The cost of using poor grammar

It seems like a week can’t go by without there being another news story about how the rise of social media, texting and informal emails have led to the downfall of the English language. Whilst many of us carry on with our everyday lives without giving this problem a second thought, a new study has revealed that poor spelling and bad grammar can actually affect your career, business and how you’re perceived as a professional.

If you are looking for a new job then it is worth going over your CV again and again until you are 100% certain that it is perfect. Doing this could be the difference between you securing an interview and your CV ending up in the bin because many employers are so sick of poorly constructed sentences, that they now have a zero tolerance policy regarding this issue.

Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember Basic English and therefore sloppy mistakes on your CV can be very costly. Employers like to hire people who care about details and will automatically assume that applicants who don’t pride themselves in their written work won’t care about other important aspects of their job either. This is supported by the fact that many companies have noticed that individuals who make fewer grammar mistakes slip up less often in other aspects of their job as well.

The importance of using good grammar doesn’t just apply to those looking for work. If you are an authoritative figure and are seen to be using poor grammar, this is going to reflect badly on you and your business.

The sudden growth of online marketing means that companies now have a much bigger presence on the Internet than ever before. Whether you are blogging, participating in forums, posting on social media sites, sending out email campaigns or maintaining your own company website, the words you are using on these mediums is all you have. As a projection of who you are and what your company stands for, people will judge you and if you can’t tell the difference between their, there and they’re, people will not think very highly of you.

As a successful organisation, chances are that you spend large sums of money on corporate branding and marketing. Allowing sloppy correspondence from employees sets the tone for the culture of the company and can therefore ruin all the hard work you have done to build up a professional image.

Whether you are an employer or an employee, in order to command the respect of those around you, always ensure that you double check what you have written before sending it out. Do you judge people who use poor grammar or do you think this bears no resemblance to whether they can do their job or not?