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Messing with Marc Cenedella from The Ladders

So during my job search, I decided to sign up for TheLadders.com. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s like monster but for 100K plus jobs only. As a joke, I signed up thinking I might be able to land me a CEO position somewhere with oh, all 5 whole years of industry experience in graphic design making over 100K. That would be awesome! Here is where TheLadders get crappy. They basically use bait and switch tactics (threw some link love to cheezhead.com for the interesting insight), which allows you to search for those jobs, but to apply for those jobs; you have to pay $30. Lame.

I move on, and find a job through Monster (for free - how that happened I have no idea, but it did). Since I was a sucker and gave TheLadders my email, I get their “informative” emails blasts on how to land 100K jobs. I hit the spam button. They keep coming. No matter how many times I hit spam, I keep getting emails from this dude named Marc Cenedella. WHO ARE YOU??? One day I just decided to write back a ridiculous email response, just to annoy him. Marc actually lists an email address (which is not the email he checks) so I directed the response at him.

Here’s the email I got from Marc:

Subject Line: You Should Look in the Mirror, Christopher

Good Monday morning Christopher!
So let’s face it, the job hunt at the $100K+ level is a heck of lot longer, more tedious, and more frustrating than any of us can bear.

Between ducking out for lunch-time interviews and cranking through the networking calls, it’s enough to get you frazzled, hassled, and more than just a bit “down in the dumps.”

Banging out another four phone calls after an exhausting day, while it could be just the jackpot you’ve been waiting for, is still awfully tough to get excited about.

And the negative thoughts or bad mood that a rough day can generate have a way of creeping into your voice. You might not even realize it, but you can come across sounding tired, or crabby, or exhausted, and that undercuts the whole purpose of making the calls to being with.

So here’s my bit of job hunting success advice to make your calls sound great:

Buy a mirror.

Now, I know that sounds like a small thing, and probably a funny thing, but a mirror can help wipe away the negative feelings you might unconsciously be transmitting over the airwaves.

Buy a mirror, and keep it by the phone. Just before you make your networking and interviewing calls, take a good long look in the mirror.

And what do we do when we look in the mirror?

We smile.

So have a nice, big, warm, fun smile with yourself for a minute of two. Think of summer days, or your first kiss, or the birth of your first child, and enjoy watching how big and wide a smile you get from it.

And the amazing thing, which scientific research has actually backed up, is that our facial expressions can really change our emotions.

So you’ll find that even after a bad news day, grinning a big old grin for 5 minutes can actually make you feel better. I’ve tried it myself over the years, and it’s really true.

Those positive feelings help your spirits, help you sound great on the phone, and help you get that $100K+ job that much quicker. So that’s my simple advice for this week, folks: mirror = smile = good attitude = positive impression. I hope you find it as useful as I have!

Enjoy and have a great week!

Warmest Regards,

Marc Cenedella
Founder & CEO
TheLadders.com, Inc.

Aww, thanks Marc, I did look in the mirror that day, and I did smile, and I thought of unicorns and hummingbirds and magical woodland creatures. But who are you to tell me to look in the mirror? Mr. Cenedella, we’re not on a first name basis, and you tell me to look in a mirror! You can keep your narcissistic advice to yourself.

My actual response:

Why don’t You look in the mirror, Marc

I sent this without thinking I’d hear back from Marc. I didn’t. But I did hear back from Steve. Steve is a good friend of mine, no wait, actually, I have no idea who Steve is (I don’t even know a Steve). Here is what Steve had to say:

Hi Chris,

Thanks for getting back to me.

While Marc would love to personally answer each and every email we receive, that would require superhuman effort! With over a million members, we hear from our readers often. Though Marc does read emails from customers like you, we have a highly trained group of experts dedicated to answering your questions, responding to your concerns, and helping you through your job search.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and have a great day!

Best,
Steve

-Steve Ondrako-
Community Manager

Steve-O! First, I am not getting back to you, I was replying to Marc’s email. We have never talked before. Second, you didn’t answer my question so your help is nonexistent. I decided to respond to Steve Ondrako this time.

My response:

Ok Steve, can you tell Marc to look in the mirror?

I didn’t hear back from Steve. This is kind of fun, because now I realize that instead of getting annoyed by these emails, I can turn it around and bounce the annoy factor back to them, to an actual employee working for TheLadders. It’s their job to answer these emails, they HAVE to do it! I got another one yesterday. This time, Marc emailed me and told me my cover letter was too long.

Subject line: Your Cover Letter Is Too Long

Good Monday morning Christopher!
I always hated cover letters, and, frankly, stressed out way too much about them. They’re mildly important, and can get you tossed into or out of the review pile, but they are not the make-or-break phase of your job hunt.

Your goal in a cover letter is to indicate that you have a reasonably good shot at being a plausible candidate for the job; to show that you’ve read even a little bit about the company and aren’t just blasting your resume everywhere; and to get the reviewer to actually read your resume. Here’s how you’re going to do that…

Somewhere between “Please find attached herewith my application for your open listing” and a 30-page biography covering your every major and minor accomplishment since high school lies the correct length for a cover letter – one that grabs enough attention without being a total snoozer and a bore to read. That is, a cover letter that gets your resume, and your candidacy, the important second look.

