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Spelled it "sumner associate". I sent it out to Skadden before I caught the mistake--is that an auto ding? (i'm top 10%, law review)

Most likely they won't bother reading your cover letter. I've gotten preselects even though I had more serious spelling errors on my cover letter (when I was otherwise well qualified).

Really? Totally not trying to be a jerk, but I would imagine that you would get dinged. A cover letter is three paragraphs of your most concise and flawless writing- it has to be. I have heard of hiring partners at non-profit, non-prestigious employers say that one typo equals auto-ding, regardless of the person's qualifications. Maybe not fair, but that is the name of the game.

Look at it this way: your credentials seem to be pretty solid, and Skadden is one of many firms out there.

I'm not going to lie-that reflects poorly on you. They'll probably overlook it, though, since you're at the top of your class and on law review.

Anonymous User wrote:Spelled it "sumner associate". I sent it out to Skadden before I caught the mistake--is that an auto ding? (i'm top 10%, law review)

Typo in the most important letter you'll ever send them is probably an autoding if you're not HYSCCN.

send them an email ASAP correcting it.

legends159 wrote:send them an email ASAP correcting it.

Agreed, if the letters haven't filtered on up yet, you may be able to prevent anyone but a secretary from reading your typo. OTOH, the secretary may put it down in your file, but it still reflects better on you to make a mistake and immediately correct than to make one and not do anything about it.

your close reading and editing skills shall serve you well on law review.

...

dood wrote:

d34dluk3 wrote:

legends159 wrote:send them an email ASAP correcting it.

Agreed, if the letters haven't filtered on up yet, you may be able to prevent anyone but a secretary from reading your typo. OTOH, the secretary may put it down in your file, but it still reflects better on you to make a mistake and immediately correct than to make one and not do anything about it.

lol ever see swingers? im amazed some of you make it past the screener interview.

No, I have no fucking clue what you just said.

Didn't you spell check?

Anonymous User wrote:Spelled it "sumner associate". I sent it out to Skadden before I caught the mistake--is that an auto ding? (i'm top 10%, law review)

DING!

Seriously, though, I got a preselect with a similar typo in my cover letter. Either the firm didn't bother reading it (but why even request one then?) or they just missed it - it was a similarly difficult typo to notice.

legends159 wrote:send them an email ASAP correcting it.

I had a similar situation and was told by career services to just pray they wouldn't notice it. Sending an e-mail would guarantee they'd notice it.

I called the hiring partner Ms. instead of Mr. (he had a clearly masculine name) in my cover letter email and received a callback. If your credentials are good it may not matter.

I would not email them to correct it. I know several people who had typos in their cover letters that they discovered after the fact and still received interviews/callbacks/offers.

Posner wrote:I would not email them to correct it. I know several people who had typos in their cover letters that they discovered after the fact and still received interviews/callbacks/offers.

I agree, I think. There's a good chance that they'll just sort of glance over it, and it's not a horribly noticeable typo to begin with. I would honestly take my chances and hope they don't notice, rather than make sure they notice by sending a correction.

In my cover letter to my current firm my spell check changed the phrase: "Here's my resume for you to assess," to "Here's my résumé asses!"

I still got the job, you should be fine.

p.s. True story too. I freaked out royall when I saw that mistake, but they never said a thing.

Xnegd wrote:In my cover letter to my current firm my spell check changed the phrase: "Here's my resume for you to assess," to "Here's my résumé asses!"

I still got the job, you should be fine.

p.s. True story too. I freaked out royall when I saw that mistake, but they never said a thing.

Lol at you calling some random partner an ass.

I cannot effectively communicate how scared I was lol.

For all I know it's why I got the job though, maybe they thought I had balls....much more likely they didn't bother reading it.

Xnegd wrote:I cannot effectively communicate how scared I was lol.

For all I know it's why I got the job though, maybe they thought I had balls....much more likely they didn't bother reading it.

I wonder what the worst they can do is. When I hear the stories on here about how partners openly disrespect them at OCI interviews by making it clear that everyone's time is being wasted, I think I would just snap and walk out on them. What are they gonna do about it?

Xnegd wrote:In my cover letter to my current firm my spell check changed the phrase: "Here's my resume for you to assess," to "Here's my résumé asses!"

I still got the job, you should be fine.

p.s. True story too. I freaked out royall when I saw that mistake, but they never said a thing.

This is awesome

d34dluk3 wrote:

Xnegd wrote:I cannot effectively communicate how scared I was lol.

For all I know it's why I got the job though, maybe they thought I had balls....much more likely they didn't bother reading it.

I wonder what the worst they can do is. When I hear the stories on here about how partners openly disrespect them at OCI interviews by making it clear that everyone's time is being wasted, I think I would just snap and walk out on them. What are they gonna do about it?

I had an interview with one firm that I thought would auto-ding me because of something in my transcript. I went in convinced the interview was just a dog and pony show and that if the interviewer brought it up, I'd be like: "oh wait, how many attorneys did you lay off last year? and what exactly was your offer rate again? Yeah, see, there are some things neither of us want to talk about."

The typo heard 'round the world.

/history nerd-dom.

Edit: History fail. I'm a bad nerd. I thought that referred to the first shot of the American Civil War.

MrKappus wrote:The typo heard 'round the world.

/history nerd-dom.

Edit: History fail. I'm a bad nerd. I thought that referred to the first shot of the American Civil War.

Yeah, it actually refers to Bobby Thompson's home run to win the NL pennant in 1951.

d34dluk3 wrote:

MrKappus wrote:The typo heard 'round the world.

/history nerd-dom.

Edit: History fail. I'm a bad nerd. I thought that referred to the first shot of the American Civil War.

Yeah, it actually refers to Bobby Thompson's home run to win the NL pennant in 1951.

Haha Emerson and the American Revolution came first, methinks. Sorry for the hijack.

Just so my post is not entirely off-topic, I got an interview at a firm and left out a verb (e.g., "I my skills will make me...), so it's probably CBC.