TheLadders Blog

If you’ve been following TheLadders Blog, you know that we are a company driven by entrepreneurialism, innovation, creativity, and food! From bake sales benefiting City Harvest to catered lunches helping local downtown restaurants plagued by Hurricane Sandy, our company knows that fueling the mind starts with a full stomach.

However, I was unprepared for what greeted me this morning. Sure, yesterday we received an email alerting us that we generously would be having breakfast – delicious made-to-order crepes:

• Meat Crepe (ham, Swiss, tomato & herbs)
• Vegetarian Crepe (Swiss, greens, walnuts, & Roquefort cheese)
• Sweet Crepes
  • Nutella, strawberry & banana
  • strawberry, balsamic reduction & raspberry jam

Sigh. Decisions, decisions.

So, along with more than 100 of my colleagues, we showed up at 9AM sharp to place our orders and see who this mystery chef was.

You can imagine my surprise when I was greeted by our CEO, Alex Douzet, wearing an apron and swinging a spatula. He’s French and he’s full of surprises…I should have known better.

With two sous chefs, his eight year-old twin daughters Giselle and Gabriella, he swirled, cooked, flipped, and garnished crepes for the whole company for two hours.

Here’s what my colleagues at TheLadders had to say:

• Mike Deissig
• Luis Rodriguez
• Kathleen Yanolatos 

Who knew that the “C” in CEO could stand for cook? It was the perfect kick-off to a pre-holiday weekend, and just another way that TheLadders is keeping us on-our-toes…and fueled for success.

Happy Holidays!

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.

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday.

I first discovered TheLadders through my participation with StreetWise Partners, a nonprofit organization that helps low-income individuals overcome employment barriers and obtain better jobs. When I began my career, I was working 40-hour work weeks in a customer service position that didn’t utilize my skills or compensate me properly. I then took a position in accounting, which, due to circumstances beyond my control, led me to doubt my capabilities in the workforce.

After that experience, I turned to StreetWise Partners, a bit scarred and needing to rebuild my natural confidence. With hard work and commitment, I made it through the program with aspirations of finding a job that would suit me and support my intentions of continuing my college education. My resume was already adequate but definitely needed an update to combat this ailing job market.

At the Career Boot Camp, hosted by StreetWise Partners and TheLadders in June 2012, I was lucky enough to win a resume rewrite, which I used immediately. To my extreme delight, my rewritten resume was a perfect representation of my career history and potential. Beaming with confidence and acceptance of change, I left my customer service position and decided to hit the ground running for my bright future. Within two weeks of leaving that position, I was able to acquire a temp-to-perm office coordinator role with Success Academy Charter Schools.

This was made possible by my burning drive for accomplishment, a great phone interview, an amazing resume and a glowing cover letter (that I can also thank TheLadders for). Just two weeks into my new job, I was offered a permanent position. TheLadders gave a woman with so much promise an extra boost in the game of life.

- Octavia Thompson

Last week, I visited a few of our partners in Silicon Valley. First, I met with the recruiting team at Apple where we discussed trends in the online-recruiting industry, the impact of mobile disruption on recruiting, and TheLadders’ 2013 product roadmap.  As my next meeting, with Zappos in Henderson, NV, wasn’t until a few days later, I decided to spend the weekend in nearby Las Vegas and participate in the 26.2-mile “Strip at Night” Zappos.com Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon.

Despite running several marathons around the world, I found this event unique because the race started in the afternoon and finished at night in front of The Mirage Hotel in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip. Given the high altitude and dry heat, it was a challenging competition. Below is a picture of me at the start line.

The following day, I met with the recruiting team from Zappos, which is well-known for giving private tours of their headquarters to anyone interested in their culture and operations. I had heard about the tour after reading Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness.

In many ways, Zappos offers the typical culture of a start-up: young, informal, and with an open-plan. No one in the flat organization has an office, and food and drinks are free. Not surprisingly, you can find these attributes among many tech start-ups in both Silicon Valley or in New York City.

