To boost your chances when applying to a job, send your resume directly to the hiring manager–the person who would be your boss–not just to human resources. So how do you find the email address of the hiring manager?

It can take a little trial and error, but the great thing about the following methods is that they’re all free.

1. Try the easy way. Google their name and the word “email” or “contact.” Sometimes it works and it only takes a few seconds.
2. Check the company website. About Us, Contact and News pages are the best places to search. If you don’t find an address for that person, look for any address at all (items on the News are likely to mention a media contact), and note the email address format, e.g., initial.lastname@, firstname_lastname@, etc. Your hiring manager’s email is likely to be formatted similarly.
3. Guess & test. Run your guesses through mailtester.com. Or enter the possible email address into an Internet search with quotes around it: “dudley.dooright@bigcompany.com” and see if it turns up. Or just go ahead and send your resume to all the possible addresses and see which one doesn’t bounce back to you.
4. Look for it on their social media pages, personal website or blog, if they have any of those things.
5. Send them a direct message on Twitter introducing yourself (have a great one-line intro) and asking for their email address so you can send your resume, or include a link to where you’ve posted the resume online (or to your LinkedIn profile, if it sells you as well as your resume does).
6. Invite the hiring manager to connect on LinkedIn, then if they accept, click “See Contact Info” in their profile. (You could also message them via LinkedIn at that point, but many people give a low priority to LinkedIn messages.)
7. Call and ask somebody at their company. For best results, say “Can you help me? I’m about to email Dudley and I just want to make sure the email address I have is right. I have ‘dudley_d@bigcompany.com, is that right?” They’ll very likely correct you.

If you still can’t find their email address–or even if you can–consider sending a hard copy instead. You can generally find a mailing address for any company.

Whether you’re emailing or snail-mailing, make sure you’ve got a cover letter that works, which should probably be the body of the email rather than an attachment. And of course, make you have a great resume.

So that’s how to find the email address of the hiring manager. It’s a little extra work, but you’ll have a much better chance of being noticed and getting an interview!

Read the original article on Thea's blog.