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Subject:Re: Acknowledge Resumes? From:Dave Meek <meekd -at- WSERVER -dot- DO -dot- LOSRIOS -dot- CC -dot- CA -dot- US> Date:Fri, 16 May 1997 13:44:58 -0700
>However, your post does bring a question to my mind and to the list:
>
>To err is human...must technical communicator's be flawless? What qualities
>do managers look at most critically?
>
>Many a high-stess situation has brought many a typo into my life. You never
>forget the feeling of finishing a stack of cover letters for promising job
>opportunities, licking the stamps, dropping them in the box, sitting down
>to admire your beautifully designed resume just one more time--and then you
>see the glaring typo you know seals your fate.
>
>I suppose you wouldn't want someone as careless as your examples on your
>staff. But, keeping in mind all the cutting and pasting that goes on when
>you hone a resume for a specific job, I'm not sure I would totally ignore a
>resume because it has single grammatical error or typo. If the person's
>qualifications and experiences reveal that the writer's real fault was not
>having another pair of eyes proof the resume, I would cut them some slack.
>--------------------------------------------------
>Jennifer H. Geaslen
Based on my limited background in interviewing/hiring new technical writers,
I never saw a perfect resume. A rare few had no spelling errors, but they
also had ugly formats. Which skill do you value most? How much editting
support will the new writer receive from the rest of the writing staff?
Someone else suggested a "not hired" form letter, and that idea seems sound.
Lets applicants know their exact status in the process, otherwise they might
call for their status and waste your time and theirs in the process. If you
want to include a letter telling why your company didn't hire the person, do
so. But be careful. Aside from the time investment involved, comments you
consider helpful may be taken the wrong way and could lead to problems.
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