The Cognitive
The Competitor Map
Who does the work at your manager's target companies, and who already left.
Your manager names two famous competitors. Every recruiter in town is messaging the same people there. They are well paid and mostly happy. Build a map instead: more companies, the people who do the work there, and the alumni who already left.
Risk Analyst (Fraud)New York · “someone from a big payments company”
Regulatory Affairs SpecialistBoston or Minneapolis · “someone from a top medical-device maker”
Brand ManagerCincinnati · “someone from a big consumer brand”
Contents
01
Turn one company into fifteen
Two names in, fifteen companies out.
The manager's two names are a short way of saying "people who have done this job at this standard." Ask what they like about those two. The answer tells you which other companies train people the same way.
The intake question
ASK THE HIRING MANAGERWhat would someone from there have done that someone from elsewhere would not? Name one problem they solved, one process they ran, and the size of the team they worked in.
Steps
- Write the two names in the first row of the worksheet below.
- Fill every ring with 2 or 3 companies. Use the manager's answer as the test: does this company make people solve the same problem?
- Read the list back to the manager. Ask them to strike any they would never hire from. Keep the rest.
- Ask which current clients or partners are off limits (see section 06). Strike those too.
| Ring | Fraud analyst, NY | Regulatory, Boston/MSP | Brand, Cincinnati |
|---|---|---|---|
| The two names | Two big payments companies | Two top device makers | Two big consumer brands |
| Direct competitors | Card issuers, acquirers, other processors, buy-now-pay-later firms | Other large device makers in the same product area | Other packaged-goods makers in the same aisles |
| Smaller lookalikes | Digital banks, payment startups, crypto exchanges | Mid-size and venture-backed device companies | Challenger brands, private-label makers |
| Suppliers | Fraud-prevention and identity-check software firms | Contract manufacturers, testing labs, component makers | Ad agencies, packaging firms, ingredient makers |
| Customers | Large online retailers, marketplaces, travel and ticket sellers | Hospital systems, diagnostics labs | Retail chains (their own-brand teams) |
| Spun out of them | Startups founded by ex-risk leaders | Startups founded by ex-R&D or regulatory leads | Brands launched by ex-marketing leads |
| Consultancies that serve them | Forensic and risk advisory firms | Regulatory and quality consultancies | Brand strategy and market research firms |
Trap: the customers ring only works when the customer has its own team doing the work. A large retailer runs its own fraud team. A small shop does not.
In The Cognitive
- Type the brief in one sentence and add the companies: "Risk Analyst, fraud, New York. From payments companies, card issuers or online marketplaces, current or past."
- Add the ones to leave out: "Not from our two current clients."
- Open the strong matches first. Each one says why it fits.
02
Who does the work, not the title
Every company names the job differently.
The same work carries a different title at each company. A title search misses half the people and finds others who only sit near the work. Find the team first, then the names.
Titles for the same work
FRAUD ANALYSTFraud Strategy Analyst · Risk Operations Analyst · Payments Risk Analyst · Trust & Safety Analyst · Transaction Monitoring Analyst · Disputes and Chargebacks Analyst
REGULATORY AFFAIRSRegulatory Affairs Specialist · Regulatory Submissions Specialist · RA/QA Specialist · Regulatory Engineer · Clinical and Regulatory Associate · Product Regulatory Lead
BRAND MANAGERBrand Manager · Associate Brand Manager · Assistant Brand Manager · Marketing Manager, [product line] · Brand Strategy Manager
Five places that show who does the work
- Job posts. Read their current and past ads for the role. Note the team name, who the role reports to, and the work words. Those words go into your search.
- Engineering and data blogs. Payments companies write about how they catch fraud. The authors and the people they thank are the team.
- Conference talks. Speaker lists at fraud, regulatory and marketing conferences name the person and the team. Speakers often bring colleagues to the next year's panel.
- Product release notes and public filings. In the US, 510(k) summaries name a contact person for the submission. Product launch press releases name brand leads.
- Org pages. The company's people page, team photos on careers pages, and the "people also viewed" list on a known team member's profile.
KEYWORD SEARCH · FRAUD, TITLE LEFT EMPTY("fraud" OR "chargeback" OR "transaction monitoring") AND ("SQL" OR "rules" OR "risk strategy") AND "New York"
KEYWORD SEARCH · REGULATORY("510(k)" OR "PMA" OR "EU MDR") AND ("submission" OR "technical file") AND ("Boston" OR "Minneapolis")
Trap: "Risk Analyst" at a payments company can mean lending risk or vendor risk. Read the experience bullets. Keep people who wrote fraud rules, worked chargebacks or investigated cases.
In The Cognitive
- Describe the work, not the title: "Writes and tunes fraud rules for card payments, works with SQL, handles chargebacks."
- Read the reason on each strong match. It names the work they did, whatever their title says.
- Shortlist the ones who do the work. Pass on the ones who only sit near it.
03
The alumni who already left
Six months to three years out.
People who left the named company carry the same training and are no longer tied to it. They have no retention bonus from that company to lose. They have changed jobs once, so they will consider it again. Their new job may not be what they hoped.
The window
| Time since leaving | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Under 6 months | Still settling in. Rarely moves. Save them for later. |
| 6 months to 3 years | Best window. Training is fresh, ties are loose, new job is known. |
| Over 3 years | The training has faded. Judge them on their current job, not the famous name. |
Where alumni go
- Fraud: digital banks, payment startups, fraud-prevention software firms, large online retailers.
