How to Address a Cover Letter in 2026 (Salutations That Work)

The first line of your cover letter either signals that you did your homework or that you're sending the same letter to 50 companies. Your salutation — just a few words — is where that impression forms.

Most candidates get this wrong in one of two ways: they use "To Whom It May Concern" (which is dated and generic) or they spend 20 minutes agonizing over it and use something overly creative. Neither serves you. Here's the clean, practical guide to addressing a cover letter for every scenario you'll actually encounter.

Scenario 1: You Know the Hiring Manager's Name (Best Case)

If the job posting includes a contact name, or if a quick LinkedIn search turns up the hiring manager, use their full name:

Dear Sarah Chen,
Dear Marcus Reyes,

This is always the strongest option. It demonstrates that you took 5 minutes to research the company. It's specific, it's personal, and it's nearly impossible to get wrong.

A note on honorifics: Skip "Mr." or "Ms." unless you're applying to a very formal industry (law, finance, government) and you're certain of the person's preference. "Dear Jordan Kim" is safer than "Dear Ms. Kim" when you're unsure — using the wrong honorific is worse than using none.

Scenario 2: You Can't Find a Name

This is the most common situation. The posting has no contact, LinkedIn returns 15 possible people, and you're not sure who actually handles the hiring.

Your best options, in order:

1. Dear Hiring Manager — The standard, professional, and widely accepted default. Use this.
2. Dear [Department] Team — "Dear Marketing Team" or "Dear Engineering Team" shows you understand the function you're applying into.
3. Dear Recruiting Team — Works when you know you're going through a central HR process.

What to avoid:

• To Whom It May Concern — Outdated. Signals a form letter. Skip it.
• Dear Sir or Madam — Outdated and makes gender assumptions. Skip it.
• Hello! or Hi there, — Too informal for a professional document unless the company brand is explicitly casual and the culture signals it.
• Nothing at all — Always include a greeting. Starting with "I am writing to apply..." without any salutation is a jarring reader experience.

How to Find the Name (When It Takes 5 Minutes)

Before you default to "Dear Hiring Manager," try this quick sequence:

1. Read the full job posting — names are sometimes buried in the description or the "How to Apply" section
2. Check the company's About or Team page — small companies often list department leads by name
3. Search LinkedIn — filter by company + role (e.g., "Head of Marketing at [Company Name]" or "Recruiter at [Company]")
4. Look at recent company posts — the person who posted the job opening is often the recruiter handling it

If you find a name, great — use it. If you spend more than 5 minutes without success, move on and use the default. A well-written letter addressed to "Hiring Manager" beats a mediocre letter with a correctly personalized name every time.

How to Format the Full Header

The greeting is one element of the full cover letter header. Here's how the complete top section should look:

[Your Name]
[City, State] | [Phone] | [Email] | [LinkedIn URL]

[Date]

[Hiring Manager Name, if known]
[Their Title, if known]
[Company Name]

Dear [Name / Hiring Manager],

Keep the header clean and consistent with your resume formatting. If your resume uses a bold name with a horizontal line divider, mirror that style in your cover letter — they should look like they belong together.

The Line After the Greeting

Once you've nailed the salutation, the very next sentence is where most cover letters fall apart. Avoid opening with:

• "I am writing to apply for the [position] role at [Company]." — The recruiter knows why you're writing. This is filler.
• "I have always been passionate about this industry..." — Generic, unverifiable, and forgettable.

Instead, open with something that demonstrates value or creates immediate interest:

The [Job Title] role at [Company] stood out to me because of your work on [specific product/initiative] — it's exactly the kind of challenge I've spent the last three years preparing for.

or

After five years of building [relevant skill] in [type of company], I know exactly what it takes to [do what this role requires].

One sentence that's specific and confident will outperform three sentences of boilerplate every time.

For more on structuring the full letter, check out how to write a cover letter fast and if you're applying without relevant experience, see cover letter no experience.

Quick Reference: Salutation Cheat Sheet

Situation	Use
You know their full name	Dear [First Last],
You know their first name only	Dear [First Name],
No name, general hire	Dear Hiring Manager,
No name, specific department	Dear [Department] Team,
Very formal industry	Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name],
Startup/casual culture	Dear [First Name], or Dear Hiring Team,

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Getting the salutation right is a small thing — but it's a signal. The hiring managers who read hundreds of cover letters per month notice when someone did the work. Pair a clean, personalized greeting with a tight, specific letter and you're already ahead of most applicants.

Ready to make your full application as strong as possible? The Career Toolkit at /products includes ATS-optimized resume templates, cover letter templates with the structure already built in, and interview prep guides — everything you need for one job search, in one download.

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