I’m hiring for a position that was advertised as requiring 'excellent written communication skills'. Excellent is obviously subjective, but I was definitely not prepared for a e-mail like this-
“I m Preparing reply for u u u u u u only, Patience to look / see myReply, Thanking u for sanded Ur message.Sowing Seeds of Positive Changei give to u reply shortlythanking u”
I admit I am a near extinct species that resists using chat-speak even while texting or chatting, but try as I will, I cannot bring myself to accept that a message such as this is in anyway acceptable while applying for a job.
Will it really kill the person to type ‘you’ instead of ‘u’.Doesn’t ‘u u u u u u’ take up far more keystrokes than a simple ‘you’? And what’s with the capitalized ‘Ur’- is that to indicate that since the pronoun applies to me, it deserves to be capitalised (proper pronoun, as my six year old might say)? But if that is the case, why is 'I' not capitalised- does he not give himself the same importance as he does me?
‘Sanded?’ I thought of carpenter shops, and desert dunes, before realising he probably meant ‘sended’- like many Indians not familiar with the language, he probably assumes that the past tense of any verb can be created by adding an ‘-ed’ as the suffix.
‘Sowing Seeds of Positive Change?’ Now that is the scariest bit- is he looking for Grammar World Domination? Perhaps I do need to make that down payment on the tropical island to retreat to.
And in case you are wondering, I did not even open the CV. I am definitely not the Grammar Police, but however brilliant he may be, I am pretty sure I would not be able to work with him.
*wants badge*
ReplyDeleteHire me instead? ;-)
Yikes! I would have been pulling my hair out on that one. That is crazy! How did HE get the job?
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you Rayna!
If you speak Hindi, the job is yours, Leanne.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't, Trudy, he didn't. But considering he does have a job, someone else must have hired him, however weird it may sound.
I thought these types of messages were only here in the USA. I get more and more communications such as you described. (And not only from the younger adults.)
ReplyDeleteMakes me wonder what the next generations of novels will look like.
Sounds like spam masquerading as a job application. Kind of makes you wonder how stupid these people are, and that they somehow think we are even less intelligent than they are. A scary thought!
ReplyDeleteThat's scary - and unfortunately, becoming more common. I agree with Mary, it looks like some of the spam I've received. No telling what might have been in the attachment!
ReplyDeleteI fully understand your viewpoint! If only you could hire me...
ReplyDeleteHilarious badge. Myself, I don't care for chat speak. Thanksfully, no one leaves these types of comments on my blog. Might have to delete them.
ReplyDeleteStephen Tremp
A strange message to recieve,
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd like it.
Yvonne.
OMG, LOL!
ReplyDeleteehrm, sorry. But that is hilarious! Are you sure he wasn't having a stroke? Maybe he was so overwhelmed by your brilliance, he was struck speechless and as his hands shook to send you that message, he got stuck on the U and then completely forgot how to use the language...
Personally, I always give lots of room to non-native speakers, but this is a bit much. Especially for what should be a professional communique...
(still--snort!)
Oh, delusional people. Every now and then at work we get people coming by to ask if we have an opening. Our policy is to take the CV and application and leave it for the boss, but sometimes the temptation to sneak a peek is too big. Half of the time I know I could just chuck the thing after the first paragraph, because you will NOT land a job (even a part time, no brainer job) if you barely spell your own name correctly. And why are so many people convinced that it's a good idea to enclose a bikini picture on your CV? It's a bookshop! Hello!
ReplyDeleteI like the badge! :)
ReplyDeleteI worked in a retail store once where I accepted resumes. Part of my job was to throw out everything with a typo or grammatical mistake. Not very many made it past me.
That is just pathetic! They keep saying the next generation will only know text and Twitter speak, but I'm amazed at how many grown adults fail to use proper English and grammar as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Definitely has grammar issues. Ha!
ReplyDeleteIt was funny but also sad at the same time.
Hugs
SueAnn
Scary stuff, that CV!
ReplyDeleteThe badge is awesome.
That short writing is never a good sign for a job applicant.
ReplyDeleteMy grammar isn't as good as it use to be. My spelling is notorious. But I do know how to use spell check. I can't do chat speak, I have to have the whole picture or word.
ReplyDeleteBut I had a very hard time making it through that email. I'm afraid I would have deleted it at the 3 u.
Love the badge. The message makes me cringe from physical pain. Hopefully there were some decent applications in there, even though this one stood out for all the wrong reasons.
ReplyDeleteI'm with RosieC--it made me cringe to read it!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh my goodness.
Rayna, like you, I refrain from using chat speak even when texting. Many of the texts I get from family members are unintelligible and they get upset when I do not respond. They have an inside joke when referring to me- "Don't text Chary, she writes back essays."
ReplyDeleteOh well! It won't hurt them to read a little. :D
Ha ha, love that illustration!
ReplyDeleteOne of my children, very well educated, uses no upper case letters in her e-mails. She does use periods at the end of sentences, thank goodness. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but this drives me nuts.
ReplyDelete@ Mary- I shudder to think of the next generation of novels.
ReplyDelete@ Mary- it does, doesn't it?Wish the filters had caught it.
@ Laura- a perfectly good CV, believe it or not. The person even had a graduate degree in English!
@ Fiona - so do I.
@ Stephen- me neither. I am lucky I get only typos in my comments.
@ Yvonne- very disturbing, yes.
@ Leigh - yes, that must be it!!!
I can live with grammatical mistakes that are endemic to regions, but this is plain stupid.
@ Cruella- a bikini shot in a CV? Surely you are kidding.
@ Jemi- I wish I could ask you to take it, but it is not mine to give, sadly.
And, while I am willing to put up with small mistakes, this is laziness
@ Alex- oh yes, grown ups are as bad as the kids.
@ SueAnn- it was funny, and I got a blog post out of it!
@ Dipali- very scary
@ Holly- quite.
@ Theres just life- my spelling is atrocious too, but there is spell check.
@ RosieC- many were similar, but a few were good, thankfully.
@ Elizabeth- it does make you cringe, doesn't it?
@ Chary- I do not think that is funny. Proper English is not an essay.
@ Debra- pulled it from the Net.
@ Patricia- some people do things out of affectation. Painful, but one can perhaps learn to live with it. This is pathetic.