Salutation – Hi or Dear??

It was Monday morning, and was in the hangover of all Monday blues everywhere, and the picture started as one of my colleague told me to write Dear instead of Hi in salutation while writing the mail to boss.

Really??? i thought both is same and thought it doesn't matter..

I am sure everybody might have gone through the same situation as shown above.

Boom... Got the topic for my blog "Salutation – hi or dear??". so lets start from the bottom

What exactly is salutation:

At the beginning or the end of a conversation, Letter, email or other form of communication, a polite greeting, expression of good will, or other sign of recognition. Salutations can be formal or informal. The most common form of salutation in a letter is Dear followed by the recipient's given name or title.

For Example: Hi Mr Ramesh or Dear Sir

Since the salutation is the first thing the recipient will see, it's important that you convey an appropriate level of familiarity and respect. Lets have a look of various words that can be used in salutation :

Dear - Is appropriate many times, whether you know the person well, if they are a business acquaintance, a potential employer, or a supervisor. If you know the person well, use their first name only. For a potential employer or supervisor, use Mr., or Ms. unless you have been asked to use their first name.

To Whom It May Concern- Used in business correspondence where you don't have a specific person to whom you are writing. You might use this when making an inquiry, but you should make every effort to find the name of someone in the specific department that you are interested in to contact.

Hello - Is appropriate only in email correspondence, and should be used primarily with people you know well, or in very casual circumstances.

Hi - Is appropriate only in casual email correspondence with people you know well.

Closings - Although a letter ending is typically referred to as a "complimentary close," some business professionals use salutations to generically refer to both the opening and the closing. Some unique yet professional email closings include "With anticipation," "Kind thoughts," "All the best," "Write soon," "With many thanks," "Best wishes," and "Respectfully yours."

Well to conclude there is a difference in Hi and Dear (except for spelling).. so what i was doing was wrong being using Hi. And finally got to know that there is a lot that a your carrier can be affected just because of a tiny little word - salutation.

And i thank the colleague of mine who lit me up with the thought of being professional emailing!!!!