Category Archives: Company Spotlights

Company Spotlight: Chegg

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Sara Mooradian

Today’s company spotlight is with Amy Knapp, Director of Talent Management at Chegg. Currently they are looking to hire engineering and design interns as well as a handful of marketing interns for the 2013 summer. Read Chegg’s profile below and then connect with them via Readyforce! 

 

As a new intern at Chegg’s  Santa Clara headquarters in CA, you might be wondering whether you’ve ever actually left college. Their brand new green-certified office space looks a lot like, but then again, very unlike, a high tech college campus.  That’s 100% on purpose.  The bright colors, bleachers, and even lockers are to remind each and every employee exactly who is customer No. 1: the students.

Chegg's new headquarters in Santa Clara, CA. Just some of the perks of working at this student-like environment.

Chegg’s new headquarters in Santa Clara, CA. Just some of the perks of working at this student-like environment: regular guest speakers, catered lunch (every day) and an onsite gym. Pretty sweet!

Keeping their pulse on how students learn is at the core of everything Chegg does.   This growing company is looking to keep their ‘student DNA’ fresh and will hire 20-23 summer interns across engineering and design for the summer of 2013. We spoke with  Amy Knapp, Director of Talent Management at Chegg to hear what kind of student makes the ideal candidate and what types of exciting initiatives these students might work on.

What’s cooking for 2013?

Building on their successful textbook rental business, Chegg is now working on several new initiatives including opening up their platform and APIs to other companies.  By doing so, Chegg can now offer beneficial add-ons to their customer base and further personalize the customers’ experience.   Teams also continue to work on integrating Chegg’s six acquisitions which include: CourseRank, Notehall, Cramster, Zinch, Flux and Student of Fortune.

Some of the most interesting projects interns will likely get exposure to, will be those that will focus on what Chegg has labeled  their ‘student graph’.  As Knapp said: “We are building up our ‘student graph’, because with all the data that we have: from the school  that they are attending, to the classes they are taking, the books that they are renting and even the notes and questions that they are asking,  we have so much information. With all that information we are going to be able to make a much more targeted  and personalized experience for students.”

Whichever project interns are assigned, they will find themselves working side-by-side with the company’s top engineers and are sure to have a challenging yet fun summer.

What does the ideal Chegg candidate look like?

If you want a shot at an internship at Chegg you’ve got to love what they do, because they certainly do! The nice thing is, as a college student you are probably already familiar with their services and have (hopefully) been a user.  This will definitely help your odds but it’s not everything.  To get in the door at Chegg, you’ve got to demonstrate passion for what they are working on and what they can offer in the future. Oh yeah, you’ll need the technical skills as well. Once you connect with them on Readyforce, be sure to do your homework. Knapp says: “Any candidate that is going to be successful here at Chegg, in any role, is someone who is going to do their research on what we are doing and ask great questions. We really want to see people with passion for what we do.” So get on it.

 

What are some of the perks at Chegg?

Well for starters, just check out the amazing new headquarters they’ve setup:

Chegg_Headquarter_Santa_Clara

It’s your move at Chegg HQ – Santa Clara. Photos courtesy of Chegg.

“It’s a very open and collaborative environment.” says Knapp.  Education related thoughout everything they do, but clearly still a startup at heart. Amenities and perks include an onsite gym, a ‘quad’ and a kitchen where gourmet meals are brought in every day.  Another example of education being central to their core? Classrooms are filled with guest speakers from universities and the industry from around the US.  Other perks to full-time employees include: a great benefit program, no-limit vacation policy, and time-off for volunteering. Sounds pretty good right?

Want a tour?

Check out this recent video tour of the new Chegg headquarters posted by PandoDaily:

How to connect with Chegg?

To connect with Chegg and Amy be sure to checkout their profile on Readyforce and then click Get Introduced. The company will also be going on campus tours over the next few months, so be sure to check them out.  Good luck!

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Divide Nine, Animation Studios and Emotional Media Pioneer, Adds Penn State Grad James Ajhar to the LA Tech Scene

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Sara Mooradian

DivideNine LogoDivide Nine is not your typical tech startup. For starters, they’re located in LA, a warmer and also slightly zanier location than say, Silicon Valley.  They’re also a hybrid of sorts that’s leading the emerging LA-tech scene as both a digital animation studio and a tech company.  Described as a highly creative and fun place to work, the Divide Nine headquarters are complete with swank decor, white leather couches, doodles on the walls, and neon; and as their product offering continues to expand with apps like “züm“, their college-friendly ‘no regrets’ social media tool and their focus on emotional media, so is their team. They’re using Readyforce to source and connect with today’s emerging engineering talent like James Ajhar, Penn State ’12, who recently accepted a programmer position.

