Grammar. How important is it? Do you think that it makes you more successful in your busniess life if you can be articulate or is that all nonsense? Another question I have is about manners. Are old fashioned manners stupid, or when you are in the business world having a business lunch is belching at the table and licking your fingers just ignored?
My attitudes about these things are pretty clear for anyone who knows me here. All my adult children open doors for old ladies and stand up when they come in the room. They write thank you notes. They are not allowed to wear their ball caps at the dinner table. Sounds silly and old fashioned? Maybe, but they have thanked me as adults because in their lives when it matters it is noticed - one way or the other.
Nothing sexier than a man with manners. Gallant. Old fashioned word, but ooooh baby, is that nice in this day and age.
As an English Major, grammar is extremely important to me. Not just grammar, but how you portray yourself. And that’s what drives me from web-boards on a regular basis. I have a very hard time taking anyone seriously if they can’t portray themselves as remotely intelligent. It’s not too much to put periods at the ends of sentences and capitalize letters when necessary.
But I’ll hushup now, because I’ve been known to have flamewars sporadically start around me. This topic has been the fuel for several flames on boards I’ve been on. I haven’t started them, merely commented on it in a thread or two where the topic had already been brought up.
I wasn’t trying to be judgemental either, but here’s the deal: In about 80% of cases no one would notice the hat-at-the-table thing. Same with grammer. People use double negatives and split infinitives all the time… but in the right circumstance - meeting your new boss or writing a cover letter - Yowza. I am reading a book by a very talented writer I know who wrote the most inarticulate cover letter - and trust me… sometimes these letters are your first impression, and you know what they say about first impressions. You only get one shot. I encouraged him to revise it for his own good.
I know, it is cool to be yourself and all this sounds like pettiness. But, trust me, these first impressions are important for a job. Hey, be a redneck, be a garbage collector, bartender or lawyer - butcher, baker, candlestick maker but, do me a favor…
Like in all things, there needs to be a balance. In business first impressions are important and both articulation and dress matter. However, you ultimately have to make a human connection.
It is very important to screw up at some point, and reading who you are dealing with, and when to screw up, is critical.
I don’t have any hard or fast rules, just something you have to learn as you go.
Manners don’t really matter to me. If someone is interesting matters more to me. I’d rather have a rude friend who’s interesting than a quiet one who’s boring. And I have a lot of interesting, rude friends.
Written communication is very important, especially if they spell “business†incorrectly. (see above)
On a serious note: it obviously depends on the degree of errors and the position the person’s applying for, but generally, a person’s presentation is vitally important and written communication is one of the ways a person presents him/herself. With the onset of the information age, written communication is more important than ever.
When you’re employing someone – and I’ve done heaps – you have to cull the prospects before you get down to focusing on their skills and talents and one way to do this is by their written communication. Poor grammar and/or spelling tells you that the person is either uneducated or doesn’t care – both very unattractive to an employer and hence they often don’t get past stage one.
Maybe. But good manners can only help you when bad ones can only drag you down. Remember that.
pxc,
If your preference is to hang around with terrific people who are really rude, make sure you don’t take them with you if you want to impress someone professionally. Those things may not matter to you, but what if your bad behavior matters to the job? This isn’t about what looks cool, it’s about what is smart.
By the way, if you are nineteen you may not be hungry enough yet to want that better job. When you are— a firm handshake, wearing a borrowed suit and taking off your hat at the table will start making some sense to you.
I know what you are thinking. The argument to all this is choosing a lifestyle that doesn’t require social skills, and there are many. Your choice. I am talking about any job that is considered a profession. Don’t split hairs and tell me that construction workers and garbage collectors don’t need manners. I am talking about in the business world. In that particular arena, life isn’t what you think.
I don’t really have a problem with having to occasionally dress up or act differently than I normally do, but I wouldn’t want to have a life where I need to do that type of thing all of the time. I don’t want to be a construction worker or whatever, actually I’d like to be a novelist, but that’s not a job I’d like to try to live on by itself, at least until I’m established as a writer. I’d like to work in the IT field, and depending on my job, I might not even have to show up at an office.
But as a person as opposed to a professional, I have a different attitude. My friends are the kinda people who get yelled at by a homeowners association guy every time we get together, or soaked down with a hose by a host at a party to get us to shut up. It’s all good natured, but we yell a lot. One of my friends has a problem with picking things up. He’ll randomly grab other people’s stuff, look at them, and put them down somewhere else, or he’ll just try to walk through you if you’re in his way. I find people like that really funny, so he’s always fun to be around.
I totally agree, and actually get to wear my jeans and shorts to work. But, I have paid my dues with many other jobs that I had to dress for to have the freedom I have now. Dream job for me? Wearing jeans til I retire. I plan on it, so we are similar.
