Tolerance Within Reason
Saturday
06.21.08
A few days ago I saw a tweet from Cameron Moll regarding a witty comment he left on a blog post from 37signals. The purpose of the post was to call out the lack of proper spelling or grammar on the part of applicants to their brand altering design opening. Being as I recently wrote on the topic of professionals who seemingly refuse to communicate clearly in emails, I thought I would be in step with their complaints. After making it through the third paragraph I found myself wondering if they could possibly be serious. Yes, the majority of their aggravations were warranted, but there was one which I found to be quite ineffectual when coupled with these other palpable mistakes. The issue being, that some applicants put a space between 37 and signals, leaving it displayed as 37 Signals. Is this really a big deal?
First of all, let me be clear; If I were applying for a position at 37signals, I would most definitely do my homework and be sure to match each and every application or company name to a T…or a space in this instance. It shows that you are familiar and intrigued by their products, which will obviously put you in a great position with a group that desires as much of the spotlight as possible. Suiting, as they make some of the best products that turn professionals everywhere into cattle, following along as they lead us into a realm of better productivity and easy communication.
The issue that adding a space to 37signals independently determines their abilities or consideration of employment is just silly. I differ in opinion with most, not as an employee but as an owner. Let’s say I’m heading a new project, let’s call it iJarad. I’m receiving emails and come across a very suitably candidate, but she happens to refer to my business as Ijarad. Would I get all cranky and whine on my popular blog (we’re still pretending) just so everyone can renounce these morons who dare change letters in my God-like name. No, I would not. I would most likely take into account the details that matter, such as spelling of words found in the dictionary and of course the quality of their work.
The comments on this topic were plentiful and rightfully objective, as I’m sure many readers have been in a similar situation. A few comments struck my attention more so than others. Friend and respected colleague Jason Gaylor wrote:
I’m surprised by the responses to this post. I don’t see both sides as much as I see the need for the applicant to nail the details. Had I been applying and had to type “37signals”, I would have really made sure to get that right. I don’t really feel for anyone that didn’t. If the applicant is unable to see the errors or take time to fix mistakes before they apply, they aren’t right for the job. Furthermore, they could have run it by a few people that would catch those mistakes. Sloppy.
Jason, which is my current employer (don’t mention this article to him) says the error of mistaken branding is worthy of diminishing all chances of consideration for the job—which makes me wonder how I wiggled into my position, because I spelled Departika as “Defartika” when I applied.
Other intelligent or comical comments included the guy who used “McDonalds” as an example that you should know and understand the brand—to bad it’s McDonald’s, including the apostrophe as another commenter pointed out. Then Paul shares his insight by explaining the logo of Intel is portrayed with a lowercase i, yet you will very rarely see it displayed that way in context of body copy.
All disagreements aside, the 37signals attention catalyst that is their blog is a never ending stream of arrogant and controversial opinions, which is why it’s one of the most interesting to read.
