Everyone knows that when applying for jobs, it’s best to get the hiring manger’s name and address the cover letter directly to him or her. It’s personal, it shows that you’ve done your research, and that the resume isn’t a cookie-cut document. Right?
Well, what if you can’t find the name of the hiring manager?
In today’s Information Age, it’s actually getting harder and harder to find the name of the person you’re addressing your resume to. Why? Well, I’m sure the reasons are many, but the growing paranoia about privacy on the Internet is certainly a leading cause.
Although we supposedly live in the “Social Age,” people are becoming more and more reticent about being accessible via the Internet. It could be a fear of identity theft, or of too many salient details about a person’s private life becoming public knowledge.
Whatever the reason, it’s harder to find the name of the person you want to write at a company via a web search.
The solution is, then, to go old school. Instead of relying on the internet (hard, I know) you may have to pick up the phone. Surprisingly, company receptionists are often armed with information you’re looking for, such as who you should address resumes to in the company.
A little chitchat can even pry other information out of them like the best day to send resumes and how many internal applicants there are versus external.
The key is that although the Internet puts a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips, there are still good reason to try human-to-human contact from time to time. Don’t restrict your communications to the online world – sometimes you have to go rogue and talk to people.