Most of the engineering leaders I work with are not actively job hunting. They’re heads down running a team, and then something shifts, a reorg, a new CTO, a company that’s just not it anymore, and suddenly they want to check out the landscape without dropping the ball on their current job. That’s who I built this process for.
One tracker, not two lists
The first thing I do is get us both on the same sheet. Literally. One tracker, shared, where we’re both adding to it in real time. I’m not asking someone to email me updates every few days and I’m not keeping my own separate notes on the side. It’s one source of truth.
They log the roles they’re applying to, who they already know at the company, where things stand. I come in behind that and go to work sourcing. I’m pulling extra POCs off SalesNav, running contacts through Clay to get real emails and numbers, figuring out who the actual decision maker is versus who just posted the job. Then I drop all of that back into the same tracker so they can see it and we can strategize how to use it.
Neither of us is guessing what the other one knows. We’re combining networks into one pipeline instead of running two separate searches that never talk to each other.
Why this works
Leaders already know how to run a process. They don’t need me explaining what a pipeline is, they need someone matching their speed and adding real reach they don’t have time to build themselves while still doing their day job. The tracker gives them visibility without them having to chase me, and it gives me a clear picture on where things stand and what we should do next (ie: call, linkedin msg, follow-ups etc).
You can do this with other recruiters and peers too
Here’s the part I think more people should be doing: You don’t need to be the only recruiter in someone’s corner. I’ve watched leaders pair up with each other, each working with a different recruiter, and just swap leads back and forth. One person hears about an opening that’s not a fit for them but is perfect for the other, and they pass it along. Same thing on the recruiter side, two of us combining who we know instead of guarding our lists.
More eyes on more roles means more conversations happening at once. That’s really all this is about. The spreadsheet makes it easy to see where the conversations are and where they’re not, so you know exactly where to push next. Combine your network. Strategize your outreach. Get more conversations on the board.