cover letter

I've been having a lot of difficulty trying to write cover letters and the first paragraph about why i wanna be an analyst and why this bank. other than historic or really distinctive shops like Goldman, Morgan Stanley, or big name boutiques like Lazard, is it better to just leave it bank?

Hello. I'm Jason applying for to be an ibanker. I'll be good at it because ... rather than say I wanna work at Citigroup because it's the premier investment banking firm with a great culture of success etc.

Or will leaving that part out hurt me?

This is about the cover letter.

1. People always say that it's best if the cover letter is addressed to a Mr. Smith rather than Dear Sir/Madam. If I am applying through the online database, who should it be addressed to?

2. Is it appropriate to mention the firm's strengths in the cover letter as a reason why I want to work there? It seems tacky to say in a generic cover letter, I want to work at GS because of the TMT group or at Morgan Stanley because of the M&A group.

thanks