Proofread to make a great first impression

I’ve always had a hard-and-fast rule about typos in resumes. If I see one, the person doesn’t get an interview. I may have lost an opportunity or two along the way to find a great person, but I believe candidates with mistakes on their single most important personal marketing documents aren’t going to pay any better attention to detail on their day-to-day work assignments.

Full disclosure: I ignored this rule once with a referral. Turned out to be a bad mistake and cost me hours in performance-management time before we finally parted ways. Painfully.

I bring this bias to restaurants. It is beyond me how someone whose livelihood depends on the customer experience cannot pay attention to the one thing everyone looks at. Particularly when someone like me points it out (to the chagrin of my wife and kids) and I go back a month later and they haven’t changed it. I know, I know. Who cares, if the food is great? I do. Because it makes me wonder about their attention to detail in places I can’t see. Like kitchen cleanliness.

Bulldog Simplicity Rule #1:  First impressions matter.  Typos are a distraction and a big indicator of your attention to detail, whether it’s in a menu, a resume, or anything your customer sees. If you’re not good at proofreading, find someone who is. Click on this Proofreading Tips link for a Freebie from my website that may help. Many people particularly like the one about reading backwards.

Now let me get out of here and Spell Check this before I post it.