What do you do when a candidate has misspellings on their resume?

For me, it would depend on the job the person was applying for and the types of errors. Even using spell checkers is not fool proof particularly when dealing with misspellings that are also words such as know and now. Of course, that can indicate a lack of attention to detail or poor proofreading skills. In any position which requires a lot of writing, then I would disqualify automatically. Some spell checkers will flag as incorrect such spellings as colours and theatre (the spell checker on this site just did) so background and culture must be taken into consideration. In addition, If the person will be dealing with international customers, then spelling their names, locations and/or terminology correctly with appropriate accent marks is also very important. For example, using München instead of Munich is great even if you have to type it in another application such as Word and copy and paste it as I just did.

However, if it is for a technical position particularly involving advanced mathematics or science then one needs to consider if perhaps the applicant has a learning disability that impacts their ability to spell or write well but they are incredibly good with technical matters. Having tutored learning disabled students, I know from personal experience that while they have difficulty with written language they can excel at anything to do with math, math related, technical and even musical subjects.

I think misspellings on a résumé (Roger: :-D) tell you a few things about a candidate:

1) They're not a great speller. Although some have discounted the importance of this, if the person would be working in a job that requires communication skills (internally as well as externally), would s/he be able to do so orally, or would writing skills be necessary? And if the job entails dealing with external customers or the public, would the person represent your company professionally?

2) They aren't meticulous enough to make sure the details of the job they're doing are correct. This quality could be important even in jobs that don't require written communication. If you don't ensure that the document you're using to land you a job is correct in every detail, how thorough would you be at anything else? Would this person consider a so-so job on something critical to your company's operations "good enough" to get by?

3) They don't seek outside help (e.g., a proofreader) in areas where they're weak. Will this person be working completely solo, or as part of a team? Most employees are involved in team projects on some level, or else they'd be entrepreneurs. Does this person know when to seek help from other team members when necessary? (Or are we back to "good enough"?)

While many discount the importance of spelling now that we all have spellcheck (and ask the owners of any spell-checking cell phone how well THAT works), misspellings reveal much more about the candidate than the sloppy spelling visible on the surface. I'd pass on this one.

This is a knockout unless the candidate possesses some exceptional skill or ability that overcomes and is largely unrelated to spelling. For example, certain types of designers and engineers do not need perfect spelling and grammar to excel at their work.

If I see the resume first without meeting the person I would throw it away. If the person is in front of me and I see it I would point it out and see what their response is.

One of my best employees for the last 6 years had a spelling problem. She said her professors knew it and just accepted it because they liked her and she did great work otherwise. But I told her I would fire her if she didn't learn to spell. She was able to put lots of checks and balances in place and she is so much better now. She was worth saving.

Professional otherwise? I'm ok with a misspelling as long as I'm still left with the overall impression someone is professional and can deliver quality work. Three just might make me request some writing samples though.

In my opinion, a candidate for any position should spend a great deal of time checking for errors on his/her resume and have several other people review it also. There is really no excuse for spelling errors, even for a quant person or person for whom English is a second language. I once had a candidate who put the wrong area code on his phone number. We were going to bring him in for an interview and found the error when we tried to phone him. I have received cover letters addressed to the wrong company and letters in which the name of the company in the body of the letter did not match the salutation. It is particularly important to have a perfect resume when the job requires attention to detail. However, I guess it depends on how many qualified candidates there are for that position and how desperate you are to fill the position.

Personally,i dont think that a candidate should be eliminated primarily for this factor, especially if the candidate has other great attributes.I am gifted in math, but i am not the best writer, even though i can write (i think). We may all have degrees, but that does not make us the best writers. I used to be a Classification Analyst, which required 8 or 9 page writings a day, and i worked for someone who busted my chops for perfection and her work and emails were riddled with mistakes. One day i pointed this out to her and we went to war. My philosophy is, if you want perfection, be prepared to give it as well, and expect to be critized if you are not living up to your own expectations. I never ask my staff for perfection because i am not perfect, but i do ask them to do their best so we can have a sucessful team.

And in support of what George said, simply point this out to the candidate .