However, here is what I found to be most unusual about Zappos:

1. Nearly 3½ years after being acquired by Amazon, Zappos still operates fairly independently of its owner. In 2013, Amazon will take over the fulfillment and warehousing of Zappos’ merchandise in Kentucky, near the UPS hub. That is the only influence Amazon exercised over Zappos.

2. The Executive Corner is called the “Monkey Row.”  See below.

3. If you want the inside scoop on Zappos’ culture, you must read its annual culture book, which is produced by Zappos’ employees. The content, except for typos and spelling errors, is unedited, providing the public an opportunity to read about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

4. There is no standard, annual, base-salary increase for just “being there.” Learning, development, and self-improvement are highly encouraged, and acquiring news skills is the path to increasing your compensation. For example, their royalty program empowers employees, with the help of a full-time life coach, to “Get Off Your Butt” and go through a personal growth experience via a professional or personal challenge.

Once employees have achieved their goals, they get to be part of the “Goal Club Wall” in the company’s main staircase:

5. They do not track many KPIs. Their call center is not data-driven. They do not measure talk time or drop rate. In fact, there is little focus on profit, shockingly for a company that generated more than $1B in annual sales.

6. Finally, CEO Tony Hsieh’s number-one concern is employee satisfaction and improving his employees’ happiness.

Regardless if you agree with the Zappos approach, it is definitively a unique culture that is not for everyone. So, if you plan to work there, get ready to drink the Zappos “Kool-Aid.” But, what cannot be argued is the fact that they have built a phenomenally successful e-commerce operation that produces value for its stakeholders and its ecosystem.

Alex Douzet is CEO and Co-Founder of TheLadders. In this role, Alex is responsible for the company strategy, global business operations, and product development

A few years ago, a former employee from TheLadders met Orlando Ashford, a Board of Directors member from StreetWise Partners, the wonderful New York-based organization that provides job-skills training and career mentoring for job candidates facing employment barriers. They quickly discovered that TheLadders shared StreetWise Partners’ vision of helping individuals improve their lives by taking proactive steps for obtaining better jobs. In December 2011, TheLadders’ Founder & Chairman Marc Cenedella, along with CEO & Co-founder, Alex Douzet, announced StreetWise Partners as the official non-profit of their company. For more than a year, the partnership has continued to soar.

Last fall, StreetWise Partners helped announce that TheLadders had expanded to the sub-100K+ arena, enabling the online job-matching service to help all career-driven professionals, including StreetWise Partners’ motivated job candidates. However, the full partnership really bloomed in a conference room in December 2011, when a small team of StreetWise Partners and TheLadders employees quickly hashed out goals, and began planning our first live training seminar.

With 2013 on the horizon, we can reflect on a year’s worth of fantastic workshops and events, and we are more thankful than ever for this mutually rewarding partnership. Commemorating their inaugural year together, StreetWise Partners’ Executive Director, Tracey Allard, and TheLadders’ Director of Account Management, Thomas Murphy, share their most memorable highlights during a brief Q & A.

1.     Why do you think that the partnership between StreetWise Partners and TheLadders is such a good match, benefitting so many job seekers?

Tracey Allard, StreetWise Partners: This partnership is a perfect alignment of the mission of StreetWise Partners and the business purpose of TheLadders. Together, we arm jobseekers with the tools, know-how, access, and resources to build their careers. For StreetWise Partners, the talents and expertise of TheLadders’ staff add value in the form of current career best practices, effective coaching techniques, and results-oriented, job-search strategies. The outcomes include a strengthened program curriculum and better-prepared mentors to help our trainees achieve short-, mid- and long-term goals and ultimately, to break the cycle of poverty and get on a path to economic self-sufficiency.

