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Re: Interview follow-up note: First or last name usage?
Subject:Re: Interview follow-up note: First or last name usage? From:Barry Campbell <barry -dot- campbell -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Sat, 24 Sep 2005 14:15:18 -0400
On 9/24/05, Steven Oppenheimer <Steven -at- oppenheimercommunications -dot- com> wrote:
> So, simple question: Do I address the note as "Dear John",or "Dear Mr.
> Smith"?
Mr. Oppenheimer (grin),
In American business culture these days, the assumption seems to be
that, once introduced, you are on a first-name basis going forward,
and that includes written communications.
I work for a multinational now, and the rules in Europe seem to be
different and more formal, with our French colleagues especially, but
on this side of the pond it's first names.
Some companies have made a fetish of this first-name thing for a long
time. I worked at IBM while I was in college (20 years ago!) and was
once gently corrected by a director-level executive I had addressed as
"Mister So-and-So" - he said, "Barry, my name is Jim, and if the CEO
ever calls you for some reason, his name is John." (The CEO at the
time was John Akers... Lord, I'm dating myself.)
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