Spelling errors on your CV will cost you that job!
The post was written in some haste! Hoist by me own peter-thingy.Join Date: Feb 2003
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Some people read a lot, others don't. My wife and I did when we were children, and we still do. Our eldest son could but didn't bother. We have to take crowbars to the two youngest to get the books out of their hands ('and DON'T read at the dinner table!' etc etc).
Point is it's not a recent phenomenon.
Point is it's not a recent phenomenon.
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Eye am un employu, but not in aviation, un I can tel yuo that cvs' what ave spelin un gramitic erus get bined pretty quick cuz it shows a basic lak of cear, specily if I have lots to choose frmo.
Heaps of bandwidth must be used here on pprune debating spelling and grammar. I just wonder, is it possible when next perhaps pprune isrevamped, to include a spell checking facility on the post typing page? Might sought out the spelling if not peolple what use the wrong words in there wrong plaice.
Heaps of bandwidth must be used here on pprune debating spelling and grammar. I just wonder, is it possible when next perhaps pprune isrevamped, to include a spell checking facility on the post typing page? Might sought out the spelling if not peolple what use the wrong words in there wrong plaice.
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The point made about PPRuNe’s lack of a spell-checking facility is interesting. It’s amazing how reliant we have now become on a spell-check (and it shows on these forums). I believe that the computer has a lot to answer for in this area. School students now use computers for a significant proportion of their work and know that they have the spell-check safety net. Laziness inevitably results, with the students not considering spelling an important skill.
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There is also a genuine difference between "typos" and spelling mistakes. "Typos" are obvious if the author of the letter takes the time and trouble to check the contents. Typos in a way, indicate a lack of attention to detail, not an attribute any budding aviator wants to bring to the attention of anyone involved in the selection process....We all make spelling mistakes and mostly they are so trivial the word used is recognised. re received previously. We know we all know the word mean't "to be in receipt of "etc etc etc so the odd spelling mistake shouldnt cause too much concern.
Lack of attention to detail is far more important especially in this industry and will give a more obvious hint as to the persons general attitude, not the odd spellin mistak.
Lack of attention to detail is far more important especially in this industry and will give a more obvious hint as to the persons general attitude, not the odd spellin mistak.
I say there boy
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As for typos on pprune, I have found that Microsoft Word's auto correct feature (present since Word '97) has made me somewhat lazy with keystrokes - particularly 'teh' for the, etc. This means that when I type in software without autocorrect, I quite often miss typos that Word would have autocorrected.
This quite often causes typos to slip by when I post on pprune.
I blame the technology!!!
Of course the other problem is post-pub ppruning
edited for poor clause structure
This quite often causes typos to slip by when I post on pprune.
I blame the technology!!!
Of course the other problem is post-pub ppruning
edited for poor clause structure
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Another important issue here, beyond spelling and typos, is syntax - the structuring of language - which applies to short CV sentences (describing some past experience) as much as to the longer, more complex ones that might be found in covering letters and reveals more than just 'carelessness'.
I am not an English teacher nor an academic but I am a school teacher of long standing and am amazed that even some colleagues cannot 'see' that what they have written is wrong or awkward, even though correctly spelt. (As an aside, I am generally impressed with the standards of literacy, including syntax, to be found on Pprune). This is an issue that is exercising education as much as industry and commerce, hence the 'literacy hour' in primary schools. Poor syntax reveals not just a lack of training in language but also something to do with thought patterns (some of our thinking is done in language) and is therefore a sign of a certain sort intelligence.
And before you all jump to your keyboards - 'spelling police!' - a couple of points to make the connection with the aviation industry -
Language is a code just as much as keying data into a computer - if I put a comma instead of a colon it won't work - lawyers use this property of language to construct devious ambiguities, or to prevent them. Modern commercial aviation requires pilots to do more than fly planes - they need to assimilate written information quickly (as you all know by now - ATPL's!) and to communicate concisely and unambiguously, in writing as well as verbally. Recognising the importance and meanings of specific words and structures, i.e. using correct language, is a prerequisite of that.
Language is also a code that we read to assess people. Poor spelling may be dyslexia, which certainly does not preclude being an excellent and professional pilot - indeed I read somewhere that dyslexics make good helicopter pilots, can't remember why - but poor syntax is read as uneducated, lacking in knowledge and maybe intelligence, inarticulate, careless of detail, etc. Some of that is true.
