“How many typos in a resume does it take for you to decide not to consider a job candidate for a position with your company?”

This was the question asked in a survey developed by Accountemps and conducted by an independent research firm based on telephone interviews with 100 senior executives from Canada and 150 senior executives from the (”nation’s 1,000 largest companies”) U.S.

Although the results are surprisingly different between Canadian executives and what I am assuming to be American executives, the end result is the same. One typo is all it takes to create a lost opportunity in your job search.

These are the results based on their responses to the number of typos it would take to rule out a candidate:

Canadian:
One typo - 23%
Two typos - 28%
Three typos - 22%
Four or more typos - 19%
(Don’t know/no answer 8%, Total 100% )

American:
One typo - 40%
Two typos - 36%
Three typos - 14%
Four or more typos - 7%
(Don’t know/no answer - 3%, Total 100%)

Courtesy of Martin Buckland
Elite Resumes