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Tech & Innovation Blog
Hacking the Future of STEM with iWIN EMPOWER and GirlsHack
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We thank the EMPOWER committee and members who generously donated their time to make this event successful.
Hacking the Future of STEM with iWIN EMPOWER and GirlsHack
In celebration and recognition of International Women’s Month, ADP’s International Women’s Inclusion Network (iWIN) Business Resource Group (BRG) sponsored GirlHacks 2022 Hackathon event at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). GirlHacks 2022 was a 36-hour women-centric hackathon that featured motivational speakers, discussion panels, and mentoring programs created to inspire women and support advanced career growth.
The event was an initiative propelled by the iWIN EMPOWER Committee. With core values of inspiring innovation and social responsibility, many ADP iWIN BRG members volunteered to participate in the event. In addition to providing tech guidance during the hackathon, our associates engaged students in thought-provoking discussions about the GPT Development programs, summer internship positions, and work opportunities across ADP.
GirlHacks at New Jersey Institute of Technology
“With a commitment to growing opportunities for women in STEM, the iWIN Empower BRG is proud to offer insight and guidance to new technologists, even before they begin their careers,” said Aini Ali, Vice President of Major Accounts Operations at ADP. “This event aligns closely with our mission to provide tools, guidance, and a network for women and children of all ages to reach new heights of success in STEM careers. It was an amazing experience too.”
The first-place winner of GirlHacks 2022 was Imposter Bubble, a mobile app inspired by the idea submitter’s own experiences with Imposter Syndrome (IS). IS refers to an internal experience of believing you are not as competent as others perceive you. 75% of executive women identified having experienced IS at various points during their careers. Imposter Bubble provides positive, powerful affirmations to women, helping them process their negative thoughts. The application was built using Flutter, a cross-platform app development framework by Google that allows the same codebase to develop apps for iOS, Android, and web platforms. Learn more about the Imposter Bubble and other submissions on Devpost.
ADP iWIN BRG would like to thank the EMPOWER committee and members who generously donated their time to make this event successful. ADP is committed to Diversity and Inclusion. We encourage you to learn about the fantastic opportunities for collaboration and partnership our BRGs offer.
Join our community!
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Devi R., Senior Director of DevOps, Builds Products with Empathy
Women in STEM, Voice of Our People, Innovation
“STEM, to me, is beyond degree and credentials. It’s about applying and leveraging engineering knowledge and empathy toward every product.”
Devi R. is a technologist who enjoys exploring the world and inspiring others. She joined ADP in 2020, building the ADP’s flagship MyADP with her team in Global Products & Technology. She’s been to 54 countries and all seven continents. Devi loves traveling to South Africa for natural scenery and Portugal for the history, art, architecture, and food!
Coming to ADP
Engineers build products with a purpose in mind and the goal of designing for people. I came to ADP with that mindset and found myself in a place that shares the same value.
I have been a consumer of ADP’s payroll product since 2006, so I was excited to hear about the MyADP business app project and took the opportunity right away. I thought, “I want to work on this!” It’s been two years since I came to ADP, and I’m incredibly grateful to be in a culture that values every voice.
I lead the MyADP Product SRE & DevOps teams within Global Products & Technology. For those unfamiliar with MyADP, it is a global, high traffic and volume unified UX web/mobile solution using Cloud technology. Our product is in the Top 10 business applications in the app store. Millions use the product to perform human resources, financial services, onboarding, performance management, payroll, time & attendance, benefits, retirement services, etc.
If I asked myself how my passion began, I’d say it was the endless possibilities in the field that continue to inspire me, including innovation awaiting discovery. When it comes to DevOps, I appreciate the opportunity to perform transformation across various products because it motivates me to strive for better results with my team.
Day In Life as Senior Director, DevOps
To give you an overview of my day, we get an average of between seven to 10,000 transactions every second on our product platform. My team keeps track of the error rate, meaning even 1% can be a considerable number in this user pool. The task makes my role as a technologist critical. It’s no longer about the technical skills that determine if someone is qualified; instead, it’s about empathy for what one is building.
Behind every product my team makes, we understand there are real users and the real impact the product brings to their lives. As a technologist, I make sure the technology is practical and human-centered. With a large amount of data and information, I am proud to say we handle data with security, precaution, and care. We use the data to help people, making user privacy our top priority.
STEM, to me, is beyond degree and credentials. It’s about using engineering knowledge and empathy toward every product. I stay at ADP, where I surround myself with associates who value client feedback and user experience.
Devi and her husband in Antarctica
Women in STEM
With various tech roles in the industry, I recommend young technologists invest in education and explore as many options as possible in life. The field continues to evolve and challenge the leaders with innovation, changes, and automation.
All the elements above make working as a woman technologist meaningful. I remember serving as one of the women and telecommunication junior board members for a year in my previous company. We collaborated across the nation to understand and research women technologists’ career paths at that time.
