Remote First Vision

Build CareerPlug into one of the best places to work — anywhere.

We believe that people are the heart of our business and that the heart of our business is wherever our employees work — from our space in Austin, to a home office on Lake Michigan, to an outfitted van exploring the American West (true story!).

Even before our workforce distributed and the majority of our team worked in our Austin office, we valued transparency over ping pong tables, work/life balance over daily catered lunches, and genuine connection over boatloads of swag. Don’t get me wrong — playing games with coworkers, sharing a meal, and proudly showing off our branding are important to us too — but what’s most important are the core values we share and live by every day.

Our Remote First culture looks different than it did when we were packed together in our All-Hands room, but we fundamentally live by those same values that prioritize kindness, collaboration, and growth in whatever we do.

Here’s what it means to us to be a Remote First company:

We trust you. At CareerPlug, we lead with trust. We hire great people who live our values, bring their best to their work, care about their team, and then we do our best to get out of the way. No office required to look over your shoulder.

We don’t pin you down. You may love the separation of work and home and enjoy a physical space and commute. You may want to work in your living room, at a coffee shop, at a friend’s place in Colorado for the week. You may want to split your time between an office with coworkers and focus time on your own. You do you! Let us know before you move permanently out of the state though (there may be tax implications we need to work through first).

We track your results, not your time. Remember: trust, not micromanagement. We set clear expectations and goals and trust you to bring your best at work every day, surfacing roadblocks and asking questions to help you meet your goal. In other words, the problem isn’t that you’re choosing to watch Netflix instead of working, the problem is that while you were watching Netflix your work didn’t get done and the results show it.

We level the playing field. If one person is remote at a meeting, we all are. Separate screens, videos on. Everything is shared on our team drive or documented on our internal wiki. Key conversations happen on Slack — our proverbial watercooler. Our leadership team won’t be based in an office and there won’t be any advantage to working in a shared office space versus anywhere else. When a team goes out to drinks in Austin, we send the remote team member something special too! We don’t adjust pay based on location and instead pay the same amount for the same job across the country based on the Austin market rate. Plus are able to tap into the best talent from anywhere. Bottom line: whether you’re sitting next to your coworker or sitting next to a lake, we’re all equals.

We support our employees. We offer a remote stipend to all employees to better equip their own offices. We arrange for travel to a central location at least twice a year for big events (like our Pluggie Awards and holiday party), and budget for both in-person and virtual team building and social events to keep people connected. By removing the need for a commute, we’re giving back time (and reducing traffic stress!) as well as contributing to the vision we share with our employees to have a positive impact on our environment.

We communicate openly and frequently. Over-communication is the name of the game. We don’t assume someone is in the loop, we loop them in. We stay flexible, ask clarifying questions, and ask for help when we need it. We set the boundaries with our work and personal time and respect the boundaries of others. We give feedback and receive feedback with good intention and in face-to-face interactions. We embrace the glamour and grunge alike and turn our videos on.

We live our core values. From the first apartment office to our renovated space to a distributed workforce, the heart of our values has remained the same and we live by them every day.

Steve Fowler

Manager of Partner Growth

Christina Waite

Platform Engineering Manager

Taylor Coleman

Tier 2 Manager

Al Foote

Consultant Manager

Sydney Kidd

Tier 1 Manager

Nicolle Gatlin

Manager of Partner Success

Aiden Kinney

Consultant Manager

Joe Lepis

Engineering Manager

Polly Schandorf

Engineering Manager

5: AUTOMATE

Hiring is hard, but partnering with us makes it easier. From posting jobs to scheduling interviews, CareerPlug allows you to automate certain parts of the process to improve your results and save you time.

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3: EVALUATE

Once you think you have found the right person, use our reference and background check resources to verify them. Then, send an electronic offer letter from CareerPlug to close the deal!

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4: HIRE

Use our prescreen questions and assessments to identify the best applicants. Then use our interview questions and scorecards to evaluate for the right things consistently.

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2: COMMUNICATE

Use our notifications and automations to be the first to respond to qualified applicants. Send texts and emails from directly from CareerPlug to convert applicants to scheduled interviews.

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1: ATTRACT

Use our templates to create an attractive careers page and job posting. Then promote it through our job board partners, as well as directly with your employees, customers, and social network.

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Brandy Lee

Business Intelligence Manager

Eric Morales

Manager of Account Executives

Kirsten Penaloza

Director of Client Experience

Zach Garcia

Senior Manager of Operations

Tulay Solak

HR Manager

Tyler Berndsen

Manager of Partnership Account Executives

Ashley Johnson

Senior Manager of Partner Services

Originally from small town in central Texas, Ashley Johnson graduated from Texas State University in 2013 with a degree in Business Administration. She was hired by CareerPlug as a Talent Specialist in 2014, and moved up to ultimately lead the Recruitment Services team. From there, she pivoted to Implementation, and is now the Implementation Manager.

As the Implementation Manager, Ashley and 3 direct reports function as a transition between Sales and Partner Success in helping our clients get set up and established in our software. She spends her free time raising her 2 dogs, playing cornhole, and perfecting the art of charcuterie.

Kate Sensmeier

VP Marketing

Ashley Garia

Director of Product Marketing

Canaan Davis

Director of Engineering

Teresa Hall

Director of UX & Product Design

Brad Pilot

Senior Director of Sales

Leslie Chamberlain

Senior Director of Client Experience

Natalie Morgan

Senior Director of People

Andrew Robinson III

Vice President of Product and Engineering

Chris Igou

VP of Business Development

Chris accidentally started a 20-year career in franchising when he was 18 years old and took a job painting houses for College Pro Painters. That job turned into the ownership of his first franchise (a house painting franchise). While at Monmouth College in IL, he operated his business, played on the varsity football team, and studied to become a teacher.

The taste of entrepreneurship and desire to coach others led Chris deeper into franchising, working with a few franchise brands helping them grow their businesses. He lived in the Chicagoland area his entire life until recently moving his family to Austin, TX.

In his free time Chris coaches youth sports, especially youth football, and spends as much time as he can with his wife and 2 children.

Jenny Leman

President

Native to Texas, Jenny graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004 and joined CareerPlug in 2017. She retired her first career path as a Registered Dietitian after 10 years, and has found her true belonging in business operations.

As CareerPlug’s President, Jenny leads all teams to an aligned effort toward achieving our vision. She works to build healthy and scalable internal systems to equip and empower the CareerPlug teams to bring their best for our clients. She loves contributing new ideas and rethinking the status quo. Jenny really connects with the company’s core values, but especially with our intent to “Keep Growing.”

In her non-work life, Jenny enjoys time with her family, playing drums and performing with the Austin Samba School, and finding excuses to be on the lake.

Clint Smith

Founder & CEO

Clint founded CareerPlug in 2007 with the simple idea that there was a better way to help employers connect with quality applicants. Today Clint works every day to fulfill CareerPlug’s mission: Make Hiring Easier. Leading by example, Clint loves spending his time developing new ideas and teaching others.

After graduating from the University of Florida, Clint worked in investment banking and strategic marketing; both experiences influenced the development of CareerPlug. He also spent a year away from the business world teaching 5th grade in Boulder.

Clint is passionate about helping others succeed and is involved in numerous mentoring programs. He and his wife, Sarah, are also foster parents. Clint enjoys family time, beach volleyball, and outdoor adventures.