Why don't job ads have a person's name!?

[wienerdog]

I HATE HATE HATE it when there's an ad for a position, and they leave contact information ambigous. Like: "Contact J. Doe at j.doe@company.xxx"

How do you address the cover letter?

Dear Human Resources Manager,

Dear J. Doe,

HR Manager:

J. Doe:

-This is BEYOND frustrating how companies want to stay anonymous when candidate searching.

I ALSO hate having to snail mail things. I waste stamps and never hear back. And NO, you're not getting mailed samples to hold on to and never call me with! It's 2005! I'm not falling for it that you don't have e-mail. Stop playing games with people!

Ugh..

wiEnerDog
Weinerdog Graphics - My portfolio site! (http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com)

[Patrick Shannon]

Been through that TOO MANY times. Here's some advice if you want a hiring manager's name.

1. Most direct way, just ask. Don't just say you want the name of the hiring manager, instead say that you're carefully preparing a letter for someone and you'd like to know to whom to address it to. Naturally, this won't work all the time but sometimes it can surprisingly work.

2. If that don't work, you're obviously dealing with an H.R. blocker. Getting past him/her will depend on how suave you are. My friend Tim is such a perfect example to watch, he just knows how to say the right things and charm people. So use the H.R. person's name as much as possible as you speak and be nice.
EXTRA CURRICULAR: If you're the opposite sex, try a little flirting. I've gotten through one H.R. female attendant before by subtly flirting with her ('Well, okay Patrick...lemme see what I can do!') But if you do try this, I can't stress enough about keeping it SUBTLE and light, you won't help your case if they feel harrassed. Best kind of flirting is if they don't realize they're being flirted with.

3. Sneakier way, pretend you're a college student doing research on a job there, and that you need to talk to the person responsible for hiring staff. Use a fake name for yourself. If H.R. doesn't think you're trying to look for a job and believes it's all in the interest of education, they may give out a name or connect you through (although at this stage, you simply want a name instead of talking straight to them). By the way, H.R. may be too smart for this, so keep that in mind.

By the way, the book College Grad Job Hunter has wonderful unorthodox advice on getting past H.R. Remember too, that the H.R. Manager is NOT ALWAYS the hiring manager, so careful of that smoke screen.)

Patrick Shannon

'Dear valued customer, go home and die. Signed, your friendly graphic artist.'

http://www.patrickshannon.com/mwwc_sm.gif
My War With Culture (http://www.mywarwithculture.com)
Political incorrectness reinvented.

[wienerdog]

Well, if there was enough info on most of these ads, I could do some detective work. But most of the time I find no company info, no phone or fax, just an e-mail address with no contact name. It's almost impossible to get someone's contact info these days.

One trick I learned is if they have a fax number in the ad, sometimes you can Google the fax number to find a page with the phone number and/or company info!

wiEnerDog
Weinerdog Graphics - My portfolio site! (http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com)

[PrintDriver]

I've always found it rather difficult to even apply for a job when I don't know where it is.
I may not like the commute.
In fact, I knew where I was applying for the job I have...and I still don't like the commute.

And a company that doesn't want you to know it's hiring? Sorta like calling one of those phone numbers on the signs that magically appear on telephone poles at night that say, 'Gotta computer? Put it to work! Call 555-555-1212 today!'.

PD is a grande format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[D-Zine]

*runs to dial number!!*

/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/lol.gif

'No more yanky my wanky! The donga need food!!' - heh

[wienerdog]

I've found they'll put a general location, a city or town, and fax or email, and that's it. I love j.doe@company.com. How do you address that cover letter? Dear Human Resources Manager:
Should you even put 'Dear'? Isn't that a little personal? I've seen expert opinions vary.

wiEnerDog
Weinerdog Graphics - My portfolio site! (http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com)

[Patrick Shannon]

I know it's a bit informal, but frankly THEY'RE being informal, so I would personally use

'To whom this may concern,'

Patrick Shannon

'Dear valued customer, go home and die. Signed, your friendly graphic artist.'

http://www.patrickshannon.com/mwwc_sm.gif
My War With Culture (http://www.mywarwithculture.com)
Political incorrectness reinvented.

[wienerdog]

It's so infuriating, because that's one of the things experts say NOT to use. But these people leave you no choice!

wiEnerDog
Weinerdog Graphics - My portfolio site! (http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com)