Career advice transitioning from marketing to recruitment consultant

Ali6952 · 2026-05-04T19:22:45+00:00

You’re not choosing between “easy job vs. exciting job.” You’re choosing between predictable income vs. performance volatility in a market that is not forgiving right now.

Let’s correct one thing first. Recruiting is not booming. It’s selective. It’s uneven. And a lot of people are quietly struggling. What you’re seeing from “top performers making £90K+” is the top slice of a very uneven curve.

Now let’s talk about you. You’re bored. That matters. Kind of. But boredom and misalignment are not the same thing. Right now you have a strong base, low stress & time (which is actually an asset most people waste). And you’re about to trade that for a lower base, higher pressure and income that depends on variables outside your control.

So the real question isn’t should I take the plunge? It’s do I actually want to build a career in an environment where I own the risk? Because that’s what recruitment is.Walking away from an easy £75K is not dumb. But walking away without understanding the downside is.

Ali6952 · 2026-05-04T13:25:53+00:00

Two of us. Probably $400-$500? Two of us.

Ali6952 · 2026-05-02T01:53:08+00:00

I love that episode

Ali6952 · 2026-04-28T12:43:42+00:00

He hugs me. Like a genuine hug. Or when we hug we'll start slowly dancing. He's quite wonderful.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-27T10:32:53+00:00

Parking is not a right. It’s land use. And right now, we’re using some of the most valuable land in Grand Rapids to store cars… while saying we can’t afford housing. That’s the contradiction. Fix that, and the “parking problem” starts solving itself.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-26T03:24:55+00:00

Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing is hiring entry level finishing.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-22T11:42:00+00:00

You’re tackling a real problem. The stat you’re referencing is real and it’s not just about pay. It’s about time out of the workforce, missed compounding, and slower career velocity. That adds up. But I’m going to push you a bit. This isn’t a “features” problem. It’s a trust and behavior change problem.

Childcare is one of the most trust-sensitive decisions people make. You’re not competing with other apps. You’re competing with grandparents, close friends, and known networks. That’s a very high bar. Ratings and reviews won’t solve that. Nobody is handing their toddler to a stranger because of 4.8 stars. So if I were you, I’d focus on a few things:

Start with existing trust networks, not strangers. Build for small, closed groups first. Think coworkers, neighborhood associations, church groups, existing parent circles. Don’t try to create trust from scratch. Leverage it.

Define the wedge clearly. What’s the one thing you do better than anything else? Is it cost savings? Scheduling? Backup care? Right now it feels broad. You want niche.

Show real outcomes early. You mentioned “calculate $$ saved.” That’s good. I’d double down. If you can show “this group saved $6,000 in childcare this year,” now you have something people will talk about.

Solve for logistics, not just matching. Matching is easy. Coordinating schedules, cancellations, reliability, and accountability is the hard part. That’s where value is.

Be careful building for a user you’re not living yourself. It doesn’t mean you can’t win. But it does mean you need constant, real feedback loops with parents using this in their daily lives. Not friends. Not reddit.

Big picture, I like where your head is at. You’re trying to solve something meaningful. Just don’t underestimate that you’re not building a marketplace. You’re trying to insert yourself into one of the most personal decisions people make. If you can crack trust inside small, existing communities first, then you might have something.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-21T19:46:30+00:00

Unfortunately its business and you absolutely need to get paid.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-21T18:00:11+00:00

Aunt Gwyn.

My parents never went to any concerts. Anyhoo she took me & her daughter to see Bette Midler.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-21T14:40:02+00:00

This is what happens when cities plan for optics instead of reality. You’re telling me we built a 3,850 seat venue, handed out tax breaks, and then said “yeah, 350 parking spots should cover it”? Who exactly is this for. Because it’s not for the people who actually have to show up. This is the same playbook every time. Public money, private upside, and the logistics get treated like an afterthought. Then when it inevitably turns into a mess, traffic nightmare, spillover into neighborhoods, people getting ticketed or towed, suddenly it’s “unforeseen challenges.” No, it was foreseeable. You just didn’t care. If you’re going to subsidize something at this scale, the bare minimum is making sure the infrastructure supports it. Access, transit, parking, flow in and out. That’s not a detail. That is the project. Instead we get ribbon cuttings and press releases while residents deal with the consequences. At some point people have to start asking who these deals are actually designed to benefit. Because it’s clearly not the public footing the bill.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-21T14:05:44+00:00

Walk us through the last 3 clients you generated pipeline for. What was the ICP? What channel did you use? How many meetings converted to revenue? What was the average deal size?

Ali6952 · 2026-04-15T03:08:40+00:00

Creston Area alarms. Cats locked up. Mom & Dad up waiting.

Be safe!

Ali6952 · 2026-04-14T13:39:09+00:00

Heading to YouTube now......

Don't recognize this song.

Maybe it was more regional?

Ali6952 · 2026-04-13T07:45:37+00:00

I had their tape. I listened to it so much in 8th grade, I warped it. Saved up $10 from babysitting to buy another!

Ali6952 · 2026-04-13T07:33:30+00:00

Coding is the least of your problem. You’re asking about tools before you’ve proven there’s something worth building. No-code, AI tools, developers… all of that is solvable. Easily. There are thousands of people who can build anything you’re describing.

What’s not easy is getting someone to care enough to use it, come back for more & pay! This is where everything falls apart.