Divide_Nine_collage3

Some of the creative folks from Divide Nine.

Nick Loui, Chief Digital Officer at Divide Nine was an early adopter of the Readyforce platform and told us how simple it was to connect with talent in the top engineering programs across the country without actually having to visit all the campuses.  ”Readyforce has exposed us to a more global pool. Being in LA, you have great schools like: USC, UCLA, Cal Tech, and Art Center, but to be able to actually recruit really easily, for a company that’s our size, from schools like Penn State is really powerful for us.” said Loui.

James Ajhar, a Computer Science major ’12 from Penn State was introduced to Readyforce at one of his school’s career fairs. At the end of an exhausting day of waiting in 20 minute lines for 2 minute chats with recruiters from various companies, James created a profile on Readyforce and connected with over 30 companies instantly.  Divide Nine was one that stood out from the rest.

After connecting with Divide Nine through Readyforce, James said he noticed right away that even the way they interviewed was completely different than some of the other companies he’d been speaking with. “It was like talking to real people instead just answering a series of questions,” James said.

It certainly is different over there; creativity is king and anything goes. Anything? Yep, anything.  Their current unofficial motto internally? “F*@# it! Let’s build it!”  Following his phone interview, James shared his portfolio including an app that he’d built and provided detailed user feedback on one of their most recent product launches.   James had made his mark.  The rest, as they say, is history.

James is pumped and all ready to jump in at Divide Nine. With the company just having finalized their deal as the Warped Tour’s exclusive digital partner for the next five years, James and his new colleagues will be plenty busy. Oh yeah, if you like music, they have musicians coming in daily.  This is truly where the tech scene is merging with the entertainment industry.

We’re happy we could connect you! Congratulations to both Divide Nine and James! 

To connect with Nick at Divide Nine, check out their profile on Readyforce!

Divide_Nine_collage4

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Company Spotlight: 10gen, the MongoDB Company

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Sara Mooradian

If sitting next to a company’s CTO, while you collaborate and write code for a project set to revolutionize database technology sounds like your dream job then be sure to connect with 10gen on Readyforce. 

logo_10gen10gen, the MongoDB company,  the open source, non-relational data NOSQL database is looking to hire 20 summer interns and 10 full time engineering hires from the class of 2013. We checked in with Stacy Ferranti, 10gen’s Technical Campus Recruiter, to give us the inside scoop at this fast-growing company and hear what they look for when adding recent grads and college interns to the team.

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Things are moving at an exciting pace for 10gen. Founded in 2007 by CEO Dwight Merriman (of DoubleClick fame) and CTO Eliot Horowitz, this now mid-sized company has more than 200 employees, $50 million in new funding and a brand new office space in New York. With the database market now valued somewhere between $30-40 billion and a pent up demand for revolutionary technology in this space, 10gen is trailblazing to meet those needs. In short, it’s a great time to be joining this growing company that still operates with the nimbleness and collaborative environment of a small startup.  As Ferranti said: “Team members that are joining now are sure to be quoted as saying: ‘I worked at 10gen when…’”

At 10gen, work alongside 2 of the industry’s biggest innovators. And by alongside, we mean sit right next to.

Image source: the NoSQL tapes

One of the more unique opportunities that engineers will discover on day one of their new 10gen gig is the incredible access and ability to work alongside top management.  Both 10gen co-founders, Merriman and Horowitz, two of the biggest innovators in the industry, sit directly in the middle of the engineering department  and make themselves available to answer questions.  ”10gen is a very horizontal company with an incredibly passionate and smart group of employees, said Ferranti.  When people join, they are able to jump right in, wear many hats, ask questions and contribute to code.”  It’s pretty unique and a testament to how 10gen still operates as a small company.

Other perks and behind the scenes stuff

So what else makes 10gen a great place to work?

