Tuesday, September 22, 2015

As a writer and a lover of the English language...

As a writer and a lover of the English language my daily emails at work are like fingernails dragging painfully down a blackboard.

Here is an real life example of two emails I recieved.  I have changed the proper names to protect the offender.



From: joseph rubens
To: Human Resources
Subject: Job opportunity
Hello, my name is joseph rubens and i am writing this message because i am intrested in a position with wilco standards. i am a former welder for stuts out in the oil platforms. I became close friends with juan vasques and a couple of employees who encouraged me to appy for wilco. if you guys are hiring by any chance. Please give me and email message or a call on how can i apply. Thanx you..  



MY RESPONSE:
Joseph,

Thank you for your interest in a job opportunity with Wilco Standards.  Unfortunately there are no openings at this time.

Please take the time to read and apply these helpful pointers so that you will have better luck in your job search:
1)      Always attach a resume
2)      This is your first and only chance to impress the hiring manager- so work hard to impress them
a.       Use proper grammar (for example capitalization)
b.      No spelling mistakes
c.       No text short cuts, use the whole word spelled out properly.
3)      Always mention that you were referred by someone and spell their name correctly.  In this case you should mention all the employees who would give you a recommendation. More is better.

Your email is all bunched together and without the proper capitalizations it is harder to read.  You could easily have spent just a couple of more minutes and done a lot better on this email and made a much better first impression. 

I am not saying this to discourage you but to assist you in your job search.  I wish you good luck.

From: joseph rubens
I appreciate your help kathryn. Yes you are right, i should have double checked my grammer. I will keep trying. Thank you.


Don't you love this? Does he not see that he is thanking me and he should've double checked his "grammer" and then he does everything I have told him not to do in the email to me?  If he had shown that he could follow directions by at least captializing, the one thing everyone should know how to do, I would have saved his email for when we are hiring again. Had he attached a resume I would have saved it was well.  He did neither and his email was discarded, at work at least.

It found its way here because I have complained about the emails I receive, honestly this is one of the better ones, and the state of the English language only to be told that there is no way people are making those mistakes. So here is proof of a few of the most common mistakes I see. I don't think many of you would be able to read some of the emails I recieve.  It took my assistant months to learn to decipher them.

Does anyone have any examples of poor grammar that are their pet peeves.

18 comments:

  1. That's what Instant Message and texting have done to people's grammar. Sad he didn't learn anything from your suggestions.

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    1. You are so right. I will post an email from an avid instant messenger next. He LOLs so often and after things that are not funny. His messages make no sense. I end up calling him everytime.

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  2. I literally cringed while reading these! Ew ew ew EWWWWWWWWWW. Are you applying for a job or turning in homework for first grade!? Unbelievable.

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    1. It's great to "see" you again! This must be a very exciting week for you with the Pope's visit.

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  3. For someone else who loves the sound and look of our language, this made me cry. I want to arrive on his doorstep with my red pencil and some well-structured writing lessons. Good for you. You gave him the best advice. Now, if he would only take it!

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  4. I meant to add my pet peeves. Here are a couple.

    "Lay down."
    "Between you and I."

    These are fingernails on the chalkboard for I. :-)

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    1. My pet peeves are pronunciation of ask as ax and except as accept and my largest is "I seen it" the misuse of seen runs rampant in Southern California.

      Sadly, I have reached out to so many people searching for jobs to help them and while most say thank you NONE of them actually take the advice in the response. It is sad.

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  5. How sweet of you to take a minute and help him out! Personally, I'd hire him. Just because he took no offense at the constructive criticism. To me, that screams trainable, humble, and good spirited. Some people would have been disappointed in not getting the job and the email back might not have been pretty.

    Hopefully, he takes your advice to heart and has someone with a better grasp of the English language proof his inquiries.

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    1. I have tried to help a lot of job seekers but none show they can learn by implementing even the tiniest bit of the advice I give them. I will continue to help and hope to find someone who actually wants and takes the advice.

      I loved your comment about your cool Jesus on your Trail cam post. It gave me a nice chuckle when I needed a break from a rough afternoon. I think he has a sense of humor. Otherwise I will be joining you someplace warmer than S. CA for eternity ☺

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    2. I suppose we'll find out when we get there. LOL. Years ago, my uncle told me to stop asking other people what Jesus was thinking- grab my Bible and get to know Him myself. So, I did, and I've never been more content.

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  6. Lots of grammar peeves, even among intelligent and educated colleagues. Favorites are "should of", and "loose" instead of "lose".

    Also, beloved of politicians and celebrities caught doing something they shouldn't have: "I utterly refute that allegation" when all they've done is deny it.

    Oh - and "infer" instead of "imply". Favorite quote from the movie Wilt:
    "Are you inferring I'm an idiot?"
    "No, I'm implying you're an idiot. You are inferring it."

    Dang it, I could go on forever...

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  7. That second response had me rolling in laughter. Kids theses days don't see grammar as important-- they've grown up on shorthand and auto-correct. sigh.

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    1. I wish this was an isolated event but I have emails like this daily.
      I have become quite dependent on auto correct. I always mistype e before i and luckily I don't have to try and do it right because Word fixes it for me.

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  8. At least he had the courtesy to thank you, despite his extremely poor knowledge of the language. I'd have discarded it too because even with your helpful tips, he still didn't attach the resume or fix the basic issues.

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  10. i dont c the problem w/his email.

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    1. true dat thnx for the laugh, much needed this weak

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