Lauren,
I just read something which disturbed me. Perhaps you were misquoted in a recent article:
“Writing ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ is a clear and quick path to rejection, when you could easily find the name of the hiring manager. Even worse is ‘Dear Sirs.’ In the past two years I’ve had to respond to at least a dozen candidates by telling them they’d just ‘Dear Sir-ed’ their way out of a job,” says Lauren Milligan, a career coach with ResuMAYDAY. She advises that if you can’t find the name of the hiring manager online, use a professional salutation like “Dear Hiring Committee.”
IMHO – You are under an illusion (delusion?) if you believe candidates can find the names of hiring managers these days. Usually jobs listed on sites like Careerbuilder, Yahoo, TheLadders, even LinkedIn have NO reference to the hiring manager; often it’s a company with many HR specialists, so one can’t even know who the internal ‘listing’ HR recruiter is! Even the name of the hiring company itself is often not listed. In short, the candidate is “flying blind” all too often.
When someone’s livelihood and his/her family’s future are at stake, please don’t dismiss them for using “Dear Sir”. I really hope that’s not true. I hope you’ve never experienced what it’s like to have years of professional experience, hard work, good references, and a technical degree from a top school – yet be dismissed repeatedly by companies who won’t interview you beyond their HR department, if at all. (I don’t wish it on anyone except my enemies: it’s demeaning, discouraging, and depressing. If it weren’t for my family, I might have already given up, but I can’t quit with their future at stake.)
BTW – In case you believe the only people ‘still’ unemployed have something ‘wrong’ with them, I disagree: There are still many more good capable people out here wanting jobs than there are positions open.
Please consider this a private communication.
Respectfully,
Raymond (name changed)

Dear Raymond,
Let’s not pretend that you think I was misquoted. I stand behind everything I said, and I also appreciate that you took the time to write to me.

As a resume writer and job coach, I don’t form my opinions to feed my own ego; I’m merely sharing the harsh yet truthful information that employers and recruiters won’t ever tell candidates. Dear Sir or Madam is nothing short of antiquated, rude and demeaning. When was the last time you called a woman ‘Madam’ in a professional setting? Let’s leave this to Maitre’Ds and butlers. I’m embarrassed for the candidate who still uses this salutation; that person is clearly out of touch with modern day correspondence. You need to know this because from your very first contact with a potential employer, you are being measured on your ability to properly and effectively communicate with the company’s clients, staff and other stakeholders. As one recruiter said in a closed-door conference, i.e., no job seekers, “When I see Dear Sir or Madam on a cover letter, I have to wonder if a younger person turned on the computer for them”. Is that the impression you want to present?

In regards to my personal response to ‘Dear Sirs’ to my own company, I offer no apology. Companies are very transparent today – and mine, more than most. Me and my woman parts are solely responsible for the hiring decisions of this company – without a man at the helm. My husband is my best supporter, but he’s responsible for his own business, not mine. Any candidate who assumes that a man will be part of decision-making at ResuMAYDAY is displaying an obvious and archaic gender bias. It also tells me the candidate was too lazy to review my website. Based on those two things that I know about the candidate, why should I waste my precious and fleeting time on them?

You wrote: “IMHO – You are under an illusion (delusion?) if you believe candidates can find the names of hiring managers these days…In short, the candidate is “flying blind” all too often.” I clearly stated in that article that I recommend addressing your letter “Dear Hiring Committee”. I care very much about job seekers and wouldn’t insert my opinions if I didn’t also offer a solution. Did you overlook this while still fuming about my earlier comments? I also recommend “Dear Staffing Specialist”. That’s a freebie for you.

You wrote: “When someone’s livelihood and his/her family’s future are at stake, please don’t dismiss them for using “Dear Sir”. When one’s livelihood is at stake, that person should do everything they can to educate themselves on the most modern and correct methods for getting past the gatekeeper. Again, if you insult any person involved in the hiring process, they will assume that at some point, you will also insult a client or colleague. Why not present yourself as a smart, progressive and personable candidate? What could you possibly have to lose? Instead of taking the time to write your lengthy note to me, why not just say, “Hmm…what I’m doing clearly isn’t working, so maybe I’ll give Lauren’s advice a try.” Instead, you chose to defend your old-fashioned values…and alienate 47.4% of the working population (and rising, because the majority of people who have lost their jobs in this recession have been men) in the process.

You wrote: “BTW – In case you believe the only people ‘still’ unemployed have something ‘wrong’ with them, I disagree: There are still many more good capable people out here wanting jobs than there are positions open.” Frankly Raymond, I find this extremely insulting. If you read other articles that I’ve contributed to, or listened to my weekly radio show, or listened as I was a guest on WGN or WLS or other radio shows, or saw me on CLTV, ABC News or other television shows, you would know that I’m appalled at employers and recruiters who will only consider candidates who are currently working. I’m extremely vocal about this, even getting into a heated debate with a recruiter at a networking event over this very subject. Every time I speak at a job club (sometimes once a week and always on a volunteer basis) I feel that I’m in a room full of the best and brightest in Chicago, and it makes me angry that companies hold a person’s unemployment status against them, when it was Corporate America’s horrible decisions that led to the highest unemployment rate in 27 years. Don’t you dare put me in that category, because you are flat out wrong.

