This was part of an advertisement for a technical writer for a US based, international company.
Here's the deal. This company really has three choices, as I see it.
1. Go with the politically correct "his/her."
2. Fly in the face of political correctness and go to the grammatically correct (well, at least 30 or 40 years ago) "his," giving your audience credit that they will understand that you are using it in the universal sense. Nah, nobody will go for that.
3. Wimp out and avoid the whole his/her thing by changing it to "well rounded professionals," but that wouldn't really work because there is only one position available.
BUT DON'T PUT A NOUN AND A VERB THAT DON'T AGREE IN NUMBER IN THE FIRST LINE OF A JOB SUMMARY FOR A TECHNICAL WRITER!
Di
This post was hilarious to me, but only because I can feel your frustration with the wording. The only thing that comforts me when reading butchered ads for writers or editors is that they make it glaringly obvious how much they need to hire one.
Posted by: Diana | January 22, 2009 at 11:36 PM
I don't get why you might to have a problem with what their writing about theyre job description for a job professionals for writing?
Posted by: joe grammer lt. | January 23, 2009 at 08:07 AM
I think the whole thing is awkward and do not like the words "show off" at all.
I would say:
"This is a great opportunity for a well-rounded professional to showcase a talent for writing and an aptitude for quick comprehension of technical concepts."
Sometimes it is just better to re-write an offending passage rather than try to fix it.
Posted by: joAnn | January 23, 2009 at 09:09 AM
I just went out to dinner and I'm feeling VERY "well rounded"! ;-)
Posted by: fudgelady | January 23, 2009 at 10:02 PM