Why You Shouldn’t Use ‘Dear Sir/ Madam’ Salutation

I know you have your best cover letter that you intent to use in your job application. Not a bad thing. The Kenyan job market has become a competitive affair; it only favours prepared individuals.

Only the best survive. You are in it too – win or lose. It is that simple. Therefore, to get that dream job, you must just stand out from the crowd.

It means giving that hiring manager a reason you want to meet after going through your awesome cover letter or perfectly crafted CV. Standing out requires job applicants to do things differently. No one is interested in the obvious way of executing duties.

For this reason there are just some outdated things we Kenyans are fond of that need to be done with. One of them is the cliché you see in almost all cover letters and your regular application letter – ‘Dear Sir/ Madam’.

A person has only one gender, except in extreme conditions. So then, why would you have a cover letter that will end up provoking the target reader just because of such mistakes?

Here are the reasons why the ‘Dear Sir/ Madam’ salutation is outdated

Do you feel good when someone addresses you by your name and not the other son or daughter of so and so? Well, hiring managers are human, just like you. There a sense of pride when someone addresses you as a Sir if you are a man or a Madam for ladies.

1. How much do you know about the company?

Currently, employers want to see proactive people who understand the company they are applying to. It is therefore necessary to research a company before you send your application.

Get to know who you are supposed to address the letter to, their gender and their position. Is it HR? What’s their gender? This helps you to narrow down the scope and address the letter to the right person.

“Employers will always receive thousands of applications. Seeing a candidate who addresses the letter to the relevant person is always a plus” says says Muthoni Ndegwa, a Client Services Manager at Corporate Staffing Services Limited, a leading recruitment firm that offers career advisory services that includes interview coaching and CV writing.

She adds that knowing your recipients shows assign of commitment. At least you researched about the company. Its thus speaks volumes about your interest in the company. Why wouldn’t anyone hire such a person?

2. Changing face of salutations

In the dynamic corporate world we are living in, things are changing really fast. When it comes to writing a cover letter it’s important that you address it to a real and live person. I am talking about using the correct titles and names. Research the name of the hiring manager and address the letter to them e.g. ‘Dear Dr. Wanjala’.

Knowing the HR of a company is just a search away, thanks to social media. LinkedIn, for example, has thousands of professional people who are actually addressed as they appear on their social sites. Why can’t you have that too?

However in case you don’t find the name, only then you can probably address the letter as ‘Dear Hiring Manager’ or ‘Dear Human Resources’. Try as much as possible to eliminate the use of obvious ‘Dear Sir/ Madam’ salutation in your letters, it is lazy of you.

3. The need to stand out

How much do you want that job? Imagine the thousand of graduates just like you competing for the same post. The only way you can ensure you get shortlisted for positions is by standing out – simple! Don’t do things the same way you found other people doing them.

Just because you found people using ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ in every application letter doesn’t mean hiring mangers of today’s are so excited when they see that in your application.

You will stand out and increase your chances of being shortlisted, if your cover letter or application letter is very unique.

There you have it, getting a job can be as simple as the salutation you use. Some of us blame the job market for being saturated when actually we hinder ourselves. You can consider getting yourself a career couch to make the job search process much easier.