hiring

Hiring Signals

Hiring is the #6 buying signal by purchase correlation. It reveals budget allocation, growth trajectory, and priority areas. Hiring signals include new roles posted, missing roles at a company, leaving employees, and skills-based targeting.

Reference Files

• Read {SKILL_BASE}/resources/buying-signals.md for signal ranking and benchmarks
• Read {SKILL_BASE}/resources/signal-taxonomy.md for firmographic triggers (Companies that Started Hiring)
• Read {SKILL_BASE}/resources/examples/signal-campaigns/gtm-plays.md for plays 1-3, 5-7 (hiring-related GTM plays)

Why Hiring Signals Work

• Signals budget allocation - if they are hiring for a role, budget exists
• Shows growth trajectory - expanding teams = scaling pain
• Indicates priority areas - what roles they hire reveals what they value
• Ramp pressure - new hires need tools to be productive fast
• Relevant job posting = 40 points (Tier 2 signal)
• Act within 24 hours of detection

Five Hiring Signal Types

1. New Team Members (Play 1)

Company recently added members to relevant department. Reference the new hire by name, reach out 2-4 weeks after.

2. Leaving Employees (Play 6)

Team members recently left a relevant department. Position around the coverage gap, reach out 1-2 weeks after departure.

3. Missing Roles (Play 7)

Company lacks a specific title entirely. No "Content Manager" + $5M+ revenue = content gap your product can fill.

4. Skills-Targeting (Play 2)

LinkedIn profiles display specific skills relevant to your product. More precise than title-based targeting - Clay extracts skills from profiles.

5. Role-Targeting (Play 3)

Uncommon job titles indicate company priority. "RevOps Manager" = revenue operations is a budget line. "Growth Engineer" = technical growth function exists.

Outreach Templates

New team members:

Noticed {{company}} just added {{new_hire_name}} to the {{department}} team.
Growing teams usually means [relevant challenge].
We helped {{similar_company}} handle this by [solution].
Worth a quick chat?

Leaving employees:

Saw {{former_employee}} recently left {{company}}.
That usually creates a gap in {{function_area}}.
We have been helping companies like {{similar_company}} cover that gap with [solution].
Worth exploring?

Missing roles:

Noticed {{company}} does not have a dedicated {{role}} yet.
Most {{industry}} companies at your stage handle {{function}} with [your solution type].
We helped {{similar_company}} do exactly that.

Key Rules

• Job postings are public intent data - no privacy concerns
• Stack hiring + funding for strong compound signal (40 + 45 = 85pts Warm)
• Missing role signal works best for automation/outsourcing products
• Skills-targeting is more precise than title-based targeting
• Reference the growth challenge, not "I saw your job posting"

Examples

Example 1: "Find companies hiring SDRs as a signal" -> Clay: scrape job boards for SDR postings at ICP companies, enrich with company data, filter by size/industry, reach out to VP Sales referencing team growth and ramp challenges

Example 2: "Target companies that do not have a dedicated RevOps person" -> Clay: pull ICP company list, check LinkedIn for "RevOps" titles, filter to companies with 0 results, reach out to VP Sales/CRO positioning your tool as the RevOps layer they are missing

Example 3: "Someone just left the marketing team at a target account" -> 1-2 week window. Reference the coverage gap by name. Position your solution as a way to maintain output during the transition. SDR sequence within 24h of detection

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