Spelling errors and sweating the small stuff

Yesterday morning a job post came across my LinkedIn feed. 

"Content Marketing Specialist" it read. 

I was good fit for the position—the right number of years shouldering the plow, the right industry experience (or patience if you look at it right), the right amount of bloated self-importance. 

Like any good online-job-hunting millennial, I updated my portfolio materials and other application documents and clicked 'Submit.' The proper pixels were on their way, my coffee was fresh and the Louisiana humidity outside had not yet caused an uncomfortable sticky sweat.

All was well, but as I closed all the pdf, indd, jpg, ai, doc windows, I panicked. 

I felt something close to an excavator digging a bottomless pit in my chest. 

A single glance at my pandered "Skills" section revealed the error.
"Coversation Design for AI"
Yes, feel free to face-palm. Make sure you strike with the whole palm not just the soft, cushiony parts. Get those calluses in there. And use two hands to really do it justice.

I, a securely employed person, fell victim to scrambled application frenzy. I, a professional business person, was careless about a career opportunity. I, a putative writer, allowed a spelling error to pass.

The embarrassment, the shame and the imposter syndrome swelled all at once, and I was ready to start shopping for burial plots. Or at least a decent crematorium. 

Naturally, the first person I messaged was my my fiancé. 

ME: Shit...babe...there's a SPELLING ERROR in my resumé!

HER: Don't sweat it. I'm sure no one noticed. It's a quick fix.

ME: B-b-but the high-profile jobs, the ivory tower agencies....they'll see it and they'll trash it for sure.

HER: Drop the freakout. Keep sweating the big stuff and the little stuff at the same time all the time and all you'll do is burn some calories. More likely though, you'll get a brain tumor.

Truth be told she deserves some shiny awards simply for putting up with my tendency to turn into a griping basket case at the slightest mistake. (My therapist should probably be up for the same awards too while we're at it.)

Noticed or unnoticed, shit happens. Fix what you can and move on. 

The painful cycle of the hiring process being what it is, it's my belief that any company worth working for will focus more on what you accomplish with your skills, experience and quality of work rather than how you spell them on a resumé.

Hopefully the Silicon Valley and Madison Avenue giants who were sent the same resumé with the same error only weeks earlier feel the same way.

Fcuk.

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