If you posted a marketing role for your tech company and got 1,000 applications, congratulations - you're experiencing the current state of hiring a marketer in this industry. There are just more marketing folks seeking jobs or job changes than open roles right now. As any SaaS marketer will tell you - it’s tough out there right now.
This is no fun for SaaS marketers trying to get noticed and it’s really no fun for SaaS leaders trying to hire. You’re now faced with 1,000 LinkedIn applications and no system for sorting through them. Break out the Scotch tumblers.
Out of those 1,000 applications, maybe 100 resumes rise to the top. Out of those, you’re probably going to phone screen 25 of them, 50 at the most (and that’s being generous). 10 might pass to further interview rounds and you might end up with 2-3 candidates you’re excited about.
Your job is to get from 1,000 to those first 25 phone screens without losing the right people in the noise. If that sounds tough, well…it is.
Before you look at a single resume, create the knockout criteria. This will look different based on your company but here’s an example:
Posting jobs on LinkedIn is a great way to get applicants if you’re not using a recruiter. Unfortunately, their application system sucks. They allow you to create screening questions but you’re limited to questions with number or yes/no answers. If possible, create your own application form you can direct people to from your LinkedIn job listing. This will allow you to customize the application so you can ask specific questions that will help you narrow down that list of 1,000. The questions could sound something like this:
These questions won't eliminate all the noise - people who aren't qualified will still get through - but they'll help you separate the 1,000 into a more manageable pile.
Once you've narrowed your search down to the group you’re doing a full one hour interview with, you need a consistent way to evaluate them. Not vibes. Not "this person seems smart." A scorecard.
Here are some examples of core competencies you might want to look at:
Domain Expertise - Have they done this specific type of work before in a similar context? What stage companies? What channels?
Execution & Craft Skills - Can they actually do the work hands-on? What have they personally built, created, executed?
Analytical Thinking - Do they connect marketing to business outcomes? Can they share specific metrics from past work? Do they track leading indicators or just vanity metrics?
Ownership & Accountability - Do they take ownership or blame others? Can they give examples of things that didn't work and what they learned?
Scrappiness - Can they succeed with limited budget and resources? Have they built things with tight constraints? Do they wait for perfect resources or figure it out?
Stage Fit - Are they wired for early-stage ambiguity and building from scratch? Have they worked at companies at your stage before? Do they prefer building or optimizing?
Score each competency on a 0-3 scale:
The goal isn't a perfect score. The goal is clarity on whether this person can solve your specific problem. Someone with 3s in Domain Expertise, Execution, and Stage Fit and 2s everywhere else might be exactly right.
As you're interviewing, watch out for these patterns:
The "I've done everything" candidate - They claim expertise in content, paid ads, SEO, events, product marketing, brand, and demand gen. This could mean they've done nothing deeply.
The big brand name with junior experience - Marketing Manager at a well known company sounds impressive until you realize they were one of 15 marketing managers, working on a narrow slice of an established program. If you need someone scrappy helping build your brand, this won’t cut it.
The strategist with no tactical chops - They'll talk about positioning, messaging, GTM strategy. But when you ask what they've personally built, it's all high-level. They'll spend 3 months "developing a strategy" while you get zero pipeline.
The channel expert who can't connect to revenue - They're amazing at SEO or content or paid ads, but they measure success in traffic, impressions, or engagement. Not pipeline. Not revenue. This might be okay, but if you need a head of marketing or someone to help drive revenue, this won’t cut it.
The person who needs a team to be effective - Some marketers want to always work collaboratively. If you’re a small and lean company, you’re going to need an achiever type who can get started independently.
If you're a hot VC-backed tech company with significant equity upside and you're growing 3-5x year-over-year, a recruiter's value is tapping their network and pulling good people out of good jobs. They can call a marketer who's crushing it at a Series B company and say, "Hey, this Series A just raised $20M, they're about to scale fast, and you'd get in early with meaningful equity." That's compelling.
But if you're bootstrapped or growing steadily - let's say 30-50% year-over-year, that approach doesn't work as well. People are going to have a harder time leaving a stable job for a company that may not be able to put any equity on the table and the growth trajectory is blurry at best.
That's when posting on LinkedIn and job boards makes sense. You want the people who want to move. Who want to prove themselves. Who are excited about your specific opportunity, not just chasing the next rocketship.
A recruiter can still help here, but the value is different: triaging the volume, running phone screens, and backfilling with their network for specific profiles if the applicant pool isn't strong enough.
Let's be honest about the value here. If you're staring at 1,000 applications, you have a few options:
Option 1: Do it yourself
Option 2: Hand it to someone who does this for a living
Here's what we do when a client is drowning in applications:
Triage - We’re looking for specific patterns: stage experience, hands-on execution, outcomes not activities.
Better filtering - We use an ATS with custom questions that help surface signals. The questions we shared above are a starting point, but we can adjust them based on what you specifically need.
Phone screens - We coordinate and run the first 25-50 calls so you only talk to the 10 people who are worth an hour of your time. We’re filtering for: can they actually do the work, are they wired for your stage, do they understand your business model?
Backfill - If the applicant pool isn't strong enough (and sometimes it's not, even with 1,000 applications), we tap our network for specific profiles (e.g. Someone who's built demand gen from scratch at a PLG company between $1-5M ARR).
Scorecard + process - You get a consistent evaluation framework, not vibes. Every candidate is assessed on the same competencies. You can compare notes across your team and make a decision based on evidence, not gut feel.
You can absolutely do this yourself. Set up better filtering questions. Build a scorecard. Block out 40 hours to sort through resumes and run phone screens.
Or you can spend that time on your product, your customers, your business - and hand this to someone who does it for a living.
Either way, don't just start scrolling through 1,000 resumes and hoping you get lucky. That's how you end up making a panic hire 6 weeks from now because you're exhausted and someone seems "good enough."
If this sounds like hell and you'd rather just talk to the 10 people who are actually worth your time, let's talk!
Specialized recruiting partner for growing SaaS companies needing marketing talent that drives real results