Thomas Murphy, TheLadders: I think the main driver of our success has been what we at TheLadders call “the right DNA.” Like any fast-moving tech company, our employees have to wear many hats. Whereas this may seem daunting to most, we embrace every challenge as an opportunity, from building a new website to creating a training program for StreetWise Partners in under 60 days. From day one, I knew that Tracey and her team had an identical attitude. Referring to the StreetWise Partners team as lean would be an understatement, as their reach makes them appear 10 times larger.   To be frank, we knew all along we would be successful since we have a group of people fully dedicated to one goal of using their expertise to help others arm themselves with the skills needed for finding their next job.

2.     In addition to celebrating the one-year anniversary of your partnership, StreetWise Partners is celebrating its 15-year anniversary and TheLadders will celebrate its 10-year anniversary in 2013. How does it feel to be a pioneer in your industry, especially as your efforts benefits so many job seekers?

TA: Since 1997, StreetWise Partners has delivered a deeply impactful, unique, and highly reputable career-mentoring program. Its efforts leverage and enrich the experiences of a diverse network of business professionals, models corporate-engagement best practices, and equips trainees with the skills, confidence, and strategies needed to achieve their career potential, break the cycle of poverty, and get on a path to economic self-sufficiency. The new year ahead marks a momentous time for us. After fifteen years of program delivery, we are poised to mature our programs, deepen our impact, and grow strategically. With the combined experience and expertise of a dedicated staff, the commitment of our Board of Directors, and support from high-impact corporate partners such as TheLadders, we can look forward to another 15 years of transforming lives!

TM: Searching for a job, at any income level, can be overwhelming and uncomfortable. For me, being part of a team which has helped countless, self-motivated job seekers find pride in their next career is truly humbling. Over my three-year tenure at TheLadders, especially during this last year partnering with StreetWise Partners, I was impressed by the unwavering commitment of our teams to stay at the forefront of information and training. Anyone who has participated in our partnership with StreetWise Partners knows that none of our information and support would be possible without Amanda Augustine. She has leveraged her role as Job Search Expert for TheLadders’ more than 5 million job seekers and ensured that her bespoke advice and support can be repurposed specifically for the StreetWise Partners’ trainees.

3.     Over the past year, what is your favorite memory in working together?

TA: Our first Career Bootcamp in February 2012 was an eye-opening experience for me. I know that TheLadders’ staff is a talented bunch, but this inaugural half-day workshop illuminated the extent to which TheLadders’ team brings their “A-game” each and every time. The level of professionalism, content expertise, generosity, and enthusiasm that staff demonstrated was incredible!

TM: I cannot pick just one. Of course, creating and implementing our first onsite training in under eight weeks was an amazing feeling of pride and success. Both teams agreed to a lofty goal and, together, worked hard, knowing that our efforts would pay dividends to the larger community. However, there is a consistent feeling that makes every event special to me, especially when considering the way we have grown. Through the dedication and leadership of The Ladders’ Manager of Talent Specialists Christina Kane and Director of Sales Lou Ciniglia, every new volunteer always return for future events. There is something to be said about the programs and a community we create that makes our teams come back for more!

4.     What traits do you think that Tom/Tracey possess that make him/her so effective at motivating others?

TA: Tom is a thoughtful doer and a natural leader. In spite of what I know must be incredibly busy days with his own work at TheLadders, he contributes meaningfully — and as promised — to every collaborative planning session, workshop design, implementation, and follow up. Tom models an exceptional level of civic leadership that enables StreetWise Partners to thrive as a result of this partnership.

TM: Inevitably, no matter how hard everyone has worked and prepped for one of our events, there will be that last-minute stress. It’s during those times that Tracey’s motivation truly shines through; she is always calm and thoughtful in those moments. She successfully listens to everyone’s concerns and helps guide the teams forward. On a personal level, I have never met someone so established in her profession, yet so open to others’ ideas and feedback. Every time Tracey asks “tell me what you think,” I am reminded and motivated to insist that my own mentors and peers help me perform my job better through their honest and helpful feedback.