Six of us dove into why there are not enough female technologists in the field and quickly learned that many young girls get distracted from pursuing STEM early in their education. The first drop in interest in Tech happens between middle school and high school. We saw a 70% decline in enrollment to 10% by the end of that period. I encourage educators and technologists to inspire young girls, especially at around 8th grade in middle school; the earlier, the better.
As we did more research, the 10% enrollment in STEM when they first enter college drops further by the time they reach junior year. I had the same experience and recalled being one of 15 girls out of 100 students in the classroom. By the time I graduated, there were only three of us left. I kept thinking this would change over time but soon realized we are not there yet. Research conducted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) shows why gender gaps are particularly high in the computer science and engineering fields. Download the Why So Few Women in STEM Report here.
Devi at Miscanti Lake near Atacama in Peru
Experience the Reality in the Industry
So, what can individuals do to help close the gender gaps in STEM?
I am passionate about finding out what and how to make young talents focus on STEM early in their career, including providing the right tools, giving concrete advice, and demonstrating the reality in the industry. If you are a student or a recent college graduate, check out our campus programs here.
ADP offers a Development program where young talents get an opportunity to meet with leaders and understand our products. Some of them already have a STEM career, and we provide a taste of the real world before hiring them at the end of the program to become full-time associates.
I’m motivated to mentor these recent college graduates and show how much impact their decision to pursue Tech can bring. When facing intersections in their choices, I tell the young women technologists to try everything. It’s essential to understand what interests you and remember that true passion brings you further in life.
Whether building a product or entering a new career track, I encourage you to be empathetic towards the people you work with, creating a product for everyone.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
My ADP Coming-Out Story
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Whether it is Women’s month, Pride month, or every month over, under, or in-between our personal lives and our professional lives, every moment matters. You matter.
My ADP Coming-Out Story
By Taylor L.M., Information Security Project Manager
Woman. Femme. Queer. Daughter. Wife. Mother (of two). Sister (of seven). Friend. High school drop-out and Wellesley College graduate. Political science major. Data Security Professional.
I proudly shared everything listed above except for the queer part when I started working at ADP nearly eight years ago. That’s not to say I didn’t celebrate everyone else’s “out” statuses. I was in ADP’s Pride Business Resource Group (BRG), where I walked in parades. I rejoiced when we won Obergefell v. Hodges and laughed hysterically with friends when Melissa Ethridge handed Ellen a toaster oven. Yet I continued to “hide” that part of myself in the corporate environment. I was in a relationship with a man, so most assumed, and no one asked. When that relationship didn’t work out, I began dating a woman. I just switched her pronouns to him. But that little omission began to feel like a lie, especially as our relationship grew more serious.
Although I knew ADP supported the community and made huge cultural and legal strides, I was still afraid. I was afraid my co-workers would see me differently – afraid my team would wonder why I had been keeping this secret. Mostly I was afraid that my experience didn’t really “count.”
Did I deserve to be a member of this community that I was simultaneously supporting and keeping at arms-length? In hiding who I was, would people think I had been ashamed before I told the truth, even as I had rallied alongside this community and stood up for their and our beliefs? Had I somehow been complicit in the negativity, ignorance, and distrust of those who do not support us?
I no longer wanted to hide when I fell crazy, madly, deeply in love with Jennie. I wanted to stand up and shout to the rooftops. I wanted to bring my whole, authentic self to work. To be clear, I didn’t climb on the roof at Windward Parkway (don’t do this, it’s dangerous, and you will likely end up hospitalized or in jail). Instead, I chose to take incremental steps to test the waters, as they say. I started by telling one person, then another. I gradually changed he/him pronouns to she/her pronouns in conversations. I showed up at our team’s holiday party with Jennie on my arm.
Jennie and I got married last September, and I proudly displayed one of our wedding pictures on my laptop. Every time I screen-share, I share the bliss of two people in love. I never did see a raised eyebrow, a smirk, nor detected a micro-aggression. That’s not to say that those things don’t still happen all over the place. If you or someone you know is facing discrimination at work, research your rights and get help.
Taylor and Jennie
I’m glad to share that my experience of “coming out” at ADP has always been met with kindness and acceptance. We live in a time when labels can be ascribed to all of us – each is a unique, complex human, yet we are all the same. We struggle. We rejoice. We feel pain. We feel joy. We heal from the past, and we look to a brighter future. More than anything, we all love and seek to be loved in return. In this journey, I’ve learned that every experience counts. Every step I took made me feel better than the one before it. I could have stopped anywhere on that progression, and the outcome would have been the same: I belong, and so do you.
Whether you are “out” to one or all, not yet ready, or a faithful ally – you too belong. Everyone who celebrates love has a role in our community and this movement. Whether it is Women’s month, Pride month, or every month over, under, or in-between our personal lives and our professional lives, every moment matters. You matter. (And our community is always giving out free toaster ovens.)
Let’s work together!
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
ADP Selected to Top 50 by Woman Engineer Magazine
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We thank all of our associates who actively support the creation of rewarding opportunities across ADP.
At ADP, we are committed to driving diversity by providing opportunities for everyone to nurture and grow rewarding careers, ensuring everyone has a voice. We’re proud to offer the best opportunities to work and develop industry-leading technology and HCM solutions.
