Typo in OCI application, how screwed am I?

[Dnian]

As someone who also made a stupid typo on one part of my recent application materials, this thread was hilarious and reassuring. Thought I'd give it a bump.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Dnian
"Typo"

[chaboywb]

I used the wrong firm name in a cover letter yet somehow still got an interview. When I sat down for my OCI, the interviewer had a copy sitting in front of them with incorrect name highlighted. 

I did not get an in-firm from that firm, although the fact I turned bright red and could barely focus on the rest of the interview likely played a part.

[TheMidnightOil]

I misspelled my own name in a reply email to the hiring chair of a firm who had invited me for an interview.

(I was somehow later invited back for a reception.)

 

[HarryCrane]

I spelt “provincial” wrong in provincial court for a clerkship application and I still was interviewed. Provided you only made one, the people reading the application probably didn’t notice it. 

[Ribbons]

LOL in one interview I confidently talked about the minority opinion in a decision when I meant dissenting (somehow I got the job; 2L summer), I also misunderstood the process for articling and you could somewhat tell based off my cover letter (also got the job; articling). In the same vein I have had recruiters send me a form with a ton of personal information of the wrong applicant and another send an interview offer email that was so sketchy I had to follow up and make sure I wasn't getting scammed LOL 

Recruiters are people too and I think what it comes down to is your other work showing that you are competent and just making a normal human error due to nerves/stress in the recruit process (versus noticeably lacking skills they are looking for).

This is such a small error I doubt they will even notice.

[MJ1990]

Anyone know how damaging a minor error in  a resume can be? Such as phrasing one my bullets in the first person, or ommitting a period in one of my bullets.

 

Thanks 

[LMP]

1 hour ago, MJ1990 said:

Anyone know how damaging a minor error in  a resume can be? Such as phrasing one my bullets in the first person, or ommitting a period in one of my bullets.

 

Thanks 

Helps to remember that people go through a lot of resumes. Little stuff can slip through the cracks. And even if it gets noticed, it'll depend on who's reading the resume. Some people might not care at all. But it isn't a career killer or anything like that, don't stress over it.

[Dnian]

12 hours ago, MJ1990 said:

Anyone know how damaging a minor error in  a resume can be? Such as phrasing one my bullets in the first person, or ommitting a period in one of my bullets.

 

Thanks 

I made a much more obvious mistake than that -- a formatting error with my course list that left a second, unnecessary page with an empty table attached to the document that I did not see somehow.

I am sure a lot of people have a similar kind of mistake. 

Think about the thought process... will a reviewer read your cover letter and be impressed, get halfway through your resume and see a pronoun grammatical issue, and then say "well, nevermind"? If they do, then it seems what that firm is valuing is a little arbitrary to begin with.

[Rashabon]

On 7/27/2022 at 2:57 PM, Rashabon said:

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...

Just reiterating. This is a worse mistake than anyone has flagged so far and nobody noticed at my firm or mentioned it. If you think recruiters have time to notice that a period is missing in a resume you need a bit of a reality check.