Know no one at your dream company? How to find the right person to talk to

There's a company you'd love to work at. You've read their careers page twice. You've applied. And then... nothing.

Meanwhile, someone who "knows a person there" seems to glide straight in.

Look, it's frustrating. But it's also fixable. You don't need a famous uncle or a fancy network. You need one real conversation with someone who works there, and a sensible way to ask for it.

Here's how we'd go about it.

First, who are you actually looking for?

Not the CEO. Honestly, not the CEO.

Senior leaders get flooded with messages, and they're usually furthest from the day-to-day of the team you'd join. The most useful person is often much closer to the ground:

Someone in the team you'd join, doing the job you want or one step above it.
Someone in a neighbouring team who works with that team every week.
A recent hire. They remember what the process was like and what surprised them.
The hiring manager, if the role is live and you can work out who it is. Lead with curiosity, though, not your CV.

The sweet spot is someone who knows what the work is really like and has a bit of time to explain it. Those people exist in almost every company, and plenty of them are happy to help.

Where to look

1. The company's own website. Team pages, blog posts, case studies, event recaps and podcast episodes often name people and what they work on. Bonus: it gives you something specific to mention.

2. LinkedIn search. Search the company, click "People", then filter by keyword for the function you're interested in, like "data", "product" or "design". Look at job titles, how long they've been there, and whether they post. People who share things publicly tend to be more open to a chat.

3. Your alumni networks. Your uni, your old school, a bootcamp, a previous employer. On LinkedIn, your university's page has an Alumni tab where you can filter by company. "We both did engineering at the same uni" is a lovely, natural opener.

4. Events and meetups. Industry meetups, conference talks, webinars, community Slack groups. If someone from the company spoke or showed up, you now have a genuine reason to get in touch.

5. Mutual connections. Check whether anyone you already know is connected to someone there. A warm intro from a mutual friend beats a cold message every time. Just make it easy for them: tell them exactly who you'd like to meet and why, in two lines they can forward.

How to write the message

Short. Personal. Specific. That's the whole recipe.

Your message should do three things:

Say who you are, in one line.
Say why them. Something real: their team, a post they wrote, a shared background.
Ask for something small and easy, like 15 to 20 minutes to hear about their team.

Here's a fictional example:

Hi Sam, I'm a data analyst in retail, looking at moving into product analytics. I saw your post about how your team runs experiments and it's exactly the kind of work I'm keen to learn more about. Would you be open to a 15-minute chat sometime in the next few weeks? Totally understand if you're flat out.

That's it. No attached CV. No life story. No "I'd love to pick your brain" (nobody loves having their brain picked).

A few things that help:

Keep it under about 80 words. It should fit on a phone screen without scrolling.
Give them an easy out. "Totally understand if not" takes the pressure off, and people are more likely to say yes when they don't feel cornered.
Make sure your profile is ready first. They'll click on it. A clear headline and a decent photo do a lot of the introducing for you.

Follow up once, then let it go

People are busy. Messages get buried. A single friendly nudge is completely fine.

Wait about a week, then reply in the same thread:

Hi Sam, just bumping this in case it got lost. No worries at all if now's not a good time.

If there's still no reply, leave it there. Don't chase. Don't message three of their colleagues the same day. Move on to the next person on your list, with zero hard feelings.

What not to do

This is where a lot of well-meaning people go wrong.

Don't ask a stranger for a job or referral in your first message. Think about it from their side. They don't know you yet, and a referral puts their name on the line. Ask to learn about the team instead. If a conversation goes well, the relationship can grow from there, on their terms.

Don't mass message. Copy-pasting the same note to twenty people at one company is obvious, and it can get around. One thoughtful message to the right person is worth far more than a pile of generic ones.

Don't use automation tools for LinkedIn messaging. Bots and scripts that send connection requests or messages for you are against LinkedIn's rules and can get your account restricted. They also make your outreach feel exactly like what it is: automated. Every message should be one you wrote, to one person.

Don't bulk email people. Guessing work email addresses and blasting them is not a good look, and it's not respectful of people's inboxes. Stick to personal, one-to-one messages.

Don't overshare or overask. A 15-minute chat is a small ask. A 45-minute CV review for someone you've never met is not.

The mindset that makes it work

You're not asking for a favour you can't repay. You're showing genuine interest in someone's work, and most people quite like talking about what they do. Keep it curious, keep it short, and be gracious whether they say yes, no, or nothing at all.

Do that a few times and something shifts. You stop being a name in an applicant list and start being someone people at the company have actually spoken to.

Want us to find the insiders for you?

Finding the right person and getting the message right takes time. In Who You Know Concierge, our team arranges intro calls with verified insiders at your target companies, after a CV and LinkedIn glow-up so you show up at your best. Check out Concierge.