Job Search Companion
A guided workbook for finding your next job by looking for companies you actually want to work for, instead of scrolling through job boards. Based on the Job Search Strategy workshop by Dominika Rogala.
How this works
The whole method comes down to two questions:
1. How do you know what you're looking for? (Step 1)
2. How do you search once you know? (Steps 2, 3 and 4)
You'll move through four steps:
- Know what you're looking for - clarify your priorities
- Build your target company list - find companies that match them
- Network and gather information - grow your network and learn what's inside those companies
- Reach out directly - start real conversations
Plus a bonus chapter on recommendations, one of the best ways to strengthen your profile while you search.
In practice it's a cycle, not a checklist. Each step feeds the others: conversations add companies to your list, research changes your priorities, outreach grows your network. Come back to this tool regularly, it's built for exactly that.
Your progress
Before you start
Take a break to clear your head. A 5-minute walk counts. So does a longer vacation. Job searching goes better with a reset brain.
If you were laid off, read this first
- A layoff is not a reflection of your worth as a person.
- It's a business decision of a company, not your personal failure. All companies go through cycles of growth and reductions.
- You can feel sad, angry and frustrated. That's OK.
And one question worth asking: why were you hired in the first place?
Not by accident. Because you are a competent human being with something real to offer. That hasn't changed.
What mindset do you want to take with you going further?
"I did a good job in a great team, provided real value, and I can add value in another place again"
will serve you much better than
"I failed, life is unfair"
Keeping that mindset isn't always easy, so here's a practical tool:
Two practical ways to collect proof of your own good work:
1. Start a smile file. A folder where you drop screenshots of the nice things people write about your work: an email from a client, a comment in a performance review, a Slack message from a teammate. You can also simply ask a few colleagues to write you something kind. You'll be surprised. Read it whenever the search gets heavy.
2. List your wins. Favourite projects, problems you solved, people you helped. Start the list here:
Know what you're looking for before you start
This step is here to help you land in a place that's actually right for you, not just the first one that shows up. And even if your answers don't feel concrete or super practical, the very fact that you think them through will help you a lot later.
Warm-up: would you rather...
For each pair, pick the option closer to your heart. There are no wrong answers.
What are you looking for?
Write down answers to the questions below. They will help you generate criteria for your search. Skip any that don't speak to you, add your own thoughts where they don't fit the boxes.
What are you NOT looking for?
Sometimes even more important than knowing what you want is knowing what you don't want.
From everything above, pick your 3 biggest red flags. Examples from Dominika's own list: no women in leadership roles, no feedback, poor communication, micromanagement, no growth mindset.
Your priorities
Rate how important each aspect of work is for you, from 0 (doesn't matter) to 5 (crucial). Be honest and be picky: if everything is a 5, nothing is. A good rule of thumb: give 4s and 5s to at most four or five things.
These ratings power the company scoring in Step 2, so it's worth doing them before you build your list.
Build your target company list
There are far more companies than you can see on job boards. Instead of browsing postings, look for companies you'd like to work in and reach out directly, whether they're hiring publicly or not.
How to find them
Take one of your priorities and follow it
Example 1: "I want hybrid work with a commute under 15 minutes."
- Check business centers in your neighbourhood
- Check technology parks and business incubators nearby
- Filter job postings by location, but focus on discovering companies, not openings
Example 2: "I want to work remotely for a Polish space tech company."
- Visit the POLSA (Polish Space Agency) company database
- Browse the catalog of 300+ companies in the field
In both cases: select the companies matching your other criteria and add them to the list below.
Where do people you know work?
- People from university
- Friends who left your company
- Team members from your previous companies, where did they move to?
- That thing your brother-in-law mentioned at a party when you weren't listening, because you didn't think you'd be job hunting
- Your friend's startup from 5 years ago. What scale are they now?
Where are the people who do what you want to do?
- Topic-specific and discussion groups around your technology or industry
- Industry job offer groups on social media
- Websites, blogs and YouTube channels about your interests. Companies are often mentioned there or sponsor the content
- Conference line-ups. Speakers come from a broad spectrum of interesting companies
Source checklist: tick off what you've already tried
Your company list
Start by finding at least 20 companies. Really search for them, in as many different ways as you can (the strategies above are your menu), not just the few names everyone knows. Only then move on to expanding the list with people and information in Steps 3 and 4.
