Part VI · Getting the job · Chapter 16
Proof of work and getting hired
One company, a handful of shipped systems with numbers, and how to handle the paid trial project.
11 min read
GTM engineering hires on evidence. A certificate tells a hiring manager little. A system you built, with the numbers it produced and a clear explanation of your choices, tells them almost everything. This chapter is about building that evidence deliberately.
What you'll take away
- 01Why GTM teams hire from portfolios and trial projects, not CVs.
- 02Why a connected project beats a collection of exercises.
- 03How to write up a project so your judgment shows.
- 04How to approach a paid trial project.
- 05The common routes into a first role.
Why hiring is portfolio-first
The work is concrete and visible. A hiring manager can ask to see a list you built, the logic behind your scoring, a workflow, a sequence, and the results. Many teams also set a short paid project during hiring: build a list for this segment, design a signal play, fix this broken table. Candidates who have done similar work before, and can explain it, do far better than those with longer CVs.
Tell one connected story
Hiring managers want to see that you can design a system, not just operate its parts. The clearest way to show that is a project where the pieces connect: a targeting decision that shapes the list, a signal that shapes the message, a CRM design that shows the results. A real business with a nameable buyer makes this far more convincing than invented examples, whether it's your employer, a friend's company or a local business that would welcome the help.
Write-ups that show judgment
- 1
The goal
Who the company sells to and what the system had to achieve. - 2
The design
A simple diagram of the five jobs from chapter 2, with the tools at each. - 3
Decisions and trade-offs
What you chose and what you rejected. Why this signal, why this provider order, why this message. This is the section readers study. - 4
Numbers
Accounts, verified contacts, cost per verified contact, delivered, replies, meetings. Be honest about small samples. - 5
What broke and what you'd change
The most credible paragraph in any write-up.
Show the decisions and the numbers. Screenshots of tools prove only that you have an account.
Share some of it publicly: short posts about what you built, what worked and what didn't. Hiring managers in this field read LinkedIn, and a steady record of honest build notes attracts conversations that applications don't.
The paid trial project
- Clarify before building: the goal, the segment, the tools you may use, the budget and the deadline.
- Do the strategy first: a short note on ICP, signal and message before any table.
- Keep cost visible: credits used and cost per verified contact.
- Deliver something they can use, plus a one-page explanation of decisions and limitations.
- Say what you'd do next with more time. It shows you see the whole system.
Routes in
| Route | Why it works | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Agency | Many clients and industries quickly; fast portfolio building | Fast pace; less depth in any one company |
| In-house at a startup | You own the whole system and its results | Fewer people to learn from |
| Internal move | From SDR, RevOps or marketing ops into building the systems you used | Need to show building skills, not just usage |
| Freelance projects | Real results for small companies | Finding clients takes time; reputation is everything |
Communities around the main GTM tools are worth joining. Answering other people's questions by building the solution yourself is one of the fastest ways to learn, and it gets you known.
Try it
Outline your portfolio
Pick a real B2B company you could build for. Write down the company, its buyer, and the five pieces of the system you would build and show, each with the number you would report.
Write your answer down first, then reveal the worked answerWorked answer
For example: a company selling time-tracking software to architecture practices.
- ICP and sizing: number of practices with 10 to 100 staff in the UK, from the professional body's directory plus a database.
- Signal play: practices advertising for project managers, a sign of growing project load. Report signal volume per week.
- List and enrichment: verified contacts and cost per verified contact.
- Deliverability and sequence: delivery, reply and meeting rates for a tested message.
- CRM and reporting: routing rules and a simple dashboard of meetings and pipeline by play.
A strong answer chooses a company with a reachable, nameable buyer and plans a number for every piece.