Get The CVs Out

I was going to let this go, in the interest of community relations, but it's meat and drink to a pedant like me. Last Thursday's Financial Times contained an intriguing job ad: Head of Finance (to 55k plus benefits) and Financial Controller (to 45k plus benefits) for Crystal Palace Football Club.

Now, you'd think that if the person writing the ad was illiterate he/she would take a little time to have the spelling and grammar checked over. It is the FT after all. Not so, it seems. Perhaps the ad is what passes for literacy in SE25.

For example, according to the ad, "such is our growth, the Club are now strengthening its finance management team". No point wasting any hard-earned cash on someone capable of writing English then. The ad continues (verbatim, including missing word): "to be a successful candidate in our environment you will need be a stalwart, detail driven manager, maintaining a tight hold on cash management and cash flow along with managing budgetary controls and producing monthly, annual and statutory accounts." There was no mention of the Club's policy regarding control of legal expenses.

There are also possible issues of misrepresentation. According to the ad, "Crystal Palace Football Club is a force in the Football League", as well as being "a vibrant multi-faceted enterprise". And why choose the FT? There are many other outlets that spring to mind as being more likely to produce suitable candidates for the posts. It is perhaps illuminating that there is no mention of these jobs on the official Palace website. Presumably it is accepted that there is no prospect of anyone capable of meeting the requirements being found among the support base.

If anyone's interested in applying there's only a few days left (31 August is the deadline). I can think of nothing more amusing than being given control of the Palace cheque-book, especially if the payment of Charlton's legal expenses hasn't been made yet.