Ask HN: is it unfair to refuse a job application simply based on bad writing?

Re:Ask HN: is it unfair to refuse a job application simply b... by forgotusername on Monday February 21, 2011 @08:03AM (#2245248)

If you were hiring them to write documentation, then yes. If you were hiring them to understand and build complex systems, where the occasional grammar error in a comment is not only forgiveable but extremely likely, then your nitpicking may have just cost you a good candidate.

My resume gets tailored as often as once per application, and the occasional mistake does end up on there. I fix them when I find them, but I expect their presence should not impact the essence of the resume for a manager with a clear understanding of the requirements they're hiring for.

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Re:Ask HN: is it unfair to refuse a job application simply b... by follower on Monday February 21, 2011 @08:27AM (#2245315)

> but I expect their presence should not impact the essence of the resume for a manager with a clear understanding of the requirements they're hiring for.

I read that as: if you're not prepared to get the details right when you're applying for the job why should I expect you'll get the details right when you're on the job?

Why stack the odds against yourself? Given two equivalent candidates, one who appears (by virtue of their application) to get the details right and the other doesn't, I'm going to pick the former.

But then again, I'm not a manager. :)

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Re:Ask HN: is it unfair to refuse a job application simply b... by tomjen3 on Monday February 21, 2011 @08:59AM (#2245394)

>I read that as: if you're not prepared to get the details right when you're applying for the job why should I expect you'll get the details right when you're on the job?

You shouldn't. Nobody gets everything right the first time (why do you think we have bug systems) and it would be a waste of company resources to reread every email for every grammatical error, especially when they don't actually cause the recipient to misunderstand the intended point.

The same goes for who/whom, its/it's, weather/whether, phrases such as "in a timely manor", etc.

Perfect grammar is like bug free programs: desirable in theory but too expensive and impractical in reality.

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Re:Ask HN: is it unfair to refuse a job application simply b... by petervandijck on Monday February 21, 2011 @08:18AM (#2245289)

It wasn't 1 tiny mistake, the resume was full of bad English.

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Re:Ask HN: is it unfair to refuse a job application simply b... by b0o on Monday February 21, 2011 @04:03PM (#2247167)

does it look like they spell checked it?

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