Want to see TheLadders and StreetWise Partners in action? Come join us on January 10^th for Job Central, an unusual and trailblazing event, hosted at Grand Central in midtown Manhattan. The best employers, recruiters, and career experts in the New York metro area will come together to conduct a free, comprehensive job-search experience for professionals looking to make their next career move. See you there!

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.

TheLadders has predominantly operated with the goal to make the job hunt shorter, less painful, and more efficient for job seekers and recruiters. We’ve had our successes, but of course we’re always trying to get better.

One of our initiatives was to partner with professors from seven leading universities to research and understand various aspects of the job search and recruitment process. We conducted an in-depth study of job-search challenges, in partnership with Connie Wanberg, from the University of Minnesota, an internationally recognized expert on the topic. The study,  “Navigating the black hole: Explicating layers of job search context and adaptational responses,” has been published in the Personnel Psychology journal.

For this particular study, we had semi-structured phone interviews with more than 70 job seekers that lasted anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes. These calls were transcribed and analyzed to identify common challenges across all job seekers.

For me, hearing our job seekers’ personal stories was insightful. Frustrations with the current economic climate, the lack of human touch or feedback, the technology-driven application processes – all came to the forefront in the form of real stories. Day-to-day challenges of managing the time and effort needed to find and apply to the right jobs, as well as the discouragement one often faces in the process, compound the stress related to finances and life-changing decisions that a job search can bring about. While it can be a learning opportunity, most people viewed the job search experience negatively and understandably so.

Our research here at TheLadders allows us the luxury to be curious. We strive to know more about the job search and how it works, and predict events and human behavior that drive job seekers and recruiters. Teaming up with world-class experts, we’ve been able to look at our customers’ pain points through a new lens, and we look forward to continuously improving our offerings to alleviate these struggles for our customers.

A white paper, commissioned by TheLadders, can be downloaded here, and a video interview with lead author Connie Wanberg can be viewed here.

Archana Agrawal is the Vice President of Strategy at TheLadders. In this role, Archana is responsible for managing the planning and analytics function, including product utilization, marketing analytics, and financial planning and analysis.

Ah yes, the legendary Ron Burgundy. Will Ferrel’s famous news hound from the movie Anchorman is quite the character. Not only for his perfect hair and sharp wit, but also for his mustache. Have you seen that thing? I want to be friends with it.

There are plenty of famous people and characters who are hirsute on the upper lip, but Burgundy is one of my favorites. Here at TheLadders, we may not hold a candle to most of them, but some of us are trying during November.

It’s all for Movember, which raises awareness and funds to fight prostate and testicular cancer. Basically, men grow a mustache for the month of November. In my experience, it usually prompts this exchange from friends, coworkers and relatives:

Them: “What’s going on with your face?”
Me: “Do you like it?”
Them: “God, no. You look like you belong on To Catch a Predator.”
Me: “Well, it’s for Movember. I’m raising money to fight man-cancer. You should donate.”
Them: “Oh. I’ll give you money because that’s a good cause. But you still look creepy.”

That’s the sacrifice we men make during Movember. And it’s been a huge success. Since its inception in Australia in 2003, Movember has raised $126 million to support charitable organizations such as LIVESTRONG and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

You can help TheLadders Movember team fight cancer. Donate on our MoLadder Team Page.

Together, we can wipe out cancer once and for all. And then I’ll never grow a mustache again, I promise.

William Beard is the Associate Creative Director of Copy for TheLadders. He appreciates the irony of someone with the last name “Beard” growing a mustache. This is his current “Mo.” Needless to say, his social life is on hold this month.

When baked goods are in the office, it’s a guarantee that I’ll be close by! You can count on me to make some, eat many, and finish whatever my co-workers cannot. So when TheLadders organized a bake sale to benefit City Harvest, I signed up to help organize the event.

