How Do You Address a Cover Letter to a Woman?
by Pete
(London, Ontario Canada)
I have the name of the person I am writing my cover letter to; it is a woman. However, there is no indication as to whether she is single, married or other. How does one address the letter, as Miss, Mrs. or Ms?
ANSWER: I think if you don't know whether a woman is married or not, you should use the most generic form of address, which is "Ms." For older generations who don't subscribe to what they may view as a feminist form of address, there is a slight chance this could offend. However, since the Ms. designation has been in use since the 1960s, I think it less and less likely that women would be offended by this term. I can tell you for a fact that I much prefer Ms. over either Miss or Mrs. any day. Also, it may be the most correct, in a wide variety of cases.
To your success,
Kathi