Career - Avoid Simple Mistakes

I have had the opportunity of helping my company recruit for entry level and internship positions at different colleges. Several months ago, I was invited to attend a career fair and talked to many interested undergraduates. Upon returning to the office and looking through my emails, I came upon one that made me understand why recruiters don’t always respond back. This prospective student had emailed me about his interest in getting an internship with my company, but had gotten the company totally wrong. Even more frustrating was that I had remembered giving my business card to this student and it is quite obvious from my email address that I did not work for the company that was mistaken for. Additionally, the student had made the worst mistake by misspelling the word "resume" on their file attachment.

Now I may seem harsh to this particular student, but in an ever increasingly competitive world, simple mistakes like that can end your dreams short. Always spell check your resume, cover letter, and email message before sending it out to a recruiter. It only takes a couple of minutes to do and can save you from ending up in the "do not hire" list.

The source of this student’s mistake was using a template email. Template emails are by far, the worse way to contact a recruiter about your interest and can easily be identified. Instead, write separate emails designed around the needs of the positions you are interested- it'll add a personal touch.

By avoiding simple mistakes, this prospective student would have had their resume forwarded to human resources and most likely would have gotten an interview slot. Let this be a lesson towards taking a small amount of time to avoid a long term problem.