Find the Person
Before you can reach out, you need to know who. And finding them is far easier than you think.
This is step three of the Hunt — Find — and it's the one that quietly stops most people, because of a single sentence: "I don't have a network." Let's put that to rest. It's almost never true. You know far more people than you think — you've just never mapped them on purpose. And the people you don't know yet? They're more findable than you'd guess.
So you've got two jobs here. Do both, and you'll never stare at a blank contact list again.
Warm-Lead Inventory
The people who already know you and would happily take your call. Use the prompts to jog your memory — most people fill this faster than they expect.
| Person | How you know them | How they could help | When |
|---|
Find the Decision-Maker
For each company on your target list, find the specific human who'd actually hire you — not the "careers@" inbox. Here's how the pros do it.
- 1Search the company on LinkedIn, then filter by title. Look for the manager or team lead of the function you'd join — "Marketing Manager," "Director of Programs" — not just a recruiter.
- 2Check "mutual connections." LinkedIn shows who you both know. A shared contact is a warm intro waiting to happen — that's your fastest way in.
- 3Use the alumni angle. Same school, same past employer, same association. Shared background makes strangers into warm-ish leads.
- 4Cross-check the company's own site. Team pages, "About us," press releases, and staff directories often name the exact person and confirm the title.
| Target company | Role you want | Likely decision-maker (name / title) | Mutual connection? |
|---|
Rank, Then Reach
You've got names. Don't try to contact everyone at once — start where it's warmest.
Sort your list by warmth × fit: a warm lead at a great-fit target is your first call; a cold contact at a maybe-fit target can wait. Begin with the easy yeses — they build momentum, and each conversation tends to hand you the next name.
Got your who? Now open your Outreach Script Pack to write the message — you'll never face a blank email. Then log each person in your Tracker (Strategy = Hunting) with a follow-up date, so the cadence carries them and nothing goes cold.