I think it factors in on a hiring decision, but how much really does depend on what the person will be expected to do. Other than writing being an important part of the job, spelling errors may be communicating how conscientious the person is.

All that being said, an employer should select the most qualified person that best fits within the culture of the organization. That is what you are hiring for right?

It's reasonable to expect that everyone reads between the lines on resumes. In fact, the questions on many can be formulated to somewhat get inside the personality of the applicant.

Anyone applying for a job is clearly applying for a specific type of job and their answers determine, to some degree, their qualifications for the job. BUT, all employers are looking for people that not only qualify for the task at hand,, but also have certain other skills that are required to meet the minimum requirements of communication as well as certain personality traits. Too often, employers are intimidated by applicants who may even be more qualified than them and will surround themselves with people who are not really the best choices for the job.

That said, the best applicants will have skills beyond the job, specific requirements that will make the total machine work more smoothly. Those attributes include attention to detail, communication skills and and the ability to work cohesively with others and yet still get the job done.

Having been and employee and now an employer for over 30 years, I have gained a good deal of experience, reading between the lines. It seems to me that if an applicant is serious about a career change or just looking for a new job, that they would spend a fair amount of time checking grammar and spelling. The ability to communicate is powerful indeed. Many wars within a company are started by poor commuication that stirs the pot of dissension.

Does a floor sweeper need good communication skills? Likely not, but attention to detail on the resume illustrates the applicants desire to look under the table for dirt, if you will. Just because you want to be a floor sweeper doesn't mean you are dumb. The best applicants will transcend their sweeping skills with the words they say, not to disclude (sp) their ability to spell.

I am a losuy speller of words that contain double consonants, like nn or end in ent or ant and the like. Thank heaven for spell check. Prior to spell check, I had a dictionary on my table at all times. The important thing is that I wanted to be accurate. A resume tells a lot of stories about a person, beyond their experience for the job they are applying for.

Anyone who spells multiple words incorrectly on a resume is likely going to have the same attitude on the job. Giving them a second chance to make corrections is likely to produce a resume that was written by someone else. As an employer, the first resume is the only chance they get to tell me who they are.

If like an applicant, the next thing they will do is hand write answers to a few questions, so I can see their penmanship skills. I hired a bookkeeper from hundreds of applicants. I threw out 90% of the applicants resumes because I couldn't read their writing. Not to categorize, but I have found that bookkeepers tend to write very small and if their penmanship is bad, you can't know what they are saying. The hand written answers also illustrate whether their typed resume was written by them or by someone else.

The bottom line is that America has failed miserably to educate our children. I can see that in some of the replies to this question. People are amiable to second rate. Most of our young people today don't even know which way North is and have to be educated to do the job they are being hired for. Very few have the desire to be ready for the job. YES, resumes should contain an illustration that the applicant has skills beyond the ability to sweep an open floor.

Throw it out, with the editing tools available these days, there is no excuse.

It depends on the job description and how many applicants. If I am hiring for a bookkeeper where detail orientation is critical, I will throw out resumes with typos. If I have 100 resumes to sift through, I will also discard the ones with typos. If it is a job that doesn't require as much detail, or the detail can be leveraged with a detailed assistant or processor, then I will consider the applicant's qualifications. If they seem otherwise qualified, the typo will be discussed in the initial interview.
It does leave me to wonder about how well someone will represent the company if they don't care enough to do a better job representing themselves. Also, there is no technology that outperforms a great proofreader. I once had to point out to a co-worker who spellchecked his email that went out to the masses, that "assess" and "asses" are both words.

Personally, I make sure to proof read everything I do, along with having others review my writing. I handle new business development and marketing, which involves alot of creative writing. Most often creativity and the winner of the spelling bee are not rolled into one mind. I believe in flexibility and understanding of human error, we should be seeking out the exceptional traits and not searching for flaws. None of us are flawless! One thing I would like to point out as I have been reading through all these comments is hypocrisy. I suggest many of you take a look back at your own comments to see they contain multiple spelling and grammatical errors. Now take a look at yourself being interviewed, do you feel you are not a worthy employee of yourself?

