Job applicant accidentally CC'd on email before canceled interview. He responded perfectly.

A couple of viral threads on Reddit are getting people talking about the slogging process of getting a job in the current age and the importance of email etiquette during the search. The original Reddit poster, known as Bart, had applied for an IT position and had an initial interview with three out of the four people he was supposed to meet. The fourth person who couldn’t make it sent Bart a follow-up email to schedule a one-on-one Zoom just to get acquainted. Then Bart saw an email he wasn’t supposed to see.

Without knowing that Bart was CC’d in the email, one of the initial panelists emailed a reply that read, “Bart is out,” chastised his fellow coworkers, and ordered the Zoom interview be canceled and an apology be sent to Bart for good measure. After seeing “the live show of their messy internal drama,” Bart considered himself lucky. “If your team can’t even handle email coordination or basic professionalism in a hiring process—why would I want to work there?” he said on Reddit. But Bart’s question to the Internet was simple: How should he respond to the email he was mistakenly included in?

Oof.Photo credit: @Teacup690

Commenters weighed in:

“Respond with the Homer Hedge gif.”

“Do not reply.”

“If it were me, I’d wait until I got that cancellation/apology that the original sender was instructed to give & then respond “Yeah, I know,” including these screenshots.”

“REPLY ALL ‘I actually really like him. He’s got a ton of potential and I say we give him a chance.’ See what happens.”

Bart shared how he actually responded in a second thread. He replied to them all in an email playfully joking saying he “thought Bart was in” while politely saying that an apology wasn’t necessary, thanking them for the interview, and throwing in that if they wanted someone with a “strong focus on awareness, attention to detail, and, yes, proofreading” to contact him again.

Perfect balance of snark and class.Photo credit: Teacup690

While it feels like poetic justice to send a response like that, many of us have made email mistakes in our professional lives. Unlike the company in those Reddit threads though, you probably noticed your mistake and want to address it the best way possible.

According to Forbes, if you sent an email to the wrong person, included inaccurate information in a business email, or came off as abrasive upon retrospect, it’s best to act calmly and quickly. Whether you hit “REPLY ALL” accidentally, wrote something meant for someone else, forgot an attachment, or anything else, the top advice given is to genuinely apologize in a follow-up email as soon as possible. The quicker the correction and apology, the more sincere it will appear as an honest mistake rather than a regret being attempted as a cover-up. That is, unless you are quick enough to realize your mistake and hit “Undo Send” before it’s too late.

That said, the best way to correct a mistake is to not make it to begin with, especially when it comes to emails for work. Indeed and Business Insider suggest various methods, but it usually boils down to one action: calmly re-read your email completely before you hit “SEND.” Doing that will allow you to spot any inaccuracies or incorrect grammar, analyze your written tone, catch mistakes in names or email addresses, and refine your message to intentionally hit “REPLY” rather than accidentally “REPLY ALL.”

A deep breath and some mindfulness while writing out a message will create less headaches in the long term when using email as a vital form of professional communication. While everyone does make mistakes, don’t be surprised if you get meaner responses than Bart’s if you do make a grave error.