Egads peoples. This discussion has gone round and round.

Here is the summary:

- If you are applying to a small museum that does its own hiring and know
that a specific person is screening the applications, find out who that
person is and address your letter to him or her.

- If you are applying to a large museum or especially to a
government-funded museum where applications go through a central HR and
then are passed along to the museum or other hiring official, use a generic
greeting like "To whom it may concern," or "Dear hiring official".

- If you use a name, make sure you spell it correctly and it is indeed the
correct name to use. If John Smith is listed in the announcement and you
address your letter to Jane Doe or Jon Smythe, that will not earn you
points.

- While using a name is polite, in a pile of 100s of resumes, it really
doesn't make you stand out as much as a good resume. Don't kill yourself
trying to find out to whom you should address your cover letter. If the
application says, "No calls." Don't call. Because if you do call and ask
people about it, they WILL remember your name, and not in a good way.

- Likewise, if the application says to address all applications to a
specific person, you'd better use their name in your cover letter because
it has been provided for you.

- Regardless of using a specific name or not, proof-read, edit, and
proof-read again.

Did I hit all the relevant points?

Deb Fuller

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