By Frank Zeccola LCD Graduate Fellow
Every new lawyer knows the feeling: You just passed the Bar and got sworn in. Now you are applying for a job at a firm that sounds like an amazing opportunity. This will be your first real job as a lawyer. You type up an engaging cover letter outlining exactly why you are a great fit for the firm. You sell yourself like an ad man from the 60s writing about the new Rolls Royce for a billboard in Times Square. There’s no way they won’t hire you after reading this.
Then you read over your cover letter again. And spot a typo. And another typo. Frantically, you scrutinize your letter again and again searching for any little mistake you may have made. After all, one misplaced comma or misspelled word could kill your chances for scoring the job. Before long, your brain starts hurting. And your anxiety skyrockets.
If you fret about making typos in emails to hiring partners and other colleagues, there is good news. A line of research going back several decades shows that, as you advance in your career and earn a reputation in your profession, you can get away with being less formal in email contact with colleagues. Further, typos and proofreading mistakes matter less than when you are an entry-level job seeker.
One study of emails sent within an academic department, for example, noted that “email text … written by staff at the lower ranks (e.g. secretaries and support staff) often appears structured and formal,” while ‘[t]he messages by professorial staff … appear short, to the point, and spontaneous.” Read: “Spontaneous” is a polite euphemism for “sloppy.”
Further, a recent article in Slate proclaimed: “I have good news for young, typo-averse job seekers: It gets better. As you advance in your career, you won’t have to care about making every sentence that you type absolutely perfect anymore, and it will be a huge relief.”
This may ring true for many people who have worked for experienced lawyers who are careless with their email communications.
Yet I’m going to make the argument that you should never let up on your attention to detail in your professional communications—whether that’s email to hiring partners, bosses, supervisors, underlings, clients, opposing counsel, or anyone else.
In the first few weeks of law school, my Criminal Law professor warned us that, as lawyers, our words are now our craft. Even though we were just in our first few weeks of law school, from here forward, words matter. Our words are our weapons that can shape the fate of clients whose lives could be literally on the line.
With that kind of power comes the responsibility that every communication you make—from email to snail mail letters to closing arguments in the courtroom—carries with it the weight of your reputation. You do not want to risk that—no matter how experienced you are. This means that your instincts are right: You should start now and closely critique every email and cover letter you send out during your job search. And never let up just because you get some experience under your belt.
The best way to catch mistakes will vary from person to person. As an LCD counselor recently wrote in an article on spotting typos, “you might try reading your cover letters out loud, running your finger over the text while reading, or magnifying the size of the text on your screen.” Further: “What also helps is to share your writing with someone else. Whether it be a career counselor, friend or spouse, other people are further removed from your writing and are more likely to spot such mistakes.”
Finally, to ensure you are producing perfect copy in your resume, cover letter, and other career materials, book an appointment with an LCD counselor today.
