Karen Danziger wears leopard prints and stiletto boots – appropriate garb for someone who makes her living as a headhunter.

She came to the Howard-Sloan-Koller Group (HSK), then Howard Sloan Associates, in 1988 to beef up the company’s creative searches. She had been an editor for several trade magazines, and her first year as a headhunter was traumatic. “I sort of don’t count the first year,” she says, “after being an editor for 12 years, I’d walk into the president’s office every Friday, crying.”

Edward R. Koller, Jr., HSK’s president, recognized a fellow workaholic and had asked her to join the firm when her former employer went bankrupt. Initially reluctant, Ms. Danziger soon realized that there was a market for someone who understood the requirements of publishing and the media. She started doing searches for art and editorial directors, and, as the firm grew, so did her scope. “Now, I absolutely love doing what I’m doing,” she says.

Today, HSK is a full-service media search firm, with magazine publishing as its core business. They only conduct retained searches – that is searches for which the employer pays a fee in advance, usually 30% of the successful candidate’s annual total compensation. HSK is widely regarded as the most powerful media search in America.

A client may describe the ideal candidate in some detail or simply point to a successful editor and ask more or less for a clone. Ms. Danziger likes to present half a dozen candidates to a client, but might first discuss just one or two to narrow down the desired profile. “You’d never go with one candidate,” she says, “especially if it’s your best.”

More than 90% of HSK’s client base is America, but Ms. Danziger has also placed and recruited in Europe and Asia. At the moment, “We’re looking quite aggressively at people in London and Australia.”

What explains the steady influx of British editors? “It’s their knack of packaging,” says Ms. Danziger, citing a longer journalistic tradition, experience with tabloid journalism, speed, and a talent for tailoring content. “It’s in their blood in London to be able to write and produce stuff quickly, go after the story, make it grabbing and compelling, lots of color and energy on the page, lots of gossip – sharper, wittier,” she says.

It used to be enough for a candidate to demonstrate experience and steady progress. Now, the work matters more, as does “going in and talking the right game,” says Ms. Danziger. The importance of personality in the media is in creasing, and even traditionally staid areas like finance and accounting now prefer a candidate with personality.

But no amount of personality will fudge the need to be specific. “Bullshit doesn’t work anymore,” says Ms. Danziger. “You don’t get a job today without doing critique, proposal, story ideas, and a game plan.” The editor’s function now includes dealing with the business side. “If you don’t get the business part of it, you won’t go far.” Nor will you if you’re not visible, capable of appearing on television, and looking the part.

The media recovery has been gradual over several years, but the trauma of the downturn has now sufficiently receded for companies to start hiring again. Ms. Danziger sees a bright future ahead. “There are always dangers, but I feel extremely optimistic,” she told The New York Sun. “There’s just so much activity, so much promise and so much talk of new publications.”

To those willing to risk launching a new magazine, Ms. Danziger recommends finding an untapped market. Skeptical about business magazines, and those targeting an older demographic, she sees health, food, sports and hobbies as promising.

As Ms. Danziger ponders a question, her eyes remain on the questioner, observing. One has the feeling that she has elicited as much information as she gave away in her answers – handy for a headhunter.

“Karen knows what to look for,” says Mr. Koller. Her clients know that she knows, and rely on her for that.