Gnet Speculative Approach

---
name: gnet-speculative-approach
description: Plans a speculative application email with a named recipient check, points for the subject line, opening, fit to their work with sources, the ask and your availability, and a follow-up date. Use for "run gnet-speculative-approach", "speculative application", "speculative email", "how to ask for a job that is not advertised", "cold email an employer", "email a company that is not hiring", "unadvertised graduate jobs", "who do I send my CV to", part of the Claude Graduate Networking Guide Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Speculative Application Email

## When To Use
You want to work somewhere that is not advertising. This plans one speculative email to one named person: who it goes to, the points for each part, and when to follow up. You write it.

## When Not To Use
If the employer has an open vacancy, apply through its process instead. If you want advice from someone you know rather than work, use Message Points. If you cannot find a named person, stop here and run Alumni Search Plan or Employer Research Brief first.

## Inputs
- The employer and why you want to work there, with sources (an Employer Research Brief is ideal)
- The named recipient: their name and role, and the public source where you found them
- Your CV, and the kind of work and dates you are available for
If you have none of this, I start from the employer's name and your CV, and mark the output as a first draft with the recipient left open.

## Approach
The speculative application structure and follow-up from the Prospects guide (Jun 2025): a clear subject line, the recipient's name, a brief introduction and purpose, your skills matched to their goals, a closing that asks to discuss, a professional sign-off, and one follow-up after one to two weeks. UK university careers guidance adds: only approach a named person. The failure it prevents: "Dear Sir or Madam" to a generic inbox, a CV attached, and no follow-up, so nobody owns a reply.

## Workflow
1. Ask at most three questions: what work you are asking about, when you could start, and whether you want to attach your CV.
2. Named recipient check. The recipient must be a real person in a relevant role, found in a public source you name. If there is none, I stop and point you to Alumni Search Plan or Employer Research Brief.
3. Points per part. Subject line (what you are asking, plainly). Opening (who you are and why you are writing to them). Fit (two or three skills from your CV matched to their work, each with a source). The ask (a conversation about [work], not "any job"). Availability and sign-off.
4. Timing: avoid peak holidays when the inbox piles up, as the Prospects guide advises; you pick the send date.
5. Set one follow-up date, one to two weeks after sending. One follow-up only.
6. You write the email. Your CV goes only if you choose; I never add experience it does not show. Claude Docs (beta) is optional if you want the CV and email side by side.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Speculative Application Email Plan
Employer: [employer] · Recipient: [name], [role] (source: [public source, date])
## Recipient check
| Real named person | Relevant role | Public source | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| [yes / no] | [yes / no] | [source] | [go / stop and find one] |
## Points per part
| Part | Your point | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Subject line | [what you are asking] | [none needed] |
| Opening | [who you are, why them] | [your notes] |
| Fit to their work | [skill matched to their goal] | [CV line; public source, date] |
| The ask | [a conversation about [work]] | [brief] |
| Availability and sign-off | [dates, CV attached or not] | [you] |
## Follow-up
Send date: [date] · Follow-up date: [one to two weeks later] · Then: [log as closed if no reply]
## Decision
[You write the email and send it to [name] by [date], and decide whether to attach your CV.]
```

## Done When
- A real named recipient with a public source is recorded, or the plan stops at the check
- Every part has a point, and every fit point has a source
- One follow-up date sits one to two weeks after the send date
- No ready-to-send email is written

## Quality Bar
- One employer, one person per email; never the same email to a list
- Fit points match their goals, not a list of your modules
- Recipient details come from public sources only, never a guessed email address
- No promises about outcomes; a reply is never assumed
- You write and send the email to one named person; nothing about you is invented.

## Next
Run gnet-grammar-check (Grammar Check) to clean the email you wrote.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).