Rate each company 1-5 against your priorities from Step 1. The score is a weighted average, weighted by how important each priority is to you. It's not a verdict, it's a conversation with yourself about where to focus first.
Network and gather information
Refresh old contacts and build new ones. The crucial idea: you're not asking for a job, or even for a referral. You're gathering information that fills your company list, prepares your outreach and quietly broadens your network.
Easy wins first
- Review your LinkedIn messages and find recruiters who contacted you months ago
- Contact that friend who suggested a job change at a summer party
- Optimize your LinkedIn profile for recruiter searches: keywords and industry terms, relevant certifications and skills, remove irrelevant information
Old connections: what to actually say
"Can you tell me what it's like working at your current company? What projects are you doing, what departments are there? Who else should I talk to?"
"I'm looking for companies that do similar things to yours. Who else operates in this industry?"
"Have you heard of other companies where the work environment is as good as at yours?"
"I see you used to work at XYZ but now you're somewhere else. I'm considering XYZ because they have interesting projects. Can you tell me what it was like and who I should meet?"
Write real names of real people: someone who works at an interesting company, an old friend from university or a previous job, a manager you liked working with. For each, decide how you'll reach out this week. And when a chat turns into a real lead, hit + add to outreach to copy that person onto your outreach list.
Work your list: find people in each company
Now take the companies from Step 2 and put faces on them. You're still not asking for a job. The goal is a conversation, information, maybe an intro. For each company, play detective for 10 minutes:
- Open the company's LinkedIn page and its "People" tab. Anyone you know? Any second-degree connections? A mutual friend can introduce you
- Find people doing the job you want, and their team lead or manager
- Look for people from the company who speak at conferences, write a blog or post on LinkedIn. They're the easiest to start with, because you have a genuine opening ("I saw your talk about...")
- Former employees you know count too. Honest inside view, zero pressure
Add everyone you find to their company below with the status "Just found them". Messaging comes in Step 4. This is the same list you'll see there and on your workboard, it follows you around.
New connections
In person: conferences, meetups, workshops, hackathons. You can attend, organize, present or lead, or simply talk to people.
Online: virtual events, interest groups, industry groups and forums, freelance platforms, open source projects.
Pick what matches your energy. Networking doesn't have to mean working a room with a name tag.
Build your visibility
- Keep a professional image online (LinkedIn up to date, private things private)
- Share content about your interests
- Share and comment on others' content
- Start a blog, podcast or YouTube channel
- Participate in events
- Contribute to open source
Reach out to companies directly
You've gathered a lot of information about companies and the people who work there. Time to use it. Track every conversation below so you always know what stage each thread is at.
Two scenarios
Scenario A: cold outreach. You chose a company from your list, you don't know anyone there and there's no job posting on their website.
- Review everything you learned about the company
- Find specific contact details, preferably a personal email rather than contact@company
- Send an email with an interesting subject line and even more interesting content (see below)
- Attach a CV adapted to their profile
Scenario B: warm outreach. You know someone there, for example in marketing.
- Review everything you learned about the company
- Talk to your contact and verify that what you hear matches what you want from work
- Ask for an intro to someone from the department you'd want to join
- Best case: next day you're already talking with that person. At minimum your CV arrives from someone known, so there's a much better chance someone reads it
The personal touch: how to open a cold message
Cold messages work much better with a genuine, specific anchor. Some options:
- I read your blog post / newsletter / listened to your podcast / attended your webinar
- I used your product / your open source project
- Your content helped me solve a specific problem (say which one)
- I shared your content
- Tell them what you genuinely like about what they do, and why
- I found you via {someone they already know}
- I talked to {someone you both know} and they mentioned you
- I saw you mentioned by {someone or somewhere specific}
- Get an introduction from a mutual friend, or from someone you simply talked to
Tips for finding (almost) anyone's email
- Try first name + domain name
- Facebook business page → About → Contact information
- Reply directly to their email newsletter
- LinkedIn (Premium users can message directly)
- hunter.io
- findthatlead.com
- rocketreach.co
- Read: find anyone's email (criminallyprolific.com)
- Read: find email addresses (ahrefs.com)
Outreach tracker
Companies from your list in Step 2 show up here automatically, so you never type them twice. Add the people you find for each one and update their status as things move, so you always know what's sent, what's waiting and what needs a nudge. People not tied to a company from the list live under "Other people".
