I claimed a HOW TO RUSH WEEK task, my first. I submitted some notes, assuming I could revise them later. How do I do this?

To work anywhere for ten years seems almost unheard of nowadays and in our industry it seems even less likely. I’m proud of the career I’ve had at iCIMS and got pretty emotional thinking about it. You grow by letting go.

When I started at iCIMS in 2005 our marketing department was miniscule – I reported into Adam Feigenbaum, our now COO and then Director of Marketing and Sales. Under Adam’s guidance I learned how to respond to RFPs, craft press releases and write marketing collateral as well as a host of life lessons. After some time we grew the team to include additional Marketing Associates who eventually reported into me and who were there to help shoulder what had become a lot of work.

I still remember wanting to “hold onto� Case studies – I loved talking with the customers, hearing about their recruitment operations and writing a story that told the before and after iCIMS picture. I enjoyed them, I was good at them and I wanted to keep them!

This was the first of probably 200 times at iCIMS I felt something was “mine� And it should stay that way. Luckily I had Adam, Colin and others along the way to remind me that if I didn’t let go of some responsibilities I’d never have the time, energy or team to let me take on new challenges.

Culture is critical. We seem to talk about culture almost every day at iCIMS and I’m sure we’re not alone. Seventy six percent of job seekers say that company culture is important in their job search and I’m glad to hear it.

This isn’t another spiel about how much time we all spend at the office and how we better like who we work beside. This is more about how the right culture can push you to challenge yourself, feel energized about the work you do and instill a feeling of belief that the goals can be met and the vision is sound. Yes, we think of the food trucks and birthday celebrations and beach clean-ups as part of our culture, but the best example I can give of iCIMS’ culture is this.

A bunch of us were hanging out on a Friday night at the end of the year (2009) having some drinks at a colleague’s house. Back then smartphones weren’t pervasive; I was proud of my 13 pound Treo. At the time I was responsible for signing new business onto one of our new products and couldn’t WAIT for the sweet victory of my first deal.

It didn’t matter that it was for $200. It was at least 10 p.m. Eastern and I was furiously refreshing my phone to see if my contract came in.

This prospective customer was on the West coast and surely didn’t know how much I was dying to see that signature. When it finally came through over eFax (ha), all of us flew out of our chairs yelling and cheering. Yes, we’d each had at least six beers, but that only added to the excitement.

The fact that these colleagues were a) friends that chose to hang out on a Friday and b) shared in the anticipation and celebration will always be remembered. Hire people better than you. My mom and Colin have both preached this early and often.

It takes awhile to get onboard with this concept as it clearly can knock you down a few pegs, but it’s critical. Find people who are fantastic at something – an element of what you are responsible for, a piece of the business that could use attention, whatever. Then get out of their damn way.