 USD on resume writing books from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/field-keywords%3Dresume%20writing ).
Contracted professional resume writer ( http://www.google.com/search?q=professional+resume+writer ) and used several different spell-checkers (some of them ignore words with dash) - then you will find person who see his resume as main reason why he should be hired by your company or doing very-very active job search.
But if you will don't care about typos - then you potentially can find somebody not noticed by others recruiters.
One more - your daily job related to resume writing/reading and this is why you take it so seriously. For rest of the world - resume writing skill will be used at most once per year (or ever more rarely).Anonymous
December 16, 2005
I'll say this one more time, just for fun: a blog is not a resume. No, resume writing is not part of my job, but yes, I do take resumes very seriously, of course! You don't need to pay people to spell-check your resume. I'm sure there are a multitude of resources that are free (spell checker add-ons, online dictionaries, friends who can proof-read). Frankly, if the word "mis-spelling" was part of my resume, I'd be inclined to look it up. But since it's not, and it's just part of my silly old blog, I am not going to worry about it.Anonymous
December 16, 2005
I've always been a good speller, but there's one word I often get wrong: I misspell genius as genious. :)Anonymous
December 16, 2005
PatriotB...was it on your resume explaining that you are one? I wish I had that problem ; )Anonymous
December 16, 2005
;-) OK. JFY, I agree with your advice - it's good to spell check your resume.
But I don't like your approach to candidate selection.
"If I am comparing two similarly skilled candidates and one has spelling errors on her resume and the other doesn't, which should I pick?"
You can pick BOTH! Is they are similarly skilled - then you have to contact both of them to collection additional decision making information.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your opinion on this matter with us.Anonymous
December 16, 2005
No worries TAG...just trying to give folks the inside scoop so they can present themselves as well as possible ; )Anonymous
December 16, 2005
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December 16, 2005
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December 16, 2005
An FYI-not worth it's own blog post. I am going to moderate comments this weekend because today was so much fun ; )I don't really have any plans other than to post all the comments when I come in Monday, but since things have been getting a little dicey today, I'd like to make that call before the comments go live. Feel free to disagree with me n any of the posts. I love the conversation, just not the name-calling. Hopefully we can keep it all respectful.Anonymous
December 17, 2005
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December 18, 2005
Good idea: Proofread your resume.
Better idea--as noted by others: Proofread your resume and have someone else proofread it as well.
When we proofread our own work we have an amazing ability to read what we intended to write rather than what we actually wrote.
Notice how good we are at finding each other’s errors here in these comments?
BTW: For others who assume ppl w/spelling errors don’t know how to use spell check —- of course there’s the old chestnut that you can’t totally trust it because of homonyms (are our, to too,...).
[Incidentally, I am surprised that spell check doesn’t suggest people for ‘ppl.’ Suggestions like that will be needed in the future the way we all type!]
Rather than discount someone because of an error it might be more interesting to talk to them and see if they can spot their error. I know I won't be ignoring any misspelled job listing that fit my bill!Anonymous
December 18, 2005
I was very surprised to read all the comments 'defending' spelling errors!
I've always perceived spelling mistakes on important documents (like resumes) as a major sign of carelessness. If you're careless with how your resume looks how does one know you're not going to be careless when it comes to a given task?
I was reminded of one of my blog trolls calling me <em>"imcompetent"</em> one day. I seriously doubt that person was a genius... :)Anonymous
December 19, 2005
The problem I have with spelling errors on resumes is this: As a recruiter, I go receive so many resumes that they begin to look the same. Many times what separates people are the little things with spelling and grammatical errors tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Most people use MS Word, or some other product, which has a spellcheck built in. Really, how hard is it to hit the F7 key???Anonymous
December 19, 2005
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December 19, 2005
Fair enough! That's a lot of resumes.
(...next time I'll be sure to actually make my point rather than just trying.)
;pAnonymous
December 19, 2005
Eleanor...hopefully you know what I meant..the point you were making...what you were trying to say, what you were saying. Dang.Anonymous
December 19, 2005
LOL Well, I think I can prove that theory, that geniuses are bad spellers, wrong. If the applicant is such a genius, then why doesn't she realize that she shouldn't send a resume with spelling mistakes in to a recruiter? I may not be a genius, but even I figured that out when I was a teen, looking for a job. So, uh, yeah, don't think that proves one's genius. lolAnonymous
December 20, 2005
hee hee
Sorry for getting so literal. ;pAnonymous
December 20, 2005
Wow, talk about a lot of commentary!
The thing I hear, Heather, is "Bad spelling makes you look dumb" and I think it more hits the mark. Though I don't agree with the statement, it brings up an important point: all of us communicate with a written language and we, as everyday readers of papers, magazines, and books, expect correct spelling when we read something.
When someone substitutes "there" for "they're", it doesn't make that person look too bright, even though it may have been a casual error.
The simple fact is that you never want to be that person when you are sending important correspondence (i.e., your resume) to a potential employer. Every decent Copywriter knows that a Proofreader is going to have to go over his or her material before it goes out. It's nearly impossible to proofread your own copy after you've seen it 10 or 12 times.
You can hope all you want for a hiring manager or recruiter to be lenient when it comes to spelling errors on your resume, but do your really want to take that chance when a job is at stake?Anonymous
December 20, 2005
Jessica-exactly!
Eleanor...I like your literal take ; )
Tim-I never said anything about anyone being "dumb", per se. I'd say that spelling mistakes would show a lack of attention to detail or not knowing better...ahh, I hate the word "dumb". Anyway, what you are saying is right. Yo unever want to take that chance and an objective eye to review your resume is so helpful!Anonymous
December 20, 2005
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February 19, 2006
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February 20, 2006
Creative poeple don't have spell-checkers? Gee, resume errors should now be listed as a requirement on the job description, I guess. Come on!Anonymous
September 04, 2006
Being closed-minded in this event, I fail to see how someone could be classified as a genius when they can not even correctly spell in their own primary language. I personaly would skip over a resume if it had obvious spelling mistakes on it. Of course it is ever the human characteristic to make mistakes, in which place we have double checking our own work, and then a spell check.Anonymous
December 04, 2007
Typos on resumes. Recruiters hate them. Hiring Managers hate them. Heather really hates them . :) AndAnonymous
May 29, 2009
I consider my self a genius i just sent in a resume by email stating "Aplication for Lifeguard" chances of me getting hired about 15%