John Egan

Recruiting and hiring is a key skill for Engineering Managers that is critical to their success in building teams. How to effectively recruit and hire is an area many engineering managers find that their experience as an IC didn't prepare them for. If you're looking to up your game when it comes to hiring top talent this course is for you. Here is what you will learn:

1. How to partner with recruiting and analyze and diagnose problems in the recruiting funnel
2. 6 proven tactics for finding top candidates
3. How to reach out to candidates and have them actually return your email
4. How to become an expert closer
5. Miscellaneous tips and tricks in the hiring process

How Engineering Managers Hire Great Engineers

Overview

Sourcing

Outreach

Closing

Wrapping Up

Conclusion

How This Course Works

John's Success With Recruiting

Why Recruiting Matters

The Recruiting Funnel

How Sourcing Is Unintuitive

Root Sourcing

LinkedIn Search

School Websites

Source-a-thon

Friend-of-friend

Meetups and Conferences

Outreach Basics

Get Their Email Address

ATS Lookup

Initial Contact

Follow Up

Push & Pull Factors

Going Above & Beyond

Speed

Tips For Interviewing

Level-Specific Info

Building Diverse Teams

Building Relationships

Recommended Tools

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 25] - Conclusion

Congratulations on making it to the end of the course! Please go and hire awesome people now :) 

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 1] - How This Course Works

With this lesson, you’ll begin your learning journey of how to effectively manage the recruiting process to build a strong team. [John](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/) shares personal experiences and actionable insights for hiring success. We go through the course objectives, and after this course, you will:

- Understand the importance of prioritizing recruitment and building a robust candidate pipeline
- Learn how to evaluate and troubleshoot the recruiting funnel to ensure a steady flow of qualified candidates
- Discover strategies for sourcing top talent, especially when resources are limited
- Gain techniques for closing candidates who have multiple job offers, including specific tactics and phrases

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 2] - John's Success With Recruiting

If you want to hire great engineers, you're in great hands by taking this course. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn about [John's](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/) journey from an engineer to managing an organization of around 100 engineers
- Understand the challenges and strategies involved in doubling an engineering team year after year
- Discover how [John](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/) personally contributed to hiring dozens of engineers and conducted over 300 interviews
- Gain insights into shaping engineering processes and promoting the company’s brand through recruiting events and meetups

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/)

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 3] - Why Recruiting Matters

Recruiting is a critical responsibility for managers, especially in high-growth companies. After this lesson, you will:

- Understand the high leverage impact of hiring decisions on a company’s long-term success
- Learn why recruiting is crucial in high-growth environments where more work exists than people to do it
- Discover the significant difference between top engineers and low-performing ones, and how this impacts team performance
- Gain insight into when recruiting matters most and when it may not be as critical

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/)

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 4] - The Recruiting Funnel

In order to master the recruiting funnel, you must know the key terms and strategies for optimizing the hiring process. After this lesson, you will:

- Learn the definitions of sourcing, outreach, and closing, and how they fit into the recruiting funnel
- Understand industry averages for recruiting metrics and how to use them to benchmark your process
- Discover where managers can have the highest impact in the recruiting funnel, particularly at the top and bottom stages
- Gain insights on how to troubleshoot and improve conversion rates throughout the funnel
- Focus on attracting and closing top talent to make your recruiting process more efficient

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 5] - How Sourcing Is Unintuitive

All hiring starts off with finding the candidate, otherwise known as sourcing. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand the importance of targeting candidates from companies where your key skills are valued, not just from top-tier tech firms
- Discover how sourcing from the right places can improve long-term retention on your team
- Gain insight into why company brand can be overrated in predicting candidate performance
- Explore how to find candidates who are not only skilled but also a strong cultural fit for your team

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 6] - Root Sourcing

Root sourcing is a powerful tactic for finding top engineering talent. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand the concept of root sourcing and how it leverages industry leaders’ networks to identify strong candidates
- Learn how to find and connect with industry leaders on LinkedIn to access their networks
- Discover how to comb through connections of industry leaders to find potential candidates in specific domains
- Gain insights into how privacy settings on LinkedIn can impact your ability to view connections and how to work around these limitations

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 7] - LinkedIn Search

If you work in tech, it's impossible to escape LinkedIn and this applies for engineering hiring as well. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn why LinkedIn search is a go-to tool for sourcing candidates and why a LinkedIn premium subscription is recommended for engineering managers
- Understand the limitations of LinkedIn’s free tier and the benefits of upgrading to LinkedIn premium, including unlimited search results and in-mail credits
- Explore the differences between LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Recruiter and why LinkedIn Recruiter may not be cost-effective for engineering managers
- Gain practical tips on how to use LinkedIn search effectively, including filtering by title, company, and school, and leveraging Boolean searches to refine results
- Discover how to maximize the value of your existing network by searching through first and second-degree connections before expanding your search

