Take Our Quiz | Resume and Cover Letter Typo Hunt
Ask any hiring manager or HR professional and she'll let you know that typos often take the cake for most common, cringe-worthy application errors.
While some hiring managers may offer you the benefit of the doubt and continue reading your resume after finding an error in your materials, others will quickly shuffle your application to the bottom of the pile or even send it straight to that dreaded "no" pile.
An error-free resume and cover letter show a potential employer that you're taking the application process seriously, take pride in your work, and have an eye for detail. So, you should definitely put some effort into honing your ability to spot a typo, spelling error, or punctuation inconsistency.
Scroll through our typo hunt to keep your typo-spotting skills sharp!
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: Should be "decreased by more than" rather than "decreased by more then."
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: Should be "accepted" rather than "excepted."
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: Inconsistent use of spacing around the dash. For this particular usage, a space should be included before and after the dash. There is also inconsistent use of commas in this example.
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: A job title is not generally capitalized if you're referring to a group of people who hold a particular title (as in this example).
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: Should be "led" rather than "lead."
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: Should be "contractors" rather than "contracters."
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: Drupal should be capitalized and Wordpress should be "WordPress." And did you spot the extra space between "In" and "my role," or the second period at the end of the sentence?
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Error: "Months" should not have an apostrophe before the "s." Also, "webiste" should be spelled "website."
Find the typo(s), and click to reveal the answer.
Errors: Generally, numerals from one to nine should be spelled out. In this case, "4" should be "four." And, there's more! "Aquire" should be "acquire" and "manging" should be "managing."
Once you've tested your skills with all of the flash cards, check out these additional resources that will help you to keep your resume and cover letter looking professional and consistent.
- 4 Common Resume Mistakes | Find Them, Fix Them
- Ask Victoria | Resume Debacle
- 17 Keyboard Shortcuts You Need to Know
Do you have others questions about resume and cover letter grammar, formatting, or punctuation? Ask us in the comments or tweet us at @idealistcareers.
As the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications at Idealist and a lifelong nonprofit professional, Alexis offers job seekers, game changers, and do gooders actionable tips, career resources, and social-impact advice.