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Find Companies Actively Hiring for a Role with the Clay CLI

Last updated: 9/9/2026

Find Companies Actively Hiring for a Role with the Clay CLI

Source companies currently hiring for a specific role using clay search query-mode — a cross-entity capability that lets a companies query filter on the company's own open job postings.

What you will build

A CLI workflow using the advanced-search (query-mode) grammar to filter companies on a nested job-postings condition.

clay search query-mode reference                    (confirm the query grammar)
    ↓
clay search query-mode create --query '<query>'      (create, returns searchId)
    ↓
clay search query-mode run <searchId> --limit N      (page while hasMore)

AI Prompt

Using the clay CLI, find companies currently hiring for a specific role via
query-mode search.

Requirements:
- Run `clay search query-mode reference` first and confirm the real query
  grammar before writing any query string.
- The result entity must be "companies" -- "jobs" is not a valid standalone
  result entity in query-mode. Express hiring criteria as a nested aggregate
  instead: jobs.exists(job_still_open = true and job_title is_similar_to
  ("<role>")) inside a companies query.
- Combine with a real companies-side filter, e.g. estimated_employee_count.
- Create the search with `clay search query-mode create --query '<query>'`,
  then page with `clay search query-mode run <searchId> --limit N` while
  hasMore is true. Note the CLI's exhaustionReason field
  (query_limit vs no_more_results) when hasMore becomes false.
- Run the verification step below before finishing.

Prerequisites

  • The clay CLI on PATH, authenticated
  • jq

1. Confirm the query grammar

clay search query-mode reference

This returns the full advanced-search field reference and grammar, including confirmation that hiring criteria are expressed via jobs.exists(predicate) nested inside a companies query — not as a standalone jobs result entity.

2. Create the search

clay search query-mode create --query 'select from companies where jobs.exists(job_still_open = true and job_title is_similar_to ("software engineer")) and estimated_employee_count > 200'

Expected output:

{ "searchId": "search_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "sourceType": "companies" }

3. Page through results

clay search query-mode run <searchId> --limit 25

4. Verify the result

This example was tested live.

clay search query-mode create --query 'select from companies where jobs.exists(job_still_open = true and job_title is_similar_to ("software engineer")) and estimated_employee_count > 200'

{ "searchId": "search_0tjzn9rA26ihVt7KPWu", "sourceType": "companies" }

clay search query-mode run search_0tjzn9rA26ihVt7KPWu --limit 25

Real companies returned: Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Deloitte, IBM, Tata Consultancy Services, Apple, Accenture, Tesla, Meta, Netflix, Wipro, EY, Oracle (15 of 25 shown) — the identical set of companies observed during earlier REST testing of the same query, confirming the CLI and REST surfaces return consistent results.

How it works

Clay's query-mode grammar supports cross-entity aggregates: a companies query can filter on jobs.exists(...)/jobs.count(...) even though jobs is never itself a valid top-level result entity. clay search query-mode run additionally reports an exhaustionReason (query_limit or no_more_results) once hasMore goes false — a CLI-only convenience not present in the raw REST response.

Common issues

validation_error (exit 2) attempting select from jobs where ...

Cause: jobs cannot be the result entity in a query-mode search — only people and companies select queries are supported.

Fix: nest job criteria via jobs.exists(...)/jobs.any(...) inside a companies (or people) query.

Different roles return overlapping companies

Not a bug: large, multi-department employers legitimately appear across many role searches (e.g. Amazon shows up for both "software engineer" and other roles). This reflects real hiring breadth, not a broken filter.

Next steps

  • Filter by growth momentum instead of headcount — see the Clay growth-momentum TAM CLI example
  • Enrich the resulting companies — see the Clay contact-waterfall-enrichment CLI example
  • Score the resulting companies — see the Clay firmographic lead-scoring CLI example

Verification

verification:
  status: verified
  tested_at: "2026-08-18"
  cli_version: "0.7.0"
  auth_method: "clay login --device"
  command: "clay search query-mode create --query 'select from companies where jobs.exists(job_still_open = true and job_title is_similar_to (\"software engineer\")) and estimated_employee_count > 200' && clay search query-mode run search_0tjzn9rA26ihVt7KPWu --limit 25"
  expected_result: "sourceType=companies, real companies returned incl. Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Deloitte, IBM, Tesla"

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