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omitting salutation

vladk0

Member
Bulgarian
Is it going to be wrong or inappropriate to omit a salutation from an academic letter of recommendation for a PhD position when you don't know the person you are addressing the letter?
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If you are writing a formal letter, and do not know the identity of the person you are writing to, you can use "Dear Sir / Madam," or "To Whom It May Concern,", if you do not know whether they are a man or a woman.

Also, finish with "Yours faithfully," instead of "Yours sincerely", when you do not know the person.

Theese instructions are for British English. US English may differ.
I agree with JDB, except that in AmE "Yours sincerely" (or "Sincerely yours," which is more common in AmE) is appropriate whether you know the person you're writing to or not.
Is it going to be wrong or inappropriate to omit a salutation from an academic letter of recommendation for a PhD position when you don't know the person you are addressing the letter?
Please tell us whether by 'salutation' you meaning the opening or closing of the letter, as the answers may be different.
As a side note, I would make every effort to find out the name and title of the person to whom you are writing and how to spell it properly.

If the writer of a letter is too lazy to do it, that comes across to the addressee and diminishes the value of the missive.
As a side note, I would make every effort to find out the name and title of the person to whom you are writing and how to spell it properly.

This could be a general letter of recommendation, the applicant may wish to use the letter when applying for positions at more than one establishment, in which case, there is no name. Only at a later stage would a formal reference be required, at this point you would expect the name of the recipient to be known.
This could be a general letter of recommendation, the applicant may wish to use the letter when applying for positions at more than one establishment, in which case, there is no name. Only at a later stage would a formal reference be required, at this point you would expect the name of the recipient to be known.

Yes. For example, generally when one gets employment refrences from a referee at a previous job, to show potential future employers, they tend to use the "To whom it may concern" format.
Please tell us whether by 'salutation' you meaning the opening or closing of the letter, as the answers may be different.

It's about opening of the letter.
Yes. For example, generally when one gets employment refrences from a referee at a previous job, to show potential future employers, they tend to use the "To whom it may concern" format.

Is it necessary to capitalize all words from "To whom it may concern", for example should it be "To Whom It May Concern"?
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