Kyle Wiens’ “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why” was an especially interesting read. Wiens owns two companies and requires all applicants to take a grammar test before they are even considered for the job. He goes on to say that he has zero tolerance for people who do not know how to use “their”,” there”, and “they’re” correctly. I am ashamed to admit that I also judge people who do not know how to use these words, but I certainly would not end friendships over it or question someone’s intelligence over it.
Wiens explicitly states in his article that he “will pass on a great programmer who cannot write.” In my opinion, he goes too far. While he has every right to deny applicants as he is the boss, it still seems somewhat unfair to me. It is silly that a misplaced comma or semicolon could completely ruin an applicant’s chances of getting a job despite their programming skills or intelligence in other areas. Nevertheless, I’m sure he will continue running his businesses this way, so my opinion doesn’t matter.
Another interesting point that Wiens makes is that “Programmers who pay attention to how they construct written language also tend to pay a lot more attention to how they code.” While I do not know anything about coding, I still wonder if this is a factual statement or if it is just his personal opinion. The reason why I am so apprehensive about believing him here is because he is snarky and rude throughout this entire article. I do not know if I can even trust what he is saying considering he just seems like a big jerk who thinks he is above everyone else. However, he does mention that coding is about details just like writing is, so I believe this is his way of proving his argument.
I can agree that most people including myself, judge others based on their grammar and the way they write. However, I still believe that grammar isn’t always important. For example, If a job does not require being an excellent writer with impeccable grammar skills, then it is not important whether or not we misplace a comma or a semicolon or whether or not we know the difference between “their”, “there”, and “they’re”.
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