Do You Know the Difference between You’re and Your?

A few months ago, I came across a witty and interesting article written by Kyle Wiens titled, “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.” Although at Kidd Group we don’t require potential employees to complete a formal grammar test, I am always inspecting applying interns’ writing habits. Whether it is through general contact emails or in résumé and cover letters, bad grammar and incorrect usage of words like you’re and your or their, there and they’re are almost always deal breakers.

My view is similar to Wien’s that if you don’t have time to learn the appropriate usage of these fundamental words and concepts over the past 20 years, it stems from either carelessness or difficulty.  In any job position, writing is a fundamental and necessary task that can potentially make your employer look bad as well. Writing a sloppy email full of grammar mistakes not only has the potential to make you look unprofessional, but can also make your company or organization look messy and also potentially lose revenue.

If you haven’t yet learned these basic writing concepts, including when and where to place commas, apostrophes and colons, it is best to learn very quickly — especially before applying for a professional position that will require you to write.