We recently advertised for someone to work part-time in our accounts department. Within 12 hours, we received no fewer than 38 cv’s. Clearly, the first task is to thin them down to a manageable number. Having made the rash decision that delivering pizzas wasn’t likely to be a good background for the post, we then came across a cv accompanied by a letter written 100% in text speak.
Can I advise folks wanting a job not to adopt this tactic. It doesn’t work!
Peter Smythe:
We recently advertised for someone to work part-time in our accounts department. Within 12 hours, we received no fewer than 38 cv’s. Clearly, the first task is to thin them down to a manageable number. Having made the rash decision that delivering pizzas wasn’t likely to be a good background for the post, we then came across a cv accompanied by a letter written 100% in text speak.
Can I advise folks wanting a job not to adopt this tactic. It doesn’t work!
In all seriousness I read about 5 years ago that school exam boards were accepting essays etc written in text speak. I thought at the time that was a mistake and its proven to be the case now. Im betting you arn’t the first employer to receive job applications written like this and sadly you probably wont be the last
Radar19:
Am I the only one who writes texts in complete sentences with capital letters and punctuation?
No, I do that as well.
I’ve seen some shocking CV’s sent through and although they’re only driving jobs, there is also the consideration that these people are going to be your customer facing staff.
If I contacted a driving school and got a letter back which used text speak or demonstrated a truly poor grasp of the english language, it would make me consider the academic ability of someone you want to impart knowledge to you.
Is that a bit snobbish/prejudicial? Yes, absolutley, but the constant dumbing down of our language, and even worse, the acceptance of the drop on standards is something that I disagree with.
The-Snowman:
In all seriousness I read about 5 years ago that school exam boards were accepting essays etc written in text speak. I thought at the time that was a mistake and its proven to be the case now. Im betting you arn’t the first employer to receive job applications written like this and sadly you probably wont be the last
Bloody hell,I also will never forget when the English teacher said to the class that it doesn’t matter how you spell it as long as we get the gist. That’s all well and good in a way but it sure isn’t going teach kids how to spell. That was in 86/87.
for someone who cant spell well ( yep dyslexic & dont do abbreviations well ) I do try to write in full yes now I do use a spell checker to check spelling have asked people to prove read to check as they are better at english then me
Would never dream of sending a CV & letter for a job in text
Now most phones have the keyboard there is no reason for text language or is it just out of laziness or the fact they dont know how to spell
animal:
Now most phones have the keyboard there is no reason for text language or is it just out of laziness or the fact they dont know how to spell
Theres a big difference between someone who can’t spell very well and someone who just can’t be bothered. I’ll never mock someone for their spelling, grammar or use of the wrong words.
I don’t think the text speak is because of keyboards but because texts used to be 160 characters when texting first became commonplace.
A personal favourite of mine is having someone list ‘attention to detail’ as one of their strengths, then go on to make a basic spelling or formatting error!
A tip I learned from a sadly departed employee: If you have a name that is challenging to read and pronounce (for your standard issue Brit), spell it phonetically and/or anglicise it on your CV and your nice plain email address*. Once your foot is in the door, you can explain the difference between your given name and your registered name.