We’re happy to announce that the culture our associates help to create has made ADP a Top 50 Employer by the readers of Woman Engineer Magazine for the third consecutive year.
Each year, this professional publication surveys women in engineering, computer science, and information technology, asking ADP associates to select companies that provide the most positive working environments for women and position those organizations as highly preferred workplaces.
ADP Tech Associate
The Top 50 list features companies that champion, hire, and promote women engineers with an understanding to value an inclusive, diversified workforce. This award reflects ADP’s strong reputation for supporting career development and opportunities across the teams.
Our Global Product and Technology (GPT) organization aims to set industry benchmarks and has adopted measures that continue to drive progress. Our teams built the ADP DataCloud Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Dashboard to help companies see real-time workforce demographics, which was named the Top HR Product of the Year. This effort joins other products that promote diverse workforces, including our Candidate Relevancy tools and the award-winning Pay Equity Explorer.
ADP Associates in Brazil
ADP also supports philanthropic organizations that nurture the career development of girls and women in the technology field, helping them fulfill their potential as future tech leaders. Our partnership with Girls Who Code and Women in Technology has led to other significant distinctions, such as being named to the Women Impact Tech 100 List, Top 50 Best Workplaces for Women in India, and the 2021 Top Large Company for Women Technologists by AnitaB.org, also marking the third consecutive time ADP earned this achievement. This is on top of our Business Resource Groups and opportunities to share innovative ideas with company events such as the ADP Global Hackathon.
We thank all our associates who actively support the creation of rewarding opportunities for individuals across ADP. Our technology is better because we work together, and Each Person Counts.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Remote Work Era: Three Challenges to Overcome
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Time to grab on to the perfect opportunity to learn organizational skills, independence, and self-motivation!
Remote Work Era: Three Challenges to Overcome
By Amy H. Chiu, Tech Brand Content Developer
In May 2022, Airbnb’s career page received 800,000 visits since its remote work announcement. What’s the hype? When people say, ‘I work remotely,’ do you think of working from home in pajamas and not worrying about being stuck in traffic?
Remote working is more than that.
As we embrace hybrid and remote workspace, there are more conversations you and your team will be having, including challenges and solutions. As a full-time remote associate who works from a different time zone, I’ve learned methods to stay connected with my team.
My friends in tech often ask me what it’s like working remotely because some of them are considering switching their workstyle. My short answer is remote working is not for everyone.
The story began when I started working remotely as a freelancer a few years ago. Without going to the office, I engaged and experimented with various strategies to complete projects with accuracy and efficiency.
Challenge One – Communication
Are you afraid of missing the hallway conversation that could potentially build trust and work relationships among the team? As an extrovert, my solution is to speak up and share my updates during virtual happy hours and video calls. For example, I challenge myself to say more than “how are you” and answer more than “I’m good.” Having a real, human-to-human conversation during virtual happy hour has taught me to be more empathetic and understanding. I’d check in with my coworker from the other side of the country who caught the flu and adjust the calendar priorities accordingly.
I imagine reaching out can be a challenge for those more reserved in a new environment when they first start in a full-time remote position. This is when turning on video cameras can be helpful during online meetings. We recognize facial expressions during conversations that help us understand the tone of voice without saying too much, and smiling is always a plus!
Challenge Two – Time Management
Another challenge comes in time management, which is especially important for those who work with teams from different time zones. I recommend productivity and time tracking tools such as Toggl and DeskTime that allow you to log the time you spend on each project. The key is to build a schedule for yourself and stick to it. It’s easier to have a routine despite having scheduled meetings on the day or not.
Knowing when to start and pause working is the key for ambitious individuals. Since there’s no hard stop or visually seeing your coworkers packing up to leave at five in the afternoon, give yourself the reminder and permission to finish tasks during your working hours.
Challenge Three – Work Motivation
For those who enjoy the office atmosphere, I recommend joining coworking spaces such as WeWork and Galvanize. You could find a variety of office layouts and meeting spaces, using them to focus on your business. The community can also be an excellent opportunity to network and increase motivation at work.
I work from home and dedicate a space for work only. Having the habit motivates me and sets me in business mode every morning. According to a Social Psychological and Personality Science paper, the researchers asked subjects to change into formal and casual clothing before cognitive tests. They found wearing formal business clothing increases abstract thinking. On the days when I need an extra energy boost, I put on business clothing, even off-camera. The formal attire makes me focus better, and I tend to complete my tasks faster with accuracy.
Welcome to Remote Work
Remote working requires self-discipline, communication skills, and an open mind to collaborate. There will be challenges working with time zones and across teams when you are not sitting across from your coworker in the same office. However, the rewarding feeling of accomplishing projects remotely with the team makes the experience valuable. Please grab on to the perfect opportunity to learn organizational skills, independence, and self-motivation!
We are hiring!
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current remote openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
APIs vs. Web Service: What’s the Difference?
