When you receive an unsolicited contact from a potential employer and you've never heard of them, how do you investigate the company?

Of course, you can view their website; but how much good does that really do?

Was it from a recruiter? One who gave a personal introduction with some information that helps verify identity such as LinkedIn? Or a google search brings up a LinkedIn account that matches the employer?

Those kinds of emails happen a lot and are usually legit. You may not want the job but it is probably legit.

A generic email is most likely spam. A recruiter will usually show they have done some homework. Soemthing like "I am searching for candidates to fill position X and came across your LinkedIn profile etc. and it looks like you mat be a good fit...."


If you cannot Identify a specific person it is probably spam.

It's definitely not spam. Just wondering how you verify the relative longevity/health or reputation of a company you've never heard of.

manta.com will often times have the bare bones information. Things like owners name, year founded, industry, and # of employees.

Another place is via HireAggies.com. Once you log into AggieNetwork,com hover over the "Career Tools" link roughly right/center at the top of the page and click "Hire Aggies"

Once in the Hire Aggies, page scroll down a bit and click on the "Career Shift" link on the right hand side. Then click on the "my companies" tab and enter the company.

The information in Career Shift goes beyond Aggies only. If the company is new or very small it may not have anything. If you know some of the key people their names may come up in Career Shift if it hasn't been too long since they left their position.

Sounds like you are mulling over a potential opportunity? Since you know it is not spam, reach out and ask a bunch of questions. If you are currently employed you have nothing to lose.

Hopefully one of these sources gets you some info.

Glassdoor.com will give you an idea of how employees view them if they've been reviewed