'Higher me for this pozition'

DEAR AMY: My partner and I run a small business. We are currently hiring employees. We have asked candidates to fill out an application and send us their resumés via e-mail. Although we do not expect perfection, the errors on the applications we have received are astonishing: incomplete sentences, numerous spelling errors, format inconsistencies, and an absence of periods and capitalization. Most of our applicants are recent college graduates. While perfect grammar is not a requirement for this position, attention to detail is important. We want to say something to our applicants to encourage them to take more time on future job applications. How should we approach the topic in a professional, nonthreatening way?

Conflicted

DEAR CONFLICTED: It is not your duty to educate these rookie applicants, but you would be doing them a favor.

Your letter should say something like, "We look forward to learning more about you. Keep in mind, however, that the application is your first opportunity to impress us. Please use special care with your writing, spelling, grammar and format. Those applications that don't conform to a basic standard will not make it past the first cut."

DEAR AMY: "Frustrated" wrote to you because he and his new wife are combining households and he is spinning his wheels dealing with his wife's clutter issues. My neighbors remarried later in life and had to combine two full-size households into one. They hired a professional organizer who guided them through the process of sorting and organizing their possessions. The process took several months, but the results are marvelous!E

DEAR E: Great suggestion. The National Association of Professional Organizers has a helpful website. Check out napo.net.