Learning Curve, Innovation, Application Development
Key takeaway: All web services are APIs, but all APIs are not web services.
APIs vs. Web Service: What’s the Difference?
We live in a digital age where almost everything is done through an API or Web Service. Have you ever wondered about the differences? Why should you care? This blog breaks down the differences between APIs and Web Services and explains why you might need one or the other for your business.
Definitions
Application Programming Interface (API):
APIs are a set of routines, data structures, and protocols that support building applications. You can find them in libraries or operating system services such as those offered by the language in your projects.
Web Service
Web Services are a way to provide machine-to-machine communication over the internet. W3C defines them as software systems designed for interoperability and connectivity among devices, people, or organizations across networks.
APIs vs. Web Services
Key takeaway: All web services are APIs, but all APIs are not web services.
Style of Communication
- APIs: takes in any style of communication
- Web Services: supports styles such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI), and Web Services Description Language (WSDL)
Operation
- APIs: Don’t need a network
- Web Services: Need a network for its operation
Web Services 101: Three Things You Need to Know
1) Web Services can be developed by one company, used by another, and hosted by a third company.
2) Developers can write Web Services in various languages and still have them communicate with one another by exchanging data using web services.
3) Web means HTTP protocol, and Service refers to request/response. Web Services are not tied to any operating system or programming language.
APIs 101: Three Things You Need to Know
1) APIs and industry standards make communication easier between different programs. They don’t indicate or restrict how you use the data. What you do with the information is in your control.
2) APIs allow you to get data between two systems in real-time. This means that you don’t have to wait for the data from one system to be copied over to the other system. You can start using the data as soon as they are entered into the first system, saving time for your team.
3) An API defines how data is stored and transmitted between systems. An API also means the operations required to process the data.
With industry-standard APIs in place, it’s now easier for one organization to say, “we support HR-Open version x,” and other organizations will know precisely what that means by learning the industry-standard API definitions and documentation when it comes to data representations and operations.
HR Open Standards Consortium (Leslie on the right)
Future Integrations: How Can You Help?
ADP works with two industry standards at ADP: HR Open Standard and LIMRA. We spoke to Leslie E., Senior Director of Application Development, and she shared with us her take on integrations for our Human Capital Management (HCM) products.
Q: What’s the difference between using HR Open standard and LIMRA?
Leslie: ADP participates in two industry standards to understand the future of application development. If you are looking for help with your HR integration from a full hire to retirement, then HR Open is a great option. If you are more interested in voluntary benefits, LIMRA would be your perfect choice.
Q: What’s the future of using API standards? 
Leslie: Using API standards is critical in moving forward. Our job is to make sure that we’re doubling down on investing our time to make these standards usable. A great best practice is to work with partners on terminology and sample data, then go through the translation step.
Q: What’s the future in application development?
Leslie: Moving forward, I’d like to see us all use integration and standards instead of building custom layouts. But it’s only possible when we work together to design, enhance, and maintain standards, ensuring they are meaningful and effective in application integrations.
As our world becomes increasingly more complex, the need for APIs will continue to grow. They will allow businesses to quickly and easily bring together various applications to share data while hiding the details of how those systems work. The industry standards set by API providers help ensure that both sides of the integration use the same structure or schema, making it easy to repeat the implementation with other partners.
Q: Why should we care about industry standards?
Leslie: Efficient communication comes from using industry standards. Industry standards allow us to define a system record, translating our languages and partners’ languages into one common language. In the end, we provide a better experience for our clients, improving accuracy and reducing errors. It’s a win-win!
Q: What’s one piece of advice for developers interested in using APIs?
Leslie: When sharing information, remind your teams to be highly content-conscious when transmitting and securing the data sets. We have a detailed security review checklist for our partners here at ADP. Make sure everything you are doing in data transmittal follows strict security guidelines!
Final Thoughts
Developers continue to find ways of combining the two services to build more fantastic applications. The web APIs vs. service debate is not one with a clear-cut answer, but the benefits for both sides are adding more possibilities to application development.
Do you prefer using one over the other? Both APIs and Web Services serve as essential cores in the field and are especially useful in different projects. Remember, while APIs can be one or offline, Web Services require a network. The overlapping idea is that all web services are APIs, but not all APIs are web services.
Interested in a career in Application Development?
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
What Makes You Stay at Your Job?
Life @ ADP, Career Advice, What We Do
Keep an open mind in your career journeys, explore international opportunities, and work outside your comfort zones.
What Makes You Stay at Your Job?
According to Harvard Business Review, two reasons why employees stay at their companies are job satisfaction and the company environment.
Why does it matter that we understand both? At ADP, we strive to give our associates a culture where they want to stay. It’s great to love what you do, but even better if you do it in a place that you love.
Meet Lindsey B., Sales Channel Manager for ADP Marketplace in Northern Europe. She shares her incredible transcontinental career journey, the power of networking, and how ADP supported her career progression on our Life@ADP Season Two podcast.
We are excited to kick off our season with an international episode! You can expect to hear stories from associates across the globe. Lindsey’s story started when her aunt referred her to work at ADP. She began her career in San Francisco, moved to the UK, and is now in the Netherlands.
