How do I apply to a company that is not advertising a job?
Write to a real person there, found on the company's own website: its contact, careers, about or team pages. Addresses found that way replied 21% of the time, 16 out of 77, which is far better than the 1% to 5% cold email usually gets. Say what work you do and the one kind of role you are after, give two things you have done with figures, and ask one question, such as whether they take on people for that kind of work. Keep it to 60 to 90 words and attach your CV. Never guess an address: if the site publishes none, move on to the next firm.
Where to find someone to write to
The company's own website: /contact, /careers,
/about, /team. Smaller firms often list the whole
team with addresses. A careers@ or hr@ inbox is fine too; an info@ inbox is
read by nobody in particular and replies far less.
Type the company's name here and it checks those pages for you and lists what the company publishes. It never guesses.
What to write
- The work you do and the one kind of role you want. Not "any role".
- Two things you have done, with figures.
- One question: "Do you take on people for this kind of work?"
- Your name, phone number, and your CV attached.
60 to 90 words. Nobody reads a long letter from a stranger about a job that does not exist yet.
If nothing comes back
One short follow-up after 5 working days, on the same thread. Then move on. The follow-up calculator works out the dates.
Where these numbers come from
86 cold emails to real UK employers over four weeks, sent by one person looking for work, logged as they went. 22 replies. The full method and every table is in the playbook, free, no account.
They are engineering and technician roles in Scotland, so a different trade may behave differently. Where a row is thin it says so on the row.
Since then: 171 applications across 137 employers, 32 replies, 19%. Live, and updated after every run.
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