Friday, January 30, 2009

"Homophonia" Plagues Job Posting

Yep, all "manor" of printed mistakes made in job postings are being pointed out and a new word is being coined here today. Described only as the "Website for (a) major NY based publishing company," this employer has allowed an apparent case of "homophonia" to sully an otherwise nearly error-free online job posting, published about two weeks ago on Mediabistro.com.

Evidently, those who wrote and edited this job posting were sick the day the lesson on homophones was taught in third grade. As you can see, highlighted in the fourth line of the posting's third graph, the eventual triple-threat employee will be expected to deliver video material in "a timely manor." Oops, that manor is actually defined as "a mansion."

They were looking for this manner, that means "a way of doing something." In the event that you experience your own case of homophonia, this handy list ought to clear things right up for you (for more on homophones - and they are indeed homophones, despite the heading - click here and scroll down to "nomenclature").

If you apply for this job and contact this employer with a similar blunder, you can kiss your chances of even being granted an interview good-bye. That's a harsh consequence. What consequence does the company suffer? They make a silly blunder and get off scot-free, almost. Thankfully, we can all enjoy some small justice by holding this anonymous company up for a dose of good-natured public ridicule on the Internet, which is the primary reason the Internet was originally invented.

Ever find a printed mistake that shouldn't have been made in a JOB POSTING? E-mail a screen shot of it to the Proofreader at jalfredproofreader@gmail.com.

2 comments:

Lynn Klyde-Silverstein said...

I had a friend who actually got a copy editing job that way. She wrote in her cover letter that if she had edited the ad, she wouldn't have let the mistake through.

J. Alfred Proofreader said...

Lynne:

The Grammarphile got her job in a similar manner...check out the comments in the
"Prooofreader" post for her story.