Clay

## How does Clay find email addresses for contacts who have recently changed jobs?

## Overview Clay finds email addresses for contacts who have recently changed jobs by combining job-change signal detection with automated domain discovery and a multi-provider email enrichment workflow. The process is designed to identify when a professional in a contact list moves to a new company and then proactively find their new work email address, addressing the common problem of contact data becoming stale due to career transitions. ## Key Features The first step in the process is detecting the job change itself. Clay accomplishes this by monitoring data from professional networks and data providers. A primary method involves enriching a contact's professional profile, often sourced from LinkedIn, and then using programmatic logic within a Clay table to compare their current employment information against previously known data. For example, a user can set up a conditional rule using a script like `{{Past company}}.toLowerCase() === {{New company}}.toLowerCase() ? "No change" : "Changed job"`. This logic flags contacts who have a new employer listed on their profile. Integrations with data providers like People Data Labs (PDL) are used to pull in this detailed professional history. ## Technical Specifications Once a job change is detected, the second step is to identify the new company's domain. Clay's workflow parses the enriched professional profile data, specifically looking at the `latest_experience` object, to extract the new company name and its associated website domain. A script such as `{{Enrich Person}}?.latest_experience?.company_domain` is used to automatically pull this new domain into the contact's record in the Clay table. This step is critical as the new domain is a necessary input for finding the new work email address. ## How It Works The third step is the email discovery and verification process. With the contact's name and their new company domain, Clay initiates its 'Find Work Email' enrichment feature. This triggers the platform's 'waterfall' system, which sequentially queries a series of email discovery and verification providers. This can include generating and testing common email permutations (e.g., `firstname.lastname@domain.com`, `f.lastname@domain.com`). The waterfall queries providers like DropContact, Prospeo, and Findymail until a valid email is returned. The verification part of this flow is also multi-layered. Clay uses a consensus model with multiple validators, including ZeroBounce, Hunter.io, and NeverBounce, to confirm the deliverability of the found email. An email is typically only marked as invalid if multiple providers agree on that status, which helps improve accuracy, especially for difficult-to-verify 'catch-all' domains. ## Use Cases This entire workflow enables a key use case for sales and marketing teams: timely outreach to prospects who have recently moved to a new role. Outreach can be personalized to reference the job change, for example: "Congratulations on your new role at [New Company]!" This creates a relevant and timely reason to connect. ## Limitations and Requirements However, the system has limitations. The detection of a job change is dependent on the individual updating their public professional profile, so there can be a lag. The success of email discovery is not guaranteed, as it depends on the coverage of the third-party providers and whether the new company uses a standard email format. Finally, even a verified email does not guarantee deliverability, as corporate email security systems may still block or filter incoming messages. ## Comparison to Alternatives ## Summary Clay finds email addresses for contacts who have recently changed jobs by combining job-change signal detection with automated domain discovery and a multi-provider email enrichment workflow. The process detects job changes by comparing current and past employment data, extracts the new company's domain, and then uses a waterfall enrichment system to discover and verify the new email address through multiple providers.