How much do you penalize job candidates for various offenses committed during the application process?

I agree with Don. We've all had times when we are burried under 600 resumes for a single opening, and have wanted a quick way to get through them all. But just cutting out the resumes with small errors doesn't do our organization any favors. It's important to look past the details to the more meaningful qualifications.
That said, it depends upon what the error is. If the position truely requires great writing skills and the candidate has a poorly written cover letter, well then they don't meet the qualifications.
I was recently working on hiring an Assistant Broadcast Engineer. The technical management team was being very harsh on small details in reviewing resumes until we pulled out the resume sent to us by the invaluable Broadcast Engineer who the new person will report to. I pointed out that he had two misspelling and fewer total years of experience that the other two finalist candidates. He had been hired anyway because of the quality of his experience and therefore fit with the organization's needs. The technical managers were all crying "we want another Joe," but then held the candidates to a higher standard than they had held Joe himself. After all, the position doesn't require much in the way of written communications, so why are we focusing on misspellings?
We re-reviewed the resumes and considered more important things, such as whether or not they had military experience, and what type of equipment they worked with.
Sometimes you just need a little perspective.

You have all made some really great comments. So I will not be redundant in my answer.

Learning to follow directions is very important life skill that should have been learned in childhood. Not providing a salary history when requested, sending a recruiter a "used" cover letter that features the wrong job title or addressee, are simple mistakes that do happen, but should not happen especially when applying for an important event in life such as a job that helps to put food on the table, pays bills and pays for your childs education. Mistakes like these tell me that the applicant has not developed a sense of a direction which is a detrimental trait inherent in certain individuals. Or that this position is not important enough for them to proof read or double check the instructions before submitting their cover letter and resume. Does this candidate really have the work ethic and reliability that my client is looking for?

The future to my client’s success is hiring the most qualified candidates, and I’m the one who has to do the initial screening to ensure the best candidates are presented to them. I would not consider applications with these mistakes for the reasons above.

Please remember, a bad fit can result in low employee morale, good employees leaving, lower productivity, unhappy customers, and so on, which does not help build a good recruiter/client relationship.

I think recruitment has lost touch with what it is supposed to be about. Millions of CV's for a particular post? That's not a sign of well targetted recruitment campaigns, it looks like someone desperately shooting in the dark and casting the net as wide as possible so they can brag about the volume of applicants.

Back in the good old days of my recruitment career we used to service the Banking and Finance market in London, we used local and national press for our campaigns and rarely got more than 10 responses to a well-tailored ad, so we had the time to investigate each candidate fully.

I think it's wrong to ask for a salary history, it's none of your business, what did you value the job at? Well if the right person comes along, and they used to earn substantially less money it doesn't make them any less valuable does it? Surely that's a process of fairness and if you as an employer can't see that, then be sure your competition can.

Minor spelling and grammar errors are also par for the course, unless you're hiring a copy editor.

However instant eliminations do exist, those who clearly cannot write a CV at all (I once recieved a 60 page CV from an accountant, with pictures of his family, his pets and every certificate he had ever recieved including his time as scissor monitor when he was 5), or those who do not seem to understand the industry they are applying to. Funky, novelty shaped CV's in bright colours may be appropriate to the creative media industry they aren't going to cut it on the dealing floor of a major merchant bank.

And while I am prepared to spend rather more time looking at the possibility of cross industry overlap, the guy who had been a massage therapist for 10 years and now wanted to become a stock broker was pushing the envelope just a touch.

Actually, these faux pas make for great conversation and the reaction and answer are indicative of how the person handles stressful situations. Sometimes, the answers are excellent and you know you will be dealing with a great person who was just trying to make a living

I generally will let the salary requirement issue and a spelling error go. In the big picture, I feel like those are minor offenses. However, if an applicant has a different company on the resume or lists a specific position that is not what I am hiring for, it is a DQ and I move on. I can't tell you how often I get resumes that say "want to continue career in pharma sales" which is so far away from what my company sells or state they want to work for another company. It is an indication to me that they are throwing that proverbial "stuff" against a wall to see what will stick. It shows me that they don't really care enough to take the time to state why they want to work for us specifically if they really know at all! That leads me to the next killer.... when you contact them and you ask what they know about your company and there is complete silence followed by, "well honestly, not much!"

