What should I address him/her?

Question

Hi everyone...

Right now, I am busy writing CV and Cover Letter and I do find it quite stressful. I just would like to know what is the best way to address the person receiving the CV and Cover Letter. Sometimes, such names like 'Alex Williams', sounds more like a male, but it could be a female. How about 'Ruch' and 'Geraint', are those female or male? And if it is a female, how would I address her? "Mrs, Miss, Ms"? I asked the advisor, and he said putting Dear Sir/Madam is really inappropriate because that would seem like a circular letter.

Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

DO NOT use 'to who it may concern' especially if you have a name. It is not the correct way to address a formal letter such as a job application - use 'Dear Sirs' a nowadays this is pretty much an asexual way to address people. 'Dear Alex' would even be preferable to 'whom it may concern'.

WIMC is unprofessional and makes it look like you don't know how to address business letters and sometimes, even worse, it can look like you have just sent out lots of standard letters to lots of firms and haven't made the effort to personalize it to them. They could draw the inference that you just want any job - not specifically theirs.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Don't on any account use the person's first name just by itself - e.g. 'Dear Alex.' There are many people who regard this as rude (I'm one) and you'll never lose anything by being polite.

You're writing on your PC, surely? So it's a simple matter to personalise each application letter by addressing it to 'Dear Ms. Wilkins,' or whatever, and I agree with the others who suggest that if you're in any doubt about gender a simple telephone call should sort it out. Just ring and say 'I have a letter to send to Alex Wilkins and I'm afraid that I don't know whether it should go to Mr. Ms, Mrs., Dr., etc ... ' the switchboard should be able to tell you.

As far as your CV is concerned: this is a generic document which you're likely to prepare only once (maybe a little tweaking as between potential employers but not a lot) and so you simply head it: YOUR NAME: CURRICULUM VITAE or CV for YOUR NAME. You can always adjust the header/footer by having a header saying CV: YOUR NAME: Page X of Y and a footer saying Prepared for (employer's name here), December 2006.

As a potential recruiter I can say that this would earn my respect for professionalism.

Answer 3

Your adviser is write, writing "Dear Sir/ Madam is about 4rth on my list of jobhunting faux pas, after forgetting to include your CV, not doing a cover letter and spelling mistakes.

If you know the surname and gender, you could put dear Mr Thomas or Dear Ms Jamieson

If you know the first name, you could put that, ie Dear Alex.

When you phone to get the names (You do right), you could ask this info.

If you must pust a blind refererer line, Use: To Whom it may concern, which is the best shot you can make.

Answer 4

Why not phone the companies that you intend to send in you CV and ask the telephone operator in that company for the name of the person to whom you are sending the letter. Recruitment manager, personell manager, boss, MD, etc

That way you can then make each letter personal to that particular recipient. Having done some homework will show a little competents and determination on your part. This can do you no harm

Answer 5

If you know the person's name, I highly recommend against saying Sir/Madam, but I think it's wise to be careful about the person's gender. Is there a telephone number for the organization that you can call and simply ask. I think if you were to call and say that you're preparing to apply for a position, but need to know whether Alex is a Mr. or Ms. it would show initiative and that you put serious thought into your cover letter.

Answer 6

How about "Dear Recuitment Manager" or even better, write to the company with "Dear Sirs", which is asexual.

Geraint is a man's name, like the (not very good at present) England wicket keeper Geraint Jones.

Answer 7

Call up the company switchboard and ask them. Better yet, speak with the recruiter on the phone to discuss the position, and beat all those CV's in the recruiter's in tray to the finish line.

Answer 8

Writing 'Dear Alex Williams' would be a simple solution that shouldn't cause any offence.

Answer 9

I always use
To Whom It May Concern
That sort of covers it all

Answer 10

to whom it may concern