I am not advocating the acceptance of poor or sloppy work; I am just reminding you all to not remove the human element from an interviewing process.

Yes, I admit it. I am a freelance writer. A small gin and tonic secures any item.

Michael.

One or two errors - I overlook and remind myself that even using technology this can happen. I also remind myself that the same has happened to me. I look more for grammar errors yet I would always want to talk with a candidate that has some appeal. The person makes a spelling error and would be a marvelous addition. Sure would not want to ignore them. You can fix spelling issues but it's difficult to fix "born with talent." Case in point: If someone came to me with the cure for a major disease, would I worry about their spelling?

At our vocational school, this is a constant problem. Even though you can't boil down a person's life into a single spelling error on a resume, employers don't have much else use for an initial evaluation.
Employers tell us that when they reject resumes with errors it's because of their perception that prospective employees know a resume is supposed to be a perfect document and if they can't make it perfect, then they probably won't perform as well as those who did.
The other reason we hear is that employers have to go through so many resumes for their job openings that they are looking for excuses to put one in the "no thanks" pile and mistakes of grammar, punctuation and spelling are easy ways out.
On the other side, we know our students work with their resumes so much and make so many revisions, they literally don't see the mistakes because they simply read through them. One suggestion is to for them to proofread their resumes backwards, from bottom to top, one word at a time, to get their proofreaders' eyes back.
Dan Guerra, Director
Community Business College
www.communitybusinesscollege.edu

depends on the job. if the position doesn't require spelling, it shouldn't matter; especially if the candidate has demonstrated experience and qualifications.

Employers sometimes puts too much emphasis on their own personal quirks and biases, rather than focusing on the objective, and they make their job of hiring great qualified candidates a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

They should instead ask is my hiring process helping make my competitor better than me, especially since they keep hiring my rejects, yet they continue to flourish..

Generally for us that would be a knockout blow! If it is a candidate that I had previously spoken with and came away impressed with I may try to "fix" one or two errors before they get to my managers as most of the managers will rule out even with one mistake.

Working for an engineering/construction firm where attention to detail is paramount for most roles the spelling errors would speak volumes (negatively) towards the candidate.

Everyone should have a second chance in your life, or not? Have you never had mispelling in your daily eMail, convention slideshow or on your graduation thesis? Notwithstanding these errors, now you are an executive, a manager, an advisor or a principal. Don't spoil opportunity for a mispelling. Thanks Steve and David for your flexibility.

Isn't it spelt résumé?

Bin it and move on to the next one in the pile

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut, and rationalize it out later.

This job market is brutal. With so many quality candidates to choose from, you could probably close your eyes and pick any one of your top several prospects and they'd do a very good job for you. Since there's more quality than space, any sort of proxy that helps eliminate someone from contention makes your life decisions that much easier. It is what it is.

Better judgment comes from better information and a stranger is only as good as his resume.

Unless of course said stranger figured out how to send the resume and personalize the cover letter straight to the CEO and have him submit the resume to the HR department from the top...then really a couple spelling errors don't matter because the boss ordered the manager to pay attention. That's next level game though. Good way to stick out from the crowd.

I also bet that if the hiring manager is not the strongest speller in the world, they'd be more forgiving.

Actually, I think it depends on how many applicants you have. If I have 300 resumes, then a spelling error will weed them out. If I have 20, and they have a skill that I want, I will probably interview them.
Beth Smith
A-list Interviews

This is a really interesting question. The immediate response I would normally have would be to overlook it, take note of the type of misspellings, and to try and understand the reason typos vs lack of being able to spell, and just keep it in mind. But after some thought, I think the best and most interesting approach is to tactfully ask the candidate in the interview (assuming they were otherwise appealing) about it, and see their reaction. An employee's response to commentary is very telling, and will become an important part of how they work with you. Their answer and explanation, or simply their body language when faced with this could be very revealing. ***If the candidate was not particularly appealing to start off with, then obviously, typos or spelling mistakes pushes them right into the reject pile.

