OT - Errors on cover letters

[Melissa Nelson]

The first thing I do every morning before I start my regular duties is find resumes for our HR director. I am constantly amazed at how many people keep typo's in their online resumes. They may be wonderful candidates, and they are for developer positions and not tech writers, but I still can't bring myself to recommend anyone who can't take the time to make sure that the word "developer" is spelled correctly. I finally admitted that to the HR lady and she agreed with me. There is just something about badly spelled, or even typed, things that leaves a bad first impression. It just seems lazy.
 
Melissa
 
 



> Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 11:08:22 -0800> To: cupton at syclone.net; techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com> From: john at hedtke.com> Subject: Re: OT - Errors on cover letters> > Slightly connected to this--though I agree with you, Carolyn--I > wanted to relate a story about cover letters. Many years ago at one > job where I had a couple dozen writers working for me, I had been > talking to someone at the local STC chapter who wanted to work for > me. A few months later, I had a slot and said "Now's the time! Send > your paper in." He did, with a cover letter, that opened with the > line (including the bold as I've shown it):> > "Dear John:> > Enclosed, please find my resume for consideration for a position as a > Tecnical Writer."> > I stopped reading right there. He's a great guy, but, yuh know, I > just ~couldn't~.> > I showed it around to a bunch of the staph. They thought that that > was pretty good, too. I phoned him that afternoon and explained that > I was terribly, terribly sorry but I just couldn't hire him right > then but that I wanted him to reapply. He was much chagrined but he > understood.> > The rimshot on this is that I called an old friend who was the Tech > Pubs Mgr at our direct competitor and related the story (without > names, of course). Lisa told me about one that she'd gotten a few > years before for an editing slot that contained the immortal line > "And, in addition, my poofreading skills are excellent." That letter > went up on their departmental bulletin board for a couple years for > all to admire. :)> > Yours truly,> > John Hedtke> Author/Consultant/Contract Writer> www.hedtke.com <-- website> Region 7 Director, STC> 541-685-5000 (office landline)> 541-554-2189 (cell)> john at hedtke.com (primary email)> johnhedtke at aol.com (secondary email)> > > At 10:54 AM 11/5/2007, cupton at syclone.net wrote:> >I received a resume and cover letter (unsolicited) from a young woman> >requesting a job in wildlife rehabilitation. (I do the emails for the> >humane society.) One of her many attributes is being a skilled "typer."> >She is a high school graduate who has managed a phone store for more than> >three years, and there were dozens of grammatical, punctuation, and> >spelling errors in her resume and the cover letter. We are failing our> >kids.> >> >Carolyn> >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> >> >Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or> >printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007> >Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.> >http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList> >> >True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.> >Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical> >documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com> >> >---> >You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as john at hedtke.com.> >> >To unsubscribe send a blank email to> >techwr-l-unsubscribe at lists.techwr-l.com> >or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/john%40hedtke.com> >> >> >To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join at lists.techwr-l.com> >> >Send administrative questions to admin at techwr-l.com. Visit> >http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> > Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or > printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 > Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.> http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList> > True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com> > ---> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as melmis36 at hotmail.com.> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > techwr-l-unsubscribe at lists.techwr-l.com> or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/melmis36%40hotmail.com> > > To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join at lists.techwr-l.com> > Send administrative questions to admin at techwr-l.com. Visit> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.>