Need an Email Address? Here Are 5 Easy Ways to Find One
You may have read that an effective way to find a job is to network. Well, that is easy enough when you know the person. You likely have an email address where you can send a message, are connected through social media, or have a phone number and can pick up your phone and call or text.
What if you do not know the person at all?
Perhaps it is a friend of a friend. Perhaps it is a person that works at your dream company. Perhaps it is a hiring manager.
What do you do then?
Do what candidate sourcers have done for years. They not only find passive job seekers but also discover how to reach them.
Let me show you how.
Email Address Configurations Are Numerous
It would be so much simpler if there were a standard configuration for email addresses, especially work ones. Unfortunately, there is not.
Look below. See the many configurations for a basic work email address.
Simplest: first name@ or last name@
Easier: <firstname><last name>@; <firstname>.<lastname>@; <firstinitial><lastname>@; <fistinitial>.<lastname>@; <firstname><lastinitial>@; <firstname>.<last initial>@; <firstinitial><lastinitial>@; <firstinitial>.<lastinitial>@
Now take the above and add having the first name or first initial and last name or last initial backwards, adding a middle initial, dashes, underscores or numbers (for duplicate names), it can be hard to even guess at an email address.
Therefore, guessing is not a good strategy.
What Are Other Options to Finding Email Addresses?
Well, you are going to have to put on your researcher hat. Don’t be scared, though. This really won’t be that hard.
Check social media profiles. This can include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
Many people include contact information in their social media profiles. Looking at a social media profile is one of the simplest ways to find an email address. Start with LinkedIn because it is a professional social media platform. When one sets up a profile, there is a separate section to enter contact information. Often people will at least provide their work or personal email.
Don’t overlook Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. There may be contact information in the bio sections of those social media platforms as well.
Go to the company website
You may be able to find an email address by going to the company’s website. For smaller companies, they may have a biography section, which will include how to contact the person.
As an example, WTS International has a bio section where they put not only the name and title. You can also find the email address, as well as LinkedIn profile, Skype information, and a way to email this person directly.
Google it
Let’s say that I am looking for Gary Henkin and know that he founded WTS International. If I put in his name in quotes and email address and WTS International in quotes, here is what I find.
Email lookup services
There are services on the internet that can help you find the email address for a particular individual. Many of them charge a monthly subscription fee, but there are a few that have an option for a limited number of searches or a free, limited-time trial.
FindThat
Offers a Chrome extension. Findthat uses a diverse set of data sources and requires that at least two sources will flag an email as valid before they put it out as a result.
Free The first 25 Find and 50 Verify credits.
Hunter.io
Provides a free Chrome extension. Lists the email addresses publicly available on the web, with confidence scores, department filters, and detailed sources.
Free 50 monthly requests
Loxo
Their proprietary directory contains 510+ million people across 95 data sources with verified phone and emails. Recruiters and Staffing Agencies use this platform, but now you can, too, with a new free product.
Free Single user access to Loxo Source, Loxo Profiles and Loxo Outreach for email.
RocketReach.Co
Ability to search 1.5 billion profiles by name, company, or LinkedIn URL. Chrome extension.
Free 5 Contact Lookups each month and export them to a CSV file.
Chrome extension. You can search people by name, phone, email or address
Free Trial One user is allowed up to 25 business emails
Find the company email username and domain name configuration
If you cannot find a specific email address for a person but have the person’s name and company, you may need to take an educated guess as to what it could be. A great place to look for email addresses of any sort is in the press section of the website. There you will usually find the name of someone in public relations or marketing and their email address. While this might not be the person you want to network with, you can at least see how the email addresses are configured to make a more logical guess about the user name and domain name configuration.
Another area on a website that might also have email configuration examples information is the Contact Us section.
So, do not let not having an email address be an obstacle to expanding your network. Networking is an integral part of any job search plan. A 2019 Jobvite study showed that nearly half of the respondents heard about jobs by word of mouth via friends, and 37% said they also learned through professional networks. Broadening your network and making new contacts can lead to becoming aware of new opportunities and possibly getting referred for a job.
Additional information about networking can be found in the following previous blog posts.
How to Help Your Connections Help You
Yes, You Can Network: How to Find People and Companies
Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.
