October 18, 2025
A few years ago, I was having drinks with an HR director—the kind of person who reads résumés for sport—and she told me about what she calls “$10,000 words.”
“What’s a $10,000 word?” I asked.
“They’re the mistakes that cost applicants real money,” she said. “If I see spelling or grammar errors in a résumé, the salary offer drops. Sometimes by ten grand.”
She wasn’t talking about protected characteristics—age, race, gender—but the qualities that actually matter to employers: attention to detail, communication, and pattern recognition.
“Pattern recognition?” I asked.
She said, “If someone doesn’t notice that sometimes a word is spelled your, sometimes you’re, and sometimes yore, that tells me two things. Either they have poor pattern-recognition skills, or they’re too lazy to figure out why the word changes. And neither of those qualities are good for business.”
That was the moment I understood that grammar isn’t just about correctness—it’s about perception. A misplaced comma might not ruin your career, but it can nudge a hiring manager’s confidence in your professionalism. Details tell stories—and employers are listening.
Full disclosure: that story’s made up. HR people don’t get drunk* with employees. But the moral holds—if your writing looks sloppy, it’s not just your spelling that takes the hit.
*She had half a glass of wine.