Recruiters love to complain about candidates having typos in their resumes. "Attention to detail matters!" they say. "A single typo shows you don't care!"

Cool. Now let's talk about recruiter InMails and emails that look like they were written by a drunk raccoon using autocorrect.

I collected 50+ real recruiter outreach messages from candidates who shared their LinkedIn InMails and cold emails. These are real messages from real recruiters at real companies. And they're hilariously bad.

Grammar mistakes. Spelling errors. Copy-paste fails where they left the previous candidate's name in. If attention to detail matters, 90% of recruiters would be immediately disqualified from their own jobs.

Let's dive into the hall of shame.

Category 1: The Copy-Paste Catastrophes

These recruiters clearly have templates. They clearly use them for dozens of candidates. And they clearly don't proofread before hitting send.

Example 1:

"Hi [NAME],

I came across your profile and think you'd be a great fit for our Senior Software Engineer role. [CANDIDATE_NAME] has the exact skills we're looking for. Let me know if you're interested!"

You literally left the template placeholder in the message. This happens so often there are entire Reddit threads dedicated to it.

Example 2:

"Hi Sarah,

I'm reaching out because your background in [SKILL_1], [SKILL_2], and [INDUSTRY] makes you perfect for this position..."

Imagine being so lazy that you can't even fill in the three blanks in your own template.

Example 3:

"Hi Michael,

I hope this email finds you well. I noticed your experience at {{COMPANY_NAME}} and thought you'd be interested in..."

That's not even a template placeholder—that's a mail merge variable. You sent this from a CRM and didn't bother checking if the merge worked.

Category 2: The Spelling Disasters

These recruiters misspelled basic words. Not typos—consistent misspellings that suggest they genuinely don't know how to spell.

Example 1:

"We're looking for a highly motovated individual with strong leadship skills and excelent attention to detial."

You misspelled "attention to detail" in a sentence about attention to detail. That's not irony—that's poetic justice.

Example 2:

"This is an exiting opportunity to work on cutting-edge technolgy with a dinammic team."

Spellcheck is free. Use it.

Example 3:

"The ideal candidate will have expereince in porgram managment and stragetic planning."

At this point I'm convinced this recruiter wrote the message on a phone while driving.

Example 4:

"We're hiring for multipul roles including sofware enginer, data analist, and devops specalist."

Multiple typos for the exact roles you're hiring for. Candidates can tell you don't know what these jobs actually are.

Category 3: The Grammar Nightmares

Subject-verb disagreement. Missing punctuation. Sentences that just... stop mid-thought.

Example 1:

"Our company are looking for someone who have experience in this field we think you would be great fit for the role let me know if your interested."

That's one sentence. No punctuation. Subject-verb agreement is a myth. "Your" instead of "you're." This is a professional outreach message, not a text to your friend.

Example 2:

"We has a exciting oppurtunity for someone with you're skills and experiance."

"We has." WE HAS. How did you get a recruiting job?

Example 3:

"This role require someone who can working independently and has good communication skills."

"Require" instead of "requires." "Can working" instead of "can work." Did you use AI to write this and not proofread the output?

Example 4:

"I hope your doing well I wanted to reach out because I think this position would be perfect for you based on your experiance at your previous company I'd love to schedule a call to discuss."

This. Is. One. Sentence. Punctuation exists for a reason.

Category 4: The AI-Generated Disasters

Recruiters are using AI to write outreach messages, and they're not proofreading the output. The result? Messages that sound like they were written by a very polite robot having a stroke.

Example 1:

"Dear esteemed professional,

It is with great anticipation that I extend to you this correspondence regarding a most exceptional opportunity that has recently become available within our prestigious organization. Your exemplary credentials and distinguished experience have captured our attention..."

Nobody talks like this. This sounds like AI was trained on 19th-century business correspondence.

Example 2:

"Hello! I hope this message finds you in good spirits and excellent health. I am reaching out to discuss a potentially mutually beneficial professional engagement that may be of interest to you given your impressive portfolio of accomplishments."

100% AI-generated. 0% human-sounding. Candidates can tell immediately.

Example 3:

"Greetings! I hope this finds you well and thriving in your current endeavors. I wanted to reach out to discuss an exciting opportunity that aligns with your career trajectory and professional aspirations."

"Aligns with your career trajectory and professional aspirations." No human has ever spoken these words out loud.

Category 5: The "Did You Even Look at My Profile?" Messages

These recruiters clearly didn't read the candidate's profile before reaching out. The result? Hilariously mismatched opportunities.

Example 1:

"Hi! I saw your experience as a Senior Software Engineer and thought you'd be perfect for our entry-level customer service role!"

You saw I'm a senior engineer and thought I'd want to answer phones? Are you high?

Example 2:

"Your background in healthcare administration makes you an ideal candidate for our blockchain developer position."

These are not related fields. At all. Did you just keyword search "administrator" and spam everyone?

Example 3:

"I noticed you have 10 years of experience in software engineering. We have an unpaid internship opportunity that would be perfect for you!"

I've been in the industry for a decade and you're offering me an unpaid internship. This is either insulting or you're a spam bot.

Why This Actually Matters (Besides Being Funny)

These aren't just entertaining mistakes. Poor quality recruiter outreach has real consequences:

It damages employer brand: When candidates receive sloppy, impersonal, or error-filled messages, they form negative impressions of the company. Your InMail is often a candidate's first interaction with your company.

It signals you don't care: If you can't be bothered to proofread a message asking someone to change jobs, why would they trust you to manage their career transition?

It wastes candidates' time: Generic, poorly targeted messages clog inboxes and waste time for candidates who are genuinely job searching.

It makes recruiters look incompetent: Candidates share bad recruiter messages on Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Your sloppy outreach becomes viral content mocking your profession.

It reduces response rates: Messages with typos, grammar errors, or obvious copy-paste fails get significantly lower response rates. Candidates ignore them or assume they're spam.

How to Not End Up in This Hall of Shame

If you're a recruiter, here's how to avoid becoming a cautionary tale:

Proofread before sending - Read your message out loud. If it sounds robotic or awkward, rewrite it.

Use spell check - It's built into LinkedIn, Gmail, and every writing tool. There's no excuse for misspelling basic words.

Personalize your outreach - Reference specific details from the candidate's profile. Show you actually read it.

If you use AI, edit the output - AI-generated messages sound like AI. Make them sound human before sending.

Match the role to the candidate - Don't offer entry-level roles to senior professionals. Don't pitch unrelated industries. Basic targeting matters.

Test your templates - Send yourself a test message with filled-in variables. Make sure placeholders are replaced.

Treat outreach like it matters - Because it does. You're asking someone to potentially change their career. Show some respect.

The Bottom Line

Recruiters love to criticize candidate resumes for typos and lack of attention to detail. But recruiter outreach messages are often worse—full of grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and copy-paste fails.

If attention to detail matters (and it does), it matters for recruiters too. Your InMail is often a candidate's first impression of your company. Make it count.

Or don't, and end up in the next "hall of shame" article.

Key Takeaways:

• Real recruiter messages are often full of grammar mistakes, typos, and copy-paste fails
• Common errors: misspelled words, missing punctuation, template placeholders left in messages
• AI-generated outreach sounds robotic and impersonal
• Poor outreach damages employer brand and reduces response rates
• Proofread, personalize, and treat outreach with the professionalism you expect from candidates