Made a stupid, big mistake in cover letter

Question

Hello,

I have my interview in a few weeks with one of the MBB, and just realized, looking through my cover letter again, that I made a big mistake on the cover letter I applied with for the position. I have, in one sentence, said that I did an internship last summer, while I actually did it two summers ago (summer of 2015). This is because in another cover letter wrote the same, but then about a year ago. It is just this minor detail, but it really bugs me as I think I might come forward as not precautious enough with the things I write, and they might think I just copy paste my cover letters. Apart from that, it looks fine, it is just this minor detail which they will notice if they combine my CV and my cover letter.

What do I do? Do I contact HR and send them a new cover letter, or do I let it slide and hope they won't notice? I must also mention that I already had to resend them the cover letter because of a problem on the online application, which makes me hesitate to contact them again once again.

Thank you for your response!

Answer 1

Hi Anonymous,

so far that you have already the interview scheduled, I would actually not worry about the mistake. The interviewer will probably come with the CV only at the interview, so will likely miss the mistake. Even if he/she comes with it and spots it, you can simply reply something like this: “Oh, I guess that was actually a typo. However, I am happy you brought this up as I wanted to stress one thing about that internship, that is…” and add one of your point of strenghts developed during the internship. In this way, you may even get some points for moving smoothly a complex situation to your advantage - the mistake is minor, so they will concentrate more on your reaction than the mistake itself. Indeed, also in the real job you may end finding a typo during a presentation with a client, and in that case you should have the confidence to move forward anyway – that’s what you could show in this situation.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi!

To be honest, prior to the interview consultants are not reading your resume or CL.

If they find this mistake during the interview - you can easily explain. So no worries

Best,

Vlad

Answer 3

Dear A,

I wouldn't worry, since you have already scheduled for the interview.

In case consultants will ask you about this, you can explain it.

Best,
André

Answer 4

No worries,

If you will be asked about your mistake during the interview, you can explain it.

Wish you best of luck,

GB