Steven Rothberg is the Founder of College Recruiter, a job search site dedicated to ensuring that every student and recent graduate has access to a great career. As the Chief Visionary Officer, he focuses on long-term strategy, identifying market trends, and shaping the company’s direction. His leadership has helped more than 12 million students and early-career candidates connect with employers annually.
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your entrepreneurial journey/venture/initiative.
I grew up in Winnipeg, Canada, which is located almost exactly in the middle of the country. My father and his father before him were entrepreneurs, so if there’s an entrepreneurship gene, then I surely inherited it.
My first entrepreneurial experience was in 5th grade, so I was probably 10 or 11 years old. I bought boxes of Gobstoppers—large candy balls that you suck on—and then re-sold them to my classmates. The cost for individual units in the store was $0.25. I bought them in bulk for $0.05 and resold them for $0.25, so my classmates didn’t pay more and didn’t have to make a trip to the store, but I had a nice 500 percent markup.
Every industry that is now a large-scale, top-notch business once started as a small idea in the minds of entrepreneurs. What was that idea or motivation that made you start your business/initiative? What motivated you within to say “YES, go for it!”?
I’ve never had a desire to start or operate a large-scale business. My motivation was more about lifestyle. If I had to choose between happiness and wealth, the choice would be easy: happiness.
Tell us something about your initiative or current role. What is it about, and what impact are you trying to make?
My current role is that of Chief Visionary Officer, which is similar in our small business to what a Chairman’s role would be in a large business: strategy. It is my job to look ahead a year, three years, even five years to try to figure out where we need to be as a business, including what products to offer to what customer groups and how best to market them.
Your journey and your vision are very inspiring, but are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?
Over the course of a year, we help more than 12 million students, recent graduates, and other candidates early in their careers connect with employers. Helping someone earn a living is one of the highest honors you can receive, and we do that more than 12 million times a year.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
Our CEO/CTO is a woman, and her gender neither got her the role nor keeps her in that role. Women in many professions, including tech, face greater barriers than their male counterparts, so I typically find that, in our industry, women greatly outperform men if they’re in similar roles. To get to that point, the women needed to be better than the men, which makes the women more deserving of their achievements—not less, like some men would like to believe.
Women are a growing force in workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. What are your thoughts about women in leadership today?
Our CEO/CTO is a woman, and her gender neither got her the role nor keeps her in that role. Women in many professions, including tech, face greater barriers than their male counterparts, so I typically find that, in our industry, women greatly outperform men if they’re in similar roles. To get to that point, the women needed to be better than the men, which makes the women more deserving of their achievements—not less, like some men would like to believe.
What would you want to say to our young leaders/audience reading this?
Don’t try to decide what kind of job or even career you want for your entire working life. The world will change too much to decide that today, as will you. If you can figure out where and what you want to be doing five years from now, that’s enough. Try to set a specific five-year goal around whatever matters to you and then work backward from there: what do you need to be doing in year four to get to that five-year goal? Year three to get to where you need to be in year four? Year two to get to where you need to be in year three?
Links
🌐 Website: CollegeRecruiter.com
🔗 LinkedIn: Steven Rothberg
▶️ YouTube: College Recruiter
