Job Search Mistakes

You kno those e-mails you get that are wrtten with intentionl typos and yet you can read them?  The truth is that our mind fills in the right information to make sense of these blips and, more often than not, they don't even register as typos.  You might get away with this in a letter to a friend, but you can't get away with this when you're searching for a job.  I have written a lot about checking your material more than once, not relying on spell check, and having someone else proof your material. 

Why don't I follow my own advice more carefully?

I applied for a great job on Saturday and opened an old cover letter I'd written for a similar position to rev up the creative juices.  The body of the letter was great.  The content was clear, concise and included language used in the posting.  A+ for me!  And then I noticed the date - March 3, 2009.  2009!  That was last year and this is this year and that's enough to get my whole package dumped in the electronic circular file.

Did I mention proofing your work?  Did I mention reading each word out loud from the beginning to the end for content, grammar and spelling, and then reading the whole thing from the end to the beginning just for spelling?  Did I mention that this includes every word and number on the resume and cover letter?  If I didn't, I'm mentioning it now.  I did read the letter over several times in each direction.  I just missed that small thing - the date.  I can almost guarantee that I proofed it but simply didn't see it.  That's when having another set of human eyes scanning your material comes into play.

Take your time!  Get it right!  Proof everything several times before you push that send button.  It is painful to look back at a brilliant cover letter and resume that will get me nowhere because of a silly and wholly avoidable mistake! 

What's next?  Pick myself up.  Dust myself off.  Forgive myself (because beating myself up will get me nowhere).  And get back to the job of finding myself a job.