Opening Salutations: The Right Way to Say Hello

From: Karen Silins

At the start of your cover letter, there is one essential rule that you can't afford to ignore: aim your greeting at the person who's going to give you the job. According to recruiter, Rolande LaPointe, "One of the most common mistakes that people make when writing cover letters is not addressing their letters properly."

This is a terrible mistake – especially because it's so easy to avoid. It sends up a red flag to the employer that you aren't right for the job. Most of the time, a letter misaddressed or with a misspelled greeting is going to get thrown out before the reader even gets to the main body!

Yes, there are times when an ad gives little or no company information, maybe just a P.O. Box number for mailing your application or an e-mail address with no identifying characteristics. Occasionally, you won't be able to obtain a person's name. In these cases, use a more generic greeting. If you run into this problem, please use "Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:" for your salutation.

You never want to address a letter "Dear Hiring Manager," because it could be the president of the company or a department head who reads it. Likewise, you don't want to use "Dear Sir and Madam," as it's considered too old-fashioned and has a negative connotation for many women.

Why is the salutation so important, you might be wondering? A letter that begins "To whom it may concern" immediately puts the recipient on alert. He will assume that the person writing doesn't really know a great deal about the company and doesn't really want to work there. He'll think the job seeker hasn't made any effort to contact the company and find out who's doing the hiring. And if the candidate is lazy about his application, the employer won't give him a second look.

On the other hand, when a letter addresses the decision-maker directly, the reader understands that the applicant has taken the effort to learn something about the company – even if it's only the name of the director of personnel. The applicant will come across as resourceful, confident enough to ask questions, and interested in the company. A candidate who exhibits such initiative is, in the eyes of the employer, someone to be considered seriously.

The salutation should always come two lines after the employer's contact information or the position title. It should appear as follows:

Dear Mr./Ms./Dr. So-and-So:

Remember, always use "Dear," never "To." Also, always use the correct prefix. Don't accidentally type "Mr." if you mean "Ms." You'd be surprised how many letters get thrown out because of a silly error like this.

Use "Mrs." only if you know that the contact is married and wishes to go by her married name. Otherwise, err on the side of caution and use "Ms.," which is the more politically correct term for women whose marital status you don't know. If you cannot find out the gender of the recipient, then use the full name. For example, "Dear Dan Meyers" or "Dear Chris Poulson." Always err on the side of caution, and don't automatically assume the usual gender applies. (I know a woman named David and a man name Janis and nothing annoys them more than receiving mail addressed to the opposite gender.)

Use a colon, not a comma, at the end of the salutation. Commas are appropriate for casual letters only.

Karen Silins has been a professional resume and cover letter writer for 16 years and is the acting president and executive board member of the Association of Online Resume & Career Professionals

For more information about writing a cover letter that will grab the employer’s attention, please visit: http://www.breakthrough-cover-letters.com/