There are so many factors to consider. What are the person's qualifications in relation to the position? If the mistake is small, such as forgetting to change the name of a company or position in a cover letter, but their experience is what you're looking for, I think it's worth considering them. Can any of you truthfully say you've never made a mistake in your jobs? That type of mistake is easy to make, and could actually be a rare occurrence that you just happened to catch. It matters more the number of mistakes, the magnitude of the mistake(s), how their qualifications stack up to what you're looking for, how the interview goes, how their references check out, etc. If attention to detail is extremely important, then typos or other mistakes matter more. In my opinion, the worst mistakes are when people overfluff their resume or even outright lie.

In regards to the missing salary information I do not have too much problem with that. I think HR and the department hiring should base an offer for employment based on their assesment of the candidates ability to do the job not what their past salary was. As far as wrong job title or addressee I would move on to the next resume. I would do more investigation on the resume with objectives tailored to your job posting before eliminating it.

These cases are never "black or white" but rather different "greys", as many factors are involved. On behalf of candidates, the offenses committed can be small or relevant, and on behalf of the HR area, the way you deal with this depends on level of position, type of job or task to be performed, seniority, the urgency of the search and the amount of received resumès.

However, as a personal rule, I prefer to go through the resumè analyzing the expertise and how it matches with the position I need to feel, despite the "offense", provided it is not relevant for the accomplishment of the job responsibilities. The second stage of the interview will then reveal how serious the offenses should be taken. By meeting the candidate in person, communication will do the rest and you do not lose a potential good candidate just because of prejudice.

Still thinking about this one but straight up I find the language a little strange. Is a processing error or unintentioned omission eally an "Offence"?

If it's a great fit and great background I would never disqualify someone for any of the above offenses. For certain positions I require a cover letter. It makes it easier to pass over those without it, because they aren't following directions. But if I see something that is all there, all good and just right for us, I contact them and let them know we need to see a cover letter before we proceed.

It's my job to find and hire great candidates, not to be a pre-school teacher.

My position varies depending on the skills and competencies required in the job. If the job absolutely requires attention to detail and/or technical or business writing, then I would pay greater attention to the variances in the resume and application. I do have higher expectations of professional jobs requiring a degree thus the applicant and those that do not. A front line customer service representative needs service orientation, flexibility and intiative that cannot always be determined from a resume or application.

I agree with all that has already been stated. For me, it truly depends on the type and level of role. I will cut a candidate some slack with a minor spelling error and with salary, but I fully agree with Rebecca that if they get the company name wrong or clearly send me a cover letter or resume meant for someone else, I pass.

I think the market has a lot to do with how flexible I am. Right now, I have more resumes than I know what to do with for certain level positions. Therefore, I can be really picky. In this enviornment, a small spelling error may disqualify. That being said, if you are a Nurse Practitioner, I will overlook almost anything just to talk with you!

I agree with Nik Kellingley that my "salary history" is none of your business if I'm applying to your company. I've probably lost out on some jobs over the years, but that was the company's loss--not mine. If I accept a position, I expect to be paid fairly and appropriately for the job you are hiring me to do.
If you are paying employees doing similar types of work with similar responsibilities based on some secret multiplier of their former salary, then you are asking for trouble.

I have to agree with Peter and Nik. Salary history is none of the employer's business, and I let that go (if someone did not fill it in). Spelling mistakes, however, do ring little warning bells in my ears simply for the reason that this is something important - a job that will help put food on the table and pay the bills. If you are not prepared to put your best foot forward when it comes to resumes and making a good first impression, why would I think that you would do better once you are hired?
I recently received a cover letter addressed to TWIMC. It took me a few minutes to realize that the (obviously very young) applicant abbreviated the salutation To Whom It May Concern. I was not amused - his cover letter along with his resume made it directly to the "unqualified" bin.

Totally agree with Don. I've been a recruiter for years and found that it's better to give people the benefit of the doubt on the initial application. In other words, don't judge a book on it's cover (even if it has a typo...).

As a Healthcare recruiter for over 10 years I can definately relate to this question. Many of the positions I filled were so specialized and/or there is such a shortage that I would be lucky to get even one person to apply. Often times the applicants would omit salary history, misspell words , wrong company etc...and chances are I would still invite them in to talk to me.

Honestly, often times we would be lucky to have them work for us. I can recall receiving a resume and it was obvious that the person must have asked her son/daughter for help. Under the name section it read "mom u r a tard" Well we hired her anyways and she ended up being nominated for Nurse of the Year!