How to Address a Cover Letter in 2023

Yes of course, how you deal with your cover letter matters.

After all, it’s the first thing a recruiter will read when they look at your cover letter, and yes, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.

In this editorial, here, we are guiding you how to address your cover letter in the style that you put a good impression on any hiring authority!

Read on to find out:

• How to address a cover letter to a hiring authority or hiring manager? (Informal or official)
• What title to apply when addressing the hiring authority?
• How to address a cover letter with no contact individual/to a company?
• How to address a cover letter with no an address?
• How to address a cover letter through an email?

How to Address a Cover Letter To a Recruiter (Casual or Formal)?

As we stated prior, what should be the style of address of your cover letter. It is very important because it is the first impression from you that is noticed by the hiring authority or hiring manager in your cover letter opening.

However, a keenly designed and compiled cover letter indicates that you follow the rules of cover letter and company policy regarding the cover letter. For example, to explore the name of the hiring manager and relevant title in company. That is why it is observed you care about these things.

Similarly, you have to research or probe who you’re addressing your cover letter to and do so in an official way. It is official way to address the hiring authority properly.

Observe it is how you address the hiring authority in your cover letter:

Incorrect Examples

• Hey John
• What’s up Hiring Manager
• Hi there Hiring Team

Then you say goodbye to the career.

At the moment, you are perhaps looking, how can I get whom to address my cover letter to?
That’s what we’re all about to train you:
Who Am I Addressing My Cover Letter To?
Here are some tips to discover the full name of the hiring manager or authority:

Check the job listing.

The job listing provides the full details of the hiring manager or hiring department. Read thoroughly about full job listing, it is a chance that it may not a suitable place to get a job information.

Check the company website.

There are few websites which mention the name of the hiring authority or head of department that you will attention in your cover letter. However, on the other hand, LinkedIn is another platform from where you can get all these relevant details for your cove letter.

Check the company’s LinkedIn.

The LinkedIn page can provide you full details of company and who is offering the job that you are applying for?

Ask around.

In case you have friends and family members that provide services for the company. They are the prime source and can give you inside details or information of the company.

To keep away from making an awful feeling, head over to our guide on cover letter mistakes to study about what NOT to do when lettering your cover letter.

Addressing a Cover Letter With a Name

In case, you have perhaps got the full name and gender of hiring manager or hiring authority. However, in the light of this information, it is good to attention the hiring manager or authority formerly, as mentioned below:

Examples

• Dear Mr. Jhon,
• Dear Miss Fitzpatrick,
• Dear Mrs. Lockhart,
• Dear Ms. Walters,

In case, you are not certain regarding the hiring person’s title, gender and marital status. Then, attention them through their entire name to keep away from any misunderstanding.

For example:

Examples:

• Dear Alex Brown,
• Dear Blair Fitzpatrick,
• Dear Jesse Lockhart,
• Dear Madison Walters,

Addressing someone with a title

At this moment, if you come to know about the hiring manager or recruiter has a specialized or academic title. Then, it is more suitable to address them through specified title. If, for instance, the recruiting manager has a Ph.D., then it’s more courteous to attention them as “Dr. Last Name,” in its place of “Mr. Last Name.”

Here are some specialized titles and how they’re shortened:

• A professor is Prof.
• A reverend is Rev.
• A sergeant is Sgt.
• Honorable is Hon.

In case you are not sure how a title is abbreviated, then keep away from it altogether. Here are a some examples to give you an suggestion:

Examples:

• Dear Prof. Welsch,
• Dear Director Smith,
• Dear Rev. Owen,
• Dear Dr. Leonard,

When attention women and you don’t know their marital status, always go with Ms., because it doesn’t remark on marital status. Some women like better not to be addressed with Miss or Mrs. still when they’re married, thus sticking with Ms. is the most excellent option.

If you want to learn more cover letter tips? Our guide has all you require to top your cover letter! 

How to Address a Cover Letter Without a Contact Person

It is not impossible, but you can get after the research the name and title of the hiring department or hiring manager that will receive and read your cover letter.

If you are going to attention your cover letter to the department, faculty, or the company, then.

