Let me wikipedia that for you:

quote:

Ms (UK) or Ms. (USA) (pronounced /mɪz/ or /məz/[1]) is an English honorific used with the last name or full name of a woman. As with Mrs. and Miss, Ms. is a contraction of the honorific "Mistress", which is the feminine of "Mister" or "Master". Unlike Miss and Mrs., Ms. is used properly of divorced women. In the U.S., the Emily Post Institute states that Ms. is the default form of address for business correspondence with a woman.[2]

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quote:

Originally posted by *~LiSa-LoO~* I think it's appropriate in certain circumstances. i.e. If it's someone at the same level as you and you know the person well, thus you've established a first name basis with them. Generally I would wait for them to establish it because I started calling someone by their first name. I would say it's a fine line until then. Regarding a superior, however, I would say it would be a sign of disrespect to call them by their first name. Always Mr or Ms (or Mrs when appropriate)

I never call my boss or my director by anything but first names. It depends.
In a job application situation, I would agree though.

quote:

Originally posted by Skipper I never call my boss or my director by anything but first names. It depends. In a job application situation, I would agree though.

Ya, it really depends on the situation. You have to feel it out. But definitely in a job application, or if you're just starting and aren't familiar with the people yet, IMO "Mr/Ms" is the way to go.

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quote:

Originally posted by *~LiSa-LoO~* Regarding a superior, however, I would say it would be a sign of disrespect to call them by their first name. Always Mr or Ms (or Mrs when appropriate)

This is not necessarily a reflected practice in the work place...

I have never called any of my superiors by Mr or Mrs.

I can't imagine emailing the vice president of our department and calling him Mr. XXXX.

Why not just call her office? Don't introduce yourself, just ask what the proper way to address her is. The receptionist won't mind helping you out if you've got a pleasant demeanor.

Sometimes I have to call other people's office to verify their gender because they have an ethnic name that I'm unfamiliar with. It's an innocent and fair question.

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yeah, it all depends on the situation but the safest bet is always to say Ms. Last Name.

In terms of calling bosses by the first name, I would only do that if they specifically ask you to do so.

At my work, my boss would prefer if the graduate students call him Dr. Last Name but the people that already have received their degrees to call him by his first name. Definitely sets a cast system. lol.

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Originally posted by Time2Burn Please do not write your letter in the same way you wrote your post if you want this job.

Of course. Message boards are for getting your ideas out fast. Many times when writing on here its just a long run on sentence becauase who cares as long as the jist of what you're saying gets across. With anything important I usually proof read between 1-2 times to make sure everything sounds coherent.

Although I disagree with you on the message board run on sentence style no punction bad splling at least i can understand where you come from and suck it up i personally find it more difficult to write like this than to use proepr form but hey i guess that just me maybe i'm just old.

Good luck on the job!!

quote:

Originally posted by She_Fitz This is not necessarily a reflected practice in the work place... I have never called any of my superiors by Mr or Mrs. I can't imagine emailing the vice president of our department and calling him Mr. XXXX.

Ya, the more that I think about it, every job I've had I've always called my colleagues and superiors by their first name. But it was only after I first addressed them by Mr/Ms and was told I could call them by their first name.

___________________
Shut up and DANCE!!
House moves my body, Trance owns my soul, Progressive drives me wild

I would use Ms. and the last name..