For the first time in over 50 years, there was a tie during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, with two teenagers declared co-champions on Thursday.
These boys have a skill that is so important, yet underappreciated in a world with spell-check.
Spelling and grammar are important skills to possess, especially for anyone in the corporate world. You don’t have to be able to spell words like “corpsbruder,” but taking the time to improve your communication skills is a good idea.
Here’s why:
Bad Spelling or Grammar Can Ruin Your Chances of Getting Hired
Ask a hiring manager whether or not they would hire someone who made a spelling mistake on a résumé. More than likely, the answer will be “No, I would not.”
Bad spelling or grammar can damage your credibility. Companies need to keep their credibility intact, so they can’t afford to go out on a limb to hire someone who could later damage their reputation.
Even if a job doesn’t directly involve writing, many hiring managers see these mistakes as a warning sign.
“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,” said Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, in an article for Harvard Business Review. “So, even in this hyper-competitive market, I will pass on a great programmer who cannot write.”
Bad Spelling or Grammar Can Cost Your Company Money
If you think that spelling or grammar mistakes are no big deal, think again. One tiny mistake can cost your company a lot of money.
In Canada, one comma ended up costing Rogers Communications $1 million. An article for BBC news claimed that one spelling mistake could cost a company half of their online sales.
Many companies have lost millions of dollars over simple mistakes. Don’t be one of them.
Bad Spelling or Grammar Can Make You Look Bad
Relying on spellcheck is a mistake. Consider this sentence: “Please come here.” If I accidently left the last letter off of each word, it would read “Pleas com her.”
Those typos could be missed by a spell check, because “pleas” and “her” are words and “com” is an abbreviation used at the end of many web addresses. The sentence makes no sense, but it could pass through a spell check.
Typos are bad enough, but getting an email from a company executive who uses “there” instead of “their” is just inexcusable. If you are intelligent and educated enough to become the CEO of a company, you are more than capable of knowing that “your” and “you’re” have totally different meanings.
If a 13-year-old boy can spell “stichomythia,” there is no reason why you can’t spell out “be right back” instead of using “BRB.”
Erin Palmer is a writer and editor who really appreciates people who use proper grammar. Her work has appeared in numerous publications and websites, including The Chicago Tribune and The Huffington Post.
