Free resource · The Search Map

A great search isn't
more applications.
It's better aim.

I spent 14 years in recruiting and hiring, and I've talked with hundreds of people about what's next for them. This is the advice I give my friends when they're starting a search, or stuck in one. Five moves, in order.. and every one of them gets easier once you can say what you're actually great at.

Each move opens an AI prompt you can copy in one click, if you want it. Take what's useful, and if it helps, share it with a friend. · Rachel 🎣

1
The move
Find your through-line first
It may seem logical to start your search by opening a job board. Start with your own story instead. You've built more than a title's worth of experience, and somewhere in it there's a thread.. the thing people always come to you for, the problems you keep ending up solving, the work that gives you energy. Get that clear first and every other move on this page gets easier, because you'll know what you're aiming with.
Ask the people who've seen you work. "What do you come to me for?" is a faster mirror than any self-assessment.
Notice what you treat as ordinary. The thing you assume anyone can do is usually the thing most people can't.
Pay attention to energy, not just skill. What you're great at and what you want more of aren't always the same. You need both.
Here's a prompt to get you started

This one takes about 20 minutes, and it's the most valuable prompt on this page. Upload your resume and your LinkedIn profile (download it as a PDF) into a new chat first.. Claude, ChatGPT, whichever you already use.. then paste this in:

I'm a [your role] with [X years] in [field], figuring out my next move. I've uploaded my resume and LinkedIn profile.

Help me find the through-line in my career and turn it into language I can actually use. Work through this with me in stages. Don't dump everything at once.

Stage 1: Interview me. Ask me one question at a time, up to 12 questions total. Dig into what people consistently come to me for, the hardest problems I've helped solve, what I've built that didn't exist before, and which parts of the work give me energy versus drain me. Push back when I'm vague, or when I call something routine that sounds like it wasn't. Assume I'm underselling myself, because most people do.

Stage 2: Reflect it back. Tell me what themes repeat, what strengths I'm treating as ordinary that might actually set me apart, and what the through-line is. Be direct.

Stage 3: Only when I tell you to, draft in my voice, not corporate-speak: a two-sentence version of my story, a 30-second version for networking, and a longer version for interviews.

Rules: never invent numbers, accomplishments, or scope. Ask me instead. Don't use words like "leverage," "spearheaded," "results-driven," or "passionate." I'll tell you when to move to the next stage.

One note: Stage 1 is the whole point. Resist the urge to skip ahead to the part where you write things for me.
2
The move
Don't shrink to fit the posting
Here's something recruiting taught me: a lot of teams are still figuring out what they actually need while they're interviewing for it. The job description is one version of the role, and often not the full picture. So connect your experience to the problems they're trying to solve, absolutely. But don't restructure your whole story to sound like the posting. Expand the picture, so they can see what else becomes possible by hiring you.
Speak to their problems, not their bullet points. The posting is a symptom list. You're there to talk about the underlying thing.
Keep the parts of your story that don't "match." The experience that doesn't fit the box is often what makes you the interesting candidate.
Aim for one takeaway: "They can lead this, and they bring something broader we didn't know we needed."
Here's a prompt to get you started

Use AI to read between the lines of the posting, not to mirror it back:

I'm preparing for [role] at [company].

Here's the job description: [paste]
Here's my background: [paste your resume, or your through-line summary from move 1]

Don't rewrite my story to mirror the posting. Instead:
- Name the three problems this team is most likely hiring to solve, reading between the lines of the description.
- Show me where my experience speaks to each one, in my words.
- Then tell me what I bring that the posting didn't ask for, but this team would probably care about.

Rules: never invent experience I don't have. If there's a real gap, name it and help me think about how to address it honestly. No "leverage," no "spearheaded," no corporate-speak.
3
The move
Make your profile work for you
Recruiters are searching with sharper tools now, and those tools can only find what your profile gives them. Most profiles show titles and dates.. not scale, not how you lead, not the problems you've solved. Your headline and About section should let someone understand, in about ten seconds, the scope you've carried, the problems you solve, and what makes you different from everyone else who's held your title.
Retire the title-as-headline. Your headline is prime real estate. Spend it on the value you bring, not the label you hold.
Add scope and outcomes to recent roles. Team size, budget, what you built, what got easier because of you.
One tip before you edit: turn off "share profile updates with network" in your visibility settings, so you can work on it discreetly. Unless, of course, you want to broadcast your updates.. then by all means, keep it on.
Here's a prompt to get you started

Bring your through-line from move 1 into this one. That's what keeps the rewrite sounding like you:

Here's my current LinkedIn profile: [paste, or upload the PDF]
Here's my resume: [paste]
Here's my through-line: [paste what you landed on in move 1]
And here are a few sentences I've written that sound like me: [paste 2-3, from anywhere]

Rewrite my LinkedIn headline (give me 3 options) and my About section so they show my actual scope and what I'm great at, not just my current title. Match how I actually write.

Before you draft anything, ask me three questions that would make this sharper.