Thus, the perfect cover letter is only 2 or 3 paragraphs at most! We all get too much email, including me, including you, and, especially, including the person who is reading your cover letter and resume! So please, don’t make it hard on them to love you – keep it short and sweet!

A great cover letter should make 1 or 2 key points about why you stand out relative to the job or company you are applying to:

- “I see you’re looking for large-scale infrastructure experience, which would be a great progression for me after managing 15,000 distributed servers for NASA.”

- “I would like to apply my 15 years of progressive sales management experience in the CPG industry in a related field, and believe the incremental gains I was able to produce would help me achieve your goals over the next few years.”

- “Having covered over 32 client accounts in advertising these past 17 years, I would welcome a chance to apply my broad expertise to your rapidly growing brand campaigns.”

A cover letter should indicate your willingness to take the job if there are any quirks:

- “While I am currently residing in Boston, I am moving with my wife to San Diego next month as she takes up her position as Chair at UCSD Medical Center, and would be very pleased to discuss your opportunity.”

- “Though I have been a stay-at-home Mom these past 6 years, I’ve kept up with industry trends through attending and, twice, speaking at the American Association Expo each year.”
- “I’m looking for the next challenge in my career, particularly a broadening of responsibilities beyond direct marketing, which I think fits in well with your growth plans for your new ’green’ brand extensions.”

And finally, it should tell them what to expect next. Usually it’s best for them to expect you to contact them:

- “Thanks again for your consideration, and I will follow up with your office next week.” (I always say “your office”, not “you”. Provides a bit of grandeur to the communication, and implies that you’re sophisticated enough to not hound them down by calling too much or too often.)

And then… that’s it. You’ve made your case briefly, covered the reasons you’re willing and able to take the job, and got out. That is all you need to achieve with your cover letter, folks.

So, thanks very much for reading, and I’ll be in touch with your office with my newsletter next week

Warmest Regards,

Marc Cenedella
Founder & CEO
TheLadders.com, Inc.

What is it with this guy and Monday mornings? Marc, have you even read my cover letter? How do you know it’s too long then? Don’t make assumptions. So according to Marc, more than 2 to 3 paragraphs is too long.

My response:

Good Monday morning Marc. Your email is too long, I only read the first 2 or 3 paragraphs.

This time Marc actually did respond! Just kidding, it was my good friend Paolo Po, or P-dawg, who replyed back this time.

P-Dawg’s relpy:

Thanks for writing in.

Sorry you found Marc’s email too long.

The length of Marc’s messages vary from week to week, but I urge you to try to read the rest of it when you can!

There could be something in it that you may find very useful!

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I’ll be happy to personally take care of them. Have a great day!

Best,
Paolo

-Paolo Po-
Community Manager

I actually respect P-dawg for addressing my “issue”, and P-Dawg, I did read the rest of the email. Thanks for personally adressing any further issues I might have. But you “forgot” to leave an email address or any form of personal contact information! I do have a few further issues though.

My Response:

Paolo,

Marc mentions that,

“the perfect cover letter is *only 2 or 3 paragraphs at most!* We all
get too much email, including me, including you, and, especially, including
the person who is reading your cover letter and resume!”

Why is that? Would that apply to emails as well?

Also Marc mentions that

“Your goal in a cover letter is to indicate that you have a reasonably good
shot at being a plausible candidate for the job”

I don’t know if I like those odds sir. A reasonable shot at being a plausible candidate. That doesn’t sound very good. That’s two qualifiers in one sentenece. It’s feasible that I potentially, might use that advice, maybe. Please help as my 100k job interview is on the line. I don’t want to blast them with unwanted emails.

Regards,

Chris

Still waiting to hear back from P-Dawg.

UPDATE: Paolo is The Man!

Hi Chris,

Thanks for writing back.

Great to hear that you read the rest of Marc’s newsletter! I certainly hop that you found it useful.

Nowadays, we spend more time than we’d like cleaning up our inbox. It helps to make our messages as short, sweet and to the point as possible. It’ll also give the recruiter more time to focus on your resume.

I believe that what Marc meant by mentioning that “your goal in a cover letter is to indicate that you have a reasonably good shot at being a plausible candidate for the job” is that it will be your shot at consideration. If you can show that you qualify for this job, then it will be all you need to get them to look further into your background. Chris, a great cover letter will separate you from the crowd and keep you from being “marked as spam”!

Finally, if you feel like you’re receiving too many emails from us, you can unsubscribe to the extra emails we’re sending you by following these directions:
http://www.theladders.com/EmailPreferences
(you will need to sign into your account if you’re currently not signed in)

From here you can choose which emails you like to receive and which you’d prefer not to receive.

However, we do require that our readers receive Marc’s Monday Newsletters, so if you’d like to stop receiving all emails from us, you’ll have to cancel your Basic membership. To do this, please go to:
http://www.theladders.com/updateinfo
Click on the “Cancel Membership” hyperlink.

Chris, if you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know. I’ll be more than happy to personally assist you.

Have a wonderful day!

Regards,
Paolo

-Paolo Po-
Community Manager

I’m seriously impressed! To actually suggest that I cancel my basic membership is impressive. I don’t think I have ever dealt with a company that would suggest that. Marc, give this guy a raise for dealing with my crap in a professional manner. I almost feel bad. Almost. My new goals:

1. Get an actual response from Marc himself.
2. Send out my own weekly emails to TheLadders help staff.

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