Typo in OCI application, how screwed am I?

[sabbp]

I made a typo in my anticipated course list; I didn’t capitalize a letter (e.g. Intellectual property). How likely is this to have firms reject my application? 

[cherrytree]

You will be fine

[MissRepresented]

It will make exactly zero difference.

[Law_Student_X]

What would constitute a serious error? A naming error on the doc file the lawyers see when they open the file up (but not on the doc name on viLaw)?

Edited July 27, 2022 by Law_Student_X

[capitalttruth]

I looked back on my application and I also realized I fucked up. I made two typos on my CV; not sure how I overlooked it given I spent a good 2 weeks preparing my CV and cover letter. I'm hoping it won't mean much.

[QMT20]

I spelled cover letter as "cover leter" in an application and I ended up working at that firm. Typos in legal documents that firms create are actually not that uncommon, at least in litigation. You will all be fine. 

[123]

I misgendered my articling principal in my letter. 

[Lawllapalooza]

45 minutes ago, Law_Student_X said:

What would constitute a serious error? A naming error on the doc file the lawyers see when they open the file up (but not on the doc name on viLaw)?

I landed an interview (and later a job offer) from a firm whose name I misspelled all throughout my cover letter, and later a 'thank you' email (I was somehow certain the name was spelled a certain way. It wasn't). I'd consider that a serious error, and realistically I got lucky that the person reviewing my application didn't toss it out for sloppiness. Regardless, hopefully it provides some peace of mind to OP to hear that bigger mistakes have been made, certainly noticed, and overlooked. As others have assured, errors of the nature you described are nothing to worry about.

Other errors I'd consider "serious" that you hear about include the cover letter a) stating the wrong firm name, or b) mentioning an area the firm doesn't practice. I imagine such errors tend to be fatal.

[Ramesses]

Someone in my class had the year wrong and they still got a ton of interviews. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Ramesses

[KOMODO]

As @Lawllapaloozamentioned, every year we get a few letters addressed to a different firm or addressed to the student coordinator at a different firm, or mentioning that the candidate met with someone who does not and has never worked here, and I personally put those in the "no thanks" pile. I also discard applications where the applicant has included an incomplete phone number, for example, 416-555-123, though I suspect I may be more harsh than the average reviewer on that one (don't feel too badly for these ones, usually where a candidate can't include their own phone number correctly, there are a lot of other errors too). Lastly, if people are using the incorrect they're/their/there, your/you're, its/it's, not capitalizing the letter "I", etc., I struggle to ignore those types of errors and unless it's an otherwise incredible package I would probably tend to discard it. Note that I haven't reviewed student apps since the pandemic started just due to my own level of capacity for NB stuff so I'm not sure if things have gotten better or worse in the last few years. 

[Cool_name]

49 minutes ago, KOMODO said:

As @Lawllapaloozamentioned, every year we get a few letters addressed to a different firm or addressed to the student coordinator at a different firm, or mentioning that the candidate met with someone who does not and has never worked here, and I personally put those in the "no thanks" pile. I also discard applications where the applicant has included an incomplete phone number, for example, 416-555-123, though I suspect I may be more harsh than the average reviewer on that one (don't feel too badly for these ones, usually where a candidate can't include their own phone number correctly, there are a lot of other errors too). Lastly, if people are using the incorrect they're/their/there, your/you're, its/it's, not capitalizing the letter "I", etc., I struggle to ignore those types of errors and unless it's an otherwise incredible package I would probably tend to discard it. Note that I haven't reviewed student apps since the pandemic started just due to my own level of capacity for NB stuff so I'm not sure if things have gotten better or worse in the last few years. 

Is not including a complete phone number a common mistake? That seems really bad, worse than a their error.
 

To the op, some lawyers will care, others won’t. A missing capital in a course name seems relatively small though, and frankly I wouldn’t want to work for anyone that nit picky in any event. (As perfect spelling and grammar is not my forte, as people who read my posts here would know).

If your application is otherwise competitive you will still get interviews.
 

 

[KOMODO]

4 minutes ago, Cool_name said:

Is not including a complete phone number a common mistake? That seems really bad, worse than a their error.
 

To the op, some lawyers will care, others won’t. A missing capital in a course name seems relatively small though, and frankly I wouldn’t want to work for anyone that nit picky in any event. (As perfect spelling and grammar is not my forte, as people who read my posts here would know).

