"I'll Blog When Pigs Fly."

When I was launching my first website for my firm, Intuition Co-op, I said no dice to writing a blog on my site. Recruiting? Hell, yes.

That was in 2009. Driving in a cab down 2nd Avenue, the developer I work with called me to encourage me to blog. He said it would help with SEO + so many people were blogging. I've never been one to do what everyone is doing, so it was no surprise to him that I didn't add that BLOG button to my site.

For me, it's about the job seeker.

When I think back to that conversation, I think about how honest I was being with myself. I knew that I wouldn't be able to say exactly what I wanted. Or that I wouldn't be able to dedicate the time to writing because I was launching my recruiting firm. My goal was to help as many people receive offers, not write cutesy prose about interviewing. PLUS I was worried about confidentiality. Would I be sharing stories about people that I was working with? Confidentiality and credibility are the bedrock of my firm + my soul.

For years, I worked for recruiters who were ego maniacs. One of them created a fake name for herself. Seriously! There were so many recruiters who told me I should've named my firm after myself. As the kiddos say, "that's not my jam". That's the reason why I never wanted job seekers to read a blog and think I was making this about myself. However, my tips, techniques, and experience helped so many people to land new roles in competitive markets. So I threw caution to the wind and started sharing + I learned how to do it on my own by making mistakes. I experienced a few successes as well. If one person read or reads a post and it helps them, it's worth my time.

Here I am now, 8 years later. Older, wiser + still extremely honest about this world of work. But now, I have a different perspective. It doesn't cost a thing to share information that will help people. And job seekers need support + help!

In August, I remember thinking maybe I'll start sharing tips and techniques for people who don't have access to a recruiter. Or for those who feel that they are alone in this process.

And so it began. I'm not sure if sharing on LinkedIn is true blogging but I've been sharing my thoughts, feelings and honest concerns about recruiting consistently since September. It's been one of the best experiences during the course of my career.

I've met incredible people. I've heard stories that broke my heart. And I've received emails from people I've never met who told me that I've helped them during their job search when they've followed my advice.

That's the best feeling. It feels just as good as representing a job seeker to a client that has a contract with my firm and receiving an offer.

In August, I had 3,600 followers. Today I have almost 38,000. I think that's what they call organic growth.

I encourage you to start sharing your POV, your insights, and tips for people in your industry. Share a post, write a story. People need to hear it. You'll develop relationships + LinkedIn does the work for you. I have a free account and they're kind enough to share it.

Don't worry about the trolls. That's right. Trolls. Weird, strange people who creep us out on LinkedIn. Don't forget: THIS IS SOCIAL MEDIA. You'll have unwanted attention or people who want to call you mean names like fat (shout out to the to moronic recruiters in Northern Ireland + England who told me to eat more cake last October!). I had one recruiter who's in the same city harass me (LinkedIn Support was really amazing during this period by the way). He told me he had called my client list + they'd all never heard of me. YOWZA. Scary, right? Especially since my shared client list spans 20+ years. He reminded me of the image of the swimmer in the next lane to Michael Phelps during the Olympics. Michael Phelps won that race, right?

Don't worry about the critics. Don't worry about the people who have nothing to do but debate every post. They don't matter. YOU matter. YOUR VOICE. YOUR opinion.

So let's do this + #gogogo and #youvegotthis. There's no better time than the present. Bite the bullet and don't be so critical of yourself. I'm so glad I started posting and I'm looking forward to reading yours! I have a lot to learn and why not from you - the expert! I'm rooting for you here in NYC! Huge Hug, Lauren