addressing a cover letter?

Factual Questions
1

I’m writing a cover letter… but I don’t have a specific person to address. How do I start the letter?

“Dear Sir/Madam” ?
“To Whom It May Concern” ?
“Recruiter” ?

Is there something that’s standard or generally accepted?

Thanks

2

You don’t have a name? That’d be best. Can you call the company (or whatever) and get a name?

I’m from the old school, and Dear Sir/Madam would probably be okay, but I haven’t sent or received one of those letters for a long time.

Try to get a name.

::hijack about corporate mailrooms::

Sorting mail is a new part of my job. I must be the most overpaid mailroom clerk in the state, but the company’s trying to save money, so when someone leaves, the rest of us absorb their duties. And we smile when we do it.

So I spend about a half an hour every day sorting two to four huge bags of mail. Unsolicited resumes go in the trash. (I know when they’re solicited because I place the ads.) Also in the trash – almost all mail directed to “titles” or departments rather than people.

So get a name, cuz I have a feeling a lot of mailrooms are run like mine.

::end mailroom lesson::

3

You can actually leave that part off and it won’t be noticed. I once had to collect and sort incoming resumes and lots were that way. No one will think anything of it.

In fact, often the cover letters are filed but not circulated to the hiring managers, since most are useless, so if you have any points to make, get them into the top end of the first page of your resume.

4

Choices 1 and 2 are passé and cold. You could modify choice 3 to “Dear Recruiter.”

As has been suggested, it’s best to get a name; failing that, use a generic “addressee”:

Dear Ford Motor Company:
Dear Personnel Manager:

5

The master tacked this one in his column entitled How should you address a business letter, now that “gentlemen” is out?

Yer pal,
Satan

*TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Six months, one week, three days, 4 hours, 56 minutes and 51 seconds.
7728 cigarettes not smoked, saving $966.03.
Extra time with Drain Bead: 3 weeks, 5 days, 20 hours, 0 minutes.

I slept with a moderator!*

6

Thanks all,

I called the company yesterday, and they wouldn’t give me a name. They suggested I use “Human Resources”. That’s about as cold as it can get. I’m inclined to go with the nothing at all option, and let them read it for themselves.

This company wants everyone to apply on-line, and requires a cover letter to identify the position you are applying for. I guess “To Whom It May Concern in Human Resources” should cover it!

7

I do this professionally (write cover letters etc.) barring a name, I use “Dear Personnel Manager” or “Dear Human Resources Department”. I never use the phrase “to whom it may concern” because for that fleeting second of “well, it doesn’t concern anyone here!”.

So far, every one of my clients who have had cover letters sent out have gotten interviews out of them (and generally at a rate of 1/2 - 2/3 which is pretty damned good). One case, she got out of jail on Sunday, I wrote resume and cover letters on Monday, faxed some and she started interviewing by Wednesday. :smiley: She now make more than me :frowning: