A study was undertaken to determine if the spelling preferences of chief executives of corporations were reflected in the views of their personnel directors in their consideration of employment applications. Fifty-two high-level executives in business and industry responded to a questionnaire concerning their preferences for standard or reformed spellings of 30 words. The personnel directors of companies whose executives had responded with a high number of reformed spellings were then sent resumes containing the same spellings, and those personnel directors of companies whose executives preferred standard spellings were sent identical resumes containing only standard spellings. The resumes were accompanied with a letter asking the directors to judge the applicants' acceptability for employment based on education, experience, and language command. The findings revealed that although a relatively high percentage of reformed spellings was chosen by the executives, personnel directors exhibited a significant prejudice against potential employment applicants whose resumes contained reformed spellings. (FL)