Taking a Poll About the Severity of Careless Mistakes on a Cover Letter

I worked in a position at one point where I did a "pre-review" of applicants, and sent the best ones on to the managers to decide who to call. I'm sorry but that one would go in my "out" pile... unless there was something spectacular on his resume - he'd be out for me.

In my job, writing and attention to detail are very important. If a cover letter has two errors, chances are we would not consider him for a job. Unless... his experience was perfectly suited for the position. I will add that what I do is fairly unique and it is difficult to find folks with the appropriate experience.

But, if the job doesn't involve writing or much attention to detail, it might not matter as much. The rest of his resume would have to be really, really impressive.

First thoughts: "career limiting move" and "sorry, it's too late". Hopefully they won't look...we always do. It will probably be his last time with this mistake and hopefully he will allow another set of eyes to review it.

I am not in HR, but I have a freind who used to be and he would have chucked it, sorry.

But he also said, that if your husband called and told them about it, mea culpa etc. then they would look becuase it shows he would be capable of taking responsibility for his mistakes.

This falls under the heading on 'you only get one chance to make a good first impression' and that was not an impressive attempt. If I were looking at his paperwork, I would not consider him. Besides we all know how the grammar police get on this forum and there's nothing at stake. Joanne makes a good point, though. Perhaps a phone call from your husband would help but I wouldn't hold my breath. Sadly there is so much competition for jobs these days. I wish you all luck but... (Next time tell him to read the letter backwards to catch those kinds of mistakes.)

As an HR professional, I would put it on the bottom of the pile. As mentioned before, it shows a lack of concern for his work. The competition is crazy out there right now and just one little thing can make or break an opportunity. In the future, you should read over his resume and cover letters. Four eyes are better than two! Good luck!

I'd be willing to bet that it is a deal breaker. It indicates too many negative things - that he's careless, that he doesn't check over his work, that he isn't putting the effort into the job search to make sure there are no errors, shows a lack of attention to detail. (Not saying this is the truth, just what a potential employer is going to think).

It depends on a lot of different factors - as one post here said many cover letters aren't even looked at. Some companies have software that screens the cover letters & resumes looking for specific terms / words. It also depends on the type of job. If it's a sales position for a sporting goods manufacturer it will be hardly noticed - but if it's for an accounting manager or auditor position it will get kicked out.

I suggest re-sending the resume with the corrections. While the first letter may get tossed, the second won't and they probably won't even realize it had already been submitted.

I used to be a Director of HR and if there was a huge pile of resumes I would not have noticed if there were 2 from the same person.

I have been the hiring manager for many jobs during my career. If your husband is applying for a job where attention to detail and writing skills are important, I probably would not have contacted him for an interview. That said, if he was super qualified and seemed like an interesting candidate, I might overlook a few mistakes. It's not like he made grammatical mistakes - those are a sure way to get thrown out.

Good luck!

Deal-breaker. I worked at a company who did a survey on this very subject years ago. Just one typo can throw candidates out of contention.

Sorry, wish I could give a hopeful response on this.

Well he should have had you or someone else look at it. I never send ANYTHING professional out without another person reading it. Spell check would have gotten the second one, but not the first one. A grammar check may have gotten that one though.

I wouldn't be mad at him. If he is stressed and spending a lot of time on his cover letter and resume, he probably honestly didn't see them. I wouldn't call them careless, because we all make stupid mistakes like that.

In the future, I'd offer (nicely demand) to read them before he sends them out, just for a second glance.

As a recruiter, I can tell you that when people send me resumes and cover letters that have grammatical and spelling errors? I am most likely going to send them a "thanks but no thanks" letter. Why? Because if they don't take the time to proof read their resume or their cover letter - they won't take the time to proof read their work.

The positions that I hire for - one word spelled wrong can mean a program won't run right and it can take HOURS of people reading the code to FIX IT.

IF they are in desperate need of people with his skill set - they might over look it and call him. If not - he'll get put to the bottom of the pile. I know my boss will ask before I present him a candidate - could I clearly understand them? how did they present themselves, were they articulate with their words? One of our clients does NOT like people who say "uuuummm" and "aahhh" in a conversation.

