Every day, we hear from hopeful applicants who want to join Team
Viget (
we’re hiring!). It’s a pleasure to read the
emails and review resumes. I love my job! But, every once and a while, I
have to shake my head at some of the ways people start their emails.
I’ll do a little compare and contrast for you … Here’s a list of the
actual salutations used by the ten people we hired most recently:
- Hi Brian
- Hi Brian
- Hi Emily
- Hey Brian
- Hello
- Hi
- Dear Viget Labs
- Hi Tom
- Hello
- Hi Emily
Here’s a sampling of salutations used by people we did not hire:
- Dear Sir
- Respected Sirs
- Dear Sir/Madam
- To Whom It May Concern
- Dear Hiring Manager
The jury is still out on the guy who last week used:
- Hello Viget South hiring personnel
… but, I’m optimistic for him!
Interesting details:
1. Two of the “hired” messages addressed directly to Brian came through LinkedIn. The third came from someone who Viget has
admired for more than five years. The two emails addressed to me were
from people I’d met through current co-workers. I would not suggest
applicants email jobs.va@viget.com and lead with “Hi Brian,” nor would
I suggest you necessarily ping Brian directly on LinkedIn; my point is
that we have prior connections to a lot of our successful applicants.
We go to events, speak at conferences, write on blogs, even invite
people to introduce themselves before formally
applying — it’s not hard to get to know us. Once you’ve done that, your
salutation can be appropriately casual (which helps).
2. There are indeed some respectable “Sirs” behind Viget, and they
do actually receieve every email that job applicants submit. Somehow,
though, I think they gloss over all the ones that start with such a
saluation. Meanwhile, it’s my job to respond and, well, I am not a
“Sir” (nor would I call myself a “Madam”).
3. There’s nothing wrong with To Whom It May Concern (though for
small, transparent companies like Viget it’s not hard to figure out who
“whom” is, especially now that I’ve outed myself in this post). Nor is
there anything wrong with having hotmail as your primary email account.
Nor do I really hold it against an applicant when their resume is
written with Times New Roman. But, upon reflection, I’m not surprised
that we haven’t hired a “TWIMC” applicant – at least not recently.
As busy as Viget is right now, I know the job market still stinks
and there are lots of people looking for work. I wish all the job
seekers luck whether they’re applying to Viget or elsewhere and, when
in doubt, I suggest you go with a polite, “Hello,” when submitting your
resume.
Clinton R. Nixon said on 02/11 at 10:39 AM
I liked this post a lot! For what it’s worth, here was the salutation that landed me a job at Viget:
“Dear fellow residents of Durham”
M. Jackson Wilkinson said on 02/11 at 12:51 PM
This is an awesome post. I’ve heard about that LinkedIn site before, and will definitely have to consider using it in the future to pester Brian & others about a job.
To follow Clinton’s lead, my subject line was “Hello Viget” and my salutation was “Hey Folks.” That said, I’m sure hiring standards have risen since Clinton and I were brought on in 2007.
Doug Avery said on 02/11 at 12:54 PM
Mine was apparently “To associates at Viget Labs.” I’m not even sure what that means.
mindy said on 02/11 at 01:00 PM
Great advice, Em. I had to dig back in the archives to see what I wrote. Apparently it was “Dear Hiring Manager,"… which is lame, but I guess it’s better than Dear Sirs.
I guess it was my cool subject line that made up for the lackluster salutation:
“Well-rounded web designer seeks escape from snow”
Mark Steinruck said on 02/11 at 01:12 PM
Great post Emily. Speaking from experience, it can be nerve-wracking for applicants to figure out how to address a company the first time. The writing style that someone uses says a lot to the employer about how that person might, or might not, fit into the culture. Spending time reading the company website (which you should do anyway) will often give you a good idea of how formal you need to be.
One word of caution: Even with a company that’s more laid back like Viget, it’s important to be respectful and clear. And spell check...twice.
Alicia said on 02/11 at 02:13 PM
I freelance, and I get some “Dear Sirs” from people spamming me about why I should outsource to them. Although I would never consider such a thing, “Dear Sirs” is such a turn off, it definitely ensures that I will not respond even with a polite decline. “Dear Madam” would not help the situation.
Charlie Park said on 02/11 at 03:11 PM
Sir.
REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
I am Charlie Park, widow of the late Nigerian Head of State, GEN. SANI ABACHA. I have been recommended by an associate who assured me in confidence of your ability to offer me a job, and I have the strictest confidence in your ability to do so.
Thank you for your most highly regarded consideration and God Bless You.
Charlie Park, widow of the late Nigerian Head of State
Emily Bloom said on 02/11 at 03:19 PM
Charlie - you are pretty good at that! Thanks for the laugh.
Great comments all around, everyone!
I agree with Mark that writing that first email can be stressful and really, the most important things are to be respectful, clear, and confident in your spelling. The salutation takes a back seat to those things in my opinion.
Charlie Park said on 02/11 at 03:24 PM
(I’m glad you got it. I was worried it’d just get deleted as spam :) )
Bollywood Sarees said on 02/11 at 06:28 PM
I liked this post. Good advice here. Thanks for the article. you really useful to my friend.
Jim Arment said on 02/12 at 01:36 AM
I personally went back to check what salutation I used when applying: PHEW! No TWIMC here.
