Address To A Real Person
If you start your resume cover letter by TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, you’re grammatically alright. But what if nobody wanted to be concerned? Doctors writing sick leave certificates can start a letter that way, but not job seekers.
When writing business letters, many a time it’s not a matter of right or wrong. Rather there are matters of friendly or not friendly; warm or cool; enthusiastic or non enthusiastic.
When we are writing a resume cover letter, we DO want to get someone concerned in reading our letter and in giving us a call for an interview. To begin with, we need to be as friendly, warm and enthusiastic as possible. To do this, try your best to find out who the reader is and make the appropriate address and greeting.
Which of these greetings should you use to start your cover letter?
Poor Greetings
To whom it may concern / Dear Sirs / Dear Sir/Madam / Dear Gentlemen
Acceptable Greetings:
Dear Hiring Manager / Dear HR Manager
Good Greetings:
Dear Mrs. Smith / Dear Mr. Jones
Always greet the reader by his/her family name, as a matter of professional English, unless you only know the person’s first name. We’ll see an example below.
When you go through the contact info provided by recruitment ads, you can find clues as to determine which is the appropriate greeting to use. See examples below. You are invited to send your resume to:
Group 1 – hrd@anycompany.com
Group 2 – annie_name@xyzcompany.com
Group 3 – annie@abccompany.com
Group 4 – cv@anyemploymentagency.com
Group 1 – Dear HR Director
Group 2 – Dear Ms. Name
Group 3 – Dear Annie
Group 4 – Dear Consultant
How To Look For The Right Person To Write To?
If you are proactively approaching an employer, try to do some research to find out who is the best person to read your letter and write to him (or her) directly. For example, if you want to be an analyst, you may make a call and find out the name of the head of research in your target employer’s company. If you want to apply for a sales role, then ask for the sales manager’s name. Some companies have their key people’s names and contact emails available in their websites. Don’t overlook the power of internet!
CONCLUSION: Address your resume cover letter to a specific person whenever possible!
Resume Cover Letters - Mini Course Day 1
