Career Services from Measurability

I spent last Friday sending out canvass emails to attract new clients. Although I used the spell check on my email I did not proof read before hitting send. The result was that I used the words “HR professional” in the email when it should have read “HR professionals”. Shortly after sending my email I received a reply complaining about my grammar and spelling.

The reply read as follows; Hi Paul, I cannot say that you impressed me with this mail. Your spelling leaves a lot to be desired. Sorry for any offense but if you’re selling a service in your mail should be perfect.

I must say I did have a smile when I read this reply and I thought it was nice that Mr Kettle finally made contact with Mr Pot. For the observant you will notice the American spelling “offense” and that the final sentence does not make much sense. I suppose there are a few points to make.

First point is that it is likely that you will find spelling and grammar mistakes in my blog. Please point them out but make sure to do this with proper spelling and grammar.

CV Writing – Spelling & Grammar mistakes.

A more important point is that I lost a potential customer through my error even though I did try a charm offensive. As with job hunting poor grammar and spelling can cost potential interviews. I have viewed many CV’s in my time with poor spelling and grammar. It is essential to get this right before sending your CV to a potential employer or even an agency.

I agree that there are hiring managers out there who will accept basic mistakes (after all most accept basic lies on CV’s). This aside you should not leave it to chance. I recently worked with a client who was rejected for an internal promotion because of a spelling error on his CV. By all means use the available spell checker on word but bear in mind that this may not pick up all of the potential mistakes. I recommend that you proof read your CV and that you get a third party to proof read it.

If you have poor spelling and grammar then get a friend or family member to assist with writing your CV. Alternatively you can seek professional help or a professional CV service. It is important to develop a client focused CV with optimum layout and format. This effort can be vain if a simple mistake costs you the intervew. Remember you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

Tags: CV, CV Design, CV Layout, CV Mistakes, CV Service Ireland, CV Wrting, Dublin, Ireland, Professional CV

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 2:52 pm and is filed under A Blog from a Career Advisor, CV Writing & Design, FREE CV Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.