TheLadders.com

TheLadders is a comprehensive job-matching service and employment website for career-driven professionals, headquartered in New York City. The company helps professionals find the jobs and meet the employers that are right for their career goals. TheLadders initially launched in 2003 as a service for $100k+ job seekers, but expanded its reach to all professional jobs in September, 2011. As of July 2013, the site has more than 6 million job seekers and more than 43,000 recruiters.^[1] Today, the company is focused heavily on providing customers with the ideal mobile job-search experience with its native iOS app, “Job Search by TheLadders.”

History

Marc Cenedella started TheLadders in July 2003 to fill a gap in the world of online recruitment and high-end employment. As the Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations at HotJobs, Cenedella saw that (at that time) large job boards worked well for entry- and mid-level candidates, but high-level job searches were not being conducted efficiently online. Job seekers were frustrated, and recruiters often elected not to post their executive opportunities online at all. ^[2]

Cenedella's solution to this dilemma was a reverse-business model that catered to high-end job seekers.  After orchestrating the sale of HotJobs.com to Yahoo! ^[3] Cenedella started SalesLadder from his living room. He purchased several programming books, scouted job opportunities and started sending a personalized newsletter to a small group of friends, contacts and, eventually, subscribers.  The initial offering developed into many “Ladders” such as FinanceLadder and OperationsLadder, prior to becoming what it is today. The company took on one round of series A venture capital funding in 2004, and since then had a varied company history and is profitable.^[4] TheLadders was considered one of the world’s most valuable digital startups in 2008, valued at the time at an estimated $500 million.^[5]

Professional Job Seekers: The site catered to the $100k+ job market from its creation through 2011, when its services expanded to all career-driven professionals. Today, job seekers are placed in segmented salary bands and only have access to jobs at, and one step above, their career level rather than jobs at all salary levels on the site.^[6] This segmentation is designed to give professionals a focused job search by level. It also serves as self-selection criteria to ensure that members of the site are invested in their job search. 

Employers and Recruiting Professionals: When TheLadders first launched, employers were able to post job openings at no charge. As the company evolved, TheLadders moved toward a subscription service for employers and executive recruiters. Though the company faced criticism from some customers and industry experts for “double dipping,” charging for job postings and access to the candidate database allowed the company to offer a robust enterprise product with additional features and services.^[7][8] This business model was reviewed and noted in a case study published by Harvard Business School.^[9] As the recruiting and job climate changed,TheLadders changed with the times. In 2011, the company stopped charging its recruiters to use most features the site. Today, most features of RecruitLadder are available to business clients for free, with paid options available for expanded and additional services.^[10]

On March 11, 2013 a legal complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit alleges, in addition to other claims: "The Ladders scammed its customers into paying for its job board service by misrepresenting itself to be 'a premium job site for only $100k+ jobs, and only $100k+ talent.' In fact, TheLadders sold access to purported "$100k+" job listings that (1)did not exist, (2) did not pay $100k+, and/or (3) were not authorized to be posted on TheLadders by the employers." ^[11] CEO and Co-founder Alex Douzet responded to the allegations by saying “This case has no merit, and we hope that it will be thrown out of the court quickly.”^[12]

On June 20, 2013,TheLadders launched its first mobile application for iOS, “Job Search by TheLadders”. The purpose of the app is to disrupt the mobile job-search industry by eliminating the need for keyword searches. The app also provides the user with information on other job seekers who applied to positions with a proprietary competitive-analysis tool, “TheLadders Scout.”^[13]

Operations and business model

Professional Job Seekers: The first and core business line, TheLadders offers job listings and career advice for professional-level job seekers. TheLadders has more than 43,000 recruiters posting job openings monthly for its more than 6 million job-seeking members.^[14] TheLadders offers job-search technology to allow job seekers to drill down listings to find jobs in their location, industry, and employment sector, and also provides job matches, exclusive of searching, based on members’ unique profiles. Job seekers are able to create a profile or post a resume to the site, and employers are able to search for these profiles or resumes. TheLadders offers job seekers expert career advice from many contributors, including Founder Marc Cenedella and resident Job Search Expert Amanda Augustine. Topics of their articles include the job search, interviewing, networking, personal branding and salary.^[15]

Employers & Recruiting Professionals: RecruitLadder offers online recruitment services to corporate hiring managers, recruiters, and any other talent acquisition experts. To date, RecruitLadder numbers more than 43,000 users. TheLadders allows hiring professionals and businesses to post jobs to a targeted audience of professionals. Recruiters can view resumes of potential candidates and contact them directly through the website to streamline the online sourcing and recruiting process.^[16] Most features on RecruitLadder are available to business clients for free, with paid options available for expanded and additional services.

Community Outreach

• In 2012, TheLadders donated free services with an estimated value of up to $300,000 to job seekers needing Hurricane Sandy Relief.^[17]
• TheLadders also supported businesses in its SoHo headquarters’ neighborhood following Hurricane Sandy. CEO and Co-founder Alex Douzet patronized 12 neighborhood restaurants to help them get back on their feet after being closed for more than a week because of flooding and power outages. This included catered lunches for the 100+ members of TheLadders throughout November 2012.^[18] 
• The company partnered with StreetWise Partners, New York City’s leading career-focused, not-for-profit organization, in 2011. The partnership included an initial $10,000 donation, as well as participation in a Career Boot Camp for StreetWise Partners’ job seekers facing employment barriers.^[19]

Notable Awards and Recognitions

• Contact Center of the Year (Stevie Awards 2012)
• Most Dramatic Business Impact Finalist (Marketo RPM Excellence Awards 2012)
• Contact Center of the Year Finalist (Stevie Awards 2011)
• Sales Department of the Year for Computer Services (Stevie Awards 2010)
• Best EmploymentWebsite (Webby Awards 2009)
• Best Rich Media Advertising: Business-to-Business Category (Webby Awards 2009)
• Best Companies toWork for in New York: Large Companies Category (Best Companies Group, supportedby SHRM and The Business Council, 2009)
• Top 25 Most ValuableDigital Start Ups (Silicon Alley Insider 2009) ^[20]

References

External links

• Official site
• Official Blog
• TheLadders Engineering Blog
• Is It Time to Raise Prices? from Inc.