Career Services and Alpha Kappa Psi hosted a networking and information session featuring Erinn Tarpey, the Vice President of Marketing for iCIMS, a talent acquisition agency located in Matawan, NJ on Thursday, Nov. 12.
“Last year we invited Colin Day [CEO of iCIMS] and he presented in the spring. Every year we try to get an executive from iCIMS. I approached the recruiting team and we planned about two months in advance for Erinn to speak. The topic was going to be for marketing management students to see a day in the life of iCIMS and see the corporate culture,” said Jeff Mass, the Assistant Director of Career Services.
Tarpey is a graduate of Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations. She began her career at iCIMS in Sept. 2011 with a goal of scaling the business and deploying growth equity investments in marketing operations. Tarpey went on to become the first female Vice President of the company, under the leadership of her female Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
During the session, Tarpey mentioned that there are 43 Monmouth alumnae who work at iCIMS, some of which began with internship positions and became full time employees. She explained to the students and alumnae who attended that CEO Colin Day are passionate about growing his company from within, starting with schools in the area such as Monmouth University, Rutgers, and The College of New Jersey.
The Vice President displayed a Monmouth alumnae spotlight, showcasing Monmouth alumnae who have built a career at iCIMS within the marketing department and their successes. Alumnae Patrick Swisher has been working at the company for approximately two years, starting as an intern on the partner marketing team and becoming a full time employee who oversees all marketing efforts for The United Kingdom.
“I had a lot of responsibility there managing my own campaigns and working with partners. The program really made me feel prepared to work in the world of digital marketing and I was fortunate enough for them [iCIMS] to want me to stay,” said Swisher.
Attendees were given insight into the background of iCIMS, its clients, philanthropic causes, employee benefits, and opportunities within the marketing department. Tarney explained that the company was founded in 2000 and became profitable three years later in 2003. Since then, iCIMS has developed a 90 percent customer retention rate as well as 3000 contracted customers. The company is adding one new customer every two and a half business hours. iCIMS sells software such as iCIMS Connect, iCIMS Recruit, and iCIMS On Board to clients such as Sirius XM, Amazon, Uber, United Airlines, Nascar, and Samsung.
The company, which averages 30-35 percent growth per year, has a number of core competencies, or values, in which all employees uphold. Customer commitment, drive, passion, adaptability, transparency, kaizen, and empathy are all possessed among the staff. Tarney told students that the most important competencies for emerging professionals to posses are drive and passion, because loving the work you do for a company or brand is what will help you to succeed.
“The event made me really interested in iCIMS. I’ve heard good things about them going into the event but I wanted to hear more in depth what they’re about,” said Alex Noboa, a brother of Alpha Kappa Psi. “They really caught my attention today because they share a lot of the same values that I’ve tried to incorporate into myself while at college,” Noboa continued.
Tarney explained the iCIMS application process to the group of interested students, encouraging them to apply online. From there, a University recruiter reviews each resume submitted. Applicants who stand out are then given a phone interview, and possibly an on-site interview after. Tarney encourages students to clean up their social media profiles so they are tailored to the industry they are pursuing. This gives employers a chance to recruit new employees and positively use social media.
When asked her biggest accomplishment as Vice President of Marketing, Tarney concluded with, “I’m particularly proud of the headcount growth and the infrastructure that we’ve built over the four year period, going from 13 people to over 70 in those eight different departments took a lot of effort and hiring, process and strategies, and people. That makes me particularly proud because I like to create opportunities for others.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Jeff Mass
