Yes, we do judge people by their grammar.
Read How To Use An Apostrophe in The Oatmeal.
I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar.
by Kyle Wiens in the HBR blogs
(Please, we don’t even admit their comments. Fine, most of their comments.)
If you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building.
Some might call my approach to grammar extreme, but I prefer Lynne Truss’s more cuddly phraseology: I am a grammar “stickler.” And, like Truss — author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves — I have a “zero tolerance approach” to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.
Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance.” She thinks that people who mix up their itses “deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave,” while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job — even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.
Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a mandatory grammar test. Extenuating circumstances aside (dyslexia, English language learners, etc.), if job hopefuls can’t distinguish between “to” and “too,” their applications go into the bin.
Thanks to Ricky for the link.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
December 31st, 2013 at 19:16
I also read that article recently. I feel for the author. I’ve seen far too many HR recruiters who give a number of people with atrocious grammar a pass just because the demand for staff is skyrocketing with every expansion of the company. It gives the hiring manager a headache.
January 3rd, 2014 at 00:52
“If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use “it’s,” then that’s not a learning curve I’m comfortable with.”
My point (only Kyle Wiens sounds more polite) when I did not recommend someone for promotion in my previous employer. My one-up did not agree with me so when I left, the “Grammage” Girl got promoted. The one-up was fond of using “fails” in comparison in business reports.