Proofread

There is nothing worse than having your laziness pointed out to you. This morning at my internship, I was in a meeting and someone pointed out a typo that the presenter had made. Naturally, for the presenter, acknowledgement of the mistake was embarrassing. For the rest of the room, the mistake was a huge distraction--now, rather than simply skimming over the presentation materials as most people do, everyone was concerned looking for this (and the next) typo.

This incident brought me back to an internship last summer, when I handed something in to my boss that I had totally neglected to proofread. I was so concerned with getting the assignment in on time (and so confident in my writing skills) that I had completely overlooked typing "on" instead of "of." To my embarrassment, it was pointed out to me, and the fact that I got the assignment in on time was now irrelevant because, in reality, I had turned in the project incomplete. Always, always proofread. It really sucks being caught with your pants down.