Covering letter questions

agrinnall

I'm applying for a job that asks for a CV and covering letter, and I have a couple of questions about the letter ettiquette that I thought the forum might be able to advise on. I'm hoping for a consensus but wouldn't be surprised to get a split decision.

1. The letter and CV are to go to HR, no contact name is given. In this situation Wikipedia's entry on salutations suggests either Dear Sir or Madam, or To Whom It May Concern. Which would you prefer?

2. The salary range for the job is slightly lower than my current salary. Should I mention my salary in the letter and explain why I would accept less, or should I leave any mention of money until interview, should I get one?

BitterAndTwisted

"Dear Sir or Madam" and then signed off "yours faithfully".

Absolutely no mention of pay-scale whatsoever. That's not the purpose of the covering letter: it's to persuade the reader that you are an appropriate candidate for consideration. Some people never even get to the CV. Bad covering letter equals both in the bin.

DVardysShadow

agrinnall wrote: »

....
1. The letter and CV are to go to HR, no contact name is given. In this situation Wikipedia's entry on salutations suggests either Dear Sir or Madam, or To Whom It May Concern. Which would you prefer?

IMO neither. I think that the Wikipedia advice is terrible.

If you are writing to a named contact, eg Mr <X>, Recruitment Manager, ACME Corporation, it should be Dear Mr <X> because you are addressing him personally. If you are writing to an unnamed contact, eg For attention of Recruitment Manager, ACME Corporation, it should be Dear Sirs as you are addressing the company.

agrinnall

DVardysShadow wrote: »

IMO neither. I think that the Wikipedia advice is terrible.

If you are writing to a named contact, eg Mr <X>, Recruitment Manager, ACME Corporation, it should be Dear Mr <X> because you are addressing him personally. If you are writing to an unnamed contact, eg For attention of Recruitment Manager, ACME Corporation, it should be Dear Sirs as you are addressing the company.

Sounds a bit formal to me, and surely runs a small risk of the person reading the letter being a radical feminist who would bin it on principle (although I suppose the same might happen with Dear Sir or Madam because you'd put Sir first!).

DVardysShadow

You do run the risk of the radical feminist. But she would be largely mistaken to rail at Dear Sirs. The 'Sirs' does not refer to any employee, but to the Directors of the company.

agrinnall

As I suspected, views are polarised - a bit of Googling for Dear Sirs came up with 'experts' saying you definitely should use it and definitely shouldn't (and one who said Sirs should actually be sirs). It's a minefield!

MissSarah1972

DVardysShadow wrote: »

You do run the risk of the radical feminist. But she would be largely mistaken to rail at Dear Sirs. The 'Sirs' does not refer to any employee, but to the Directors of the company.

I agree. I address all of mine unless a name is given to 'Dear Sirs' so I am addressing the company. Then if I get any automated reply saying your email has been received you may have a name then going forward.

ohreally

agrinnall wrote: »

Sounds a bit formal to me, and surely runs a small risk of the person reading the letter being a radical feminist who would bin it on principle

It could equally be post modern feminism, liberal feminism, socialist feminism dada dada - is it really necessary to turn a question re the format/ etiquette of a cover letter into sociology discussion

phill99

agrinnall wrote: »

Sounds a bit formal to me, and surely runs a small risk of the person reading the letter being a radical feminist who would bin it on principle (although I suppose the same might happen with Dear Sir or Madam because you'd put Sir first!).

Oh what a load of rubbish.

If they were a radical feminist, they wouldn't be a HR Manager. They would be at Greenham Common with their breasts out reading a Germaine Greere book.

'Dear Sirs' is simply business etiquette. There is always someone that has to go off at tangents.

hcb42

why not ring and ask for the name of the recruiting manager ?

agrinnall

phill99 wrote: »

Oh what a load of rubbish.

If they were a radical feminist, they wouldn't be a HR Manager. They would be at Greenham Common with their breasts out reading a Germaine Greere book.

'Dear Sirs' is simply business etiquette. There is always someone that has to go off at tangents.

I think as it was my question I can use whatever geometrical devices I like without seeking permission from anyone else,