In all seriousness though, it’s hard to find the balance between wanting to show professionalism and personality. But your replies to my emails made it much easier to write personal follow-up emails.
Mark Gilvey said on 02/14 at 12:52 PM
Two words “epic fail” on my part. Oh well, I hope you will at leaste accept my Creative Director friendly PDF version of my résumé. I was so hoping to meet the stuffed rat.
Douglas Neiner said on 02/14 at 06:42 PM
To Whom It May Concern… er… Emily, :)
Great article. It is so true! We are not actively hiring, but we get emails all the time for people looking for work or freelance work from my studio. There are a couple immediate turn offs for me:
1. Anything so generic it could be emailed to more than one firm without changing a word. Like Viget, we have our team’s photos on our site as well as a number of portfolio pieces. Surely there is something a potential team candidate can reference as a way of personalizing the note.
2. Not including a link to their portfolio in the *first* email. I don’t want to have to reply before I can see if the person could ever work for us.
Thanks for this article!
Emily Bloom said on 02/15 at 11:42 PM
Jim and Mark - thanks for commenting! Good to hear from you both. Don’t sweat the salutation too much. I would never draw any conclusions from a greeting alone.
Doug - I’m with you on both your points. Absolutely. I think I’ve blogged about those before… :) Looks like you have a great team going - congrats!
Ivan Wilson said on 02/16 at 06:29 PM
What about just plain old “Ladies and Gentlemen:”? Classic, contains both genders, and some old school respect…
Dean Peters said on 02/18 at 07:18 PM
Thanks for the insight ... though some companies not as transparent as Viget force people into the habit of stuff like “dear hiring manager, etc ...”
Still, you think if I applied “Dear Brian Baby!” I’d get DQ’d in a hurry ?-)
Nathan said on 02/19 at 12:23 PM
Interesting, thanks Emily. Presenting oneself to a potential employer is an under-appreciated art for which few of us have much guidance to find anywhere, so kudos for the behind-the-scenes peek. Two things I took away:
1. Networking has been, and remains, the most important part of finding work. It definitely pays to know the right people. Viget’s approach to community engagement not only engenders good will and free publicity, but also connects it to the best and brightest.
2. Does this speak more to the medium than the message? That is, 20 years ago, if I were to have sent a paper letter, would more formality be appropriate? Makes me think that email, by its nature, is more casual, so if the salutation doesn’t reflect that, it reads a bit off.
I remember reviewing dozens of applications (cover letter + resume) for a developer position at the last firm I worked. The ultimate hire was the one with the most care and attention put into the cover letter. In fact, I was so impressed with it—and it spoke so much to the quality, personality and competence of the applicant—that I didn’t even glance at the resume and recommended hiring him sight-unseen.
Abbott said on 02/19 at 01:03 PM
You’re really thankful for this post, I’ve been really enjoying checking up your posts from time to time. Looking forward to see your future posts !!
Search Engine Montreal
Mark Gilvey said on 02/19 at 03:51 PM
Nathan writes: “ Networking has been, and remains, the most important part of finding work. It definitely pays to know the right people. Viget’s approach to community engagement not only engenders good will and free publicity, but also connects it to the best and brightest.”
After you have exhausted all your contacts, what next? I have not been one to network to a really great extent, I mean, what you are saying is you should already be doing it. So if that’s not the case, what is the next step? Joining same-career groups seems the most likely but I’m sure the only way to get any connection is to attend meetings on a regular basis and nurture, is there a better way or a different group one should target...not to hijack this thread mind you but I think it is a good question.
Emily Bloom said on 02/20 at 10:00 AM
@Ivan - I like it!
@Dean - you are correct. There are certainly limits to how far a casual greeting should go.
@Nathan - when are you going to apply to work at Viget, my friend?
@Mark - meaningful connections. Whether online or at in-person events, I think a long-term, sincere mentality of trying to develop meaningful connections to other people is the most fruitful approach. And I think that is, at its core, what this post is about. Thanks for the comment!
Erik said on 02/21 at 10:33 PM
Hmm interesting, never thought about studying salutations.
Nathan said on 02/25 at 12:56 AM
Oh Emily, you sweet-talker you! One of these days, perhaps; you guys sure know how to have a good time.
Natasha said on 03/18 at 04:06 PM
Great post Emily! One would think that a writing a directed salutation is common sense when applying for jobs, but its amazing how many people don’t do that.
Nivdarla Anselme said on 04/06 at 11:49 PM
Great article Emily!
I find it refreshing to go to a company’s website and find honest, non-generic information on presenting oneself to a potential employer. As a newbie in this nerve-wrecking process of getting a job, it is a breath of fresh air to find someone that will tell you plainly what is accepted/unaccepted, boring, exciting, etc. I must say I am guilty of a few of the “don’ts” (To Whom It May Concern...eek), because I thought it was the professional thing to do. The artcle (and comments) is enlightening, and as mentioned before presentation is a dying art with very few guidance.
Needless to say - I appreciate the guidance!
**Saad’s article on using LinkedIn as a networking platform is also pretty great**
Love that Viget Labs has a blog! Also, kudos to Emily for actually replying to the comments. I think this is the first website I’ve been to where the author of the article actually reads and replies to most/all comments.
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I liked this post a lot! For what it’s worth, here was the salutation that landed me a job at Viget:
“Dear fellow residents of Durham”