I applied through my campus recruiting program as a whim and landed an interview, to my surprise, since I re-used an old cover letter and even forgot to replace the company name in one place. My gpa was also nothing spectacular (major and institutional prestige are impressive) Will they be reviewing my resume/cover letter in making decisions going forward or can I consider myself lucky and not think about it too much
Hi Anonymous,
Once you passed CV-screening stage, the application document barely matter. So consider yourself lucky.
However, please be prepared to answer challenging questions about that mistake during interviews - typically interviewers review your documents before interviews and ask targeted questions to that, so chances are that they will also spot this mistake.
Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!
Robert
Congratulations for the interview invite!
Processes depend on the different offices, but often the cover letter becomes relevant when other key aspects are not covered elsewhere in your application (such as why you are applying to a specific location if it's not obvious from your CV). So you might get along without someone actually reading it in detail.
Having said that, chances are high that no-one will actually get to see it anymore in the process - but again, depending a bit on the office.
In any case: You can change nothing about it, so best is to not think about it and prepare for the interviews!
Yes you were lucky but it also sounds like the typical case where your cover letter was not read and will most likely not be seen going forward. Your CV will of course be seen by your interviewers but will no longer be part of the seletion process so I would just focus on preparing well for your interview.
I have come across several super sharp-minded candidates who clearly are top of their class at a reputatable school and major but were mediocre with their case and didn't seem to have relevant experience that is transferrable. The correlation with getting an offer is not as strong as people often think.
You could simply write HR an email and send them your updated cover letter. In my case, my interviewers had printed out my cover letter and even highlighted things on it.
HR won't decide whether you pass the interviews, but your interviewers will. so if they aren't happy about the mistake...
If you have an interview then forget about it and focus on preparing for the interviews itself!
Best,
Udayan
Hi there,
You're already in Round 1, while the CV & CL screening is in Round 0, so do not look behind and focus on what's next!
Mehdi
Hi there,
Depending on the office/screener, they may look more or less thoroughly at the cover letter. Some may just be happy if it "looks" polished.
Prior to the interview, interviewers will be getting your resume but they will not be getting your cover letter.
In terms of decisions moving forward, neither will have an impact...now it's up to you to shine in the interviews!
Hi A,
I understand your concerns but a cover letter is very unlikely to be considered by making final decisions while CV, however, is. Be prepared to walk interviewers through your CV.
You are already in the first round! So better focus on the upcoming challenges and good preparation.
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