Editing Résumés and Cover Letters
Often, a potential employer will "meet" your cover letter and résumé before actually meeting you. They are your first interview. Just as you wouldn't show up for a face-to-face interview with your hair a mess and a mustard stain on your shirt, you don't want to send out documents with errors. These activities will help you catch the most common (and costly) errors before employers can.
Editing to Check Facts
The quickest way to get rejected is to misspell the name of the reader, or botch the person's title, or mangle the company name. If you need to write to Ms. Leslie Wilcox, Editor in Chief of the Burlington Standard Bugle, but you instead write to Mr. Leslie Willcox, Editor of the Burlington Daily Bugle, you probably won't even get a reply, let alone a chance to interview.
You must fact-check every name, title, business, department, street address, email address, telephone number, job title, and job-specific term in your résumé and cover letter. Look up each one on the Internet, preferably using the employer's own Web site. Check off any detail you have fact-checked, and correct any that were incorrect.