“As a Sales Channel Manager for ADP Marketplace, I work with our partners and internal sales teams across multiple countries,” Lindsey said. “I used my strengths and networking opportunities and learned from different teams with ADP’s support.”
Lindsey travels across Europe, working with product development and sales teams across the UK, Netherlands, and Ireland. When we asked her our “why come, why stay?” question, she said she came to ADP for the training and stayed for the people. “The more I move to different countries in different roles, the smaller and more intimate ADP becomes. I work with a group of wonderful people who develop innovative products and business solutions,” Lindsey said. “Every time I turn a corner, I feel like there’s a new job opportunity in a new part of ADP coming, bringing together different people.”
Lindsey describes ADP as an incredibly diverse company with teams of people from all backgrounds and cultures. As a leader, she highlights the importance of letting every associate come to work as themselves, which makes the workplace fun and creative.
Lindsey is on the committee for her local International Women’s Network (iWIN) in the UK and Ireland, one of ADP’s Business Resource Groups (BRG), which organized some events for International Women’s Day, including coffee connections networking opportunities. “We hosted various career progression events and talked to the HR business partners, identifying biases at work while inspiring attendees to grow their career at ADP,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey encourages everyone to keep an open mind in their career journeys, especially in exploring international opportunities and working outside their comfort zones. “If you can identify your strengths and what you enjoy doing, there is absolutely a job for you at ADP. I encourage everyone to listen to the podcast to check out what we do and whom we hire,” Lindsey said. “I’m happy to connect if you’d like to learn more about my journey and the culture! Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.”
Tune in for the full episode here.
Life @ ADP is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music.
Support us by subscribing to both the podcast and the tech blog.
Let’s work together.
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
We are Proud to Design and Create a Workplace for Everyone
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
ADP will continue to strive to be the best place to work, creating a workplace for diverse talents.
We are Proud to Design and Create a Workplace for Everyone
At ADP, we’re constantly working to provide the best possible experience for our clients and associates. We’re proud to announce that we’ve been recognized with various awards! Whether providing outstanding service or creating a great place to work, we always strive to be the best.
iWIN – Business Resource Group
Women Impact Tech 100
When it comes to gender equity in the technology industry, ADP is leading by example. Our technologists are dedicated to developing inclusive products and services, providing a path forward for all our teams.
Women Impact Tech, an organization focused on improving opportunities for women in STEM, has named ADP one of the top 100 Women Impact Tech companies. The recognition criteria measure employee feedback on workplace culture for women, benefits, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
We are excited to see that our work is reshaping the tech space.
“These top 100 companies are doing the right things that make a difference in women’s ability to have meaningful careers, offering a culture for women to thrive,” said Paula Ratliff, the President of Women Impact Tech.
The good news doesn’t end here! We have also earned recognition from Top 50 Employer by Woman Engineering Magazine, Top 50 Best Workplaces for Women in India, and the AnitaB.org 2021 Top Large Company for Women Technologists for the second consecutive year.
“As a leader, I want to create an environment of empowerment with a diversity of thought and perspectives,” said Laurie Liszewski, VP of Product Development at ADP.
Opportunities across ADP include participation in our Women’s Leadership Development Program, Grace Hopper Celebration with AnitaB.org, and our Business Resource Groups such as iWIN (International Women’s Inclusion Network).
“There’s a lot here to be excited about. We’re all working together, and we’re going to be stronger in the long run,” said Amber Abreu, Senior Manager of User Experience (UX) research at ADP.
We can’t wait to see what’s next!
Next Big Things in Tech
ADP DataCloud has been named on Fast Company’s first-ever list of the Next Big Things in Tech list, honoring the technology breakthroughs that promise to shape the future. We have earned this recognition for our powerful people analytics solution, ADP DataCloud, which leverages our vast workforce data to address the most significant challenges businesses face today, including employee retention, pay equity, diversity, equity, and inclusion shift economic policy. Read the press release here.
In addition to this award, ADP DataCloud has also earned a Stratus Award, the Top HR Product of the Year, and the Data Analytics Innovation of the Year.
We are proud of the product enhancements our teams developed:
- The new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Dashboard allow companies to see the makeup of their workforce and address underrepresentation.
- Organizational Benchmarks taps ADP’s workforce data to help companies decide how best to deploy workers.
- When paired with ADP DataCloud’s Pay Equity Storyboard, clients can generate a personalized planner and budget to help them close gaps and measure maturity against peers.
This award further validates our clients and prospects of what’s to come and why they need us. Congratulations to everyone who has been a part of the development!
ADP 2022 Built In Best Places to Work
We are the proudest of our valuable people and the culture here. Built In, a top industry source for tech candidates to research and review companies, has named ADP with seven awards, including 2022 Best Places to Work in LA and New York City, Best Large Companies to Work & Best Benefits in both cities.
