Waht Typo? 6 Simple Tips for Web Profile Quality

Is a typo on a paper-based resume worse than a typo on the web?

I'm active on LinkedIn. I like it. Occasionally, while reading someone’s profile, I'll notice a typo. Common ones I see are “employement” and “developement.” I generally drop a quick note to the profile owner and mention it. I usually receive a nice thank you in return.

I think I'm more forgiving when I see these web-based profile typos than when I see the typo committed to paper.

Yesterday however, I was reading a web-based news story from a major news outlet and shuddered when I read the word "suspisions" in the body of the story.

While I understand the web-typo - we move fast, type directly into a CMS, read something so many times it looks correct - there are certain instances where I feel it's unacceptable, and that's for the job seeker (and for the major news outlet, but that's another blog post).

As I've said before, during a job search, every piece of information you put out for public view is the first example of your work product.

For me, a typo shows a lack of thoroughness, and I'm not alone in that point of view.

It only takes a moment to type your information into Word or some other application that allows spell-checking and review. Dictionaries, both web-based and old-school, are readily available. I personally use Firefox as my browser, and have selected Check Spelling as I type (under “Options,” I love this feature).

So I was wondering: What are other people’s tolerances for the dreaded typo? I created a poll on LinkedIn to find out, and frankly, I was surprised at how forgiving certain demographics of responders are. Tips to avoid typos are at the end:

Top of Form

The Poll: 63 Responders

The Responses:

By OCCUPATION: HR folks were more forgiving than I would have assumed, but just barely. The most forgiving group were Operations folks, the most unforgiving Product:

By COMPANY SIZE: Small and Enterprise-level companies were the most flexible, Medium-size the least:

BY JOB TITLE: If you're interviewing with the Owner or C-Suite level of a company, you are more likely to be forgiven than if you are speaking to Management. The C-Suite is also more likely to let you know you have an error:

By GENDER: There ya' go. Pretty straightforward with men being a little bit more flexible (but not much):

By AGE: the lower the age, the less tolerant:

Last, the OVERALL: DON'T have a typo; you may still receive contact; about a 25% chance you may be notified, and people do appreciate being told they have a typo, but if such a small percentage is telling, how do you know?

That's the point, don't wait to be told.


How to Avoid the dreaded typo whether you are job searching or not:

1. Start your document, blog post, VisualCV, Google profile etc. in Word or a like application. Check your Document Review settings - make sure you do not have options set to ignore words in Caps or other terms. Spell- and Grammar-check.
   
2. Do not automatically accept word processor suggestions: Somewhere, out there today, is a major proposal that has the word "seamy" where "seamlessly" should have been. Really changed the meaning of the paragraph.
   
3. Copy your text into Notepad to strip underlying formatting & HTML that may create issues if you are pasting into a CMS.
4. Copy and paste using a Browser that has a spell-check option.
5. Used web-based resources if you are in doubt of spelling or meaning of a word. http://www.wordcentral.com/ from Miriam-Webster is a good, free tool. There are many others.
   
6. Have an objective party review whenever possible, or set the work aside for at least a couple of hours so you may review it with "fresh" eyes.

I also received some good comments from participants:

Did you find a typo in this post? Let me know, would ya'? OPCGal on Twitter

Your First Day of Work

Your first day of work for your next employer is your last day of work for your former employer.

Everything you do from the point of separation forward becomes an example of your work product to your next employer. You HAVE to get this.

I was recently contacted by someone I did not know via LinkedIn.com. I visited the gentleman’s profile, and found four typos in the first 10 lines. There were other challenges with his profile, so I did what I generally do in this situation; I wrote back asking if he was open to a couple of suggestions. He was.

I first verified that English was his first language, and took time with my response, pointed out the typos, explained the theory behind my primary suggestions, and kept it short and to the point. I also spell-checked my response.

The gentleman wrote me back and sounded enthusiastic regarding the changes he made based upon my suggestions, so I re-visited. The four typos were corrected; however, there were now 3 new ones. That’s where I stopped.

And that’s a shame.

How can anyone possibly recommend you to their network if the first example of a work product you present is half-hearted?

This applies to everything you do – from telephone conversations to your web presence to your demeanor on the golf course or at the supermarket; you are your Brand! Preserve it, build it, and make it better.

And for goodness sake, copy any text into Word or whatever program you use and spell-check it, and then have someone objective review it.

Please.

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