# Ironic job candidate cover letter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 28, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378 "2013-12-28T23:28:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/1 "2013-12-28T23:28:45Z")
I was going through some old papers and found a cover letter that closed with [this sentence](http://www.seiglefamily.com/data/attentiontodetail.jpg). This is a scan of the actual hard copy I received. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/2 "2013-12-28T23:35:28Z")
I assume the position was proofreader. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/3 "2013-12-28T23:40:25Z")
Didyou hire them? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/4 "2013-12-29T00:20:48Z")
The position was for a software tester. The person’s qualifications were not a fit for the job so I did not even interview that person. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/5 "2013-12-29T00:25:29Z")
I have to appreciate the perfect proximity here. Bonus points for including every banal cliche of resumes in a single sentence. Seriously, everything in that sentence is something I’ve sworn I will never write on a cover letter or resume. However, I’ve still received some that have that beat. The best is a person who emphasized attention to detail and yet misspelled their own name at the bottom of the cover letter. Followed closely by the millions of people who put “attention to detail” in their resume and fail to include a cover page. Our job listing says that you must attach a cover letter in order to be considered. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/6 "2013-12-29T01:26:47Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I was going through some old papers and found a cover letter that closed with [this sentence](http://www.seiglefamily.com/data/attentiontodetail.jpg). This is a scan of the actual hard copy I received. He was only making sure _you_ were paying attention to detail, see? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/7 "2013-12-29T01:40:33Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Bonus points for including every banal cliche of resumes in a single sentence. He left out “I am a team player, but also work well individually.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/8 "2013-12-29T01:43:41Z")
He also should have put a semicolon after “detail,” not a comma. And it would have read better if he had written “I therefore believe.” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/9 "2013-12-29T03:28:10Z")
If he hadn’t said he paid attention to detail I would have shrugged off the typo, but c’mon. The same year I got one from somebody who described himself as a “softwear engineer.” Maybe he designed lingerie. 🙂 I didn’t save that one, though. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/10 "2013-12-29T03:40:37Z")
What typo? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/11 "2013-12-29T04:06:22Z")
I just got 133,000 results from Googling “Attention to Deatail”. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/12 "2013-12-29T04:33:32Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Followed closely by the millions of people who put “attention to detail” in their resume and fail to include a cover page. Our job listing says that you must attach a cover letter in order to be considered. :smack: Do you specify “separated cover letter”? If sent by email, that’s what people consider the cover letter, unless otherwise specified. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/13 "2013-12-29T04:48:17Z")
He said “attention to detail”, but he left out “no” right before it. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/14 "2013-12-29T04:51:25Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I just got 133,000 results from Googling “Attention to Deatail”. “De Tail! De Tail!” “Tattoo, report to HR…” ---
**Author:** ![jdc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@jdc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdc)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/15 "2013-12-30T14:58:12Z")
Sometimes I take pity on someone who sends me a cover letter or resume with typo or misspelling and send them a polite email with correction(s). I once did this for a job applicant who seemed qualified for a position I had available. What I expected back was a respectful reply and a request to remain in consideration despite the error. What I got back instead was a one word email “Duh!” I immediately decided to reject the application based on such a clueless response. If a busy executive takes time to help you out, don’t send a smart-ass response. They will conclude you are a smart ass and not someone they want to hire. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/16 "2013-12-30T15:31:57Z")
My personal best dumbass application was a paper one which I somehow sent with no contact details- except my name, so I couldn’t just reapply. I realised a few seconds after posting it. I do recall my mother showing me one which proudly stated ‘I’ve got a a level in math and pysics’. Just to clarify- A levels are UK exams in individual subjects, there is no such thing as one in maths _and_ anything, so the ‘a’ would be incorrect even if it was an ‘an’, the correct UK version is math **s** and physics is still physics and not pysics on this side of the pond. I think that held the record for the most mistakes in one sentence. The job she was adertising for didn’t really need much in the way of writing skills- in fact the person who got the position has appalling spelling, but is awesome at the job, but she had the awareness to get her partner to spell check the application. Even if it’s not something that should honestly matter- nobody likes an employee who does a half-arsed job of things. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/17 "2013-12-30T15:35:18Z")
Well, she didn’t claim to have one in English. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/18 "2013-12-30T15:41:56Z")
Nice coincidence. At work we have a phrase, **attantion of details** , used to mock stupid mistakes. If anyone fucks up someone will say, “attantion of details guys, attantion of details.” It comes from a job application addressing a criterion about quality control. Three words, three mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/19 "2013-12-30T15:43:19Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > Didyou hire them? And this broke me up. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378/20 "2013-12-30T17:06:14Z")
Classic Mike Royko column: > **[WY CANT THIS MAN GIT HIMSELF A JOB?](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-12-15-8604030586-story.html)** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ironic-job-candidate-cover-letter/677378.md?page=2)