I’m writing cover letters to go with my resume. What is the current ettiquette for addressing such letters, when they don’t have specific person they’re addressed to ? I guess it used to be “Dear Sirs”. But that seem rather obnoxious for the potentiallly female director of personnel who may be opening the missive.
“Dear Sir or Madam” seems akward. (And sounds like a Beatle song :)). “To whom it may concern” ? Ick.
What’s the current thinking on this?
Thanks
You should find out the name of the person to whom the letter should be addressed. If that is IMPOSSIBLE, then “Dear Sir or Madam” is fine. But it better be IMPOSSIBLE to find out.
I toss out just about every single HR letter sent here that is addressed to “Dear Sir or Madam” since the person could find out the name it should be addressed to with a 20-second phone call. (Many companies provide the name right on their Web site, although we do not.) If they cannot be bothered to do that, I don’t think they will ever be the right person for any job that may ever be open here. Lazy job seekers don’t impress me at all.
On the other hand, we’re a small company and can afford to be picky and exclusive. Maybe large companies that barely read the cover letter anyway, if at all, are not so bothered by generic letters.
“Dear Sir or Madam” is better than “To Whom It May Concern.”
“Listen up, bitches” is right out.
I recommend Dear Sir or Madam.
No one ever notices if you leave out the salutation. If you can’t find the name of the person (and I, too, strongly recommend you do this if at all possible), just write the letter without a salutation.
The cover letter salutation could be “Dear Human Resources Director/Manager” or “Dear Hiring Director/Manager” especially if you don’t have a point of contact.
BTW… Hiring Managers ***DO * ** notice things like this so I recommend putting something in the salutation.
If I can’t locate it I go with “Greetings”.
As long as the subject has come up, why do companies not list a name or some other instruction as to whom they want cover letters to go? I look at the want ads and it seems like 90% of them don’t list a contact person. Moreover, it seems like 50% of them don’t even list a company name. I’d be curious as to how the HR departments of such companies justify disposing of resumes and letters that start off with a generic greeting when the company itself can’t be bothered to make the information readily available. If you don’t want people trying to contact a specific person, then make up a name or something so those of us who even after exercising due diligence are unable to hunt you down have something to put in our salutations.
If the ad or other listing says:
Please respond to Ms. Sadie Glunk, HR Director, Acme Goldberg-Device Mfg. Corp., then you use a salutation of “Dear Ms. Glunk” (after, of course, a full inside address). If “Kelly C. Vermin, HR Director” is what is given, with a unisex first name (does that C. stand for Charles or Christine), improvise: “Dear Director Vermin,” perhaps?
I would see nothing wrong with “Dear HR Department” or the equivalent.
I find “Dear Sir or Madam (as the case may be)” to be vastly stilted and to set things off on the wrong foot. “Dear Sirs” is acceptable if sexist, since inferentially a woman is traditionally included in a male salutation.
Generally a little research will give you an appropriate name, but some companies intentionally do not list such information.
If what you come up with is “John F. Vermin, Director of Human Resources” there is nothing wrong, I think, in addressing it to “Dear Mr. Vermin and HR Staff” – addressing the person-in-charge and acknowledging that his (or her) subordinates may be the ones reviewing the correspondence.
Two questions for those dealing with this sort of thing professionally:
Is it in error to address one’s correspondence to someone clearly more senior than the person who will respond? E.g., in the example of Acme Corp., addressing to J.P. Bigdome, Vice-President of Production, one of only three top executives listed in materials you can access, knowing that it will be passed down to his HR subordinates?
Is there a “proper” way to do a cover letter to a “blind ad”? E.g., “Wanted: Internet Sales Rep. Must have experience in retail sales, use of Internet marketing. Salary negotiable. Send resume to Box 831C, this newspaper.” Who the heck do you initiate correspondence with in this case?
Usually, I address a cover letter without a salutation, but instead include a line like
“Re: Position XYZ123: Chief Financial Officer.”
But during my last job search, I only mailed a handful of resumes. The rest were sent via email or a web form.
Well, I’ve never had a problem getting an interview when I left it off. If they notice at all, they realize that you wanted to avoid a stilted one.
Leave it off.
I don’t think “Dear Sirs” works any more – it is as stilted as Dear Sir or Madam, and in this day and age I wouldn’t be surprised if more than 50% of HR staff are female. I would not recommend it.
Well that’s the nub of my jist. Or the jist of my nub. Or something. Anyway, I agree with the the number of people here who have said it’s better to get a name. Definatly.
But if I’m repsonding to a soliciation for a job…well, my thought is I should adhear to the protocol of the the solicitaion. And if they just say respond to this address of this e-mail…without a name…well, that’s what I’m wondering about. Should I actually go and search out a name when they didn’t seem like they wanted to provide one? Seems like a mistake to me…or am I wrong?
If it’s an ad and they provide instructions on how to respond, I think you should follow them. In that case, I’d use “Dear Sir or Madam” or use no salutation and a Re line, as Dewey Finn suggests.
In fact, I’d even possibly use “To Whom It May Concern” in this particular situation, which I find somehow different than if you were just cold-mailing a resume. (If they are deliberately not providing someone’s name, they have to expect people to address the letter generically. If they are posting an ad and specifically leaving out the recipient’s name, I’d assume they don’t want you to contact them to find out what it is - they don’t want to be bothered with calls and want the letters to be sent to a completely generic and anonymous person - at this stage, anyway.)
I recommend this, if you want to sound like an envoy from another planet.
The danger of searching out ‘a name’, is that you might get the wrong name and have your letter end up on the wrong desk. Or it may end up on the right desk and insult the person who opens it by getting their name wrong. You are best following the instructions of the job advert. If they don’t supply a personal contact then don’t pretend you are writing to a person. Head your letter with the job reference and wade straight into the body of the letter.
Precisely. It’s not unusual for companies to receive dozens of apps per ad. Imagine getting 150-200 pestering telephone calls from applicants wanting a contact name–for each advertised position. Companies could save themselves much aggravation if they’d provide something in the ad. That said, once a company reaches a certain size, few people expect personalized salutations and many consider such telephone calls a PITA.
A related issue is an applicant promising a personalized followup telephone call to the hiring official. As the exec VP of a large division, I can assure you these are a major PITA. My standing policy is for staff to say we don’t take those calls. Fielding 2-3 dozen calls of 10 minutes each–for each position–would create organizational gridlock.