ROFLYAO- rolling on the floor, laughing your ….well you get it?

Dear recruiter,
I’m looking for a career opportunity and would like for you to help me. I have done very well at my previous jobs and think i could b a worthy fit. You prolly deal with people like me all the time and know what I have to do to get a career opportunity.
Call me when you get this email.
TA,
Bob

I know times are tough and many are in the job search process, but these of you that believe in “Survival of the Fittest” will find this story encouraging. The email above is an actual email we received this week (we get at least a couple of those each week). Can you believe they come from college educated individuals?

While I am not an English and grammar expert, I at least try. Based on a giant sample group, it seems like I may be in the minority. What happened to following the rules? You know the ones…. capitalize the beginning of sentences, use commas, don’t overuse abbreviations in business communications etc., etc., etc.?

The shift to digital communications shouldn’t signal the end of writing in real English. Not old England English (tis not the time) but in English (It’s not the time). I understand that texting requires abbreviations and I understand that emoticons (?) can sometimes help add tone or context to a brief message. I also understand that just because I like and enjoy something, doesn’t mean that everyone else will like it. Do career opportunity seekers think that all of the hiring managers will be “into” texting, abbreviations and the new lingo? Will they even know what a tweet is? They say Warren Buffet didn’t have a computer until Bill gates bought him one and then he only used it for Chess.

I always think of an old saying that one of my managers said me early in my career, “I expect you to use the same skill set internally as you do externally”. Translation… If you’re a revenue person that was hired to utilize your expert communication skills to sell a product, use that same skill internally among your peers to advance your ideas and goals.

What does that have to do with writing and grammar in written communications?
Everything.
How skilled at your craft do you think recruiters think you are when you don’t distinguish between fun time texting and business communication? Answer: not very.

A manager interviews 2 candidates that he rates as equal. One sends an appropriate follow up email.
One sends this:
Hello Bob,
Thanks for meeting.
i’m really interested in the position.
i have a few ?4U, but I’ll save them for next time we MIRL.
IG2R,
Kelly

Who do think left a better impression?
TTTT (these things take time) - not sure if this fits here, but I just wanted to show my range.

Article courtesy of  Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Recruiter at the nationally
recognized laboratory and laboratory revenue recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved

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