Potential Employer Critiques Applicant's Cover Letter

CNN missed many typing, semantics, and grammar errors, though I don't think there is enough real estate on the page to make notes on all the mistakes. BAAAAADDD resume no matter what!

I, for one, would not work for somebody that, in their first interaction with me, played the roll of fussy english teacher.

On the one hand, you can say Steph is applying as a bookkeeper, not a writer. But on the other hand, you'd like to hire someone with enough sense to know their limitations and get a parent, teacher, or friend to proofread the letter.

The first thing that jumped out at me was "I work great as a team" which makes no sense. Better to say "I will work well in a team" or "I can work well with a team."

In response to a comment on the linked page, the proofreader wrote "I was just having a laugh with it. I didn’t even think about returning this to the potential employee!"

I had been taught that a job application and cover letter should be carefully written, in order to reflect my own care and attention to detail. They are the first point of contact with a potential employer, and so provide the only initial indication of my work attitudes and skills. Today, with computer word processing (my use of this term shows that I am old), it is easy to find and correct the most obvious errors of spelling and grammar.

It appears that this advice is not universally received.

Remember, kiddies: You do not take English classes in order to pass English classes. You take English classes in order to not make a fool of yourself when applying for a job.[1] If you get in the habit of at least *trying* to use decent grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc., when posting online, you will probably get an employer to make it past your cover letter without falling out of his or her chair laughing. Few people (unless they're looking for a proofreader, I suppose) expect absolute perfection, but the more errors your make per page, the more likely it is someone will take this as indicative of a generally sloppy and careless approach to tasks in general.

[1]Furthermore, people you meet on online dating sites will be a lot more responsive to your posts if you don't present yourself as an illiterate moron.

I'm just glad she was 'dynamically trained.' It's just awful when training is boring or even adequate.

I don't think I'd want to work for someone that capable of ridiculing someone else so publicly for their limitations. I've worked with bullies before, and it's not pleasurable.