As others above suggest - the best (only) way of improving syntax, unless you wish to study linguistics, is to experience it - read, read, read. Read CHIRPPS, novels, quality newspapers, anything that is properly written (this also gives you depth in ideas, perceptions, etc.). And, one of the hidden parts of the school curriculum, converse with those who can (teachers?) - use it! And, of course, be conscious of gaining skill in this vital area - I read last week of a company, advertising I think, that in some desperation, held their own 'literacy 20 minutes' regularly with experts brought in to address a specific rule each session (use of punctuation, particular constructions, common errors, etc.). The employees, after initial resistance, appreciated the confidence it gave them and enjoyed their new expertise.
At risk of sounding patronising to some of you Wannabes, it can be done. Again and again I have seen kids, especially boys, who at eleven can hardly string a sentence together but, if they are motivated, usually self-motivated, become fluent and articulate by the time they get to eighteen. And we all have all heard of adults, prisoners, etc. who, from an uneducated start have worked their way up to a high standard - degrees in law, for instance.
But you have to care. What I'm saying is .... do care, and do something about it if you need to.
Flame away!
WE
PS. Scroggs - we had a Swedish colleague some years ago who similarly had a better grasp of our language than any of us - beautiful syntax - must be something to do with their attitude to language in Sweden.
PPS. What do I teach - guess!
Spot the mistake! It is 3 am - and don't ask!
WE.
I am not an English teacher nor an academic but I am a school teacher of long standing and am amazed that even some colleagues cannot 'see' that what they have written is wrong or awkward, even though correctly spelt. (As an aside, I am generally impressed with the standards of literacy, including syntax, to be found on Pprune). This is an issue that is exercising education as much as industry and commerce, hence the 'literacy hour' in primary schools. Poor syntax reveals not just a lack of training in language but also something to do with thought patterns (some of our thinking is done in language) and is therefore a sign of a certain sort intelligence.
And before you all jump to your keyboards - 'spelling police!' - a couple of points to make the connection with the aviation industry -
Language is a code just as much as keying data into a computer - if I put a comma instead of a colon it won't work - lawyers use this property of language to construct devious ambiguities, or to prevent them. Modern commercial aviation requires pilots to do more than fly planes - they need to assimilate written information quickly (as you all know by now - ATPL's!) and to communicate concisely and unambiguously, in writing as well as verbally. Recognising the importance and meanings of specific words and structures, i.e. using correct language, is a prerequisite of that.
Language is also a code that we read to assess people. Poor spelling may be dyslexia, which certainly does not preclude being an excellent and professional pilot - indeed I read somewhere that dyslexics make good helicopter pilots, can't remember why - but poor syntax is read as uneducated, lacking in knowledge and maybe intelligence, inarticulate, careless of detail, etc. Some of that is true.
As others above suggest - the best (only) way of improving syntax, unless you wish to study linguistics, is to experience it - read, read, read. Read CHIRPPS, novels, quality newspapers, anything that is properly written (this also gives you depth in ideas, perceptions, etc.). And, one of the hidden parts of the school curriculum, converse with those who can (teachers?) - use it! And, of course, be conscious of gaining skill in this vital area - I read last week of a company, advertising I think, that in some desperation, held their own 'literacy 20 minutes' regularly with experts brought in to address a specific rule each session (use of punctuation, particular constructions, common errors, etc.). The employees, after initial resistance, appreciated the confidence it gave them and enjoyed their new expertise.
At risk of sounding patronising to some of you Wannabes, it can be done. Again and again I have seen kids, especially boys, who at eleven can hardly string a sentence together but, if they are motivated, usually self-motivated, become fluent and articulate by the time they get to eighteen. And we all have all heard of adults, prisoners, etc. who, from an uneducated start have worked their way up to a high standard - degrees in law, for instance.
But you have to care. What I'm saying is .... do care, and do something about it if you need to.
Flame away!
WE
PS. Scroggs - we had a Swedish colleague some years ago who similarly had a better grasp of our language than any of us - beautiful syntax - must be something to do with their attitude to language in Sweden.
PPS. What do I teach - guess!
Spot the mistake! It is 3 am - and don't ask!
WE.
"indeed I read somewhere that dyslexics make good helicopter pilots"
As a helikopter pillot I canot believe that stattement as most fixed wing pillots cnow that us helikopter peeple are the best. The most good liking and are very inteliggent. I must close know as i am of to a meating of the DNA (National Dyslexics Assoc.)
HF
As a helikopter pillot I canot believe that stattement as most fixed wing pillots cnow that us helikopter peeple are the best. The most good liking and are very inteliggent. I must close know as i am of to a meating of the DNA (National Dyslexics Assoc.)
HF