City Harvest is an organization that exists to end hunger in communities throughout New York City. They distribute food to many food programs and educate individuals, families, and communities on the prevention of diet-related disease. Due to Hurricane Sandy, our baking and eating efforts were delayed by two weeks. Still when the day came, I arrived with my strawberry cheesecake, an insatiable appetite, and most importantly, my equally hungry and generous colleagues. We devoured cupcakes of all sorts – Red Velvet, Guinness, and Pumpkin Spice. There was also an assortment of cookies, pumpkin bread, cream puffs, and pumpkin pie!

As a company, we raised $358 for City Harvest. To top it off, TheLadders will make a matching contribution to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, along with all of our individual contributions, to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Who ever said that a sweet tooth would only lead to cavities and a few extra pounds?

Mary Frances Usher is a Lead Talent Specialist at TheLadders.  When she isn’t sourcing top talent for recruiters on site and organizing food related events in the office, Mary can be found eating cupcakes, candy, cake, and Chipotle.  

As a talent manager, the job search is something that I take very seriously. I spend lots of time researching companies, verifying medium salaries based on the economy and market trends, and preparing for candidate interviews. The fact that 7% of our job seekers “do not send thank you notes” is extremely surprising and begs the question, how important is the job search to you?

In the time I’ve spent interviewing candidates, working with hiring managers, and being a job seeker myself, I’ve found that sending thank you notes is always beneficial. For me, the job-search process has multiple steps, all which require critical attention. I try to truly understand the role I am applying for, confirm that it’s the best fit for my background, prepare for my interview, and send a timely and thoughtful follow-up.

Personally, I have always sent thank you notes to everyone I’ve interviewed with. It requires time and effort out a person’s day to bring you in for an interview, why not be appreciative of that? As a recruiter, I don’t expect a long-winded, detailed description of why you want the role; it needs to re-emphasize your ability to fill the role and show gratitude to the interviewers who spent time with you. I know hiring managers who have passed on hiring candidates strictly because they failed to follow up.

Long story short, sending a thank you note goes a long way and impacts your potential of getting hired, both now, and in the future. Send them!

Download TheLadders’ Giving Thanks Infographic

Mike Deissig is the Talent and Technology Development Manager at TheLadders.  Mike is constantly trying to improve the recruiting process and evolve technology integration with recruiting. In his spare time he enjoys watching football, being with friends, and trying all of the food this world has to offer! 

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two weeks since I reported on Hurricane Sandy’s impact to TheLadders office in downtown Manhattan. Since then, we’ve relatively returned to business as usual, but we fully realize that many people and businesses are still suffering from Sandy’s devastation.

I feel a deep sense of compassion for the loss of homes and, most tragically, lives. As a business owner and entrepreneur, I am empathetic for other business owners who have experienced damage from the storm.

I thought long and hard about what our company could possibly do to help with hurricane-relief efforts. We are an online job-matching service for career-driven professionals – how can we leverage our expertise to best assist job seekers affected by the hurricane? After some discussion with my talented and supportive team, we came up with the following plan:

• Donate $300,000 worth of Premium job-search services to those impacted by the hurricane
• Donate $10,000 to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts for those who have been heavily impacted and cannot take advantage of the above benefits
• Support our neighborhood restaurants that were affected by the hurricane by fueling TheLadders’ hard-working employees with free lunch until Thanksgiving

Hurricane Sandy left a path of destruction in its wake, impacting Americans all along the East Coast. The responsibility of rebuilding and helping those in need is one that is shared among everyone. Skip your morning coffee and donate to the American Red Cross. Clean out your closet and put a pile of clothes together for those who have lost everything. Volunteer to distribute emergency-relief supplies to affected families. If everyone chips in, just a little bit, we can rebuild together.

Alex Douzet is CEO and Co-Founder of TheLadders. In this role, Alex is responsible for the company strategy, global business operations, and product development.