Common Job Hunting Hack – Guessing Work Emails Professionally

So it's a common situation.

Many of us are applying for jobs, hoping for a referral, or trying to connect with someone who’s already working at a company we admire.

But sometimes, LinkedIn doesn’t show a "Message" option — or we’re not connected yet.

In such cases, guessing a professional work email (ethically and respectfully) can help us reach out directly.

Let’s understand how this works 👇

The Setup
You know someone’s full name:
Example: John Doe

And the company they work at uses a domain like:
examplecompany.com

Just like how CSS has layout patterns, email formats often follow common structures too.

Most Common Email Patterns
Here are the patterns most companies use:

Format Guessed Email
[e-mail] firstname
[e-mail] firstname.lastname
[e-mail] firstinitial.lastname
[e-mail] firstname.lastinitial
[e-mail] full name, no separator
[e-mail] firstname_lastname
[e-mail] firstinitial+lastname

Try a few of these combinations if you’re writing a polite, respectful cold email.

(Just remember to use BCC when trying multiple guesses.)

Use It Respectfully 💡
This is not about spamming — it’s about professional networking.

You’re simply trying to reach out to someone with similar interests, or to learn more about an opportunity.

Like in CSS:

opacity: 0 → It's there but not visible

display: none → It’s not rendered at all

Be like opacity: 0. Present, polite, and non-intrusive.

Bonus Prompt for AI
If you're using AI tools like ChatGPT, here’s a simple prompt:

“Given the name ‘John Doe’ and the domain ‘examplecompany.com’, list the top 10 most likely corporate email formats for reaching out professionally.”

Final Thought
This trick won’t always work, but it’s worth trying — especially if you’re genuinely interested and respectful in your approach.

Sometimes, one thoughtful email is all it takes to open a door.

All the best 😊