The Internet has made finding old friends easier. Unfortunately, the Internet also has such a large volume of information that it can be difficult to sort through the options you have available. However, you can employ several techniques to assist your search. Finding an old friend can at times be frustrating and time-consuming, so expect to spend several days doing a comprehensive search.
Step 1
Contact your college's alumni association. Alumni associations typically keep track of individuals who graduated from the school and may have up-to-date contact information for your friend. These organizations will typically keep both the maiden and married names of individuals and may even have ways to find individuals whose names you have forgotten. Some alumni associations even have online databases that allow you to search based on your graduation year, allowing you to find many friends you have been out of touch with.
Step 2
Access public records for any professional licenses your old friend may have. Narrow your search by recalling your friend's college major or any special interests she had. Professionals like attorneys, CPAs, real estate agents and notaries have an agency responsible for publicizing the professionals' licensure status. Contact these types of agencies and request to do a search by the individual's name.
Step 3
Join online networking websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn or GradFinder. If your college friend has joined one of these sites, you will be able to find him by name, school, graduation year, professional field or any number of parameters the site may use.
Step 4
Hire a professional people finding agency to assist your search. While their services may be expensive, they will have access to resources that you do not. Additionally, the agency's experience and skills may be invaluable in finding an individual whom you were unable to track down yourself.
Tips and Warnings
- While some resources, such as your college's alumni association, will retain original and new names of individuals, other sources may list only an individual's current name. You may have some difficulty finding a married woman based on her maiden name, for instance. Make yourself easy to be found by registering with your college's alumni association or maintaining a profile at a social networking website. If the person you are looking for happens to be looking for you as well, the best way to find her may be to make yourself easily found.
- While it is not illegal to search for an individual, repeated attempts--especially if the individual wishes to not be found by you--may be considered harassment. Generally, you should not attempt to find someone unless you believe that person would be pleased that you did.
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