If your application is otherwise competitive you will still get interviews.
 

 

I have seen incomplete phone numbers twice, in two different apps in different years, so I wouldn't say it's frequent but it definitely seems to happen. It stands out to me because it makes things difficult for call day and just seems so obvious that if someone can't see that error, what other stuff are they likely to miss.

To be clear for OP, I wouldn't even classify the "Intellectual property" thing as an error, not everyone would capitalize the P in every context anyways so don't even give it a thought. Good luck with the recruit!

[Rashabon]

I misspelled the name of the firm I'm at in my cover letter (thanks spell check for correcting that). No one ever commented on it but I was a bit annoyed to see the typo a year later when I sent my cover letter to someone as an example. I've never brought it up but enough time has passed that maybe I should ask the student director about it...

[lawess]

i didn't include an important required course in my anticipated upper year course list, wondering if that would be an issue. i imagine the course list is just so firms can see where your interests are

[Rashabon]

No it would not be an issue. You are correct as to the purpose of the list.

[mistertubby]

3 hours ago, Rashabon said:

I misspelled the name of the firm I'm at in my cover letter (thanks spell check for correcting that).

this must be why “Blokes” rejected me 

[StephenToast]

I got my current summer job calling myself a "Student Memer" of the Criminal Lawyers' Association

[123]

34 minutes ago, StephenToast said:

I got my current summer job calling myself a "Student Memer" of the Criminal Lawyers' Association

Perfect! The Ontario defence bar is lacking in good memeage. 

[Ryn]

42 minutes ago, StephenToast said:

I got my current summer job calling myself a "Student Memer" of the Criminal Lawyers' Association

And to this day you are still an impeccable student of the meme

[StephenToast]

13 minutes ago, realpseudonym said:

Perfect! The Ontario defence bar is lacking in good memeage. 

A bit wordy but that's the best I can do for now. I'm just a student, not a master.

[ZukoJD]

I would imagine the anticipated course list receives considerably less scrutiny than the other documents, so at least there’s that. 

 

I used the wrong version of a word in my application to the firm I want to work at most if that makes you feel better. 

Edited July 28, 2022 by ZukoJD

[capitalttruth]

I left two stupid errors in my CV in my DOJ application. I put "Observed a wide variety of criminal prosecution and litigation matters in the Ontario Court of Justice and thOntario Superior Court of Justice". I also added an s to a word later on in my CV that fucked up the grammar of the sentence. I am not sure if it will mean a whole lot, as I thought I had a pretty strong application. I guess we will see.

[Ryn]

I feel like typos will only affect borderline candidates. Though I can see the argument that if an applicant hasn’t thoroughly reviewed their application, which has fairly high personal stakes, what does it say about their attention to client matters? Nonetheless, everyone makes mistakes, and while typos can start lawsuits (I recall a case of a missed comma costing tens of millions), the stakes for an application aren’t that high. 

So I guess what I mean is, small things like this aren’t likely to matter most of the time, as long as the rest of your application is solid. But I can imagine there will be some lawyers at some firms who will dismiss you on spec as a result. Not sure about government, though. 

[Jaggers]

1 hour ago, Ryn said:

I feel like typos will only affect borderline candidates. Though I can see the argument that if an applicant hasn’t thoroughly reviewed their application, which has fairly high personal stakes, what does it say about their attention to client matters? Nonetheless, everyone makes mistakes, and while typos can start lawsuits (I recall a case of a missed comma costing tens of millions), the stakes for an application aren’t that high. 

So I guess what I mean is, small things like this aren’t likely to matter most of the time, as long as the rest of your application is solid. But I can imagine there will be some lawyers at some firms who will dismiss you on spec as a result. Not sure about government, though. 

It's a bit of an urban legend, but it was actually less than a million dollars. Still a lot of money, but they had to pay more for sending out spam.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/business/worldbusiness/25comma.html

And Bell paid more for employees putting reviews on the Apple app store.

There are lessons there about drafting agreements, but the bigger wins are in training your people not to send spam or review your own products in the app store.

[sunshinecoast]

I have a few friends who made errors in their application materials and received job offers from those firms! I also had an error on one cover letter and was still offered an interview from them. It all depends on if they notice the mistake and how much they care about it. Every employer is different. My best advice is to focus on what you can control, especially your interview prep.