questions for those more experienced than I

[dchenes]

When you find a job that sounds like it suits you right down to the ground, what do you do other than apply for it, make yourself sound as ideal as possible and start praying like crazy? And when they say "send cover letter and resume to resumes@xyz.com", how do you address the cover letter? Not only isn't there a specific person mentioned, there isn't even a department mentioned.

(Linguistic QA, in Brookline. Medical. Into English. Pretty much everything I wanted, all in one package.)

It's absolutely amazing how much contradictory advice there is out there regarding how to write cover letters.

Comments

[sebastian-tombs.livejournal.com]

A couple things worth trying:

See if you can find out something about the company. If you can work in some research into the cover letter, it will sound more interesting.

See if you can find someone who knows someone there. Not always possible, but a friend of a friend sometimes can make a difference.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Dear Sir or Madam works for me.

Highlight specific portions of your skills in your cover letter. IE, I was very interested to see your posting about x because of all the very specific skills I've acquired in the field of x during my recent studies in x. I am an excellent blah, and additionally have some complimentary other experience in y.

Ham it up. You can't really be too over the top as long as you aren't lying. Keep the resume to 1 page if possible, 1.5 max (we're too young to really have skills worth two full pages, I've read)

IT sounds awesome, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have super-godlike resume skills, if you want a beta-reader.

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

good luck! I was going to give suggestions, but they have been given.
*hug*

[kaasirpent]

I read a suggestion once about how to find out names when you can't locate them through...ah, "legitimate" means. :)

Call the company and say something like "Hi, this is Gloria, I'm a driver for DHL...we have a package here addressed to <title of person you want to know>, but the name is unreadable...." and ask them for the name.

I don't know if it'd work or not. I've never had the opportunity to try it out. :)

Of course, there's always the honest approach. "Hi, I need to send some correspondence to the <title of person you want to know>, but I'd like to address it personally. Can you give me their name?"

[dchenes.livejournal.com]

The only problem with that is that I don't know the title or the department of the person who ultimately reads these things. I'm not terribly comfortable with the idea of calling them up and asking for the name and department of whoever is in charge of hiring people. When I used to get calls like that, it sent up red "Clueless person selling something" flags in my brain.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

As someone else who answers the phone, I'd be a lot more receptive to a person who called with a certain balance of confidence and deference asking questions with admitted backstory.

As in, "Hi, Andrea, my name is Jane, and I'm looking at a job posting about a position for blah. I'm really interested in sending my resume, but I'm several states away and want to send my information by FedEx to make sure it gets there. Of course, if I were in town I would drop it off personally...but...Well, I was wondering if I could have a name and address for my package."

You may end up just getting reception, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[kaasirpent]

There's always brutal honesty: "Hi, I'm ________ and I am sending a resume for the position of _________________ and I need the name of the person to whom it should be sent." :)

The unemployment office told me to go to the public library with the largest business section (they gave me directions) and look up the company in the appropriate book(s) and get the names of various people that way. Of course, the unemployment people are still operating out of the late 70's. Nowadays, a company changes personnel more often than every 17 years, so by the time the books are published, the person named as Director of HR is probably working for another company.

[siercia]

But along, similar lines, root through the company's website if they have one, and see if you can deduce it. If not, Dear Sit or Madam is generally accepted.