iCIMS Hire Expectations™

While it would be hard to escape news coverage of the whopper of a blizzard that the New York area suffered last week, from dramatic stories of passengers trapped on the A-train for 7 hours, to YouTube videos of snow-thunder and time-lapse snow accumulation cams, many of our customers might be surprised to know that the bulk of the iCIMS team was caught smack in the middle of this latest Snowmageddon. Located in Monmouth County, New Jersey, the communities in and around iCIMS' headquarters saw snow accumulation totals of up to 31 inches and wind gusts in excess of 50 MPH, making driving essentially impossible, and leaving drifts 8-9 feet high in some places.

As dawn broke in my town on Monday, December 27th, the scene looking East towards the beach was breathtaking:

But the scene just across the street made me gasp:

My car had been swallowed by snow.  How was I to get to iCIMS that day?

Luckily, iCIMS is a Software-as-a-Service company, and much of the work to be done can be conducted via internet. In addition, well rehearsed contingency plans for just such an emergency had been put in place, and as I turned on my computer I received an automated Weather Alert from the office to work from home. I poured a cup of coffee, and put the images of my unplowed street (which would remain unplowed for 4 days!) out of my mind, and I got to work.

“But how about our customers,” I wondered. How did they manage through the blizzard? With the entire New York tri-state area paralyzed, would they be able to enjoy the same level of Platform availability that they are accustomed to? What if they had a question, could they reach our Help Desk? After all, even the postal service with its pledge to deliver the mail no matter what wasn’t delivering the mail that Monday.

Well, I am happy to report that despite all three New York City area airports being shutdown, local transit services barely moving, and even the Philadelphia Eagles postponing their game for 2 days (!), the iCIMS Talent Platform didn’t miss a beat. Our customers had 100% availability through the blizzard and recovery period, and applicants in far warmer locales could browse and apply for jobs, never even realizing the servers processing their resumes were under many feet of snow.

Furthermore, internal action plans at iCIMS insured that someone was available to take calls if a question or problem did arise. On Monday, December 27th, iCIMS' Help Desk fielded 107 emails and 30 calls. Granted, this was lighter volume than normal, but the time period between Christmas and New Years typically is quieter as many clients are on vacation. And for those who visited our Customer Care Site, the only indication that iCIMS was in the eye of one of the worst storms to hit the area in recorded history was a notice that that clients might experience some delay in having their calls responded to, more a precaution than a reflection of what actually happened.

We aren't out of the woods yet here at iCIMS! We are only two weeks into winter, and the weather service is already starting to talk about a possible snow storm for the area this weekend. But rest assured that while we might be tired from shoveling our driveways, we’ll be there to take your calls. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds.