I would suggest that if you're going in through the non-technical person, you're taking the wrong approach. For many companies, you can determine who you might

I would suggest that if you're going in through the non-technical person, you're taking the wrong approach. For many companies, you can determine who you might be working with or working for from the job description, title, etc. Then with a little bit of googling and/or LinkedIn exploration, find some of the relevant people. Even if you can only get to a potential coworker, it's a start. Drop them a note saying "I'm interested in position X but I want to know more about the role and/or find the proper person to talk to. Do you have any suggestions?" or if you're remotely connected to them at all, cut to the chase with "I don't want to get caught in the HR blackhole. Who should I talk to?" Most of the tech people out there will understand and often agree with that reasoning and either give you a name, offer to pass along your resume yourself, or - worse case - ignore you. But before they'll pass you along, they'll probably google you to make sure you're not a recruiter and/or scammer.