Engineering leaders who want to get hired through the people who actually decide

Get Hired by Talking to CTOs Directly. Not by feeding the ATS and hoping HR forwards your CV.

The roles you want are not on a job board. They are decided over coffee, by the CTO or VPE who owns the headcount, before HR ever writes the posting. If you are applying into the ATS and waiting, you are last in a line you never needed to stand in.

I have run 3,000+ mentoring sessions and I know the CEE decision-makers by first name. I get you in front of them directly: warm coffee talks with the people who actually hire, plus Marian's List, the vetted channel where senior candidates get found before a CV lands on a desk. Ex-VPE at Mews, ex-Manta acquired by IBM.

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Situations you are likely in, and how we tackle them

Marian Kamenistak in a 1:1 mentoring session.

You have applied to 40 roles and heard back from 3.

The postings look perfect. I tailor the CV, write the cover letter, hit apply. Then nothing, or a rejection from an ATS that clearly never reached a human. Meanwhile I know the real market for someone at my level is not on these boards at all.

You have probably tried

Applying to more roles, faster
Rewriting the CV to beat the keyword filter
LinkedIn Easy Apply into the void
Waiting for a recruiter DM that never lands

How we tackle it

We stop feeding the machine. We build a target list of 10 to 15 companies where a CTO or VPE could actually hire you, and we get you coffee with the person who owns the headcount, not the recruiter screening for keywords. The senior tech market in CEE runs on coffee, and I know who to call.

Target: Within 60 days: 3 to 6 coffee talks with real decision-makers, and at least one live pathway to an offer.

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HR screens you out before the CTO ever sees your name.

A recruiter with a checklist decides whether a Head of Engineering with 15 years of scars gets a call. They screen for the wrong things: exact title match, a keyword, a gap on the timeline. The CTO who would get me in five minutes never sees my CV.

You have probably tried

Stuffing the CV with the right keywords
Explaining the career gap in a cover letter nobody reads
Using an employee referral that still routed back to HR
Assuming your track record speaks for itself

How we tackle it

We route around the filter. A warm intro from someone the CTO already trusts puts your name on their desk directly. I open my peer network and hand you the same warm-intro scripts I use in my programs, so you arrive pre-vouched instead of pre-screened.

Target: You go from "CV in a pile of 200" to "the person a CTO already wants to meet."

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You would network. You just do not know whose door to knock on.

Everyone says it is about who you know. Great. I know my current team and a few ex-colleagues. I do not have a line to the CTOs at the 15 companies I would actually want to work for. Cold LinkedIn messages to strangers feel like begging and convert like spam.

You have probably tried

Cold LinkedIn DMs to hiring managers
Going to one meetup and leaving early
Telling friends to "let me know if you hear of anything"
Hoping your reputation travels on its own

How we tackle it

We build the map together: which 15 companies fit your direction, who decides at each, who can introduce you. Then I make the introductions I can, and coach the ones you make yourself. Instead of waiting to be found, we go find the room.

Target: A ranked target list with a named decision-maker per company, and a warm path into the top few.

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You get the coffee and then freeze on the ask.

I finally get 30 minutes with a VPE and I spend it being polite. I talk about my current job, we agree the market is tough, we say "let us stay in touch," and nothing happens. I had the shot and I bunted.

You have probably tried

Winging it and hoping it flows
Over-preparing a monologue that kills the conversation
Treating it as "just a chat" with no goal
Ending on "let us stay in touch" every time

How we tackle it

We rehearse the coffee before you walk in. Your 60-second story, the two questions that make a CTO think "I could use this person," and the specific ask that turns a friendly chat into a next step. I play the CTO in the dry run.

Target: Every coffee ends with a concrete next move, not a vague "let us stay in touch."

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You want to be on the shortlist CTOs actually read.

I keep hearing the good roles get filled from a list the founder already trusts, before the posting even goes up. I want to be on that list, not scraping job boards after the role is basically gone.

You have probably tried

Posting "open to work" to 3,000 connections
Signing up with three recruiters who ghosted
Hoping your reputation reaches the right founder
Refreshing job boards after the good roles are taken

How we tackle it

We get you ready to be found: the portfolio, the story, and the proof a CTO inspects before saying yes. Then, when the fit is real, I put you in front of the CEE hiring channel where senior leaders get matched to companies directly, community-vouched, with no recruiter markup.

Target: You stop chasing postings and start getting approached by companies that already trust the source.

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The questions I hear most from Engineering leaders who want to get hired through the people who actually decide

These are the exact asks from mentees in the last 12 months. Bring one to the intro call and we start there.

The roles I want are never on job boards. How do I find them?
How do I get a coffee with a CTO who does not know me yet?
HR keeps screening me out. How do I reach the decision-maker directly?
How do I get warm introductions without feeling like I am begging?
What do I actually say in a coffee with a VPE so it leads somewhere?
How do I get onto Marian's List?
I have a job. How do I look without my current employer finding out?
How do I build a target list of the right 15 companies?
Recruiters keep ghosting me. Is there a better channel?
How do I turn "let us stay in touch" into a real offer?

How mentoring with me works

Free 30-min intro. Two KPIs to move in 3-6 months. Small homework after every session. The full method, step by step:

See how mentoring works →

Frequently asked

What is Marian's List?+

A vetted hiring channel: senior CEE engineering leaders that companies browse directly, community-vouched, before a CV ever hits an ATS. Companies pay a fraction of an agency fee, and the shortlist is people I would personally stand behind. See the list.

Do you guarantee a job?+

No, and anyone who does is lying. What I guarantee is that you stop wasting shots: a real target list, warm intros I can actually make, and coffees you are prepared for. The offer is yours to close. I will be in your corner when you negotiate it.

Is this recruiting? Do you take a cut of my salary?+

Not from you. Mentoring is mentoring: you pay for my time and access to the network. Marian's List charges the hiring company a placement fee, never the candidate. The two are separate. On a coffee-talk mentoring track, you are the client, full stop.

I am employed and cannot be seen job-hunting. Is this discreet?+

Fully. Nothing leaves our conversation. Coffee talks are private and off the public market by design. That is the whole point of not broadcasting "open to work" to 3,000 connections.

Does this work if I am not in Prague?+

The network is strongest across CEE and reaches North America. Coffees run in person where we can and over video where we cannot. The mechanism, a warm intro straight to the decision-maker, travels fine.