- Regulatory: smaller device companies, regulatory consultancies, contract manufacturers.
- Brand: challenger brands, agencies, retailers' own-brand teams, the next big consumer brand.
Steps
- Search the named company as a past employer, not current. Add the work words from section 02.
- Keep people who held the job there for at least 18 months. Short stints taught less.
- Check what they do now. Sideways or smaller moves are your best bets.
- Note anyone who moved up into a bigger title at a small company. They may want the scope back.
In The Cognitive
- Ask for people who left: "Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Boston or Minneapolis. Worked at a large device maker in the past, left in the last three years."
- Ask for more people for the same role when the first list runs out.
- Change the brief by typing the change: "also include people who left a regulatory consultancy."
04
Reading a team from the outside
Public signals that tell you who will listen.
Profiles, job posts and news show how a team is doing. Read them before you write a single message.
| Signal | Where you see it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Tenure | Start dates on profiles | 2 to 4 years in the same role: ready for a step up. 6+ years: settled, hardest to move. |
| Recent leavers | Several "past" profiles from one team in a few months | Something changed. The people still there are open to a call. |
| Reorg | New team names, titles changing at once | Roles and reporting lines are unclear. Good time to offer clarity. |
| New leader arrived | A new head of the function in the last year | New leaders often bring their own people. The old team's loyal staff look around. |
| Layoffs news | Press, public notices | Survivors carry more work and less certainty. Never mention the layoffs in a message. |
| Hiring freeze | Ads pulled, or reposted at a lower level | No promotions soon. People who expected one may move. |
Draw the map
One row per company. Fill it in as you search. Copy the grid into a spreadsheet.
| Company | Ring | Team | Doing the work now | Alumni (left 6 mo to 3 yrs) | Signal | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [name] | Direct competitor | Fraud Strategy, lead [name] | [3-5 names] | [names + where now] | New leader | 1 |
| [name] | Supplier | Risk Operations, lead [name] | [3-5 names] | [names + where now] | None | 3 |
Trap: one person leaving is not a signal. Look for a pattern: three or more from one team, or a leader change plus leavers.
In The Cognitive
- Run one search per ring: type the role and that ring's companies into the brief.
- Shortlist the people for your grid and pass on the rest. Ask for more people when a list runs out.
05
Who to approach first
Start where people are most likely to move.
Priority order
- Alumni 6 months to 3 years out, now in a sideways or smaller job.
- Current staff on a team with a signal from section 04.
- People doing the work at lookalikes, suppliers and customers.
- Current staff at the two named companies with no signal. Last, and fewest.
To a current employee
Keep it short, specific to their work, and private. Do not name their employer's troubles.
FRAUD · CURRENT EMPLOYEEHi Dana, I'm hiring a fraud risk analyst in New York for a team that writes its own card fraud rules and owns chargebacks end to end. Your work on transaction monitoring is the background they want. Open to a 15-minute call this week? If not, no reply needed.
BRAND · CURRENT EMPLOYEEHi Marcus, I'm filling a Brand Manager role in Cincinnati. You'd own a full brand P&L, not a single line. Your launch work in home care fits what the team needs. Worth a short call?
To an alumnus
Name the training they carry and the step this role offers.
REGULATORY · ALUMNUSHi Priya, I'm hiring a Regulatory Affairs Specialist in Minneapolis. The team files its own 510(k)s and is starting EU MDR work, and they want someone trained at a large device maker. You've had a year in your current role, so the timing may suit. Open to a call?
Trap: do not open with the famous name. "You worked at [big brand]" tells them you read one line. Open with the work they did.
In The Cognitive
- Shortlist the people in your priority order.
- Get email and phone for the ones you picked.
- Send picked people to your ATS, if your ATS is connected.
06
The no-poach line
What you can and cannot do. General guidance, not legal advice.
Agreements that bind you
- Agencies: client contracts often bar you from approaching the client's own staff, and from re-approaching people you placed there for a set period. Keep an off-limits list and check it before every search.
- In-house: partner and supplier contracts can carry hiring limits too. Ask legal for the list.
- Between employers: in the US, two companies agreeing not to hire each other's staff can break competition law. Never agree to one informally with another recruiter or company.
Agreements that bind the candidate
- Non-solicit: may stop them from taking clients or colleagues with them. Do not plan to hire "them and their team" without advice.
- Non-compete: rules differ by state and country. Ask early whether they have one, and pass it to the hiring company.
- Notice and garden leave: ask for their notice period before the offer stage.
Before you build a plan around any of these, check your contract and ask your counsel.
Never ask for
If they offer it
- Stop them: "Please don't share that. We don't want anything confidential from your employer."
- Do not open, save or forward anything they send. Delete it and tell them you did.
- Write a short note of what happened and tell the hiring manager.
In the interview
INSTEAD OF"Walk us through the fraud rules you run today."
"Which submissions is your team filing next year?"
ASK"Describe a fraud pattern you caught, in general terms. How did you find it and what did you change?"
"Talk us through a submission you led. What went wrong and how did you fix it?"
In The Cognitive
- Name the companies to leave out in the brief: "Not from our current clients: [names]."
- Invite shortlisted people to an AI interview. They book their own time, and you get the recording, transcript and scores.
Build your map today
Type the role, name the companies they should come from, and see who does the work there and who already left.
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