Some excellent points have been raised. I like the idea of pointing out an error and asking whether the candidate had discovered it on his/her own after submitting their resume. The answer could be very telling. For many non-exempt positions, I believe the primary focus should be on the candidate's ability to perform the necessary functions, versus grammar and syntax.

In today's climate, candidates cannot afford to make mistakes. I am personally traumatised, having once been shown a salary stated as GBP12,000 per anum...

Unless the job in question is one that requires a highly professional level of writing, a few misspellings on a resume should not be an "immediate" deal killer. Perhaps the candidate has other skills that will more than compensate for the writing weaknesses.

On the other hand, it is not the employer's fault that the candidate chose to NOT learn simple writing basics like "how to spell" or "how to run spell check".

As such, if the employer still wants to hire the employee, despite the deficiency, the employer will have to ask himself a question: To what extent will I have to pay other staff to fix the misspellings of this new staff? If the answer is "almost nothing at all" then there should be no problem hiring the new employee at full wage.

However, if the boss realizes that he will have to pay other staff to correct writing errors made by the new staff, then the boss should either pay a lower wage to compensate himself for this loss or wait to find another job prospect that has better spelling skills.

Unfortunately in this economy and job climate, both my clients and I get numerous resumes for one open position. Therefore, an obvious error on a resume, such as a word spelled word is an automatic weeding out of that candidate.

I think they are human

Looks like the candidate is careless and is not really bothered to have it corrected. It also shows that the communication (written) skills need to improve

Please correct me if I am wrong, but the question has a grammar error. Singular and plural are mixed.
What do you do when candidates have misspellings on their resume?
Or
What do you do when a candidate has a misspelling on his/her resume?

I would give the person some slack. I would also expect the resume readers never make silly mistakes.

Globally, we can’t even agree on the language in general. My smart phone has more than 15 versions of English to select from. There are several variations spelling the same word. Color vs. colour and so many others like it. That is just between American and British English. Then consider the author of the resume may be ESL.

A grocery store sold more when the signed promoted backed beans than they did when they promoted baked beans.

That may not be a spelling error; maybe it is a different version of the same language.

It depends how prolific the rate of spelling error is. A minor indiscretion can be acceptable.
However, the big "no-no's" are getting their own name, your name or the company name wrong! This shows an absolute lack of diligence on the applicant's behalf.

"...the big "no-no's" are getting their own name, your name or the company name wrong! This shows an absolute lack of diligence on the applicant's behalf..."

no-nos and applicant's/applicants' - welcome to the land of the pedant!

I do remember with some shock being told that my CV (I was in England at that time) had three mistakes in it. I had not given it a final check. And it was for a proof-reading post...

Michael.

This is an interesting issue; I am sure that not only are spelling errors used as an intitial screening but so too are many other rudimentry approaches. Often this reflects the fact that a manager has to deal with a vast number of applicants.

I use the name spelling error as a judgement of not only the diligence and detail an indiviual can/will apply but also as an indicator of how much they truly want the position.

My business provides consulting services and our clients do not accomodate a lack of accuracy on pertinent details. It's only expected that we have have the same expectation for our staff.

PS: apostrophe before the "s" is correct; as the question posed is in the singular form, and therefore the error and the related diligence has ownership with a single candidate in this context......now watch me get a million emails....

None of those examples are spelling errors. They are all errors of grammar - and on this I give some amount of "lattitude" as its a completely separate matter.

The most common spelling mistakes I find, after typographical errors ("typos"), are homophones. For example; quiet and quite; or tale and tail; sure and shore; ensure and insure. This list is large.

For typos I give lattitude some of the time. We all have time constraints.

On homophones; I suggest the applicant/candidate goes back to kindergarten.

It does say the candidate hasn't done enough homework on the resume. But, evaluate the whole package, I'd say. Don't be overly critical on one aspect of a candidate.

Strictly speaking, there is a grammatical error in your question - "a candidate" and "their"?

Maybe I'm old school but regardless of the job I say one mistake I could overlook, 2 mistakes is inexcusable.

You REALLY want the job, you will REALLY put in the effort to show me your best. If you don't, someone else will.

