Should I write "to whom it may concern " in my cover letter ??
Hi
If we just applied online or had no idea about the recruiter's name, Should we write that "to whom it may concern " in my cover letter ??
thanks
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If you can't find a recruiter's name online via a google search, by calling someone in the HR department, or like little bit of elbow grease, then To Whom it May Concern will not be the worst thing you've ever written in your life
I don't think it's such a big deal... if Mis Ind got your application then maybe it might be a big deal then.
Using "To whom it may concern" (Originally Posted: 01/12/2007)
Ok, I know I messed up big time. I sent in a good 6 cover letters for internships with that very phrase at the top. But in all honesty, some of these damn IB websites are so confusing and terrible organized, that I have no idea who in the world to address it to. The woman in my old college career center said that when in doubt, its fine to use "to whom it may concern". So thats exactly what I did. I'm not looking to be bashed since I know I've already made a mistake. But I'd like to know how detrimental this will end up being, even with a pretty strong resume and cover letter content. What do you think?
Also (since they were all online apps), if I were to bite the bullet and somehow send in a new cover letter electronically, how bad would that look if its the same letter with an actual person being addressed to? It says on a few of the sites that you can attach a new cover letter or resume, allthough recruiters will be able to see all copies of documents you sent that. How stupid would it look if I were to try and put a band aid on my dismal situation?
I'm only a little sophomore, take it easy on me.
If still unsuccessful, use Dear Sir/Madam. I've never been a fan of To Whom it May Concern.
While trite, don't stress it. As it stands, they receive so many applications that they most likely won't pay it any mind. If your gpa and experience is as strong as you say it is, it won't matter one bit.
I would be very wary of trusting anything a college career centre says. They are so out of tune with the actual everyday happenings that their advice is useless.
The other way to do it is simply writing the above right under where you put the recipient's address.
Yeah youre absolutely right. I'm starting to understand that their advice really is useless since all of the people that comprise them have been out of the loop for 10 years plus.
you could try writing "Dear [Bank Name] Hiring Personnel"
Don't lose sleep over this. Not a dealbreaker.
"Sup Foo,"
I've given out business cards saying I'll be back to interview and still get wrong names etc. Addressing anonymously is fine.
I think Dear Hiring Manager/Personnel is the best. Even better is to have a specific person's name.
do it
I've used "Dear XYZ Recruitment Team" for online applications and "Dear XYZ Campus Recruitment Team" for OCR resume drops that didn't list anyone specific.
Cover letters don't even matter. They rarely read them. I've had wrong names, wrong firms, etc, and still got interviews.
2nd sup foo.... or Dear Sir or Madam:
Nobody cares that you used "to whom it may concern".
Sir or Madam
"Dear hiring manager" works too
But honestly, if you cover letter is s***, even if you address it to Blankfein, it would be still s***
I spent over 25 years as an M&A banker for 2 BB firms and a boutique and now run a career consulting firm for students and others interested in getting into IB, and so I've seen and helped write a lot of cover letters. While I agree that the content is what's important, the fact is that to me and a lot of IB'ers I know, addressing a letter to "To Whom it May Concern" is enough of a cliche that I always wondered if the writer had even bothered to see if they could find a name, or whether they were just cranking out cover letters.
Obviously, no one wants to give that impression, so I urge all my clients to try hard to find a name. If that's not possible, "Dear Hiring Manager", at least sounds less cliched to a lot of the IB people I talk to.
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