The English application: Cover letter

Cover letter: Date, subject and greeting


Contact details

Your contact details are placed at the top of the cover letter, on either the right or the left side. If you have trouble adhering to the space limit, omit your name from the contact details section; you will anyway be signing your name in the ending salutation.

Date

Many mistakes occur here as the British and American notations differ. While the month is placed first and is followed by the date in the US version, the British notation gives the date first and the month afterwards. You should insert a comma between day and year in the American notation, but the British version requires no comma.

American and Canadian notations:

Month/Day/Year (March 15, 2014)

British notation:

Day/Month/Year (15 March 2014)

It is common nowadays to indicate the date using only numbers—e.g. 05/10/2013—but it gives rise to misunderstandings. In the British notation, this would be 5 October 2013, but in the US, it would represent 10 May 2013. To avoid such misunderstandings, it is recommended to combine numbers and words in your notation.

Short and sweet

  • Date in the US: March 15, 2014
  • Date in the UK: 15 March 2014

Recipient

The address of the recipient follows next. The recipient’s details must be stated in full, including the full name of the contact person. All the accessories of the company name and the designation of the contact person must be provided.

Greeting

The greeting depends on the information available. If you know the name of the contact person, his/her name and surname must be included in the greeting. The salutation ‘Mr(.)’ is used for a man, while ‘Ms(.)’ is used for a woman. Use ‘Mrs(.)’ only if you know for a fact that the woman contact person is married. Otherwise, stick with the formal ‘Ms(.)’. Note that an academic title also belongs in the formal salutation and must be provided in the greeting accordingly.

Dear Mr(.) XY,
Dear Ms(.) XY,
Dear Prof. XY,

The dot after ‘Mr’/‘Ms’ depends on the style of English being used. In a UK application, there is no dot after the salutation and it just says ‘Mr XY’. If you are applying in the US, however, a point follows the salutation and you write ‘Mr. XY’.

In case no contact person is mentioned, look for a suitable contact or HR manager—e.g. via online research. The best option is to inquire directly at the company for the name, title and designation of the required contact person.

Note also that a personal greeting is preferred to an impersonal salutation. Use the impersonal salutation only if you absolutely cannot find a suitable contact person.

In the latter case, the following alternative greetings are possible:

Dear Hiring Manager(,)
Dear Recruiting Team(,)
Dear Sir or Madam(,)

The salutation, ‘To whom it may concern’, is not recommended. It sounds impersonal and gives the impression that you sent a standard letter to multiple companies at one go. The reader should feel that he/she has been addressed personally. Your letter must give the impression that you are applying to only this company because the position here is exactly what you seek.

Once again, comma use depends on the style of English being followed. A comma or punctuation mark after the salutation is usually absent in the British cover letter, but present in the American one.

Short and sweet

  • Ascertain the name of the contact person if this is unavailable. It is best to call the company and inquire.
  • In British English, the title is written without a dot (‘Ms XY‘); in American English, it is written with a dot (‘Mr. XY’).
  • In the UK application, no comma follows the salutation; in the American application, a comma is placed after the greeting.

Subject

The subject differs in the American and British cover letters. If you apply in the US, the subject is left out. In the UK, however, it is common to write a subject in bold letters.

In the British English application, the subject provides a reference to, for example, a phone call, a personal conversation or a newspaper advertisement.



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