Typoz in Resumes

[Cathy Krusberg <ckberg -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

There is an anecdote I saw -- I thought on this list -- relevant
to this topic that I have been trying and trying to find, without
success.  Maybe someone else out there remembers (or will admit
to having posted it, even?).

A technical writer was being interviewed for a job.  At some
point toward what well could have been the end of the process,
the interviewer (management person) held up the writer's cover
letter for his resume and pointed to an obvious typo.  "Is this
an example of your work?" the interviewer asked.  The writer
replied, "Yes, it is -- and so is this," and heaved out a thick
manual that he had written.  He then began describing the problems
that writing the manual had presented and how he had tackled them.

After the writer had said his piece, the interviewer said, "The
job's yours if you want it.  You have a thick skin.  You'll need
it here."


Anecdote of my own:

I do editing rather than writing.  Most of my work I get through
an editing service, and the lady who took me on as a subcontractor
has described my work as "dazzling" -- she's a satisfied customer.
But she has also told me about rejecting, out of hand, an
applicant whose resume had either typos or spelling errors (I've
never been clear which, and at times it's a fine line).  I wonder
would the same have happened to me if I'd whipped together a
resume for her and let a mistake slip through (as sometimes occurs --
I admit it -- on my "dazzling" editing work), instead of "qualifying"
for the position by editing a sample job for her.

The world may never know.

Cathy Krusberg
Internet: ckberg -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com

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