TheLadders Blog

You may be familiar with the proverb, “Man is known by the company he keeps.” This week, we at TheLadders couldn’t be more proud agreeing with this statement.

In the current Bloomberg Businessweek, TheLadders’ CEO and Founder Marc Cenedella, is featured alongside the likes of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Starwood Hotels CEO Fritsvan Paasschen, in “The Interview Issue.” In a thought-provoking piece titled, “Big Questions, Brief Replies,” 17 prestigious CEOs, professors and investors were asked to provide 10-word responses to some of the most probing questions across their business.

Curious to see Marc’s response? Visit our press room, or pick up the August 13^th-26^th copy of the magazine.

Lisa Hagendorf is the Vice President of Public Relations for TheLadders where she is a huge ambassador of the brand in the office. At the gym. And on the street. She just can’t stop talking about TheLadders. Ever.

Every day, I provide advice to job seekers on ways to improve their job search. Some clients are looking to get promoted at their current companies, whereas others want to change employers and will accept a lateral move in the same industry. That said, many are seeking something completely different. Apart from the advice and resources I offer, I motivate job seekers to step out of their comfort zones to look for possible job opportunities.

Looking at the results from our summer job-search survey, which are illustrated in our awesome infographic below, I cringe at the discovery that only 31% of respondents say that they network more during the summer. Summertime activities present a unique opportunity to network with loads of new people. Whether at the beach or at a baseball game, you should make it a point to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t already know. People are generally more relaxed during the summer, making it easier to grow your professional network while celebrating your social life.

However, seeing that 71% of respondents believe employers are less responsive during the summer was not surprising to me. Whether they’re taking an extended weekend at the beach or enjoying shortened summer hours, employers tend to be away from their desks more during the warmer months than other times of the year. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that hiring slows down during the summer, so it’s imperative to remain persistent.

While the summer may seem like a slow period for job seekers, there is typically less competition during these months, so it’s actually an ideal time to get out there, network, and seize the opportunity. For additional information, check out these tips to help job seekers stay motivated during the summer months, from Job Search Expert Amanda Augustine.

Click here to download a PDF version of the Summer Job Search Infographic.

Diana DeClemente is a Certified Professional Career Coach, CPCC, for TheLadders. She uses her savvy people skills to help job seekers set and achieve realistic goals and loves motivating them to find their next role. Outside work, Diana enjoys sitting on the beach and watching International House Hunters (separately, of course)!

Yes, networking for a cause. That’s exactly what roughly 25 of us did this week at the NYC Chapter’s National Association of Professional Women’s (NAPW) Fundraiser for Save a Child. For those unfamiliar with NAPW, it’s an exclusive network that offers professional women a platform to interact, exchange ideas, educate and empower.

The event, co-sponsored by Save a Child Inc., a nonprofit organization that supports disadvantaged children in India through long-term sponsorship, was hosted by organization founder Louise Nicholson. Louise invited us all to her home and as we sat on her gorgeous terrace with amazing views of Midtown and a beautiful sunset, she shared her personal passion and dedication to the cause she’s so intimately involved with.

We also heard from NAPW member, Rekha Krishnamurthi, creative director of Divine NY & Co., who shared her challenges and successes in launching her own luxury lifestyle brand, heavily inspired by the bright, colorful clothing, interesting patterns, and unique color combinations recognized in the Indian heritage.

The evening was a good balance of presentations, networking and fun! The next NAPW chapter event, “The Fearless Fish out Of Water: 5 Steps to Courageous Leadership,” will be hosted at TheLadders. Interested in attending? Become an NAPW member today!

Christina Kane is the Manager of Talent Specialists and our Job Search Support Center at TheLadders. Outside of work she is preparing for her Fantasy Football draft, raving about her adorable Godson and attending A LOT of weddings.

For the past eight years, it has been my passion to educate professionals on the job search process. It may sound cliché, but I truly enjoy teaching people the “tricks of the trade” to land them the job they want.

I’ve done everything from one-on-one career coaching, to hosting networking mixers with job seekers and recruiters, to giving presentations and speaking on panels to groups of professionals looking to make a career change.

So, when CBS New York asked to me to provide job-seeking advice for the “lazy days of summer,” I was absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to share my insights with such a large audience!

During the interview I explained how to execute a successful job search in today’s market, and ways to differentiate yourself from the competition during the “lazy days of summer.”

