I don’t like “to whom it may concern:”. What do you think about “Sir:” like the letters written to the Economist begin? I this too British for American business? Sexist?
Even in Britain, it’s a rather conservative, if not old-fashioned, usage. Only two of the serious daily newspapers (the Times and Telegraph) retain it in their letters pages.
If I wanted to be that formal, in these days when editors and CEOs may be women, I would use “Sir or Madam” – or do the research and find out the person’s name.
In my business letters I’ve always started with “To Recipient.” Then include their identification, such as “IP”, name if you have it and company.
I hate the word “Dear” in any address.
Nor do I use “Sincerely” or “Yours” signing off.
Again, these is my business letters. Personal letters to a friend are totally different.
I use “Dear Sir or Madam” on the rare occasions when I have to send a letter to an unknown party. Then, I resist the temptation to ask them to read my book, because it took years to write and will they take a look.
On the rare occasions when I send a letter to a company without having a specific person to address it to, I open with “Ladies and Gentlemen:”
“Dear Sir or Madam:” is proper for a business letter.
“Ladies and Gentlemen” implies the letter will be read to a large audience. That seems odd.
I use “Dear Sir or Madam:” for a business letter, like a cover letter.
If I just sending information and am not worried about making a good impression, I use “To Whom It May Concern:”.
Every time I see that, I think of The Waterboy.
Giles has it right, if it is important, find out exactly who you are addressing, and adjust accordingly.
That isn’t always possible. For example, one may be responding to a “blind” Monster.com or newspaper classified post, with no control over who reads the responses, and no ability to direct one’s cover letter to a specific individual.
One option is to omit the salutation entirely:
Human Resources Manager
XYZ Company
Anytown, USA
Re: Sales Position
I am interested in the sales position you have advertised in the Post . . .
My office is entirely women. Yeah, we’d roll our eyes and it’d be a point against you - albeit a small point - if you addressed the letter to Sir. It’s very archaic these days.
Data point: once I recieved a job application that started with “Dear Sir.” As it was clearly not addressed to me, I threw it out.
I would not take seriously any correspondence that began with that salutation, for the same reason.
Its only OK if you know for a fact the person who will read your letter is male (I assume the letter answerer at The Economist is, and the letter writers know this?) If not, bad form.
In most cases, you can call the company and get a name. If that is impossible, I use the company name
Dear Straight Dope:
Hee hee. I came here just to say that.
But hell, if they could figure that out in the '60 we should know it by now.
I’m going with A. find out the individual you will actullay being commicating with and write accordingly, or if not possible, B. write to the company.