Hello there Reader,

I recently shared some insights and data about how companies are being more selective when evaluating candidates.

In this competitive job market, I recommend you be just as selective.

I’ve already shared why it’s important to define your next role, now let’s talk about the next step: creating your target list of companies.

First, let me get one caveat out of the way.

I’m not suggesting you restrict your search to a single list of companies, or completely avoid looking at other jobs.

Just randomly applying casts a really wide net and it’s hard to establish momentum.

The strategy I’m suggesting here is to create a target list. Think of it as another prioritisation mechanism.

Let’s dive in on how I help my clients do this.

Why a target list matters

Cold applying is hard, takes time, and doesn’t guarantee an interview.

I’ve already described ways to conduct outreach that works (check out the 3x3 rule if you missed it).

But that, too, can take a lot of time.

When you have a target list of companies, you can narrow your focus.

This saves time. And energy.

It also helps you build momentum.

Having a target list enables you to more easily build a deeper understanding of each company:

Their culture.

Their problems.

Their hiring practices.

The list goes on.

With that deeper understanding, you’ll improve your preparation and feel more certain that some companies are better aligned with what you want.

How to build your target list

3 steps. Let’s go through them one by one.

1. Pick a desired industry, research companies

Traditionally you would go to Google and look up top companies and get some list. Maybe you do some Glassdoor research. Read some list of “top places to work”.

But that’s old school.

This kind of research task is great to delegate to AI. Here’s how:

Open up ChatGPT, and do a deep research task.

Ask it to give you a list of companies that meet all the attributes you care about.

Not sure what to ask? I wrote a prompt for you that gets you all the details you could possibly need.

Reply if you want it, and I’ll share it with you.

2. Check alignment with your must-haves

You’ve already defined your next role (start here if you haven’t).

Now go through that company list and see how companies stack up.

As you learn more about them, that can turn into a stack ranked list.

3. Look for network connections

Go through the company list, check their LinkedIn page, and see where you have 1st degree connections.

The prompt I wrote returns the LinkedIn pages of companies to make this quicker for you.

The people already working at your target companies can provide insights or referrals.

Don’t have any 1st degree connections?

Start hunting for those 2nd degree connections and seek warm intros.

Narrow the list and get to work

You’ve built a list of maybe 20-30 companies. Now it’s time to prioritise.

Keep 10–20 target companies.

Remove low‑signal, high‑effort options.

Prioritise companies where you have 1st degree connections, and those which actively have jobs open.

Organise a tracker

Put this information down somewhere to manage.

Use AI to build it to save time, if you must.

Create columns for criteria, notes, why it’s interesting, metadata about them.

Track contacts, outreach, and follow‑ups.

Record learnings after every interaction.

I’ve created a tracker in Notion for this and it’s included in a comprehensive job application workspace I share with all of my 1:1 clients where we collaborate together.

I’m thinking about packaging it up and selling it as a digital product.

If that’s something you would be interested in, reply and let me know.

Common pitfalls to avoid

Don’t chase brand names without fit.

If it’s not a fit for you, you’ll be right back on the job market faster than you want to be.

Avoid confusing activity with progress.

When you visualise progress, you build on that momentum I keep talking about. You start with a target list, and it should get narrower as you gain more insights.

Don’t wait for perfect information.

This is about getting more signal than just “company A is hiring”.

If you see a job from a company on your list, don’t wait—get that application in.

Accelerate getting information for that company if they respond positively to your application.