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/​](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/%E2%80%8B%E2%AC%A4)

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 8] - School Websites

One of the biggest predictors of engineer quality is the university they went to. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn how to use Google and school directories to find potential candidates, particularly for new grad PhDs or specialized fields like machine learning
- Discover how to locate personal web pages of grad students and alumni by using targeted search queries, such as searching for specific domains like “site:[stanford.edu](http://stanford.edu)”
- Understand the advantage of sourcing candidates through school websites as a way to reach individuals who are less inundated with recruiting contacts compared to those on LinkedIn

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/​](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/%E2%80%8B)

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 9] - Source-a-thon

You don't need to only look outwards for candidates - They can often come from within, stemming from your current team! From this lesson, you will:

- Learn how to organize a Source-a-thon by creating a spreadsheet and having your team contribute potential candidates from their networks
- Understand the importance of warm outreach, including using a team member’s name for higher response rates
- Discover the benefits of conducting a Source-a-thon in a collaborative environment to generate more high-quality leads
- Realize the value of leveraging your team’s connections to source candidates who are likely to excel in the role based on previous work experiences

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/​](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/%E2%80%8B)

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 10] - Friend-of-friend

Friendship is magic, especially when it comes to hiring great engineers. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn how to ask people for recommendations, without pre-filtering candidates, to identify strong potential hires
- Understand the importance of not pre-filtering based on market availability, as some candidates may be interested even if they aren’t actively looking
- Discover how using the recommender’s name in outreach can improve response rates

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 11] - Meetups and Conferences

When it comes to relationship building, you simply cannot beat in-person interaction. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand the value of making personal connections at meetups and conferences to stand out from the noise of digital outreach
- Learn strategies for building a network by engaging with people at events, collecting their contact information for future outreach
- Discover how creating and hosting your own events can establish your brand as a company and attract potential candidates
- Realize the benefits of long-term recruitment through sustained relationships with event attendees and speakers
- Explore how relationships with speakers at your events can evolve into hiring opportunities for top talent in the future

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 12] - Outreach Basics

So you've found a great candidate - Now it's time to get them into your interview loop. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand the benchmark for a good response rate when sourcing candidates, with 15% as the target for moving candidates forward in the recruitment process
- Learn that email outreaches typically yield higher response rates than LinkedIn InMails and why finding a candidate’s personal email can be more effective
- Discover the advantages of outreach coming directly from an engineering manager rather than a recruiter to significantly increase the likelihood of a response
- Explore tools and methods for finding candidate emails, including using services like Clearbit and experimenting with Gmail to predict email addresses
- Gain insights into how personalizing the outreach process by handling initial replies and interactions can make a meaningful impact on recruitment outcomes

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/​](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/%E2%80%8B)

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 13] - Get Their Email Address

Even though it's been around forever, email is still a great way to reach people. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn about Clearbit and its tendency to provide corporate email addresses, which may not be ideal for reaching out to potential candidates
- Discover how to use Gmail to predict personal email addresses by experimenting with common naming conventions
- Understand how to use social media handles as a potential lead to guess a candidate's email address
- Explore the use of MailTester to verify the existence of an email address by checking against SMTP servers
- Gain insight into Rocketreach as a highly recommended tool for retrieving personal contact details from LinkedIn profiles

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/Een)

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 14] - ATS Lookup

When recruiting, you should do your best to ensure the best candidate experience. This is critical during the outreach phase. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand the necessity of verifying candidate information in the ATS to ensure they have not been recently rejected or contacted for other roles
- Learn about different ATS platforms like Greenhouse and Ashby, and how they can help manage candidate interactions
- Discover how to coordinate with recruiting teams to cross-check a list of potential candidates to avoid redundant or inappropriate contacts
- Gain insights into the typical cooling-off periods between rejections and new outreach, which can range from 6 to 12 months depending on company policy

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 15] - Initial Contact

You only get one first impression, so you must make that initial outreach message count. From this lesson, you will:

- Discover how to craft an engaging subject line and personalize the content to stand out from typical recruiter communications.
- Understand the importance of keeping the email concise, with a clear, brief point that invites the recipient to engage further.
- Learn optimal timing for sending emails to maximize response rates, avoiding busy times like early Monday or late Friday.