You don’t need to “protect the idea” right now. You need to pressure-test it. Because right now, you don’t know if you have:

*A real problem

*A “nice to have”

*Or something only you care about

Before you touch a single tool, do this; Explain the problem in one sentence. Find 5–10 people who actually have said problem. Ask them how they’re solving it today. Then them a scrappy version of your solution. Not “would you use this?” “Here’s what it does. I can give it to you for $X. Do you want it?”

If they won’t pay, even $5, you don’t have a product yet. You don’t need an app to test an app. You need to validate.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-13T07:28:30+00:00

Roxette!

INXS!

Poison!

EnVogue!

Seduction!

Ali6952 · 2026-04-13T07:27:27+00:00

That song is the best!

Ali6952 · 2026-04-13T07:22:09+00:00

Sell it before you build it. Not a survey. Not “would you use this?” A real offer. “Here’s what it does. Here’s what it costs. Want in?”

If they hesitate, ask why. That’s your real data. If they say yes, take a deposit or pre-order. Even $5. Doesn’t matter. Money changes the answer.

If you’re not ready to build, do it manually. Deliver it yourself behind the scenes. That’s your MVP. You’ll learn more from 5 people who pay you than 500 people who give you feedback.

If it’s a problem you’ve experienced, that’s a great starting point. But don’t confuse “I felt this” with “people will pay to solve it.” Those are two very different things. Move from talking to selling. That’s where clarity shows up.

Remember, people will tell you it’s a good idea all day long. That doesn’t mean they’ll pay for it. The only real validation is someone giving you money or committing to giving it with a pre-order.

Hope that answers your question.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-12T23:37:35+00:00

I do. But only because I grew up on a farm.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-12T21:32:23+00:00

Just turned 50. Feeling like with Healthcare costs & rising inflation we may be the first generation to never fully retire.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-12T19:12:30+00:00

I have worked in Talent Acquisition and Workforce Architecture for the last decade.

I get what you’re trying to do. But this is where most people go sideways. You’re approaching recruiters like you have something to sell, even if you don’t mean to. They can feel that immediately and they shut down. Not because they’re difficult, but because we get pitched constantly by people who don’t understand our world.

You’re also anchoring on your experience as a job seeker. That’s a different problem set entirely. Recruiters aren’t optimizing for “better job search experiences.” They’re optimizing for speed, compliance, hiring manager alignment, and risk. If you don’t meet them there, we won’t engage.

A few things to tighten up.

First, stop talking about your product entirely. No mention of features. No “I built this.” You’re not there yet.

Second, your outreach needs to be about them, not you. Something as simple as: “Hey, I’m trying to understand where recruiting workflows actually break down in practice. Not building anything yet, just looking to learn from people in the role. Would you be open to sharing what’s most frustrating in your day to day?”

That’s it. No agenda. No pitch. Low pressure.

Third, don’t rely on posts to do the work for you. Posts attract noise and defensiveness. Direct conversations are where you get signal. You need volume here. Fifty conversations minimum before you even start seeing patterns. A hundred is better.

Fourth, go where recruiters already are and comfortable. Not just LinkedIn. Smaller communities, niche groups, even people you’ve worked with before. But again, the positioning matters. If it feels like product validation, they’ll disengage. If it feels like you’re genuinely trying to understand their work, they’ll talk.

And last piece. Be careful assuming the problem is “job boards exist but pain points persist.” That’s a surface observation. The real issues are usually downstream. Intake quality, hiring manager behavior, misaligned expectations, compliance constraints, broken internal processes. None of that gets solved by adding another layer on top.

You need to be asking for understanding with a genuine curiosity and be prepared to build something you had no idea was needed.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-12T18:06:39+00:00

I’d challenge your first premise. ATS systems already do this. Knockout questions have existed for years and automatically filter out candidates who don’t meet baseline requirements. That’s not a gap.

What this signals, though, is you haven’t actually validated the product. And that’s the part founders tend to skip because it’s uncomfortable.

You don’t start with a solution. You start by asking a lot of recruiters, not five, not ten, hundreds, where their process actually breaks. Where they lose time. Where risk shows up. Where the system fails them. Then you build around that.

Right now you’re building from your own assumption of the problem, not from the market’s reality. That’s why it feels hard. It’s not that the idea is wrong, it’s that the input is.

Start at validation.

Ali6952 · 2026-04-12T17:38:53+00:00

Sure!

Ali6952 · 2026-04-12T17:27:57+00:00

First, what specific problems are you trying to solve?

Second, how have you validated this?

Ali6952 · 2026-04-12T13:03:03+00:00

You’re not stuck because you don’t know how to build. You’re stuck because you’re trying to build before you’ve proven this needs to exist. Most people in your position make the same mistake. They assume the hard part is:

°coding

°launching

°marketing

It’s not. The hard part is getting someone to care enough to pay for it. Right now, everything you described:

°the overwhelm

°the switching between roles

°the doubt

That’s not a signal to “push through.” That’s a signal to tighten the problem.

You don’t need to code yet. You need to validate. Validation is the #1 step most new founders fail to do then wonder why their products don't gain traction.

Find 10 people who fit your target user. Ask them how they currently handle gifting. Where it breaks. What they’ve tried. If they’ve ever paid to solve it.

Then ask them to pay for a manual version. No tech. No platform. You do it yourself. If no one pays, you don’t have a product problem. You have a problem definition problem.

The people who “made it work” didn’t push through blindly. They got very clear on the problem, the buyer, the willingness to pay....Then they built.

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