Apostrophe apocalypse

In October Kyle Wiens, the boss of iFixit and Dozuki - two companies that produce computer programming manuals - blogged on the Harvard Business Review website about his refusal to employ anyone who failed a grammar test. To be clear, he made every potential employee sit one, irrespective of the role for which they were applying. His blog received wide press coverage, including articles on Mail Online and in the Financial Times. It clearly struck a chord among newspaper editors.

Wiens wrote: "On the face of it, my zero tolerance approach to grammar errors might seem a little unfair. After all, grammar has nothing to do with job performance, or creativity, or intelligence, right? Wrong. If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use 'it's', then that's not a learning curve I'm comfortable with."

I have blogged before about the importance of good writing technique. As we progress through the summer vacation scheme application phase of the year, this message bears repeating. I spent much of October and November reading the hundreds of applications submitted by students hoping to secure a place at the CityLawLIVE conference on Saturday 8 December. Many of these applications were wonderful, and I regard it as a privilege to be allowed to glimpse into the lives of so many interesting and determined people. I am sometimes told by my contacts in law firm recruitment teams that they also enjoy the application review process. At times the sheer volume of forms received can make the process feel pressured, and yet the fact that these forms come from real people with real stories to tell ensures that the human aspect of the process is always uppermost in the recruiter's mind.

It goes without saying that writing applications is considerably more burdensome than reading them. The effort is worthwhile though. If you're concerned that recruiters don't read each form in full, particularly if they include some 'problem' grades, then I would stop worrying and instead focus on making the entire form the best it can be. Writing style, including accuracy in relation to grammar and punctuation is at the heart of a successful application. Good writing technique is central to the lawyer's role so it follows that your grammar and punctuation have to be accurate.

My experience reviewing applications for CityLawLIVE confirms my suspicion that a high proportion of applicants need further apostrophe training, and not simply in relation to 'its' and 'it's'. As ever, I would recommend applicants acquire a good guide to grammar and punctuation. As an additional measure, why not dedicate yourself to apostrophe training for the rest of this week? Whenever you're reading an article or book, make a mental note of how apostrophes are used. You have to put in a little effort to train yourself to think like a proofreader, but that effort can have a powerful effect on the quality of your writing. Even good candidates slip up with this tiny little punctuation mark; evidently for some it is their Achilles heel.

If you want to read more about improving your written applications, here are two features previously published on LC.N: CityLawLIVE’s application masterclass and LC.N's guide to formal writing. You can also watch our video of advice from some of the partners and recruiters we interviewed at CityLawLIVE in February 2012.