For all of those in the New York area, tune in to CBS New York (channel 2) today at 5 p.m. to learn how you can gain a competitive edge. For everyone else, please visit The Career Chronicles on Monday to watch the segment online.

Amanda Augustine is the Job Search Expert at TheLadders. Always on the go at work and away, Amanda trains and competes in races and triathlons in her spare time.

On Monday, June 25^th, Ben Grohe, Ben Burton and myself, representing product management, engineering and design at TheLadders, respectively, spoke at a local meet-up of the Agile Experience Design group here in New York City, hosted by Pivotal Labs. It was an exciting event, with about 100 people coming out to represent the NYC tech scene.

We were invited to speak about how our teams collaborate, and what processes and tactics we use to conceive, design, build, release, and measure products for our customers. In order to discuss this, we had to first take a step back and address the unique organizational structure and processes here at TheLadders.

TheLadders’ adaptive, agile structure embraces distributed leadership. The entire organization has a shared understanding of the corporate vision and strategy as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success. Decision making is placed with autonomous teams responsible for delivering on those KPIs.

Over the last decade, TheLadders has been able to not only survive, but thrive, in the hyper-competitive online job-matching space, specifically because we believe in collaborative teams, rather than heroic and authoritarian management. This structure is the key to unlocking the potential of a creative organization, capable of rapidly adapting to market conditions and pivoting quickly to exploit new opportunities.

We were very excited to share our processes and philosophy, and to take in the great insights we got from the other attendees. We’re looking forward to finding more opportunities to share our experiences with the NYC technology community.

Will Evans is Manager, Experience Design for TheLadders in New York City with 15 years industry experience in interaction design, information architecture, and user experience strategy.

Once you’ve finished touring the margarita-infused peaks of TheLadders Hire Mountain booth, it’s off to one of the many other sessions and panels being offered at the SHRM 2012 Annual Conference. For an hour-and-a-half, you can sit and listen to a presentation on any number of HR-related topics, all of which offer great advice and insights, and all of which end with you letting out a long sigh. However, this sigh isn’t one of relief; it’s a physically expressive response to having just added another item to your already overwhelming HR to-do list.

Learning how to do more with less has become the norm in the days following the economic downturn. This, in combination with the demands of today’s increasingly competitive business world, has made effective change management critical for all HR professionals. In fact, it’s a requirement for any senior HR leader who wants to have a seat at the executive table. It should lend some perspective and ease your stress knowing that having to plan for constant change is universal and normal. If not, you can always head back to TheLadders #HireMt booth and have a few margaritas.

Caleb Leiker is a HR Business Partner for TheLadders. He’s also a experience design nerd, novice photographer, and Kansas native – Rock Chalk Jayhawk! 

As a job-matching company, we know the importance of relationship-building and professional networking. That’s why we jumped at the opportunity to participate in the SHRM 2012 Annual Conference & Exposition, hosted by the Society for Human Resource Management. The conference, now in its 64^th year, draws more than 13,000 human resource professionals from businesses spanning all industries and sizes. This year, it’s in Atlanta, GA, and runs from June 24 – 26.

As this conference is for HR professionals, we thought it would be interesting to reach into our Candidate Insights and see what HR professionals themselves are looking for when it comes to their own job preferences. You may be surprised by the results.

According to the data, nearly half (42%) of HR professionals prefer to work at the largest companies, those with more than 1,000 employees, while only 12% prefer to work at companies with less than 200 employees. Another notable finding about HR job seekers is that the importance of managing people increases concurrently with their desired annual salary.

Whether this weekend brings you to Atlanta for SHRM 2012 — where you can scale TheLadders’ eye-catching “Hire Mountain” — or you’re simply following the conference on TheLadders Blog or Twitter (#TheLadders, #HireMt), you’ll have the opportunity to see how TheLadders helps companies find the ideal candidate.

If you do plan to attend #SHRM12, visit us at booth 2331. You can climb the mountain to success (and great views!), speak with our executives, and receive some cool giveaways! We at TheLadders are moving mountains, or at least summiting them, to help ensure that our recruiting clients “start closer to the finish,” which just happens to be our theme for this year’s show!

Patty Youngclaus is the associate manager of public relations at TheLadders. Outside of work, Patty enjoys going to the beach, playing softball and being around family and friends. Once football season begins, her weekends (and sometimes Mondays and Saturdays) are reserved for the New York Giants.

When I was approached to write about the results of our latest survey on military professionals, I was a bit reluctant. After being reassured that I wasn’t expected to produce Pulitzer Prize-winning material, I said, “Why not?” As a former Marine who’s had to go job hunting since leaving the military, I’ve experienced firsthand some of the things we surveyed.

