Most of us have encountered this scenario:

You find the perfect job. You spend hours writing your resume and crafting your cover letter.  You're about to send it off when you realize you're not sure who to address your cover letter to. 

The application offers a generic email address, such as [email protected] or [email protected]; the job description lacks any name or even a specific department.

What do you do?

Well, for one, you should exhaust all internet-stalking possibilities before firing off your application addressed "To Whom It May Concern."

Read on for the step-to-step guide of exactly what to do in this situation:

How to Address a Cover Letter with No Name

1. Put some serious effort into looking for a name.

• Check the job description again to see if you missed an email address with a name.
• Find someone in the hiring department to address the letter to. The first place to start is the company's website (check out the "About" page found on most websites). See if you can find a name for hiring manager, human resource head, talent acquisition specialist or recruiting position. If you find any of those positions, add the name to your cover letter. Even if it's not quite the exact correct person, it's much better than leaving it as a generic greeting.
• Spend time on LinkedIn to see if you can find the manager or division head for the open position. For example, if the role is related to software engineering, look to see if you can find the head of the engineering team on LinkedIn. Use that name in your cover letter. 

2. If you absolutely cannot find a hiring manager or a member of the position's team, you have two options:

• Leave the name off. For companies with less of a formal, corporate structure, starting your cover letter with Hello! Or Hi! can work. 
• Use "To Whom It May Concern." If you pick this option, your cover letter better be personalized for the company. If you simply swapped out the name of the company and the title of the position and fired off cover letter number 10, you don't stand a great chance of impressing anyone. Companies are looking for someone who not only fits the role description, but someone who demonstrates an interest in the company itself. The more tailored you can make your cover letter, the better.

At the end of the day, a great application and cover letter will trump any address gaffs; just make sure you triple check for typos, grammar and personalization. 

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