iCIMS [pronounced EYE-sims], is a high-growth, profitable, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that provides talent acquisition software solutions for growing businesses looking to attract and hire top talent. The name iCIMS is an acronym, which stands for: Internet Collaborative Information Management System. With 30%+ growth and an annual recurring revenue of over 100 million dollars, iCIMS is one of the fastest growing companies in NJ with headquarters in Matawan, NJ.
Based on my experience including my extracurriculars, I was offered a summer apprenticeship by iCIMS for a period of 10 weeks. My primary liaisons included academic researcher (Mark Fontana, NYU/USC Research Scientist, Principal) and iCIMS’ Chief Economist, Josh Wright (who worked previously with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York under Tim Geithner and was a guest expert for Bloomberg TV and radio).
Working remotely, my apprenticeship involved the following:
- Researching and summarizing background literature on seasonal adjustments of relevant government data sets
- Completing tutorials on data analysis and visualization tools
- Working on an independent project designing adjustments to be applied to iCIMS proprietary data
Through this apprenticeship, I learnt the following:
- Introduction to the practice of data science, including elements of both statistical analysis and presentation
- Introduction to labor economics, canonical macroeconomic data sets, and current topics in U.S. economic policy
- Introduction to the business to business software as a service (SaaS) business model
Personally, it was a very intense experience for me, as I never worked in a remote environment with a project team located halfway across the country. My experience was extremely rewarding. In addition to the technical components/skills/competencies, I learned a lot about project management, professional communication/collaboration/presentation, and scientific composition. I thoroughly enjoyed working with iCIMS’s team of economists, software developers, and data scientists.
This project lays the ground for future work in predictive analytics, and economic research. As such, it provides a rich exposure both to current technology development and various fields of intellectual inquiry. With an interest in economics/engineering as my major, I am grateful to the iCIMS team for such a substantive internship experience.
Prateek Pinisetti 