Strike Three, Candidate's Out!

Are we more accepting of mistakes in attention to detail today? After how many strikes should I call a candidate out?

I frequently email candidates with a written request to arrange a telephone interview, and I always request that they provide me with the telephone number best to reach them. In no less than 30% of responses, the candidate fails to provide the requested number in their reply. Strike 1. But I am resourceful, and though it increases my time to respond, I usually go digging for a telephone number. (Surprisingly, I still receive resumes with no telephone number to be found. Major resume foul.)

More and more, candidates are using their smart devices to reply to my inquiries. I see many electronic signatures followed by "sent from my iPad" or "any typos are compliments of Blackberry" or such. This quick-fire reply sometimes results in an "oops!" moment, when they have pressed the "send" icon too quickly. This results in entries such as "You may reach me at 677-531", or "Thank you for reaching back ou", and on occasion, "                                                                                Sent from my HTC". Strike 2. But I try to be forgiving, and though it irritates me, I try to overlook these fat-finger mistakes.

Using LinkedIn frequently as a recruiting source both to post jobs and to source passive candidates, I am amazed at the errors I see on profiles, especially the profiles of candidates who are applying to my LinkedIn job postings. Isn't this public profile where perfection should reign? Misspelled titles abound (Adminstrative Asistant; Insurnace Repersentative, etc.). Browse any given industry and the errors are appalling. Recently a candidate's telephone number was formatted as 888=555-1234. Is this a cryptic math equation? and what about all of those whose content appears in only lower case letters? I SUPPOSE THAT'S BETTER THAN ONLY UPPER CASE. Strike 3.

It is surprising how often my name is misspelled by the candidate, repeatedly, after the candidate and I have corresponded in writing, repeatedly. Yes, my name has an unusual spelling. But I always spell the candidate's name correctly. Strike 4. OK fine, it's my mother's fault my name is spelled the way it is. I'll give this strike a pass (although it's funny how, if I begin intentionally misspelling someone else's name in my correspondence, suddenly they start spelling mine correctly)...

Batter up!