12 Hilarious (And Unbelievable) Journalism Job Resume Mistakes

Credit: AJR Photo Illustration by Sarah Siguenza

April 23, 2014

Joe Grimm said he doesn’t like to “make sport of people” with mistakes in their resume or cover letter.

“Applying for jobs is hard,” said Grimm, Michigan State University journalism professor and former recruiting and development editor at the Detroit Free Press, in an email. “And the pratfalls are made more spectacular by the fact that most people don’t make them.”

Here are some of the more spectacular errors Grimm has seen, in his own words:

* People spell my name wrong

* People spell their own name wrong

* Emails and phone numbers that can’t possibly be right

* One sent me a letter at the Detroit Free Press that began, “I have always wanted to work for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I wonder whether, given our newspapers’ positions early in the alphabet, they had set off laughter all across the country?

* One claimed she had graduated magna cum laid.

* Another claimed experiences with “hyper tension markup language.”

* Someone else spelled “assess” as “asses.”

* My favorite application typo is from someone who is “detial oriented.”

* Another person wanted to work at my “reputed newspaper.”

* Someone sent in an audio application recorded over what had been a motivational cassette.

* Another, whose full story is too long to fully explain here, told me that the dirt on his cover letter was from where the cat had vomited. “But don’t worry,” he said as I inched the letter toward the trash can with a pencil, “The cat died.”

* A favorite was the man who wrote saying he did not think that he wanted to work for a newspaper, but that I should expect an application if his run for the state house did not succeed. I sent back a short letter. It said, “Good luck in the election.”

TELL US IN COMMENTS: What are the craziest resume mistakes you have seen?

Comments

By posting a comment you are agreeing to our Terms of Use

Leave a Comment