Examples:

• Dear Software Development Hiring Team,
• Dear Customer Service Department Hiring Team,
• Dear Head of the Literature Faculty,
• Dear Director of Marketing,
• Dear Human Resources Recruitment Team,

Instead, In case you do not sufficient details regarding the department or the team, then you can option for addressing the cover letter directly to the company’s hiring staff, as mentioned below:

Dear [Company Name] Hiring Team
Dear [Company Name] Recruiting Staff

In case all efforts failed

If all else fails (meaning, you don’t know the names of the concerned department head or even the precise department, in addition to the recruiter) then you can apply one of the fine, but old traditional way:

Dear Hiring Manager,

…but NOT the unfriendly and way out-of-date “To whom it may concern” and “Dear Sir/Madam.”

Opening a cover letter can be demanding. Our guide can demonstrate you how to start a cover letter that will get your desire results from authority.

How to Format the Company’s Address

Earlier than you reach the greeting, you must ensure that with recipient’s contact details is formatted properly.

It may not be the deciding point of whether or not you will secure an interview, but it will cost you point if you don’t.

Thus, the first and most vital thing is to write your name and surname on the upper left side of the cover letter. Below, you have to mention your professional title (If required), your email address and phone number or contact number.

At the moment, after mentioning the date you have to leave one more space and include the recipient’s contact details and, most significantly, the company’s address.

It should seem something similar to this on your cover letter:

When You Can’t Find the Company’s Address

There are many companies which contain numbers of addresses (As per their branches, for example), or yet not any at all.

If an application that does not contain address field has chances of misleading or lost anywhere. It is important to ensure that you do one of the given below prior to pass over the company’s address totally:

Check all your resources. It is vital to know the recruiting authority name or hiring manager name to explore the company address.

Use the company’s headquarters address.

To know the company heads office postal address consults the company branches because company has many branches in different location.

Use the P.O. Box number for the company.

The P.O. Box number is not the alternate of the real postal address, but you do not have any relevant address then it is still functional.

Often, hiring authorities instruct the candidates to submit their application online through email address. In such situation you can you can pass over the address line completely.

Thus, in case of online application or email application you have to go about addressing a cover letter

How to Address an Email Cover Letter

In case you are dispatching your application through email, then there you will adjust your cover letter in the body of the email, make an attachment with your resume. In other words, in online applications there is no specific filed for the cover letter to upload.

First and primary way when you are going to send your cover letter through email. The addressing in cover letter in an email is the subject line, and it should be 6 to 10 words in length.

Keep in mind that hiring authority or hiring manager gets numbers of email on the daily basis. Make sure that your application for the job must be entertained at once. However, the corrects way is through the subject line. That should show the precisely the position you’re applying for and your name so that it’s easier to locate through the recruiter’s swarmed mailbox.

Here’ what we mean by that:

Examples:

• Subject Line: John Doe – Software Development Job Application
• Subject Line: John Doe – Job Application for Marketing Manager Position
• Subject Line: John Doe – Stock Manager Job Application

After that, if you are merging your cover letter within the body of the email (as opposite to annexing it as a paper), thus start it with greeting, add space, and starts your letter.

In case somebody referred you for the position. So, do not forget to state that in the subject line of your email as well as in your initial or first paragraph of the cover letter.

Thus, let’s check how all the above look out in practice:

Example:

Subject Line: John Doe – Carl Jacob’s Referral for Software Developer

Dear Dr. Leonard,

I was very happy that Mr. Jacobs, a long-time colleague at your firm who also happens to be my guide from college, referred me for the Software Developer position.

Do you want your approach, personality, and overall personal brand to glow through your application? With Novorésumé, you can match your cover letter with your resume to make a permanent feeling!

Key Takeaways

At this moment you will feel more confident in composing your cover letter and addressing the hiring manager or authority. Now you can handle the situation easily.

Whichever way, let’s cover the key points we discussed throughout the editorial:

1. It is important that your cover letter must have an official and well-researched address. So, do not address the hiring authority like “hey,” “what’s up,” “hi there,” or even do not mention in classical style like “Dear Sir/Madam” and “To Whom It May Concern.”

2. It is vital to know the hiring authority or recruiter name and his official title from the official website of the company. Similarly, you can also get the name and title of the recruiter through the individuals who are serving there.

3. In case you have got the name of the recruiting manager’s name, go with “Dear Mr./Miss Last Name,” however, if you are not sure about the gender of hiring manager, marital status, or preferred pronoun then, just address them using their full name. 

4. In case the hiring authority has an official or academic title, it’s more suitable to address them using their title.

5. In case you have failed to find the contact person’s name, then address the department, faculty, or company like (Dear Microsoft Hiring Team, or Dear Software Development Recruitment Team).