“Now more than ever, we’re proud to offer an engaging workplace with a dynamic culture that empowers our associates to foster innovation and develop innovative ideas with limitless possibilities,” said Aaron S., Senior Vice President of Product Development at ADP. “We are thrilled to be recognized in New York City and will continue our relentless focus on growing our technology from the energy of our associates.”
“Our highly engaged associates know we’re committed to providing each person with opportunities to use their diverse expertise to develop great products and technology that help deliver amazing client experiences,” said Leonard K., Senior Vice President of Product Development. “Built In LA’s recognition is an honor and a direct reflection of the innovation and dedication of our associates.
Built In’s Best Places to Work program rates companies based on their compensation, benefits, and culture. This year’s list highlights those employers who have created a culture that supports employees in-office and virtually that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
Great Place to Work®
Great Place to Work® (GPTW), a global authority on workplace culture, named ADP Brazil Labs and ADP India one of the best companies to work for 2021. GPTW has a mission to build a better world by helping organizations become a great place to work for all.
Here are the award nominations.
ADP India
ADP India
- India’s Best Workplaces for Women 2021
- India’s Best Workplaces™ in IT & IT-BPM 2021
- India’s Best Companies to Work For 2021
- Commitment to Being a Great Place to Work
ADP Brazil Labs
ADP Brazil Labs
- One of the Best Companies in the Rio Grande do Sul.
- Women Impact Tech 2022 Honoree
The awards recognize ADP India and ADP Brazil Labs not only for their talented associates but also for an environment of technological culture and innovation applied in the workspace.
Our clients, associates, and tech recruiting teams remain focused on cultivating valuable relationships in the challenging times of pandemics. We will continue to strive to be the best place to work, creating a workplace for diverse talents.
Thank you, and Congratulations to all our associates who make ADP one of the best places to work!
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Career Fair: Perseverance is the Key in Job Hunting
Early Talent, Intern to Full-Time, Career Advice
Recruiters want to find the star to add to their team, while candidates want to be the ones that shine.
Career Fair: Perseverance is the Key in Job Hunting
By Amy H. Chiu, Tech Brand Content Developer
What’s better than a firm handshake, a strong resume, and a great impression?
I remember first walking into career fairs seven years ago as an undergraduate student. Before the career fair, I was busy researching what a professional outfit meant. I stood in front of the mirror, changing from one business outfit to another. My feet felt awkward in those black closed-toe shoes, and I practiced smiling while saying my full name again and again.
Walking in the career fair, I saw other students and alumni holding copies of resumes in one hand and the map of the employer booths in another. Some looked stressed, and others looked excited while practicing their introduction line in the corner. Larger companies had long lines that averaged one hour or longer, like lining up for a ride at a theme park. I remember feeling overwhelmed, wondering how to stand out. The students and alumni were just as competitive and intelligent. I had seven seconds to make a good impression and five minutes to make my face memorable.
There were times when I started to wonder: When would someone take a chance on me? When would it be my turn? There were tears of frustration and a lot of nervous perspiration. I ask myself for the 10,000th time, “What does that person have that I don’t? If they take me, I will give my best and everything I’ve got. I promise.”
The stress of finding a summer internship and a first job was tremendous. Imagine waking up scrolling through social media and seeing many of your classmates posting, “I’m so proud to announce I’ll be starting as a (job title) at XYZ company,” followed by a sea of compliments. You check your inbox and refresh again, still nothing. No one talks about the rejections in the sea of positive social media posts on Instagram.
I remember feeling overwhelmed before attending my first career fair, I prepared and showcased myself by setting up a strong LinkedIn profile, writing a cover letter, and revising my resume. I even hired a career coach, visiting my strengths and weaknesses. I filled out worksheets, took personality tests, spent days and nights reading about my favorite companies on the list. On top of that, I visited the career center, attended more than 20+ workshops, and worked with counselors. I wanted to draft the “perfect” one-line bio on my profile, thinking it could make a difference. There were mock interviews, and I signed up repeatedly, hoping the skills would come in handy one day.
At the end of the day, I learned having a positive mindset in the process is just as crucial as any training. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed in the interview process. Allow yourself to be okay with that.
After finishing three internships and entering the workforce for a few years, I learned the value of perseverance. Speaking with many ADP tech associates as part of my job, I’ve noticed a common theme in their advice for future technologists: Do not be afraid.
Some other standard advice: continue to focus on your goal, ask questions, look for mentorship opportunities. Rejections are not the end of the world. It takes rejections to give you time to reflect, improve, and revise. Fear of rejection shouldn’t keep you from applying.
From the recruiter’s perspective
The hiring process is also two-sided. Recruiters want to find the star to add to their team, while candidates want to be the ones that shine. Sometimes people don’t recognize all the effort that goes into hiring and recruiting. Many students think about “impressing” the company rather than fitting into the company culture or the role.
I had an opportunity to speak with Lisa S., Senior Director of Talent Acquisition, and gained some interesting insights. Lisa and her campus recruiters want students to make the best-informed decisions on accepting an offer and ensuring the placement is an excellent match for both parties.
