![]() ![]() ![]() I sent an immediate apology on the heels of my initial send, trusting the employer to respect my honesty and integrity, and further trusting him to recognize that, when mistakes happen, I own them, correct them, and would do so in his important organization in those rare, somewhat awkward moments when human frailties prevail. What it boils down to is, who do you want to be? Do you want to be the prospective, possibly irresponsible employee who hopes you don’t catch her/his mistakes? Or do you want to be the responsible employee, who, despite drawing attention to what may disqualify her/him from consideration, owns her/his mistakes, and thereby sends an apology for the typo that may or may not have been seen? But further reality is, we live in a digital age where these things are taken for granted in our sloppy online social network correspondences. This can be something as trivial as transposing the letters in. On review (and after having hit send), I found a single space before a hyphen in a hyphenated phrase. The reason we dont see our own typos is because what we see on the screen is competing with the version that exists in our heads. Have you ever discovered a typo in your cover letter or resume? If so, how did you handle it? (Just curious – did you get the job?) Do you agree with my advice to Heather’s friend? Comment here or let me know what you would do. After all, a person who goes to these lengths to remedy a typo is likely to be a tenacious worker! That way, she can put a smile into her apology and maybe even turn this error into an advantage. It would be best if she could call the prospective employer to let him know she’s sending an updated version, even if she has to leave a voice mail. So, I guess I would advise her to jump in and offer an apology and a corrected cover letter. These folks would probably be open to a quick, charming apology from your friend. The second is the “Everyone makes an occasional mistake” category. If the prospective employer is in this category, an apology will not make the situation better. These folks regard a single typo in another’s writing as evidence of incompetence or a character flaw. One is the “This error is a blight and an indictment” category. I’ve found that people fall into two categories when it comes to others’ typos or misspellings. My heart goes out to your friend I have made similar errors, in my resume, no less! (Thankfully, I spelled my own name right, which isn’t easy.) Actually, it’s a tiny bit less embarrassing, in my opinion, to make a typo (“htat” instead of “that”) than an actual misspelling (“recieve”), though either error makes the reader mumble “Ever heard of spell check?” What would you have advised her to do? Nothing? Apologize for the typing mistake in a second email? Or…? Recently a friend shared her chagrin at discovering that the closure in an email she sent with her resume to a prospective employer contained an obvious typo. ![]() Here’s an e-mail I received today from Heather B: … after you stop hyperventilating, of course. ![]()
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