How to find former employees of a company on LinkedIn
Former-employee research
Use LinkedIn People search, open All Filters and select Past company. Choose the company you mean, apply any relevant location or role criteria, then open the matching profiles to check where those people work now.
A past employer can be a useful starting point for reconnecting with colleagues, researching a professional community or finding contacts who once worked at a customer. The list you keep needs two separate facts: the employer that brought someone into the search and the current role that makes the person relevant today. A third fact matters when you plan to reconnect as a vendor: whether that individual actually knew or used your product.
Find the right past-company match
LinkedIn’s current People-search documentation lists both Current company and Past company under All Filters. Start with the past-company control for this task. Selecting the current-company control answers a different question: who works there now.
For a small research list, the native search and a working sheet can be enough. Record the profile links and your findings as you review them; you do not need a bulk importer to establish which people belong in the list.
- 01
Open People search
Use LinkedIn search and select People. Open All Filters to inspect the available criteria. The exact layout can vary, so use the labeled controls rather than relying on a particular position on the screen.
- 02
Select the intended past employer
Find Past company and choose the company’s matching entry. Check the business identity when a brand, subsidiary or similarly named organization could be confused. Keep the company Page or name you selected in your research notes.
- 03
Narrow the people you need
Add only criteria that follow your purpose, such as location or relevant role terms. Show the results and inspect a few profiles before expanding the work. A title appearing in a headline still needs a current-role check.
- 04
Review the Experience entries
Check the historical role at the selected company, then the person’s present employer and responsibilities. If dates, overlapping jobs or a vague headline leave the current role unclear, hold the record for review.
Keep past employment, current fit and prior relationship separate
In a fictional example, you are looking for former Northstar employees who now lead operations at companies your service supports. Northstar supplies the search criterion. The person’s current responsibilities determine whether further research is worthwhile. Your own customer records determine whether you have a previous relationship with that individual.
The rows below are invented to show the review decision. If a profile leaves current employment uncertain, check an appropriate current public source or leave the finding unresolved. Record where you checked and when. A former employer’s email address should not be treated as a current contact route.
| Past-employer context | Current-role evidence | Prior relationship | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex: former Northstar employee | Profile lists operations leadership at Meridian; responsibilities fit the brief | Your records show Alex attended a product review | Keep for a current-needs review; confirm the relationship context before reconnecting |
| Sam: former Northstar employee | Headline mentions consulting; present employer and remit are unclear | Unknown | Hold until the current role is clarified |
| Jo: former Northstar employee | Profile lists a relevant role at Harbor | No evidence Jo personally used or bought the product | Keep only if current fit warrants it; do not address Jo as a former customer |
Use Sales Navigator filters for the question they answer
Sales Navigator distinguishes Past company from Current company. It also defines Changed jobs in the last 90 days as a separate filter. Someone can match a past employer after leaving years ago; a past-company search alone says nothing about how recently the move happened.
LinkedIn documents Past Customer as a separate Advanced Plus feature. Keep that product label distinct from a normal past-company match. For any personal reconnect, check your own interaction history before writing as though the person knows your product. A company’s customer status alone leaves that question unanswered.
Use the ordinary People-search route above if that meets your needs. Sales Navigator results have their own saving and export options; its search URL belongs to a different workflow from OutreachGenie’s ordinary-search importer.
Preserve the research when you save an OutreachGenie list
For ordinary LinkedIn People results, OutreachGenie’s sidebar offers From a search. Choose Set a limit and a Destination List, then Import Prospects. The full search-import guide explains those controls and the difference between fetched candidates, new workspace records and additions to a list.
Choose a review list that is not assigned to a campaign. Adding prospects to a list already used by an active campaign can add them to that campaign’s audience. A new review list also does not cancel activity or other list memberships that an existing prospect already has; inspect those separately before planning contact.
The search import supplies profile URLs, names, the search headline as the title field and available location data. It does not supply company, the source search URL, past-company criteria or your research notes. Existing records can retain populated fields, so repeating an import should not be treated as a refresh of a stale employer or title.
For each person you keep, add a factual note with the items below. Update the current Company or title fields only with current information you have checked. Keep the historical employer in the note instead of entering it as the current company.
- Past employer used in the search, plus the source search or profile URL.
- Current employer and role, the evidence you checked and the review date.
- Prior relationship with the person, if relevant, and the record supporting it; otherwise leave it unknown.
- Keep, hold or exclude decision, with the reason and next step.
Treat the result as a researched subset
LinkedIn describes People-search result counts as approximate. A matching count is therefore a weak target for a complete alumni list, and an empty result does not establish that the company has no former employees. Check the selected company and your criteria before drawing that conclusion.
Profiles can be incomplete or out of date. If a current role or employment history cannot be established, keep the uncertainty visible. Stop the affected activity when LinkedIn displays a limit or restriction; an importer does not restore that access.
Begin with a few records you can explain. Each accepted entry should show why the past employer mattered, what you know about the person’s work now and what remains to check before a conversation. That gives a teammate a useful next step without turning a historical employment match into an assumed relationship.
Questions that come up in practice
Common questions
Can I search for former employees without Sales Navigator?
LinkedIn’s ordinary People-search documentation includes Past company under All Filters. Select the company and review the returned profiles. Sales Navigator is a separate option with additional filters; it is not required for the documented ordinary-search procedure.
Does Past company show where someone works now?
It supplies a historical employer criterion. Open the profile and check the current Experience entry, responsibilities and dates. Record the current employer separately, and leave an unclear role unresolved.
Will importing the search preserve the past-company filter?
OutreachGenie’s ordinary search import does not save the source search URL or past-company criteria. Add that context manually to the research notes. Its imported title comes from the search headline, and existing populated values can remain, so review current employment yourself.
Research used for this guide
Import a reviewed LinkedIn search
Next step