Rules: never invent numbers.. ask me for real ones where they'd help. No "leverage," "spearheaded," "results-driven," "passionate," or anything that sounds like every other profile.
4
The move
Reach humans, and give them your words
A referral gets read. A cold application often doesn't get opened. In a recent analysis of 38 million job applications, referred candidates went from application to interview about 40% of the time, versus roughly 3% for people who applied cold. And your network can only refer you if you hand them the words.. something they can repeat in a room you're not in.
Build a short list of 15 to 25 companies you'd actually want to work for, and find a person at each one. A hiring manager, an alum, a former coworker.
Ask for perspective and intros, not jobs. It's an easier yes, and it starts a better conversation.
Get clear on what makes you uniquely qualified, even when you're not asking for a job. Be a real person, and give people something they can repeat.. because if they can't repeat it, they can't refer you.
Here's a prompt to get you started

Two jobs here: the forwardable version of you, and the note that's easy to say yes to.

Help me with two things.

First: using my through-line [paste from move 1], write the two-sentence version of who I am that a friend could say on my behalf or forward in a message. Then a 30-second version for when I'm the one talking. Make both sound like a person, not a bio.

Second: draft a short note to [name, and how you know them] asking for an introduction to [person or team] at [company]. Under 90 words, warm, specific, easy to say yes to. Include my two-liner so forwarding me costs them nothing. Give me two versions with different openers so I can pick one and make it mine.

Rules: nothing that sounds like a template. No "I hope this finds you well." Never invent anything about my background.. ask me if you need more.
5
The move
Have your stories ready before you need them
Interviews reward people who have their stories ready. Build the bank before you're in a process: the time you influenced a hard stakeholder, decided with incomplete information, led through change, handled a miss, built something that didn't exist before. Then when a conversation goes well, keep the momentum.
For every story, know four things: the context, what you did, the judgment involved, and the impact it had.
Send a same-day thank-you that names one specific thing from the conversation. Short and sweet is great, and write it yourself.. or if you do use AI, tell it what you want to say and let it clean it up, versus having it write it for you. It makes a difference.
Following up is OK. Silence doesn't always mean no.. schedules get busy, priorities shift, it could mean anything. Send one warm note, then move on. If they want to move forward, they know where to find you. Hiring is rough right now, so don't spend too much energy spiraling on any one process.
Here's a prompt to get you started

Build the bank once, then use it before every conversation. Prep with AI all you want.. just never take it into the live interview:

Here's my background: [paste]
Here's my through-line: [paste from move 1]

Help me build an interview story bank. Ask me, one at a time, for real examples of: influencing a difficult stakeholder, making a decision with incomplete information, leading through change, handling a miss or mistake, and building something that didn't exist before. Push me for specifics.. the context, what I personally did, the judgment involved, and what changed because of it. Keep my words. Don't polish my stories into corporate-speak.

When we're done, format the bank so I can scan it in five minutes before any interview, and flag which stories are strongest for [the kind of role you're targeting].

Later, when I ask, act as the interviewer for a specific role and run me through likely questions using my real stories. After each answer, tell me what landed and what to tighten.
If you're using AI in your search

Let it do some of the work, so you can show up as the lovely, qualified person you are.

These tools are great at the repetitive parts of a search: research, first drafts, tailoring, rehearsal. Handing those off frees your energy for the parts only you can do.. the actual conversations, sharing your story, and the judgment about where you want to go.

One thing worth knowing: most hiring teams can tell the difference by now between someone who used these tools to get clearer and someone who let the tools do the talking.. and the latter will probably get you rejected. So paste your real context into every prompt (that's why every prompt on this page asks for it), edit everything until it sounds like you, and don't take AI into a live interview unless the role calls for it.

And a note on pace, from someone who's seen a lot of searches

A real search at the senior level often runs three to five months, and quiet stretches are common.. even in processes that end in offers. If you get into a process and the experience ends up less than ideal, that's the state of hiring in a lot of places right now, not a verdict on you. Keep a weekly rhythm you can actually hold, protect your energy, and treat every stalled process as information you get to use next time.

Here's the short version of what I recommend thinking about

Five moves, in this order, and all of it doable on your own.

1Get clear on your through-line.. what you're actually great at, beyond the function.
2Connect to their problems without shrinking your story to fit a posting.
3Make your profile show your real scope, so the right people can find you.
4Reach humans, and arm them with your words.. two sentences they can repeat.
5Have your stories ready before you need them, and keep your momentum through the quiet stretches.

You're already great at what you do. All of this is just making sure the right people can see it.. the parts a title and a resume don't capture. Start with move 1, and the rest gets easier from there.

Pass it on

If this was useful, please share it with a friend.

If you'd rather do this together

The first move is the hardest one to make alone.

It can be hard to see your own through-line from inside your own career. That's the Reel Conversation: one real conversation with me, and you walk away with your through-line named, the language written in your voice.. profile, resume, interview prep, the words your network can repeat.. and every move on this page already loaded. The map is yours either way. And if you want a partner, that's what I'm building at Reel.

One conversation. Built with you, owned by you. Details and pricing at hirereel.io.
Not ready for a conversation yet?

Stay in touch instead. This page is the first of a few I'm making.. next up: getting on the radar of search firms, your resume as proof (not the whole strategy), a simple "proof of work" page, and what to do the week after a layoff. I'd love to send each one as it's ready, plus what I'm seeing and hearing in hiring.