The Recruiting Rodeo 🐎: WHY I AM LAUNCHING MY SUBSTACK

Volume 1

I am incredibly excited to share the launch 🚀 of my first-ever substack The Recruiting Rodeo: insider advice about your job search, the hiring process, and the state of talent acquisition, from an industry pro — me, Karen Shnek Lippman.

You may be wondering (or not) why I, an executive recruiter, am writing a substack in the first place. And more important: Why would anyone subscribe or pay me 💰 for my content? Great question!

Well, if you have worked with me directly at any point over the past 20+ years… then you may already KNOW why.

I created the aptly-named The Recruiting Rodeo (“Rodeo,” for short), because the social media landscape has become filled with mis- and dis-information from many people claiming to be experts: life coaches, executive coaches, career coaches, resume writers, and so on. It seems as though every real estate agent, freelance writer, and dog walker magically became a “coach” at some point during the pandemic.

I didn’t. I was too busy recruiting senior-level talent for a wide range of companies during a world event that changed our workplaces forever. Like everyone else, I had to pivot and adapt — and in my case, keep on finding, recruiting, and hiring extraordinary talent for my clients. To help my clients figure out the new landscape, together.

In preparation for the launch of my first “Rodeo,” I took the liberty of surveying twenty people I have helped over the past year, to see if their thoughts about the suggestions and coaching I provided during their professional journeys sync and align with my own thoughts — about myself and why I’m launching this substack. Here’s what they said:

"During my tenure at a company well-known for its challenging recruitment process, where filling a position could take years, Karen not only sourced several excellent employees but also facilitated one of the most exceptional hires the company has ever made. Conversely, Karen has also played a pivotal role in elevating my candidacy by refining and enhancing my professional experience, as well as suggesting who I should target in terms of top-tier prospective employers." Senior Director at a Fortune 200 company.

“Karen looked at my resume and immediately realized that I had a lot of good things on it but it didn’t tell anyone a story of who I am and what is most compelling about my experience. She tore my resume to shreds (ha!) but then helped me rebuild it in a much more strategic and compelling way. It’s a real calling card now, rather than just a list of jobs!” Senior Director at a leading internet-wireless provider.

“Karen's approach is direct and refreshing, much like a knowledgeable older sister who just knows better.” Manager at a Big Tech company. ❤️ 🦋

“You were one of the first resources I contacted when I learned my XXX role for a large, publicly traded company was being eliminated as part of a corporate restructuring. You heard me out, patiently allowing me to ramble on about my career journey. When it was your turn to talk, your advice cut straight to the point with just four words: "Button it up...A lot!"  I was shocked back to reality by your candid feedback. I knew on the spot you were right and have worked hard at doing just that ever since. Your wise advice continues to reverberate through my brain and I am grateful for it.” VP sales and marketing executive who has worked in a few different industries.

“You are the best of the best. Thanks to your guidance and expertise, what initially felt like an overwhelming interview process turned into a smooth experience that placed me in a career-changing role. When I met you, I was determined to pursue a new opportunity in a completely new industry but needed help transitioning. Working closely with you, I learned how to frame my experience so I could position myself as a top candidate for my current position. Throughout the negotiation process, you helped me recognize my value and understand the employer's perspective, keeping me grounded while aiming for what I deserved. As a result, I secured a better career opportunity with a significant pay increase and gained a deeper understanding of the complexities of landing a job at a Fortune 500 company.”  Manager at a Fortune 500 company in the supply chain space.

Reading these, and many other solicited testimonials, made me cry. Tears of joy. They affirmed what I already knew. That the time has come for me to stop giving it all away for free. I have never charged someone for career or resume advice in my life, even after helping quite a few prominent senior executives obtain career-changing jobs, with nothing to show for it. Barely a “thank you.” It is high time to get in the ring and ride the bull.

The truth is that being confident as a woman, especially in a business setting, is very often a no-no. So is having answers to questions and speaking authoritatively and with conviction. And not doubting yourself. Not saying, “I’m sorry,” just to defuse a situation with a co-worker — who is more often than not the person in charge of your career journey at a company — instead of backing up your well-informed POV with facts, data and logic.

Many of us have been there, regardless of gender. I sure have. And showing deference to someone who can’t support their perspective with anything beyond their personal opinion is just not me. I stand up for what I believe in. I back up my statements and recommendations with facts, data and logic. I communicate to people directly. I never doubt my moral compass. And perhaps most important, I admit when I’m wrong.

Once, many years ago, I was fired and told, “You are too intellectual for this firm.” Many years later, I moved to another coast — with laptop, VPN and my brand new corporate, in-house executive talent acquisition role in tow — to help my still-young-but-older sister 🦋 as she battled an aggressive form of colorectal cancer. When she died, a few months later, I made myself a promise. I swore that I would never again deny my intellect. Hide it. Or apologize for being an expert in not just one, but two job functions — and in turn, allow myself to be “penalized” for applying my well-honed skills and experience as a strategic communicator and marketer, to the talent-acquisition process.

In short, when you “move in” and live with someone, you really get to know them, intimately. I spent six weeks straight with my sister and her spouse of close to thirty years — both PhDs — and ended up getting a crash course in what a person with a PhD actually does: research, research and more research, with the aim of producing new and better results. It was then that a 💡went off in my head. Wait, that’s how I approach talent acquisition. I put hours of research into finding my candidates, setting myself and my clients up for success by really understanding the open positions, well before searches even begin. Fine tuning along the way as searches always evolve.

