What It Is

The typical intake meeting starts with a blank form and ends with a generic job description. The recruiter asks basic questions, the hiring manager gives broad answers, and what comes out the other side is a job posting that could have been written by anyone — because it was.

This tool changes that dynamic. Before you walk into the room, it researches the role, reviews what competitors are offering, makes informed assumptions about what the job requires and what candidates want, and builds you a pre-filled intake document to bring with you — or send ahead.

When the hiring manager sees that you've already thought through the role, reviewed the competitive landscape, and come in with a point of view, the conversation shifts. You're not there to collect information. You're there to confirm it, challenge it, and go deeper. That's a different kind of meeting — and it produces a different quality of output.

When to Use It

Use this every time you get a new requisition before the intake meeting. Ideally at least 24–48 hours before the meeting so the research has time to be useful.

Works for any role type, any function, any level. The more specific the role, the richer the output — but even for a common role, the competitive context and smart questions alone make the meeting significantly more productive.

What to Bring

At minimum:

• Job title
• Salary range or band
• Location (city, remote, hybrid)
• Function or department
• Hiring manager name (if you have it)

The more you have, the better — old job postings for this role, notes from a conversation with the hiring manager, any context about why the role is open. But the minimum is enough to start.

What You'll Get

A single pre-intake document with four sections:

1. What We Know A pre-filled intake form with everything that could be confirmed, researched, or reasonably inferred — role overview, purpose, responsibilities, qualifications, likely disqualifiers, and what the role offers. Flagged clearly so you and the hiring manager can see what's confirmed and what needs discussion.

2. Competitive Context What two or three competitor companies are currently offering for similar roles — how they're framing the opportunity, what they're emphasizing, where you're stronger or different. Gives you and the hiring manager a shared picture of what candidates are comparing you against.

3. Questions for the Meeting A set of specific, substantive questions organized by category — on the ideal candidate, the role itself, the team environment, the market, and the search logistics. Not "what does this person need to have done before?" but questions that actually produce useful answers.

4. Commitments to Secure A short list of specific asks to make before the meeting ends — LinkedIn posts, a short hiring manager video, referral names, turnaround time agreements. With suggested framing for how to ask for each one.

How to Use It

Option one — send it ahead. Share the document with the hiring manager before the meeting and ask them to review it. Tell them you've done some research and want to make sure you're starting from an accurate picture. They'll come to the meeting having already thought about it — and they'll notice that you did the work.

Option two — bring it to the meeting. Use it as your working document in the room. Walk through what you've pre-filled, confirm what's right, correct what's off, and fill in what's missing. The questions are already organized — use them to drive the conversation into the specifics.

Either way, the goal is the same: arrive having already done the thinking, so the meeting can go somewhere more useful than "so, tell me about this role."

To Start

Share the basics:

"I have an intake meeting next Tuesday for a Senior Product Manager role in Austin, salary band $140–160K, reporting to the VP of Product..."

"Just got a req for a Field Service Technician in Denver, entry level, $28/hour. Intake is Thursday morning..."

The tool will research the role, pull competitive postings, pre-fill the intake form, and build your question and commitments list.