It's common knowledge that ADP Dealer Services plans to bring 150 new jobs to downtown Detroit. But what a lot of people want to know is how to land one of those gigs?
ADP Dealer Services is opening an office in the Renaissance Center. It's billing it as a "Digital Marketing Innovation Center" that will employ "data scientists," "web technologists" and "digital advertising consultants." Translation, the company is investing $3 million to create a digital marketing office focused on the automotive industry.
Chris Reed, chief marketing officer for
ADP Digital Marketing, has some hints for the type of people ADP Dealer Services wants to hire.
• Cool and casual. ADP Dealer Services fancies itself as a tech company that can trace its roots back to the early years of the Internet age. That means it leans more towards its employees wearing a Mark Zuckerburg-style hoodie than a Big 3 power suit.
"We're not a suit-and-tie culture," Reed says. "We try to facilitate creativity and innovation. We are a very flat organization."
• Oil in the blood. ADP Dealer Services wants people who have "automotive DNA," Reed says. The type of folks who are as comfortable in the car-making line whether it be the floor of a factory or a dealership.
"Having that knowledge of manufacturing or the dealership or those sorts of environments and how to relate to them, that will help you stand out from the crowd," Reed says.
• Midwestern work ethic. ADP Dealer Services is looking for traditional Detroit workers who work hard, are willing to learn and have a passion for their job. The company will also offer its employees the opportunity for internal promotion.
ADP Dealer Services is a division of
Automated Data Processing, a Seattle-based provider of what it calls "integrated computing solutions to truck, auto, motorcycle, marine, recreational vehicle and heavy equipment dealers worldwide." The Michigan Strategic Fund gave ADP a $1.5 million Michigan Business Development performance-based grant to open ADP Dealer Services office in downtown Detroit.
The firm plans to hire all 150 people within the next 12 months. It currently has 100 job openings for its Detroit office. Click
here to find them.
Source: Chris Reed, chief marketing officer of ADP Digital Marketing
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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