When I shared a high-level hiring manager’s feedback one day — that I had evidently found senior-level candidates “too quickly” — my sister replied in amazement, “Never in my lifetime have I had a recruiter who produced any candidates in that amount of time.” She concluded that I was probably “allergic” to my first experience working in-house in corporate America. She had spent the better part of her successful biotech career working at multiple Fortune 500s. Was her analysis of her little sister correct? Maybe. It doesn’t matter. I can’t look back; I can only look forward. It was a harrowing, deeply sad time in my life, and taught me a lot about myself that I’m still figuring out to this day. Being self aware is a gift.

I promised myself that from that point forward I would fully and unapologetically embrace my gifts and continue to apply my critical-thinking skills — to hire talent strategically, leveraging my marketing acumen, even if few others were operating similarly. My deceptively simple goal: to find clients and companies who want what I have to offer.

As part of my day-to-day job recruiting senior-level executives for decades, I have listened to thousands of stories — probably even tens of thousands — from candidates and even my clients, senior-level hiring leaders who pay me to go out and find the talent, who trust me with helping them chart the course of their professional lives. They share with me, in strictest confidence, their career aspirations, what they like and don’t like about their current employers, and where they say they want to work next as they also consider where I think they should explore and look. In the process, they open their minds to the possibilities — and sometimes, they even open their hearts ❤️. I have always listened, and then provided my trademark, often entertaining, somewhat intellectual and always direct, rapid-fire suggestions and feedback — sharing my high-level thoughts for FREE.

Against that backdrop, The Recruiting Rodeo 🐎 represents my chance to FINALLY leverage and combine everything I have done and learned over the past 35 years — over the course of a career trifecta leading from Journalism to PR to Executive Search — and share it in a way that provides value not only to those who can benefit most from my expertise, but also to myself.

Call me crazy (or just plain audacious), but if companies can afford to pay millions of dollars to hifalutin management consultants and thousands of dollars per year for annual subscriptions to data, media, and information companies — often just for churning out basic compensation, salary and other data that organizations need from the outside and use routinely on the inside to figure out how to “level set” position titles with compensation and for short- and long-term talent-mapping purposes — then the $100 I’m asking for an annual subscription to my substack is a bargain. And given my firsthand experience and track record of recruiting and hiring extraordinary executives — many of whom ultimately became company leaders — over the past 20+ years, maybe it’s even a steal.

The other and more obvious reason for my creating The Recruiting Rodeo 🐎 is: TALENT ACQUISITION IS BROKEN.

I have a large professional and personal network. And I can count on one hand (or even less) the number of neighbors, personal friends, family members, candidates, college and university career advisors, and clients who will go “on record” — as we say in strategic communications — to share their positive stories and experiences, either working with their organization’s talent-acquisition teams and recruiters or in their own job searches. Sometimes, I don’t even tell people I am a recruiter, because I just don’t want to hear them complain about the profession I have devoted 20+ years of my life to.

And why is that? Why is something that can be organized and executed in a timely manner, strategically — with or without expensive data and software programs — that also can be taught, shared and learned — filled with so much negativity and frustration coming from all sides?

That’s what we’re going to uncover and fix — together.

Earlier, I told you about the promises I made to myself that led me to create The Recruiting Rodeo. And now, I’m going to make a promise to you: Through my writing and talking (soon!) and by answering your questions — no matter how basic — about what goes on “under the hood” in talent acquisition, I promise to act as your unflappable, no-nonsense guide (your trail guide, as it were) through a landscape that few can successfully navigate, much less understand. And whether you call it hiring, recruiting, or executive search, we’re going to work together to map and make sense of it all.

You see, I want candidates — a.k.a., job seekers of every level and skillset — to have a pleasant and dare I say, even fun experience when they are either thinking about searching for a job or engaged in an active job search. From the college student whose parents just spent close to $150,000 over four years on in-state tuition, room and board, to the VPs and SVPs who report directly into the C-level and hope to join their ranks someday.

I want talent acquisition teams — the recruiters, HR pros and hiring managers at the companies you covet and dream of working at one day (big ones, small ones, founder-led ones, publicly-traded ones, pre-seed startups, and recently-acquired ones) — to be able to provide the best experience for ALL stakeholders, both internal and external.

So that’s my vision. And it’s why The Recruiting Rodeo 🐎 exists. The fact is, there are lots of tall tales out there. Social media platforms, even the ones created for professional networking and job searches, have turned into the Wild West.

Buckle up — it’s going to be a wild ride. (Yes, I recognize that cowboys and cowgirls don’t wear seatbelts. But for these purposes, maybe they should.)

In the next Rodeo, I will make my first contribution to tying a rope around all the issues and empowering job seekers and talent-acquisition pros alike to tackle them head on. And maybe even to help change things for the better. Providing you with a glossary of terms that describes the different — and very distinct — audiences that touch the talent-acquisition process seems like the perfect place to start.

Until then, see you out on the trail…

If you would like to comment on my first-ever substack, please start a thread and leave a comment ⭍