"Dear Recruiter": When to Use It and What to Write Instead

Use "Dear Recruiter," only when a recruiter is the person you are writing to and you cannot find their name: they posted the job, run the search for an agency, or contacted you first. If you know the name, use it. If nobody is named at all, "Dear Hiring Manager," is the better default.

When is “Dear Recruiter” the right greeting?

When a recruiter is the person you are actually writing to. That means a recruiter posted the job under their own profile, an agency is running the search, or a recruiter messaged you first and asked for a letter. In each case you almost always have their name, so “Dear Recruiter” is the fallback for the rare posting that says “contact our recruiter” and stops there.

Dear Recruiter, Dear Recruiting Manager or Dear Recruitment Officer?

Recruiter greetings for a cover letter or email
Greeting	Verdict	Use it when
Hi Marcus, / Dear Marcus,	Best. Recruiters sign their posts and messages.	Any time the recruiter is named, which is most of the time.
Dear Recruiter,	Acceptable, a little cold.	The ad routes you to a recruiter and gives no name.
Dear Recruiting Manager,	Correct only if that title exists at the company.	The posting is signed with that title.
Dear Recruitment Manager, / Dear Recruitment Officer,	British and public-sector wording.	UK, EU, Australian and government ads that use the title.
Dear Recruiting Team, / Dear Talent Acquisition Team,	Neutral. Fits a shared inbox.	Large employers with a central talent team and no named contact.
Dear Recruiter or Hiring Manager,	Hedged. Reads as if you did not check.	Avoid. Pick the one the posting points to.

Agency recruiter or in-house recruiter?

An agency recruiter works for a staffing firm and is paid when you are placed. Write to them like a colleague: first name, short note, your availability and salary range. They rarely want a cover letter at all.

An in-house recruiter works for the employer and screens applicants before the team sees them. A letter addressed to them should make screening easy: the role, the two requirements you clearly meet, and your notice period. Save the argument for why you fit the team for the person who runs it. The difference between the two readers is laid out in hiring manager vs recruiter.

Do people get further writing to the recruiter or the manager?

We coded 79 public first-person accounts of job seekers who contacted someone at the company directly. 5 of them wrote to a recruiter and 70 to the hiring manager. These are stories people chose to publish, so the split says more about where job seekers aim than about what works. The accounts and sources are in the outreach study.

Example openings

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for reaching out about the Data Engineer role at Acme. I've
attached my resume. I'm on four weeks' notice and can talk any
afternoon this week.

Dear Recruiter,

I'm applying for the Marketing Manager opening (req. 5512). I have
six years in B2B demand generation and currently manage a team of
four.

If the posting names nobody at all, “Dear Hiring Manager” is the better default. It points at the person who decides.

Need the actual name instead of a generic salutation? Paste the job URL into DearHiringManager.io — find the hiring manager's name in about a minute, then open with “Dear [Name],” instead.

FAQ

Dear Recruiter or Dear Hiring Manager: which is better?

“Dear Hiring Manager” unless a recruiter posted the role or contacted you. Then use the recruiter's name.

Is “Dear Recruiter” rude?

No. It is a little impersonal, and since recruiters usually sign their posts, using their name is easy.

How do I address a recruiter in an email?

By first name: “Hi Marcus,”. Recruiters write informally and expect the same back.

"Dear Recruiter" in a Cover Letter or Email