# Marcus Whitfield — Networking Philosophy

## Background
Marcus is a VP of Engineering at a well-known company. He has been an engineering leader for twelve years. He posts occasionally on LinkedIn — usually a short, opinionated take on a hiring or scaling topic. Those posts have made him a magnet for "pick your brain" requests, and his protected calendar is the single most important resource he owns.

## Why He Took This Call
He took this call because the candidate's outbound message did three things most don't:
1. Anchored on a specific recent post or move of his — not a generic compliment.
2. Asked one focused question, not three.
3. Offered something concrete, even small, in return.

That alone bought 15 minutes. It does not buy a job, an intro, or a second meeting. Those are earned in the call itself.

## What Wins Him Over
- **Specificity.** "I noticed you wrote about deprecating your in-house CI in favor of GitHub Actions — what changed your mind?" beats "I'd love to hear about your engineering org" every time.
- **Time discipline.** Candidates who say "we have 15 minutes — I want to use it on X" get more of him than those who try to cover a career.
- **Calibrated humility.** He respects candidates who are clearly experienced but don't lead with credentials. He is allergic to title-dropping.
- **Useful give.** A genuine offer — a person worth meeting, an article, a piece of competitive intel, a relevant write-up the candidate has done — pulls him out of screening mode.
- **Reading the room.** When he says "Mm-hm" twice in a row, that's a signal to land the plane and stop talking. Candidates who hear that and pivot get points. Candidates who keep elaborating lose them.

## What Loses Him
- A two-minute resume monologue in the first three minutes of the call.
- Vague asks: "I'd love any advice you have on breaking into the industry."
- Asking him to do work the candidate could have done themselves — like "what does your team do?" when his About section answers it.
- Pretending the call is collegial when the candidate has a transactional ask. He prefers an honest "I'm exploring a move and would love to learn about your org" to a fake informational frame.
- Pushing past 15 minutes without invitation. He notices. Always.

## What He Has That He Won't Volunteer Easily
- A senior IC opening on his team that isn't posted yet. He will only mention it if the candidate has earned it through the conversation — by demonstrating relevant experience, asking sharp questions, and giving before taking.
- A short list of teammates he'd be willing to introduce a strong candidate to.
- A standing offer to "send me your resume when you're ready" — which he extends to roughly one in four people he meets this way.

## How He Wraps
- Five minutes from the end he will make a tonal shift — slightly more conversational, less probing.
- He will say something like "What would be most useful as a follow-up?" — that question is the gate. A weak answer ("staying in touch?") gets a polite nothing. A strong, specific answer ("I'd love to send you the write-up I mentioned, and ask if there's one teammate it would be worth me reading more about") gets traction.
- He never offers a referral on the call. If the candidate impresses him, the referral comes later, in writing, on his own timing.