It’s your choice. Ignore me. Keep using ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ in your cover letters and we’ll see how that works out for you. I will also share this spoiler alert with you: JR wasn’t actually shot, it was just a dream. Welcome to 2010.

Raymond, I sincerely wish you the best success, but I think that you may experience greater success if you listen to the experts. Out of all the emails that I received about this article, yours was the only dissenting voice. I urge you to open your mind about this.

Respectfully as well,
Lauren Milligan

Readers, it’s your turn. Please post your comments, and we’ll discuss this on my Livin’ the Dream radio show (www.mydreambiz.net).

Why do want to call him?
1) 401k rollovers – a must, if you are changing employers.
2) Income Analyzer – measures current income vs. future goals.
3) Other financial tools based on your specific needs (too many to mention here!)

How do you get in touch with John?
Call him at 866-369-9029, email him at john@johnnavin.com or visit his site at www.johnnavin.com.

“REMOVE MY EMAIL OFF YOUR LIST AND STOP EMAILING ME, IMMEDIATELY.”
Vito Salatino, Jr.

I knew that I hadn’t sent Vito any emails but just to be sure, I checked my ‘sent’ folder. Nothing to Vito. We met some time ago at a networking event at a time that my business account rep was leaving for a different position in the company, which was upsetting to me because I was less than thrilled with his replacement. Vito told me that if I needed any help with my account, I could call him. Up until this morning, I would have told you that Vito was a nice guy.

After verifying that I hadn’t sent him any emails, I called him. I introduced myself and asked about his email. He angrily told me that he received a few emails asking that he update his information through my CardScan account but that he wouldn’t, because he didn’t know who I was. (CardScan sends these out periodically – I have nothing to do with it.) I reminded him that we had met, that I was a current customer and that he should have looked up my information in his account system, before sending off this type of correspondence. He agreed, but the damage was done.

Banking is a competitive industry and I know for a fact that this bank is trying to ‘chase’ every customer they can. How difficult would it have been to update his information, when asked to do so by a loyal customer? I do this plenty for others who also use a business cards scanner and it takes no more than 10 seconds to stay in touch with customers, vendors or just great connections. Apparently, Vito has a different take on it.

That’s how my week started, how about you?

2) Give your manager a heads-up the day before you plan to resign. This will give your manager time to prepare for the conversation, rather than blindsiding her. It also gives you the chance to calm your nerves, yet sets a definite deadline for the conversation. You can’t put it off if your manager has already scheduled the time!

3) Spend your remaining time cleaning up your projects, training your co-workers and introducing your clients to the person taking over their account. Don’t leave projects or work in disarray – this is unprofessional and will undermine all the good work you’ve done during your tenure at that employer. (The last impression will be how others remember you.)

As a business owner, I recently had the amazing opportunity to turn two of my former employers into clients. That wouldn’t have been possible if I had left on a bad note! It was so interesting to interact with these two people again, but our roles were completely reversed. Both of my former managers are great people – in life and in business – and I was honored to work with each of them.

Every week, I contribute to an online radio show; my area of expertise is Career Advancement. Our topic for next week is How to Keep Your Business Running, Without Letting Your Business Run You Ragged. My part of the discussion will be on conducting an effective and strategic job search – while you are still employed.

Check back here in a few days; I’ll recap the strategies discussed on the radio show.

On another topic, I was one of the fortunate few who walked away with a gorgeous gift basket from Ikea. My basket had a TON of cooking items. (Here ya go, Dan!) The first thing I opened was the Ikea cookbook for their Swedish meatballs, which are amazing. I was shocked, and then not shocked at all to find that all the measurements are in metrics. How much is 250 grams of minced pork? When do I stop pouring to get 3 DL of cream? I seriously felt like Spinal Tap trying to figure out military time. My next google search: metrics vs. english. You should have seen my two dogs looking at me while I held the whisk and spatula. I think it was a new experience for them.

Next Tuesday, I’ll be joining Leo, Carl and John on the “Livin’ the Dream” internet-based radio show! I’m really excited and think it’s going to be a great mix. My topic will be career advancement. Leo fluidly handles business ownership, John is our financial planning whiz and Carl strategically maneuvers the world of investing in commercial real estate. All of these topics tie-in nicely together and the three of us have a great rapport. I’m looking forward to seeing how that rapport will translate on the show. Here is a link to the show where you can listen live (11AM CST every Tuesday) or to the archives: http://www.mydreambiz.net/

Until next time, have a great week!