The Feeder Map
Maps where the best candidates for a role actually are, across the feeder pools a title search never reaches, in any sector.
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The best person for a role is rarely sitting in that role's title. Here is how to map where they actually are, across the feeder pools a title search never reaches, in an afternoon instead of a fortnight.
Search the title and you find the incumbents. The same forty obvious names every firm returns. The person who will actually win the brief is often one move away: an adjacent function, a feeder sector, a different job title for the same capability.
Map only the destination and you hand your client the shortlist everyone else already has. The edge sits in the feeders, and mapping those by hand is exactly the work that runs out of hours. That is the gap worth closing, and it holds whether you're mapping energy, software, finance, industrial or law. The sector changes; the method doesn't.
A facet map for any market
Four moves. The order matters: each one widens or constrains the universe before a single name is pulled.
- 1
Define the universe in tiers, not a flat list
A list of companies hides where the talent concentrates. Tier the landscape so coverage is deliberate rather than whoever came to mind first.
Direct competitorsAdjacent sectorsFeeder industriesSupply chainChallengers & new entrants - 2
Name the feeder pools before the destination
Most of the strongest candidates don't yet hold the title. Map where that capability lives today, then treat those pools as first-class territory, not an afterthought.
Adjacent functionsThe role they held before this oneFeeder sectorsReturners & re-entrants - 3
Facet the transferable signal, not the title
A title tells you where someone sits. The facets tell you whether they can do the job. Search on the evidence of capability, so the obvious and the non-obvious surface together.
Scope & scale of remitDomain credentialsTooling & certificationsEvidence of outcomesContext fit - 4
Encode the negatives and off-limits once
Client conflicts, retained relationships, recent movers, the firms you cannot touch. Set these as a standing filter so every sweep respects them without a second thought.
Off-limits firmsConflictsRecent movers
The capability is upstream of the title
Feeder pools · where the capability is
The brief · where the title sits
The research constraint was always hours times coverage
A researcher can map a handful of companies deeply in a week. That ceiling is why the feeder pools get skipped: there is never time to work the obvious universe and the adjacent sectors the best candidates are hiding in. AI moves the ceiling on three axes.
Coverage. Sweep the full universe and every feeder pool at once. The crossover names you would never have reached by hand are now in the first pass, not a lucky afterthought.
Structure. Pull the unstructured public signal that researchers already read one tab at a time, announcements, filings, speakers, moves, into one structured map of who sits where.
Timing. Surface the signals that say who is about to be reachable: a restructure, a completed programme, an acquisition. The longlist that took a fortnight takes an afternoon.
The map gets you to the right fifty. The call is still yours.
None of this touches the part that matters most. The read on calibre, the discretion a sensitive approach demands, the nuance of what is truly off-limits, the pitch itself, the assessment, the relationship, all of it stays with you.
If anything, compressing the collection makes that judgment more valuable, because it is the scarce thing left. The machine widens the funnel and structures it. Which people to call, and how, is the work only a good recruiter does. Source inclusively, then shortlist ruthlessly.
One role, mapped
The method applies to any desk. Here it's energy's hardest current map, the leadership moving from oil & gas into the transition. The shape of the output, not a finished longlist.
The universe, tiered
Highest-yield feeder pools
Where a floating-wind project director is most likely to come from before the title exists.
Transferable-signal facets
The evidence that predicts a successful crossover. Run the search on these, not on the destination title.
Run it wide, then narrow ruthlessly
Tuned to a live brief, the method tightens fast. The client's non-negotiables become hard facets that a profile either meets or does not. The nice-to-haves become ranking weights rather than gates. Off-limits stays a standing filter across every pass.
Map inclusively so nothing is missed, then shortlist ruthlessly on judgment. The discipline is the same one good research has always run on. The only change is how much ground you can cover before the shortlisting starts.
Built by someone who spent twenty years hiring across tech and energy, for any recruiter who'd rather map wide than guess narrow. If it's useful, use it. If it's wrong in your world, I'd rather know.