I hope your husband asks you to proof read his cover letter and resume from now on.

GOOD LUCK!!!

I have to admit that I wouldn't call him back if it were me. I'm awfully sorry. I hope that the person who gets it doesn't look at the cover letter carefully and only looks at the resume...

Perhaps from now on, you could check his writing for him before he sends it?

So sorry!
Dawn

It depends on the job, I guess, but those are pretty serious mistakes. Make sure he has you proofread in the future.

Probably a deal-breaker, unfortunately. Every supervisor that I've had automatically tosses out any applications that have errors in the cover letter, resume or application. First impressions, and this is definitely one, need to be spot-on when applying for jobs. I'd be his proof-reader next time. Good luck!

Added: in my experience, the cover letter is always read; it's what separates one resume from the rest. It's what gets people to actually take a look at your resume. The cover letter is where you explain how YOUR qualifications fit the job. It also shows how you communicate and if you can actually write :)

Could he fix the mistakes made and send a new copy in to them? Maybe call and tell them that he noticed it and is sorry? It might help. I hope everything works out and he gets the job!

It lacks attention to detail, which is a critical skill needed for many jobs. It also depends on how many people are applying for the job and what type of job it is. If a potential interviewer has tons of CLs and resumes to review and those mistakes jump out, the chances of the reviewer continuing to read is slim. I have been on the hiring committee at our work and when we have to plow through literally hundreds of application packets, usually on the first round we "weed out": pull out the resumes that have the experience we need and put in a "second look pile" and pull out the resumes that have many errors and put in the "no" pile.

It might not be a deal breaker but it won't go unnoticed that with the "company?s" he obviously cut and pasted but didn't go back and review his work. If the reviewer has to go through many applications, they look for just about anything to either stand out as "YES" or "NO". Bottom line? Proofread, proofread, proofread then get someone else to proofread.

I am trying to teach my 13 year old this right now. When it comes to writing, anything that will be graded, judged or represents you on paper, must be read and re-read by more than one set of eyes.

Spell/grammar check is great and would have caught these mistakes so there really isn't any excuse for your husband. However lots of careless mistakes get by spell check. After your husband had checked it thoroughly he should have asked you to read it. New eyes see things the person who actually wrote the letter may not.

Hopefully the requirements for this job are not good writing skills or attention to detail. If there was one mistake I would think it could be overlooked but two seems sloppy. Sorry.

It may depend what kind of job he was applying for. If it is a job which requires lots of written communication and accuracy, those errors would probably knock him out of the running. If the job requires other skills, they might not be fatal. I do think the cover letter is important and will be read--it's the place where applicants shows how their experience prepares them to do THIS job and why they want to work at THIS company. Maybe he can see whether the HR or contact person will let him substitute a properly edited cover letter? That option might exist if the deadline for applications hasn't closed yet.

In terms of your reaction, I do understand how frustrating these things are--my blood pressure spikes when I see my husband making mistakes that will interfere with a prospective job. It's really important, however, to take a deep breath, let it out, and not berate or scold your spouse. It won't fix this application and he's probably beating himself up inside even more than you would. It also will undermine his morale, which won't help in the future. Another job prospect will come along, and this event will have been an opportunity for him to learn about the need to proofread multiple times and have someone else read over the document first. No better way for someone to learn that lesson than this kind of experience!

Now, I'm going to work on taking my own advice the next time something like this happens in my household...

Dang! I know how this goes, you can proofread a hundred times and not catch something! Sorry to hear this, I am sure it will be okay. Think positive and I am sending out got vibes your way......

Spell check is SO easy to use, that these kind of mistakes should never happen. For that reason, as someone who has done interviewing/resume reviewing, I wouldn't call someone with such mistakes on their cover letters. It speaks volumes about their attention to detail. Sorry, I know you don't want to hear that. :( Good thing is, he probably won't make that mistake again.

The cover letter & resume are your foot in the door. If someone can't even take the time (or isn't smart enough) to quadruple their check their grammar, spelling, and punctuation, then I'd think a potential employer would consider it a huge red flag.

