You're right up to a point. Jez also has a good point, but I'd expect a person to pay attention to detail in any introductory documents they sent to support a job application. I flat out ignore spelling and grammar errors on forums such as this one. "Check as you type" spell checkers have only been around for a couple years, and as Jez said, some people's brains are just way out ahead of their fingers.


One hint I'm getting from you though is you seem to have a hardwired view of engineering. I suspect you spend more time with hardware. I take a somewhat more pragmatic view for software. I believe software is as much a language skill as an engineering skill. The goal is to describe a task in excruciating detail in a non-native language. This has little to do with one's ability to work a slide rule, or solve partial differential equations, or even win a spelling bee. Organizational skills and pattern recognition are important.