6 Tips On How To Address Your Cover Letter

After days, weeks, heck, maybe even months of job searching, you’ve finally found your dream job. Now it’s time to write a cover letter so good that you’ll land an interview, and get the job.

But wait! You haven’t even gotten started yet, and you’ve already hit a roadblock. How do you even go about starting the thing? Do you use Mr. or Ms.? Señor or Mademoiselle? Your majesty? Who in great gravy are you even talking to?

Addressing a cover letter can be tricky, but before you go into a tailspin of panic — just sit back, relax, and keep reading to figure out exactly how to address your soon-to-be award-winning cover letter.

1Use a Formal Full Name Greeting

Whenever possible, use the hiring manager’s first and last name, including the titles “Mr.” “Ms.” or “Dr.” whenever applicable. The hiring manager is most likely the person who’s going to be looking at your cover letter, so it’s a good idea to address it directly to them.

Here are ways to find the hiring manager’s name:

1. Read the job listing. This is the obvious place to start. Look for the name of the hiring manager or try to suss out a name based on the email address given. For example, if the email address is [email protected], addressing your cover letter to John Smith is a pretty safe bet.

2. Check the company website. Go to the company’s “About Us” or “Company Directory” page. From there, navigate to the department you’re applying to and see if you can glean any information on who the relevant hiring manager is for you.

3. Check LinkedIn. If you go on LinkedIn and search for “[company name] + recruiter,” you’ll probably turn up something. Even if you don’t find the exact person you’re looking for, you can reach out to someone at the company who could point you in the right direction or answer your question.

4. Contact the company. If all else fails, you can simply call the company up and ask the administrative assistant the name of the hiring manager for the position you’re applying for.

2How to Address a Cover Letter Without a Name

Sometimes, even after stalking a company’s website and all of their social media platforms, you just can’t figure out the name behind the mysterious “Hiring Manager” title.

Even if you find yourself in this position, you should still try to be specific in your greeting. You have a few options here.

You could go with the simple yet effective “Dear Hiring Manager,” or opt for one of its more specific alteratives like:

• Dear [company name] Recruiter

• Dear [position title] Hiring Team

• Dear [position title] Hiring Manager

• Dear [department name] Team

• Dear [title of person you’d report to]

Just make sure that your cover letter shows that you put effort into addressing someone in particular, and you’ll be good to go.

3Addressing a Cover Letter to Someone With a Gender-Neutral Name

Come on, people, it’s 2021 — there are children alive today named Apple, for goodness sake (Thanks, Gwenyth Paltrow). A lot of names aren’t gender-specific, and it’s probably not a good idea to try to make an assumption in this scenario.

With ambiguous names like Taylor, Cameron, North, West, East, Apple, Banana (you get the idea), you have a few options for how to approach the situation. You could…

• Include both first and last names in your greeting, without any title

• Search company websites or LinkedIn accounts to try to find a photograph or more details about the hiring manager to determine their gender

Again, if you’re not sure about the gender or sex of the person you’re addressing your cover letter to, do not make assumptions. You don’t want to start off on the wrong foot by offending Mr. Banana.

4About That Title…

Even if you are confident about the gender of the person you’re writing to in your cover letter, it’s important to use a proper title to address them.

If the person you’re writing to is a doctor or has a Ph.D., you’ll want to address them as “Dr. Banana” rather than “Mr./Ms. Banana.”

When addressing a cover letter to a female employer, make sure to use the title “Ms.” unless you’re confident that she prefers another title.

Miss is viewed as patronizing, so stick with Ms. And seeing as it’s quite difficult and unnecessary to figure out if the hiring manager is married or not, it’s best to not use Mrs.

5Greetings and Salutations!

There’s a variety of salutations you can use when addressing your letter. If you’re creative, you’ve basically got an indispensable amount of greetings you could use. One could almost say the cover letter is your oyster.

On a more serious note — there are some greetings that work well when used in a cover letter, and others that are best left in your imagination.

Here’s a list of cover letter salutations employers respond well to:

• Dear Mr. Banana

• Dear Apple Banana

• Ms. Banana

• Apple Banana

• Dear Hiring Manager

And here’s a list of cover letter salutations employers like quite as much:

• To Whom It May Concern

• What is up, my dude?

• Dear Sir or Madam

• Hello/Hi

Greetings like “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam” are generic and impersonal. Plus, they make you sound like you’re about a hundred years old. Greetings like “Hello,” “Hi,” or “What’s Up?” are best left for personal or email correspondences.

The most important part of your salutation is including a name or job title. Your cover letter could be the first impression you make on an employer, so you want to show them that you did your company research and know who you’re writing to.

6Formatting Your Cover Letter Salutation

Once you know who you’re addressing, what title they prefer, or just a specific job title — it’s time to put that all together into your actual cover letter. Once you’ve got it all together, it should look something like this:

And just like that — you successfully addressed your cover letter. Congratulations!

Final Thoughts

Cover letter greetings are often the first opportunity you get to make an impression on an employer, so it’s important that you make that impression a good one.

Small mistakes like cover letter blunders can instantly have an impact on your chances of getting an interview, so it’s essential that you put your best foot forward right at the beginning and show that you took the time to research who you’re addressing your cover letter to.

Now that you know how to address a cover letter, it’s time for you to address your employers and let them know you’re the best person for the job!

Author

Maddie Lloyd

Maddie Lloyd was a writer for the Zippia Advice blog focused on researching tips for interview, resume, and cover letter preparation. She's currently a graduate student at North Carolina State University's department of English concentrating in Film and Media Studies.