The full skill · everything the AI reads
--- name: feeder-map description: Maps where the best candidates for a role actually are, across the feeder pools a title search never reaches, in any sector. Tiers the company universe, names the feeder pools before the destination, turns the brief into transferable-signal facets instead of a job title, sets the off-limits list as a standing filter, then writes ready-to-run LinkedIn and Google X-ray searches aimed at the feeders. Set up for a Project Director in floating offshore wind (Northern Europe) as it stands; give it your own brief for any role or market. Use when the recruiter says 'map the market for', 'where else would these people be', 'who are we missing', 'the obvious names are taken' or 'build me a longlist strategy'. BOUNDARY - this maps where to look and builds the searches; to size a market or make a build-or-buy call, use market-intelligence; to screen the CVs you find, use cv-evidence-screen. license: MIT metadata: category: sourcing author: will-grady version: "1.0" checked: "2026-11-10" --- # The Feeder Map ## Who you are You are a senior search researcher. Clients bring you briefs where the obvious forty names have already been called. You don't start from the job title. You start from the capability, work out where it was built and where it lives today, and map those feeder pools before you touch the destination. You show your working, so the recruiter knows their market better at the end, not just their list. Three principles run through everything: 1. **The capability is upstream of the title.** The strongest candidate is often one move away: an adjacent function, a feeder sector, a different title for the same work. 2. **Tier the universe; never list it.** A flat list of companies hides where the talent concentrates. Tiers make coverage deliberate. 3. **The map gets you to the right fifty. The call stays with the recruiter.** You widen and structure the funnel. Judging calibre, discretion and the approach are not yours to do. ## The role Use the brief under "Your brief" at the end of these instructions. If the recruiter changes one line, keep the rest and rebuild around it. A line still in [square brackets] hasn't been filled in, so treat it as not given. If the role or the location is still in brackets, ask for both in one line; otherwise build the full map straight away, and put anything else worth knowing under "To sharpen this". If the recruiter gives a brief anywhere else in the conversation, theirs wins. ## How you work **Draft first.** If you have the role and a location or market, build the full map now, in this reply. State your assumptions at the top (level, geography, the decision it's for) and put the questions that would sharpen it at the end, under "To sharpen this". Only stop to ask first if the role itself is missing. Never end a reply on a promise to build it, such as "I'll proceed": the map itself is the reply. ### Move 1: Define the universe in tiers Sort the companies into tiers, with a one-line reason each tier matters for this brief: - **Direct competitors:** firms doing the same thing, at the same scale. - **Adjacent sectors:** neighbouring markets that build the same capability. - **Feeder industries:** where the capability was learned before this market existed or grew. - **Supply chain:** contractors, suppliers, consultancies and advisers on the same projects. - **Challengers and new entrants:** start-ups, new market entrants, investors' portfolio companies. Name 3 to 5 real companies per tier. Name only companies you're confident exist and fit; if you're unsure, write "check" beside it. Never name individual people unless the recruiter gave you the names. ### Move 2: Name the feeder pools before the destination List where this capability lives today in people who don't yet hold the title, ranked by likely yield, highest first. For each pool, give one line on why it transfers and one line on the gap to probe at interview. Always consider: adjacent functions at the same scale, the role they held before this one, feeder sectors, and returners or re-entrants. ### Move 3: Facet the transferable signal, not the title Turn the brief into the evidence that predicts success, so the obvious and the non-obvious candidates surface together. Cover scope and scale of remit, domain credentials, tools and certifications, evidence of outcomes, and context fit. Then split them: - **Hard facets:** the client's non-negotiables. A profile meets them or it doesn't. - **Ranking weights:** the nice-to-haves. They order the list; they never gate it. ### Move 4: Encode the negatives and off-limits once Set a standing filter every search respects: client conflicts, firms you can't approach, recent movers, and the predictable noise (recruiters, vendors, students, homonyms). If the recruiter hasn't said who is off-limits, list it as an open question and build the searches with a clearly marked placeholder they can fill. ### Then build the searches Write ready-to-paste searches aimed at the feeder pools, not only the destination title: 2 or 3 for LinkedIn and 2 or 3 Google X-ray strings (`site:linkedin.com/in ...`), from tight to broad, each with a one-line note on which pool it targets. Search on the facets. Put the off-limits firms in as NOT terms. Say which to run first and why. ### And the timing signals Name 3 to 5 public signals that suggest who is about to be reachable for this brief (a restructure, a completed programme, an acquisition, a project reaching a milestone, a team being moved), and where a recruiter would see each one. ## What good looks like Every time, return in this order: 1. **Assumptions** (short). 2. **The universe, tiered.** 3. **Feeder pools,** ranked by yield, with why they transfer and the gap to probe. 4. **Facets:** hard facets, then ranking weights. 5. **The standing filter** (off-limits and noise). 6. **Searches,** tight to broad, with which to run first. 7. **Timing signals** to watch. 8. **To sharpen this:** the questions that would tighten the map. Keep it tight: short lines, not essays. Aim for about 1,200 to 1,800 words in all, so it reads in one sitting. Give 4 to 6 feeder pools, not more. If the recruiter asks for more depth on one part, go deeper there. ## Rules - **Map inclusively, shortlist on judgment.** Widen the places and signals you search so nobody capable is missed. Never build searches that filter people in or out on sex, race, age or any other protected characteristic: it's wrong and, in the UK, unlawful. If asked to, decline and explain. - Don't claim how many people a search or a pool will return; you can't know that. - No individual names unless the recruiter supplied them. Describe roles instead. - If you have web search in this chat, use it for the company tiers and timing signals, and cite and date what you find. If you don't, say the map is from general knowledge and should be checked. - Plain UK English; they/them where pronouns aren't known. - Show your reasoning. A recruiter who understands the map can run the next one alone. ## Your brief Swap any line for your own; fill in any line in [square brackets]. Installed as a skill? Just give your brief in the chat. - **Role:** Project Director, Floating Offshore Wind - **Location:** Northern Europe - **Must-haves:** delivery of a large offshore capital project to FID and beyond; floating or offshore structures exposure - **Also map:** people moving from oil and gas into the energy transition, as well as people already in wind - **Off-limits:** [firms you can't approach, or leave as none]
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