Could an apostrophe win you the dream job?

I was inspired by some Facebook activity last week and a news item on the BBC Breakfast this morning into whether the correct use of apostrophes really matters anymore. Now I’m mildly dyslexic or (bone idle) my father would have argued. I loved English at school, but terrible at it, I really struggled and had to go to the special outside classroom with Mrs Nurerka for remedial English classes. They never diagnosed the dyslexia. Yet on leaving school, English was my best “O” level grade.

In business we’re constantly judged by our written communication, competitors and critics love to trip each other up over silly avoidable mistakes, call it word snobbery, but writing any kind of communication, especially something as important as a CV or a letter for job application or presenting a candidate to a client, it will be probably be read, and re-read and even maybe ask a colleague to sense check it too. You see the issue I have, isn’t whether you “Know” this stuff or not, it’s whether you’re bothered enough, detailed enough, care enough WANT THE JOB ENOUGH to ensure the grammar and spelling and punctuation in a piece of communication is remarkable, lets face it, that could be the turning point or golden opportunity of your life.

Dismissing applications that, on paper are the perfect fit, yet their CV or application are grammatical shambles isn’t about whether they know this stuff or not. Its about whether they have demonstrated their genuine desire to be considered for a that particular role. A foolish recruiter would correct the mistakes and forward the edited version to a client just to see the candidate turn down the role later in the process.

I’d make a terrible journalist

 

Craig Burton