Episode Guest

Sam Schlimper is Managing Director at Randstad Enterprise, where she works with global organisations to redesign work, unlock human potential, and build future-ready talent strategies. With deep experience across recruitment, financial services, and advisory, Sam is passionate about creating meaningful work that energises people and organisations.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:23 What gives you energy and what drains it at work

1:17 Sam’s duvet flip and why self-reflection matters

2:09 First job lessons and learning what you don’t want to do

3:04 Why trying things is essential early in your career

3:39 How Sam fell into recruitment and talent without a plan

4:12 Confidence, training, and learning on the job

4:46 Building confidence in a hybrid and remote world

5:47 Why job descriptions don’t reflect how work really happens

6:33 Do remote workers really miss out on promotions?

7:39 How to know who you are (and why it’s a lifelong job)

8:16 Being good at something that slowly drains you

9:10 Why fun, energy, and people keep you in a job

10:05 What makes a great recruiter today

11:40 How people really get jobs beyond their CV

12:44 Understanding human potential at its core

14:13 Simple ways to identify your own potential

15:36 Are you stuck in the ‘frozen middle’?

16:29 What it feels like when work slowly erodes you

17:36 Mucky ducks and how bad culture spreads

18:57 What to do if you are the mucky duck

20:04 Knowing when it’s time to leave an environment

22:13 Why human connection matters more than ever

23:14 AI, young people, and the future of work

24:45 Why early careers need new, non-traditional routes

25:46 The beehive analogy and problem-solving talent

26:47 Why AI should be treated like a colleague, not a tool

28:37 The danger of cognitively offloading your thinking

30:08 How to work with AI without losing your edge

32:43 Psychological safety and AI adoption at work

35:40 Confidence, power, and who embraces AI first

38:38 Lessons from Sam’s time at Barclays

40:33 What Randstad Enterprise does and why Sam loves her work

43:49 The red folder quick-fire questions

48:24 Sam’s duvet flip and what really gets her out of bed

Episode Partners

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