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 16] - Follow Up

If at first you don't succeed, try try again. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn the impact of follow-up emails, which can significantly enhance response rates when sent in addition to an initial email
- Discover tools like Mixmax and features within ATS systems like Ashby that can automate the follow-up process and track email openings
- Understand the strategy of escalating outreach, involving higher levels of management, to engage high-value candidates effectively

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 17] - Push & Pull Factors

It's hard convincing great engineers to leave their current jobs. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand the importance of increasing your candidate acceptance rate, which can significantly reduce workload throughout the recruitment funnel
- Learn how to identify and leverage push and pull factors that influence a candidate's decision to leave their current role or join your company
- Discover the value of tailoring your closing approach to individual candidate motivations to enhance offer acceptance rates
- Gain insights into conducting honest Q&A sessions during the closing call to ensure a good fit, thereby increasing long-term retention on your team

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 18] - Going Above & Beyond

Top engineers can be insanely hard to close, especially as you're often competing with FAANG for them. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn the importance of building a personal relationship with candidates throughout the interview process to increase the chances of closing them successfully
- Discover strategies for multiple touchpoints, such as sending personal emails from the team or senior leaders, to make candidates feel valued and wanted
- Understand how unique gestures like meeting in person or sending personalized gifts can significantly enhance the candidate's experience and likelihood of accepting the offer

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 19] - Speed

Great engineers don't stay on the market for a long time. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand that reducing the time from initial contact to offer acceptance can significantly improve your chances of closing a candidate
- Learn that a faster process can position your company advantageously against competitors who may have longer hiring cycles
- Discover how streamlining your recruitment process to make decisions quicker can prevent candidates from pursuing or waiting for other offers

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 20] - Tips For Interviewing

It's critical as a hiring manager to make sure that an engineer candidate is the right fit during the interview. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn to avoid hypothetical questions in favor of inquiries about concrete experiences to gain accurate insights into a candidate's actual work behavior
- Understand the importance of building rapport and appearing friendly throughout the interview process, as candidates are also evaluating their fit with the team
- Discover the value of maintaining a curious mindset, encouraging thorough exploration of a candidate's responses, especially when initial impressions may suggest a red flag

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 21] - Level-Specific Info

Hiring great engineers gets exponentially harder the more senior the headcount you are looking for. From this lesson, you will:

- Understand the need to adjust sourcing tactics for different engineering levels, such as using root sourcing primarily for more seasoned engineers (L6 and above).
- Learn that junior roles (L3, L4) may not benefit as much from certain tactics like source-a-thons due to senior engineers typically not having extensive networks of junior engineers.
- Recognize that closing efforts must be scaled according to the candidate's level, with more senior candidates (L7 and above) requiring more extensive efforts to secure their acceptance.

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 22] - Building Diverse Teams

Tech has a massive diversity problem, and as a hiring manager, you shouldn't make that problem any worse (especially as diverse teams are scientifically proven to be better than homogeneous ones). From this lesson, you will:

- Recognize that common sourcing tactics like source-a-thons and friend-of-friend methods may introduce biases by yielding candidates similar to existing networks
- Learn strategies to actively promote diversity during the sourcing process, such as explicitly focusing on diversity in sourcing sessions to influence the diversity of the candidate pipeline
- Understand the importance of ensuring the top of the recruitment funnel is diverse, as this sets the stage for diverse hiring outcomes
- Discover ways to prioritize efforts in closing candidates, potentially focusing extra effort on diverse or outstanding candidates to ensure equitable recruitment practices

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 23] - Building Relationships

Social capital is incredibly important when hiring. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn about the importance of building relationships in recruitment, similar to how VCs generate deal flow
- Discover the strategy used by Benjamin Nazad, who leveraged academic directories to network with potential contacts in the VC industry
- Understand that cultivating relationships with each candidate can significantly enhance the likelihood of closing them during the hiring process
- Recognize the long-term value of maintaining relationships even when there are no immediate job openings, facilitating quicker recruitment when positions become available

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>

How Managers Hire Great Engineers [Part 24] - Recommended Tools

Many tools need to come together for a successful hiring campaign. From this lesson, you will:

- Learn about key tools for recruitment: LinkedIn Premium for unlimited profile searches, Mixmax and Ashby for email scheduling and outreach, and RocketReach for obtaining personal email addresses
- Understand how AI could change recruitment practices by automating personalized outreach, potentially making it more challenging to stand out among recruiters
- Recognize the importance of adapting strategies, such as increasing in-person engagements, to maintain effectiveness in recruitment as AI evolves

Connect with John Egan on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwegan/>