Doesn't matter what we, or you think. Only matters what the boss thinks.

That said - depends on the job and the level of grammar that's required. At my office, whenever we get a cover letter with typos - I (I personally) circle the mistakes with red ink and then send it on.

The mistakes don't disqualify a person (as long as they're minor or could be considered typos) - however if his interview doesn't set him apart and he's in the same pile with everyone else....then yes, we consider the fact that he did not proofread his own work product very seriously.

How can we trust him to proofread our work product to a high standard when he doesn't do that for the one peice of paper that could earn him tens of thousands per year?

Keep in mind (i don't want to scare you) - that is for where I work. We do ALOT of writing. Other careers - I doubt they take it so seriously.

As long as he did not apply for an administrative assistant position, it doesn't look too bad, but some people are sticklers for grammar and spelling...
Depends on the person who reads it I guess..I would be irritated too though...I have been with my husband for 12 years and he still is yet to find a better job or get a promotion...He works 70 hrs. a week as a factory worker, and loads a Fedex truck at night and just makes $40k..Sometimes I think he is just too nice and people take advantage...He does have a possible job opportunity through a good friend making allot more money, but I have my doubts...I'm not saying he's dumb, but when he talks he kind of sounds like it...I told him if he does get the interview, be sure to watch his grammar...He gets mad at me, but he says things like, dis and dat and everyding nstead of everything....It annoys me...I will admit, a promotion, or a better job, would make me desire him a little more...If that sounds bitchy as hell, oh well, just being honest...I hope your hubs gets the job...

It depends on the type of position he is applying for. If it's a position where he would be required to write correnspondence for the company, then yes it was a big mistake.

If it's a general labor or retail position, then no I don't think it makes a difference.

Depends on if they read it. Often the cover letter gets trashed and only the resume looked at. It also depends on the industry and person reading it. If the job is for something physical or a trade, such as plumber, etc, the qualifications and certifications will outweigh the typos. Especially if it is a trade in high demand.

When I was in Psychology at OSU an executive from Armstrong and another one from Mercury Marine came to a Psych club meeting to talk to us about resume's and cover letters and such. They told us that the way we presented ourselves on paper was everything to them.

They were all engineers and executives with MBA's and that 99% of the working world had higher degrees in tough degrees such as engineering or architecture, science, hard subjects....so they'll often not even look at the rest of the paperwork and would toss a resume in the trash for simple mistakes like this. They told us over and over to have a professional do our resumes if we were looking for professional jobs.

So if hubby is applying for jobs in a certain field in which he holds a degree and has experience enough to make it to a good offer from a substantial company make him have a professional do his resume. He can have them do several cover letters too.

With my education and job experience I have 3 cover letters.

One is for a child care setting

One is for working with persons with developmental disabilities

One is for working in a setting as an executive director of a social service type agency, such as the director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters or Habitat for Humanity.

If I were applying for a job as an executive director at a local pre-school I certainly would focus a cover letter on my years of experience in the field and include lists of my professional associations and accomplishments.

If I were applying for a job in a facility that provided services for individuals with developmental disabilities I would focus the letter on the work I have done and my feelings about their personal independence, the issues that each of them face and how in this position I would work to help them have quality of life and more choices to make on their own.

The same with the one for a community agency. I would focus on my time as Presidents of Boards of Directors and all the community work I have done, how I have helped the communities I have lived in.

The resume stays pretty much the same. It can be tweaked to focus the prospective job requirements so they would notice those areas instead of something else. But a lot of it stays the same, I worked this place from XX-XX-XXXX to XX-XX-XXXX.

A cover letter tells them who you are and why you deserve a chance to meet them and interview. The resume tells them why you would be qualified to have the job.

I hate to say it, but as a former recruiter, I can say that it definitely makes a big impact on me. If someone's qualifications are perfect for the job, I would overlook 1-2 small mistakes on the cover letter or resume. Three or more though is, to me, truly an indication of someone who doesn't check their work or take the time to make sure things are just right.

I have certainly made mistakes before when applying for jobs and I beat myself up over it every time.