During our conversation, I was surprised to learn how frustrated companies get when students accept a job offer only to renege right before their start date to go to a different company.
I wondered if this happens more frequently in the world we live in today compared to 20 years ago. And does this occur only in tech, where most large corporations offer rich compensation to candidates? Is this a generational phenomenon? There’s not a right answer, but let’s observe and use these open questions in discussion with our teams.
When it comes to virtual and in-person recruiting events, Lisa encourages attendees to come prepared. From digital files to physical copies of resumes, have them ready. You never know who you will meet at the fair. Like it or not, a messy room in your zoom background shows the recruiter something about you.
Lisa and I also talked about the interview processes, and one thing stood out to me. Dear future candidates, please don’t memorize cheat sheet answers from online resources. The recruiters know, trust me, they know. Their recruiting experience can spot right away if your answer is authentic or not. I understand presenting your best self is essential, but please answer interview questions from the bottom of your heart. It sounds cliché, but verbally highlighting what you genuinely want makes you stand out.
Where do you want to be when you grow up? The last time you answered this question probably was when you had to write an essay for a homework assignment at school. I challenge you to find a balance between the job you are searching for and your passion.
It’s good to have a stable job, but great to have a job you love.
“Do you want to work in product development? Do you want to work in management? Have a definitive path and speak to it,” Lisa said. “Come to us and say ‘I want to be a (job title) because of X, Y, and Z.’ The more information the candidate provides at the career fair, the better for us to place them in the right area.”
Come to the ADP booth and learn about the six-week extended GPT Development Program. It’s an opportunity for students to meet with leaders and understand our products. You will make a real contribution if you are lucky enough to get chosen for the program. One of our students developed an algorithm to match graduating students with leaders based on their top five choices. Everyone has a voice here, no matter the title or years of service.
If I could tell my younger self one thing before I walked into that career fair, it would be: Go for it! Talk to the recruiter, and don’t be afraid to show your curiosity. ADP’s campus recruiting team spends time reading all the resumes they collect, but it’s the impression you make that sets you apart. We hire in various settings, including tech conferences, virtual fairs, and employee referral programs.
Fill your career path with pleasant surprises. Every decision adds up and reroutes you to a different place, preparing and building you for the next challenge. I’m excited to explore mine, and I’d like to invite you to take on your own unique adventure here at ADP.
Interested in our Campus programs or ready to start your next chapter?
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Career Journey from a Filmmaker to a Conversational Designer (CxD)
Voice of Our People, Innovation, Career Insights
For anyone who wants to work as a conversation designer, the first step would be to understand how human-computer interactions (HCI) work.
Career Journey from a Filmmaker to a Conversational Designer (CxD)
By Azfar Rizvi, the Conversational Designer
If you look at my current role at ADP, you might be surprised with my professional background. For a decade, I was a journalist and a screenwriter traveling and producing films for global news and media networks. In collaboration with World Wildlife Fund and the British Council, my last films toured across Europe and the UK, garnering a mention from editors at Rolling Stone Magazine.
Who would’ve thought I’d be a good fit at ADP?
It wasn’t until 2015, when I was asked to consult as a screenwriter for an Amazon Prime Video project, I realized how transferable my skills were from screenwriting. Being part of a writers’ room at a significant streaming network pushed me to explore my fictional dialogue and screenwriting chops! And I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
What Is a Writers’ Room?
A writers’ room is a workspace where TV writers brainstorm
each element of a TV series including episode breakdowns,
the series arc, the season arc, character development, and
various substories within each episode or each season. A writers’
room is where the direction of the season is determined and refined,
& where all the creative minds—the showrunner, producers, and writers
—brainstorm the ways in which they can help create an excellent show.
– MasterClass
As I emerged from my journey through Hollywood, I consulted on a year-long Conversational AI project for Google Assistant. This was a daunting undertaking. My Conversational Design work surfaced in front of over two billion users worldwide overnight. The new GA experience combined text and voice interaction ranging from songs and jokes to easter eggs and riddles. We pioneered an interface to bridge the gap between human conversational intelligence and artificial intelligence. Millions of these users were migrants from diverse backgrounds – so embedding grace in the experience to produce content that resonated with everyone took a significant amount of self-reflection and research. When we launched, we hit it out of the park. That was the day I truly understood what it meant for content to converge in the sweet spot between AI tech and storytelling.
I fell in love with this new universe and this journey eventually culminated at ADP!
Q: Why did you come to ADP and why do you stay?
This is a great question, and the answer constantly evolves for me. Arriving at ADP during the pandemic, I saw the team’s efficacy in the work of Conversational AI. Thousands of users and clients were trying to access accurate financial information using our existing platforms, and I saw an opportunity to be a part of these exciting acts of service – to be able to make lives easier by serving the best possible solutions in the most empathetic manner.
I continue to stay and grow at ADP because I love the learning opportunities provided by our UX leadership. The people-centric open-door policy here is unlike anywhere I’ve worked. I collaborate with an amazing team where people and culture triumph in service to overcome personal challenges every day. What more can one ask for!
