Challenges when recruiting testers – number 4

Continuing the series, and number 4 on my hit-list of recruitment challenges is spelling mistakes, or as I call them ‘Typo’s’.

Now this is a tricky subject – indeed whilst typing this I have made mistakes (I have the ability to type ‘the’ as ‘teh’ all the time) but I proof read and make corrections as I go. Actually the fact that there is a red underline also gives the game away.

So why is this a problem? Well Testers need to have good attention to detail. Period.

If I am going to ask someone to ensure that something works or doesnt work, then that requires someone to notice if there is a spelling mistake on a web page as an example. It is hugely embarrassing for any organisation to make errors, and in today’s world of Twitter, Facebook etc, these mistakes can ‘go viral’ (I dont like that phrase particularly but it seems appropriate in this instance). In fact research in 2013 suggested that 59% of Britons would switch websites if they saw obvious mistakes (see http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/24623-poor-grammar-on-websites-scares-59-away). It looks shoddy, and a tester should notice these things.

So, I expect to see evidence of this on a CV. Am I being too picky expecting there to be no mistakes at all? Maybe, but that’s my prerogative. As I said before, a CV is the only thing a prospective employer has that represents the candidate, and if that candidate cannot be bothered to spot and correct typo’s, then it points to laziness. I accept that English is not always a first language, and I do make some allowances in those situations, but most people use MS Word and it automatically highlights errors. And there is always the option to ask someone else to proof read it. If I wanted a job in France, and wrote my CV in French, I’d make sure to ask a native French speaker to read it through for me!

I’ve seen some real humdingers in my time – probably the worst was a heading in bold type, using a larger font than the main text saying ‘Profisssional Expeerience’. It has to be my all time favourite!

It’s so simple to fix, takes just a short time to do and can make the difference between getting an interview or being rejected at the first hurdle, but it’s a shame that so many people do not seem to bother.