Despite Positive Jobs Outlook, Executives Expect to Send 100 Applications Before Getting an Offer

New York, NY (June 28, 2004) ñ Awakening to the new realities of high-end job growth, 47.8% of executives in the 100k job market say they expect to apply to 100 or more job listings before getting an offer, according to a survey of 858 job seekers conducted by executive job search service TheLadders.com, www.theladders.com.

ìWeíre seeing improvement across the board in the high-level job market, but the rules of the game have clearly changed,î explained TheLadders.com founder and president, Marc Cenedella. ìLargely due to the influence of the Internet, the executive job search process has become a direct marketing game. It used to be that high-level executives needed only to make a few phone calls when they were getting restless to make a move ñ thatís just how the recruiting business worked for years. Now, theyíre now finding an environment where they need play a numbers game and hope for a 2% response rate.î

A clear majority of executives surveyed share Cenedellaís view. Only 10.2% of those responding to the survey believe that theyíll need to apply to less than 20 jobs before getting an offer. Twenty percent of respondents believe it will take between 20 and 50 applications before an offer is made. And, 21.8% believe that 50 to 100 applications will be required to bring in an offer.

The survey of registered 100k executives was conducted on TheLadders.com Web site from June 14, 2004 through June 25, 2004.

Now reaching over 102,000 readers, TheLadders.com addresses the specialized needs of the high-end market by turning the traditional recruitment business model upside down. Each month, the TheLadders.com team of experts reviews over 160,000 jobs to select more than 7,000 jobs for inclusion in their weekly newsletters. The company searches the Internet for job postings, or, alternatively, employers can list them free of charge ñ a critical difference from traditional job boards because it enables TheLadders.com to list every appropriate 100k job opening on the market, not just paid listings. This distinction allows TheLadders.com to filter out any questionable job listings that do not meet the companyís standards. TheLadders.com does not charge a fee for its basic job leads newsletter for job seekers. Instead, it generates revenues by offering a premium service to job seekers, which includes a greater number of job listings, more detail, early delivery, and more features for 25 dollars per month. TheLadders.comís premium service fee keeps unqualified candidates out of the applicant pool and, thus, encourages employers to look at TheLadders.com applicants first.

Cenedella founded TheLadders.com in July 2003 after a tenure as Senior Vice President, Finance & Operations, at HotJobs.com, ultimately shepherding that companyís sale to Yahoo, Inc. (NASD: YHOO) in 2002. In May 2004 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by award-winning marketing newsletter, MarketingSherpa, which cited TheLadders.comís unique business model as a key to its sustained growth.