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I know how to find and validate email addresses (usually it's as simple as firstname.lastname@domain.com). During interviews, I usually have previous email contact with the "primary" interviewer, but I go through many interviewers, whom I know the name but not the email. Usually, I do not ask for the email address, but I always send a thank you email to each of the interviewers. Is this appropriate or would this be awkward and harmful to my interests? Should I always ask for the email address? I feel as if that may be awkward to ask, especially for some of the technical interviewers. Also, sometimes I forget to ask.

Does it change anything that I am applying for cybersecurity related positions?

Daniel Grover
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  • Why is this approach necessary? Whatever lines of communication you've had with the company before the interview, just email them and ask "Can you forward this to Mr. or Ms. Interviewer?" –  Oct 05 '17 at 15:35
  • "I am a hacker and I know how to find and validate email addresses" - what means are you using to do this? Is it just a matter of finding publicly available information, or are you actually breaking into a system? – David K Oct 05 '17 at 15:37
  • Usually, I look at the email address pattern. It's generally something like firstinitial.lastname, firstname.lastname, etc. Another good resource is hunter.io. Sometimes, I'd validate this using email enumeration methods. None of this is illegal. I'd like to think this gives me some credential as being a hacker too, since this is usually the first step in a penetration test involving spear phishing. Of course, companies generally don't publicize employee email addresses for security reasons ;) – Daniel Grover Oct 05 '17 at 15:40
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    @DanielGrover I don't think anyone is suggesting it's illegal. But the question is more of how they'll feel about you discovering something that wasn't given to them or in a place like LinkedIn. I assure you that there are some that would find it "creepy" and you don't know if the people to whom you are sending are one of those people. – Chris E Oct 05 '17 at 15:44
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    Possible duplicate of Should a thank you letter be sent after an interview? – gnat Oct 05 '17 at 16:15
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    I don't understand what the point would be. If they didn't give you an email address its pretty clear (to me) that there is no reason to contact them via email. The fact that you are applying for a cybersecurity related job means nothing. If they wanted you to email them, they would have supplied you with an email address. – SaggingRufus Oct 05 '17 at 16:30
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    If you get their e-mail address wrong, it will probably go to the generic catch-all address, so you may come across looking silly in that case (or maybe no one reads it at all). – Brandin Oct 05 '17 at 16:38
  • Usually, if it's wrong, it gets a bounce email, and I will know that the email address is wrong, so I can just try another one. That's one way to "check" email addresses. I don't think it goes to anyone's mailbox however. – Daniel Grover Oct 05 '17 at 17:09
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    At a large company, your email might go through just fine (not bounce) -- to the wrong person. We have one email address here that's up to firstname.lastname12. – Monica Cellio Oct 06 '17 at 03:12
  • Sending e-mail to different, similar sounding e-mail addresses comes across as too spammy to me. Depending on the e-mail system, it may be possible to guess an address, initiate the e-mail connection with that address, observe the server's response to see if it is a valid mailbox, and then close the connection without actually sending anything. But why go to all this trouble? A smart e-mail system will detect repeated activity like this as spam, anyway. – Brandin Oct 06 '17 at 09:52

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You should know by now that you never demonstrate your ability to find out information that wasn't given to you unless you were requested to do so. The reason isn't so much about hacking, but that it could appear "stalker-ish" which is definitely a bad impression to give someone.

So in other words, No you shouldn't, unless you're getting them from somewhere like LinkedIn or the company website. Otherwise, I'd ask for their emails or let your recruiter forward them. It shows a little courtesy.

Knowing that someone can do something and actually have it proven to them are two very different things and the last thing you want to do is appear "sneaky". One of the things about hacking when you're employed is that you only do it when you're asked to do it. Otherwise they'll never trust you. Quite the opposite really.

Chris E
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    I agree with this if it's actually hacking into a system. If it's just a matter of finding their email address on LinkedIn or the company website, I think that's perfectly acceptable. – David K Oct 05 '17 at 15:39
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    @DavidK with those 2 exceptions I would agree. But if you have to hunt them down on social media, I stand by my assertion that it could very well appear stalker-ish depending on the person. It's weird because people know their information is out there and can be found, but people rarely like having that proven to them. – Chris E Oct 05 '17 at 15:41
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Given that e-mail addresses aren't generally considered confidential information the chances are pretty high that people won't really think twice about it, especially in the case of predictably formatted addresses such as those used by many companies. Of course if they do think about then you risk them considering it to be a bit awkward or even a little bit creepy if the address wasn't in a predictable format and I really can't see any potential advantage you could gain from deliberately doing it this way.

If you want to send a thank you note to someone ask them for their e-mail address, if you don't have it send a note to your contact and ask to have it forwarded on.

And no this will gain you precisely zero "hacker" credibility, cybersecurity position or not.

motosubatsu
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usually it's as simple as firstname.lastname@domain.com

I would not assume this. First if you get one or more wrong and the people whom you got right start doing a reply to all, they could get invalid recipient error messages from the mail server. These could reflect poorly on you.

As this answer says just send the note to the contact addresses you have and ask that it be forwarded to to your interviewers.

You may also be able to request the addresses from your contact if you wish to send customized thank you notes individually.

IDrinkandIKnowThings
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