When I saw the results, I had mixed reactions. For example, I wasn’t surprised that one of the most important things to veterans looking for a job in the civilian world was workplace camaraderie.  Most people in corporate America won’t easily understand the bond military personnel share with each other. Our relationship with the people we work with is what makes what would otherwise be an unbearable situation, like being deployed to a highly volatile area, tolerable.

I was surprised to find that 50% of the people surveyed found it more difficult to find a job in the private sector. My experience was the opposite. I found it easier, perhaps due to some of the assumptions we analyzed. In my case, employers assumed I would have discipline, a strong work ethic and possess leadership skills.

While veterans are like everyone else in a many ways, there are certain unique perspectives we hold. The fact that TheLadders is honoring veterans and active military by taking an interest in what THEY are looking for in prospective employers speaks volumes. I feel extremely grateful to be a part of such an exceptional company.

Yolmi Rivera, LCpl, USMC (former)

Click here to download a PDF version of this infographic

Yolmi Rivera is the Executive Assistant to Alex Douzet, COO and Co-founder of TheLadders. When she’s not busy managing his day, she’s at home running around after her two kids, two dogs and one husband. As long as there are mangos available, she’s happy.

Launching your career isn’t something that happens overnight. At TheLadders, it’s the goal we work toward with every client we speak to, no matter what their job history. It’s the mission that everyone has on their brain at our Soho offices. On Saturday, career advisors, talent specialists and resume writers from the TheLadders teamed up with StreetWise Partners (again) to present at Career Boot Camp and deliver on our mission.

StreetWise Partners offer job skills training and mentoring for job seekers facing employment obstacles. Seventy StreetWise Partners mentors and trainees took part in a half-day event, which supported talent and economic growth in New York City. The day started off with a bang with speeches from TheLadders Job Search Expert Amanda Augustine, VP of Marketing and Engagement Leslie Semegran, and VP of Enterprise Marketing Denise Cautela, along with StreetWise Board member Singleton Beato, and Junior Board member Luke Guerrero.

Following the wonderful speeches, TheLadders presented workshops in job applications, networking and personal branding. Each presentation offered a unique perspective in what it takes to land the perfect job. All of the candidates came away with more information on the job search process and some walked away with prizes after a raffle!

Alfrancine Harvin, a graduate who frequently attends StreetWise Partners events said, “I liked the event a lot. As a job developer, I strive to connect the older age group with the younger generations. This event today definitely gave me the tools I needed to do this more effectively.”

We look forward to presenting more events in conjunction with StreetWise Partners and striving towards the ultimate goal of launching new careers!

Meena Rupani is a Resume Writer for TheLadders in New York City who loves to engage clients in effectively restructuring their resume to land them the perfect job. She also loves reading and spending quality time with her loving family.

When I learned that the two agencies on the June 3^rd episode of AMC’s The Pitch were both located in Manhattan and were vying for a women’s fashion retailer, I knew that this was a unique opportunity that we just had to capture. We headed to Times Square to the offices of Womenkind, a marketing and communications company, which was “built by women to engage women the way women really want to be engaged.”

Sitting down with co-founders Sandy Sabean, Chief Creative Officer, and Kristi Faulkner, President, we listened to what these two women knew about who controls 85% of all purchases in the United States: women. They discussed how their agency translates the findings gleaned from their research into innovative solutions for their clients who want to understand and motivate women. In fact, they frequently tap into their “muses” of dynamic influencers for their insight about what will inspire women to buy – and talk about — brands.

Womenkind will be competing against DIGO, a 14 year-old agency focusing on small to mid-sized companies, which was co-founded by two men, Mark DiMassimo, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, and Lee Goldstein, President. With female co-founders against male co-founders, Sunday’s episode will no doubt be a battle of the sexes on multiple levels: the client, C. Wonder, is owned by Chris Burch, ex-husband of designer Tory Burch and co-founder of her namesake brand. Did you catch all that?

Who will Chris Burch pick as his right-hand (wo)man to represent his concept boutique? Tune in this Sunday, June 3^rd, at 11pm ET to find out. An hour beforehand, I’ll be watching Mad Men, my favorite battle of the sexes!

Lisa Hagendorf is the Vice President of Public Relations for TheLadders where she is a huge ambassador of the brand in the office. At the gym. And on the street. She just can’t stop talking about TheLadders. Ever.