A very interesting question and very good answers. It has been a good learning for me through so many thoughts. Thank You!

I just want to say, "Each candidate has its own set of strengths and weakness", he should be given a chance to make errors and correct. What is important in any individual is th Right Attitude. This fundamental, rest all can be developed.

Is anyone on this post a writer?

I too am a published writer...I write for ehow.com (Demand Media).I primarily write HR related articles...I have posted a link to one of my article..
http://www.ehow.com/info_8245193_can-not-disclosing-employment-resume.html

Depends on the nature and support functions of the job.
Some are critical, some not.

If a candidate showed up for an interview with mismatched socks, a stained shirt/blouse, or unshaven, would we allow for that or proceed? We have all had it hammered in to us, especially in a tight job market like this, to put our very best foot forward, be creative, don't screw up our chance to make a good impression, yet the answers here recommend overlooking basic communication and presentation elements.

You have to know how to spell or get your work or your resume reviewed by someone, not some software, who does. It may sound harsh, but what is wrong with expecting a fundamental level of competence or conscientiousness from potential employees?

My first reaction to grammar or spelling errors is distraction. I was reading for style and content, now I'm concerned with how much care the person put into the resume. In today's world, especially in technology, I ask myself if English is the person's first language. I'm more forgiving if it is not. The feeling that the person is sloppy and disrespectful lingers, and only goes away if I read on and find a brilliant background that fits my needs.

I believe the answer to this question is relative to a few factors. For one, I factor in what position the person is applying for. If the position is going to driving a truck, or performing a job that does not require written communication as an essential job duty, then are the incorrectly spelled words really that big of a deal? Perhaps the candidate is very well qualified for the job he/she has applied for with the resume that has three words spelled incorrectly. If the company elects to promote that person down the road into a position that does require written communication, then it might be something the person can receive training on. If the position does require written communication skills, then I view incorrectly spelled words with much more criticality, since that person is going to be sending written communications to others in the organization, and their written communication is a reflection of their competency level, and also a reflection of the hiring manager's competency in hiring well qualified candidates for the position. However, if we are talking about one minor word that is not spelled correctly, I tend not think of that as a big deal.

Unfortunately in this economy and job climate, both my clients and I get numerous resumes for one open position. Therefore, an obvious error on a resume, such as a word spelled word is an automatic weeding out of that candidate.

I want to talk with anyone who may be a match for the position. Heaven forbid that we would turn away the best candidate just because of an error. I certainly would not want someone that got lucky on the first pass with spelling, and then when in the position as an employee, were not so lucky. How does one know that the spelling error was due to a lack of concern? On the other hand, if the resume' was a mess, we may consider passing on that person.

Hey guys,

I have applied for a grad position and had the mistake of .... due my .. instead of .... due to my .... yet I have made it through to the interview round .. does this mean this mistake will be overlooked or will my cover letter be looked at again ... (my actual resume was flawles)....

mistakes are good lessons where we learn more.. so question them continuously to find weather they have wrong on their part or they have cut copied the resume of others if they accept their fault its better to look or further proceed with them.. so mistakes may come no one can be so perfect all times so its to be accepted the fault so the candidate must come to accept the fault and correct see that he never continue it

I send them an email to watch the TV show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. On the follow-up interview I make them compete against my daughter to see who can spell better. If they win, they get the job.

I suppose the first thing is never assume your view of how it should be spelt is the correct one.

for example:
the menu comprises chicken, beef and mutton. many people actually think that there is a mistake. i.e. a missing "of".
(not exactly spelling error but you get the drift). The fact is that the word "comprises" translates to "consist of". So, to put an "of" after it, would actually translate to "consist of of".

what is the project deadline? or is it dateline? my boss actually ask me to spelt my project "deadline" as "dateline". but the fact is that the former is the correct one, the latter actually refers to the invisible international line cutting across the globe that demarcates how the timezones is to be referenced.

back to the context of the question, be realistic that given the increasing automated work of writing (rather typing), allow for a small % of spelling errors. But make sure you are not penalising someone, when it is your own spelling mistakes.