Q: Let’s talk about using your creative and technical skills at ADP!
My role at ADP is a combination of conversation design and process ideation. From a CxD perspective, I collaborate with Product Owners and Managers. At this stage, we dive into what use cases we need on our roadmap and the tradeoffs. Internally, with the User Experience team, it becomes more hands-on as I design the conversational experiences and mockup the technical and functional base of what a multimodal experience could look like.
For the conversation design process, I leverage skills acquired across my previous work: UX writing, VUI design, interaction design, and audio/visual design. I like to think of my role as that of a bricklayer – understand the user needs, embrace the tech constraints, figure out the underlying logic (APIs, etc.), and design a detailed specification document that represents the complete user experience. The last step is to curate this experience and work with the developers to produce it. This journey forces me to leverage a combination of both industry chatbot standards, and the direction our ADP UX leadership wants our virtual assistant, A.V.A, to take.
Q: What is a piece of advice for candidates looking for jobs in Conversation Design (CxD)?
For the past decade, Conversational AI has been incorporated into a diverse collection of form factors empowering users to interact more organically with automated systems. This is when A.V.A, ADP’s virtual assistant comes in place. A.V.A combines digital concierges and AI-powered chat solutions, extending our users’ significant level of intelligent service automation and personalization.
Conversation Design (CxD) at its core is the craft of delivering a comprehensive experience users might engage in to arrive at a pre-determined automated outcome. It is the discipline of producing a series of detailed design flows/outcomes leveraging the businesses’ purpose and underlying logic to curate a holistic user experience.
CxD is a new field so there are quite a few pathways into the industry. For anyone who wants to work as a conversation designer, the first step would be to understand how human-computer interactions (HCI) work.
A good place to start would be to get comfortable with ambiguity. Begin with diving into UI (User Interface) and UX design. Understand the basics of a storytelling arc. Read, write, and analyze dialogues and screenplays. Utilize existing CxD platforms where you can design interactions, preview prototypes, and implement the final experience. Both Google and Amazon have detailed design tutorials for their Assistants. Use these resources to create experiences for your portfolio and start sharing these with peers on LinkedIn.
Q: What is some overlapping, essential skills required in both filmmaking and designing?
Before ADP, I produced conversational experiences for virtual assistants at Google and Verizon. A significant part of my skills is a continuation of my learnings from screenwriting and storytelling — understanding the user journey, how can we use context to create an empathetic user experience, and how can we continue to iterate on the results. Take a feature-length documentary as an example: you start with a core narrative, shoot the right visual, and edit to create a final product. The same logic applies to conversational AI chatbot. Before coming to ADP, I spent a lot of time poking holes in my own work – showing it to friends and family and asking them what works and does not work for them.
Q: What are leaders like at ADP? What is your team’s dynamic?
The UX leadership at ADP is unlike none other I’ve worked with in the past. These are some of the most empathetic and seasoned professionals in the industry who continue to push the envelope. The conversational AI technological roadmap is constantly being iterated upon and is just one of the hallmarks of ADP’s current work. We have a Design Guild where we show up to support each other’s work, experiment with emerging CxD and UX use cases, and future-proof ADP’s brand. Our leadership is committed to uplifting all of us through weekly 1-on-1 sessions and biweekly feedback walkthroughs.
Q: What inspires you outside of work?
My curiosity and passion for storytelling inspire my day-to-day outside of work. Before we were plunged into the Covid world order, I was working with emerging entrepreneurs to empower them to share their stories outside of their communities. ‘Life of I’ is my passion project that has fueled live storytelling events across cities in Canada, the US, Afghanistan, Australia, and Pakistan. I personally work with a select few storytellers who narrate a personal story of their choice in front of a live audience. We’re currently pioneering a new remote storytelling format in collaboration with a local NYC-based co-working space!
In addition, I am still involved with my original screenwriting team. We’re putting together a spec script for Netflix about a girl who travels across different magical worlds through a portal in her bedroom’s closet. The team’s super excited about this story of resilience and empowerment, and we start shooting in September. Fingers crossed!
Q: What do you look forward to the most in the future?
Deep down, I identify as a storyteller. I started my career as a radio producer around 20 years ago. Back in the day, it took me over two hours to line up the right theme music and queue up the correct songs for a 45-minute radio show. Today, the same can be accomplished in less than 5 minutes. The days of DATs are gone!
Behind all this evolution is the power of AI and automation.
AI’s technological development has constantly been transforming the way businesses nay the world operates. Developments in VR/AR space, the Metaverse, and the haptics have proven humanity’s desire to continue to push the proverbial boundaries. Over a decade ago, the first smartphone was launched, and it rendered keypads on mobile phones redundant. With this change in the traditional user interface, it was evident that technology will continue to evolve, reducing the size of our devices. Every ten years, human-computer interaction completely changes – Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Bixby, and other AI-powered virtual assistants are a testament to this change. And A.V.A. our virtual assistant is a step in that direction.
Interested in a Conversational Design career at ADP?
We are hiring! Click here to see what we have available.