Recommendations
Whether it's for your LinkedIn profile, personal website or a file attached to your CV, recommendations are a great way to build your credentials. And asking for them is a perfect action to take while you search.
Aim for 360° recommendations
Each perspective adds credibility:
- From your manager
- From teammates
- From your direct reports, or someone you mentored
- From other teams or working groups
Give and receive. It goes both ways! Writing recommendations for others is often the easiest way to receive them.
"I don't feel comfortable asking..." Imagine someone asked you. How would you react? Exactly.
How to ask
- Simply :) "Hey, would you write me a LinkedIn recommendation?"
- Pro version: "Hey, would you write me a LinkedIn recommendation? Could you emphasize how good I am at X, Y, Z? That's what matters most to me right now."
- Pro pro version: same as above, plus you send links to articles with great recommendation examples
- For advanced: "Hey, would you write me a recommendation? I'm attaching a template where I filled in the elements most important to me. Could you complete it and post it on my profile?"
How to write one (for others, or as a template for yours)
Worth including:
- Relationship: how you know each other, the character of your work together, how long
- What was this person responsible for? What problems did they help solve, how did they influence your work?
- What qualities of this person are valuable to you or were helpful at work
- Something personal, if there is something. Nothing forced
- A call to action or direct recommendation
Avoid general statements like "he's a good teammate", "her responsibilities included...", "he works hard". They add nothing.
Facts and actions beat adjectives. Compare: "John is a great team player who always works hard" vs "James examined customer data and influenced pricing strategies that boosted margins by 25%". You can use AI to help you draft, but make sure the final version reflects your true thoughts and doesn't sound machine-generated. Before posting, show the person what you wrote and ask if it suits them.
Example recommendations for different relationships
For a colleague you managed:
"I've worked with Sally for over 5 years. I first met Sally when she was hired onto the marketing team as a coordinator, since then she has been promoted several times. Sally has some of the top marketing skills needed to help organizations stand out in an increasingly noisy environment. She led the team's branding, marketing and communications successfully. What I really enjoy about Sally is her ability to bring people together, she is a true professional and I would highly recommend her for any role."
For a colleague from another team:
"I have enjoyed working with Sam for the last year. Our teams worked closely together to help build out the company's project management process. I found him to be hard-working, bright, and a skilled communicator. I particularly enjoyed his sense of humor in the face of what can sometimes be a stressful situation when faced with tight deadlines. But what makes him stand out is his willingness to help others. I am glad to have worked with him and have no hesitation recommending him to potential employers."
For a manager:
"Jane was my manager for over 3 years. I very much enjoyed working with her on many projects throughout her tenure. She sets realistic goals and gives clear instructions and feedback. She instills pride, confidence, and positive energy in everyone on her team. I would welcome the opportunity to work with her again. If you have the chance to work with Jane, take it!"
For an intern:
"Małgorzata is a very detail-oriented and fast-working person. She was an intern in my R&D department and conducted an in-depth research of enclosures manufacturing technologies and biocompatible materials. Thanks to her technical and presentation skills, the results of her work were appreciated by all of the team members. During her internship Małgorzata worked independently and planned her work perfectly."
Stand-out openings:
"Karen is an outstanding developer. I've worked with her for X years..."
"200% of quota? That is what you'll get if you are lucky enough to have Sarah lead your team."
Who could you ask? Who could you write for?
Colleagues and teammates, your manager, internal and external clients, people from workshops or volunteering, people from previous workplaces, people who know you from outside work (a sports club counts).
That's the whole framework ☕
Remember: it's a cycle. New conversations will add companies to your list, new research will sharpen your priorities, and some outreach will end in an offer while other threads will simply grow your network. Both outcomes count.
Be proactive, authentic and strategic, and keep working through your list. Good luck!
My workboard
All your working tables in one place, no reading required. Day-to-day mode: add, update, tick off. The full guidance stays in Steps 1-4 and the Recommendations chapter.