How to email a prospective employer

[Capp]

Does anyone have any tips for emailing prospective employers? I find it difficult when I am forced to make first contact with an employer via email. What do you say in the email? How do you address the email?

Obviously if you know the name of the person who will receive the email you can say "Dear Mr. Smith," but you usually don't know the person's name. Saying "To Whom It May Concern" seems dorky, and leaving the address line blank seems casual and unprofessional (less like a professional letter and more like a text message.) I have actually sent emails like this in the past where I just wrote "Hello," in the top line, in lieu of addressing the recipient.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Explore their website thoroughly. You can often find the name of the Nurse Recuiter on the website -- and that can be your first contact. If not, you could call the Nurse Recruiter's department and ask for the name.