  • Unlimited vacation days
  • A lot of opportunity to travel. 10gen hosts 32 events worldwide and everyone within the company is encouraged to attend and take advantage of those programs. For engineers, this means you won’t always be behind a desk coding all day (if you don’t want to) and you can actually see the world with 10gen.
  • Annual offsite, that invests in each employee’s training  (this year’s event will be held in Miami).
  • Catered lunch 2x a week

So what does the ideal college new hire at 10gen have?

If you want a shot at being a part of their team for next year, be sure to demonstrate your passion for MongoDB and the database space. 10gen is looking for candidates that are fun, passionate, and have a natural sense of curiosity. Did you branch out into entrepreneurial clubs? Do you spend your free time at hackathons? Even better. Extra points if you worked as a TA for a CS class.

So how to connect with 10gen?

Check out 10gen’s Readyforce profile here and connect with Stacy.

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In the Spotlight: SinglePlatform’s Adam Liebman

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Christina

Since I work at a company that helps students find and launch incredible careers, SinglePlatform, has always caught my attention—they help awesome local businesses get discovered and gain new customers.

This week, I actually had the pleasure of chatting with Adam Liebman, VP of Sales at SinglePlatform, about his role there, graduating college, and even his sweet tooth.

CK: Hi, Adam. In a couple sentences, what does SinglePlatform do?

AL: SinglePlatform helps local businesses get discovered and gain new customers. Our goal is to help businesses easily list their products, services and prices EVERYWHERE online.

CK: Awesome. So, how did you join the team at SinglePlatform?

AL: I joined in September of 2010 (we were founded in January 2010). I was approached by Kenny Herman—we had a couple of mutual friends and had kicked around starting a company of our own. He told me I had to meet with this guy, Wiley (SinglePlatform’s CEO) he was working with, and they were going to do something big. I remember leaving my meeting with Wiley blown away. I’d never met a CEO with such a clear, intelligent, inspiring vision. I knew immediately it was the type of team I wanted to join, and SinglePlatform hired me on to prove [that] the inside sales model could work.

CK: What’s your favorite part of your job?

AL: My favorite part of working at SinglePlatform is the ridiculously talented group of people I get to accomplish things with every day. Our culture is our most valuable asset, and when I look around at our team each morning, I think to myself, “how’d I get so lucky to work with this crew?” Everyone is genuinely excited to come to work, and we all focus on what each of us does best to “push the flywheel forward” as a team.

CK: I totally get that—I feel the same way about Readyforce. What would you say is the coolest thing about SinglePlatform?

AL: Besides the unlimited ice pops in the freezer, or the 18 different types of candy on my desk, the coolest things at SinglePlatform are the people who work here. We have a full team of A+ players, and everyone contributes.

CK: What advice would you give to college students or recent grads?

AL: If you’re a college student or recent graduate, my #1 piece of advice would be to take a job that you’re genuinely excited about. It can be a lot of things that make you excited…the team you’ll be working with, the amount of money you’ll be making, the product you’ll be helping to design, the research you’ll be doing for a cause that inspires you…but no matter what, don’t settle. Keep applying, and keep searching until you find something you can get behind.

CK: Looking back, what do you wish you knew leaving college, entering the “real world?”

AL: I think the one thing I wish I’d known leaving Mizzou is the fact that there are so many jobs out there that they don’t tell you about in your classes. For example, I didn’t know that I could be a “Media Sales Associate” when I left school, and I didn’t even know what that meant. But I applied anywhere, and a week later, I had my first job at a company called Alpha 411 (now Yext). Don’t ever count yourself out because you don’t think you meet a job description’s criteria. Mark Suster has a great post on this, he calls it “punching above your weight class.”

CK: So, what does your typical day look like?

AL: I wish I had a typical day! There’s too many things to list. Email, helping the sales team, testing new products, putting together commission plans, spreadsheets, listening to salespeople, working on our training program, going after strategic accounts, delegating responsibilities—running a sales team at a start-up means every day is filled with new things.

CK: I can relate! On a bit of a different note, what are your favorite websites, blogs or ways to stay informed?

AL: I’m a Twitter guy. I think the service is incredible—you can make it anything you want. If you want it to be funny, you can do that. If you want it to be newsy, you can do that. If you want it to be sporty, you can do that. Twitter is changing the way people process and consume all types of information, and it helps keep me well-informed at any hour of the night.

Check out more about SinglePlatform on CrunchBase and look out for our other company highlights on the ReadyBlog!

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