[christopherdone]

I have seen my coworkers viewing applications... many were discarded outright because of stupid spelling errors or poor grammar, or no letter at all. Applicants whose work and homepage weren't available or were scarce lead to the (inductive) conclusion that the applicant was crap.

My last two job interviews lead to being hired, and my approach is generally:

(1) be very picky about which company I apply to; (2) go the company's web site to get a history, which is important for: (3) write an interesting letter saying what you like about the company, and give attachments and links to things that they can go take a look at, and (4) to actually provide some critique of the work the company has done, and provide solutions. Anyone can point out mistakes; we need someone who solves problems, like The Wolf.

Also, in reference to language skills, I like a quote by Dijkstra:

“Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of one's native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.”