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How many letters today start with Dear Sir or Madam?
well, at least letters that I write, I am afraid. the question how to start a letter if you know that there will be a person (a secretary, an officer, a scientist) who will open it but you don't know his/her name. we were taught this "Dear Sir/Madam" formula, which I know is awfully formal but would "to whom it may concern" be better?
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Carpal Tunnel
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I get around that by writing "Greetings." But that's just me....
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Carpal Tunnel
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Greetings was the standard opening to a WWII draft notice. Family lore has it that my grandmother always wondered what they were weeping about.
Greet was Scots for weep
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This may sound a little anal but, if I'm sending a letter, I always get the name of the person I need to send it to.
It is extremely easy for the recipient of a letter to throw it away when it is addressed to Sir or Madame – difficult if it starts, Dear Mr. Burns.
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but if an ad says "send your CV to Human Personel Department"? where do I get the name of the officer who happens to open my letter?
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In that case, I would still go with "greetings."
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Carpal Tunnel
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but if an ad says "send your CV to Human Personel Department"? where do I get the name of the officer who happens to open my letter? Well, you could call the company and ask. Failing that, I'd put Dear Sir or Madam. Or Dear Madam or Sir. But I'm old-fashioned; there's always "Yo!". 
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greetings it is then. but I'm surprised that everybody uses the same form of address...
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journeyman
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journeyman
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OK, here's from someone who occasionally works in the mail room at my place of employment. First of all, the envelope generally gets tossed. The HR person is not an officer, and she may or may not look at a CV or resume right away - it is given to a secretary and filed somewhere unless there is an active search for new personnel at that time.
I also play receptionist for a short time each day, and when we get questions about HR we tell the name of the correct person - spell it - give the address - whatever it takes. My guess is that the HR person likes being addressed by her name better that Sir/Madam, but if the CV looked good it probably wouldn't matter too much. But, that's one job I don't get to do - they NEVER ask me about hiring or firing (and I have big opinions about it, too!).
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- )
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I have big opinions about it, too!). Overlooking their hidden treasure, are they? 
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journeyman
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journeyman
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I think they have some idea about my opinions, I'm not necessarily being real quiet about them. Possibly that's WHY they don't listen to me...but probably they should, once in while. However...
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- )
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Human Resources. It's what they call Personnel these days.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Human Resources. It's what they call Personnel these days.
there main fuctions these days it find out ways of reducing humam resources, or at least the cost of them.. see outsourcing!
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Carpal Tunnel
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ways of reducing humam resources
We prefer to think of it as optimizing ROI in resource potential.
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Yup, I'd call and ask for the name also.
I would never start a letter with Greetings. Sounds very telephone-solicitationish.
Any letter that starts with Greetings, I probably wouldn’t read either. I’d assume it would be from somebody trying to sell me something that I didn’t ask for – and if they can’t bother to take two minutes to get my name, then they are probably not somebody I’d want to deal with anyway. If two minutes out of their life is too much for them to handle, where will they be when I have a problem that has to be resolved that’ll take more time than that.
The only Greetings that is acceptable is one that comes at the top of a Christmas card or Christmas letter from a friend or family member who is addressing your whole family because it would be ridiculous to name all of them.
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Pooh-Bah
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Human Resources. It's what they call Personnel these days.
there main fuctions these days it find out ways of reducing humam resources, or at least the cost of them.. see outsourcing![start of rant]Lately, their main function seems to be dreaming up yet more training courses on 'soft issues' such as 'dealing with conflict' or 'discrimination in the work-place' and avoiding anything remotely related to the technical apects of the work. The soft issues are important in themselves but should be kept in perspective when reviewing what is required to ensure competency. Of course, the 'soft issues' are the only ones that you might consider HR competent to deal with, so it may have something to do with ensuring that they are keeping busy; or am I being cynical? [end of rant][apologies to any HR people on the board - you know I don't really mean it; some of my best friends....  ]
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