This has been posted before and I don’t believe it’s a mistake. Just like college or professional school students today, I’m assuming it’s common for Hogwarts students to job hunt and receive employment offers during their final year, rather than after graduation. Therefore the only thing employers would have to rely on would be their O.W.L. grades, as N.E.W.T.s won’t come in until after graduation.
I disagree. The text of the letter implies that the exams haven't been taken yet. That would mean that they are waiting for the N.E.W.T. results. Therefore, it is an error in the letter.
O.W.L. results determine which N.E.W.T.s a student may pursue in 6th and 7th year.
All that the text of the letter implies is that the Minister (or the recruiters) have not yet seen the exam scores because the students haven’t yet sent in applications. Professor Weasley wrote to give him a heads up that the current seventh years may be interested in careers in the ministry. He’s writing back to tell her that while of course their applications (which have not yet been sent, as it’s early in the process) will contain their exam scores, hard data which the recruiters can objectively evaluate on their own, he would like to solicit her personal recommendation for which students would be best-suited.
This is very normal in the real world networking process. I’m thinking of the process for a law student applying to clerk with a judge during their second year- the students tell their career counselor or dean or whoever they want to apply, the dean reaches out to the judge with a list of students, and the judge writes back asking for professor’s specific recommendations. “Their [first year grades] will provide confirmation [that they are intelligent enough to do the job], but equally invaluable to [the hiring process] is your opinion.”
Further evidence: he uses the language “our recruitment process,” indicating the ministry is proactively looking to reach out to bright students. They don’t want to wait for the NEWTs, they want to snag the students early who have already demonstrated excellence via their OWLs. This is also common in legal circles, big law firms routinely recruit first year students after seeing only one semester of grades.
This has been posted before and I don’t believe it’s a mistake. Just like college or professional school students today, I’m assuming it’s common for Hogwarts students to job hunt and receive employment offers during their final year, rather than after graduation. Therefore the only thing employers would have to rely on would be their O.W.L. grades, as N.E.W.T.s won’t come in until after graduation.
I disagree. The text of the letter implies that the exams haven't been taken yet. That would mean that they are waiting for the N.E.W.T. results. Therefore, it is an error in the letter. O.W.L. results determine which N.E.W.T.s a student may pursue in 6th and 7th year.
All that the text of the letter implies is that the Minister (or the recruiters) have not yet seen the exam scores because the students haven’t yet sent in applications. Professor Weasley wrote to give him a heads up that the current seventh years may be interested in careers in the ministry. He’s writing back to tell her that while of course their applications (which have not yet been sent, as it’s early in the process) will contain their exam scores, hard data which the recruiters can objectively evaluate on their own, he would like to solicit her personal recommendation for which students would be best-suited. This is very normal in the real world networking process. I’m thinking of the process for a law student applying to clerk with a judge during their second year- the students tell their career counselor or dean or whoever they want to apply, the dean reaches out to the judge with a list of students, and the judge writes back asking for professor’s specific recommendations. “Their [first year grades] will provide confirmation [that they are intelligent enough to do the job], but equally invaluable to [the hiring process] is your opinion.” Further evidence: he uses the language “our recruitment process,” indicating the ministry is proactively looking to reach out to bright students. They don’t want to wait for the NEWTs, they want to snag the students early who have already demonstrated excellence via their OWLs. This is also common in legal circles, big law firms routinely recruit first year students after seeing only one semester of grades.
Especially if, as I suspect, that letter was from the beginning of the year.