You most probably know by now that a cover letter and CV addressed to a specific person rather than the hiring manager, recruiter or HR officer will get more attention. The problem is that once you send out your CV to many companies or even as reply on job advertisements you may not know who the correct person to contact is.
How to find out who the contact person is
There are a few ways to get the details of the correct contact person. One is to find the telephone number of the company. Call the receptionist and be friendly. Ask her who the HR officer is or the head of the department where you would like to work. You can ask her to put you through to the secretary of the HR manager. Once through ask to whom your letter should be addressed. Ask the person to spell the name and repeat it to ensure that you don’t make a terrible spelling mistake.
Another way to find the contact details of the hiring manager for your cover letter and CV is to find the company’s web address by searching in Google. Once found visit their Contact Us page. Many websites list the divsions of their company and specific details of the managers.
By taking a few extra moments in finding the contact person you increase the chances of your cover letter and CV landing at the correct person, instead of floating around in the company and eventually landing up in the dustbin.
Improve your chances even further by sending the cover letter by post, email and doing a hand delivery. You may also want to follow-up to make sure it has been received. Just a note though- if they say that no phone calls will be accepted, adhere to the rule.
When it comes to electronic submission of the cover letter and CV you can contact the company and find out what the correct email address is of the contact person as well as the spelling. If however, the job ad gives an email in general, you will have to go through the normal channel and submit the cover letter and CV to that email address.