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For over two decades, Ryan Stoltzfus checked all the conventional career boxes — an MBA, professional HR certifications, and a corporate leadership role at the payroll giant ADP. But something was missing. He saw firsthand how corporate shake-ups like layoffs and reorganizations could derail even the most promising careers.
“It was heartbreaking,” Ryan recalls having to deliver the news of layoffs firsthand to over 300 employees at ADP. “Talented people’s confidence was crushed. Their families suffered. They felt directionless without a path forward.”
Seeing so many talented people’s lives turned upside down by layoffs really struck a chord with Ryan, he knew he had to do something. It all started with an internal ADP program Ryan deployed called “Inside First” with the goal of providing support for employees caught in downsizing. The program assisted laid-off workers in networking and finding new roles within the company prior to their last day. Through Inside First, Ryan was able to help hundreds of people network internally to find and create new jobs, saving ADP millions in turnover costs.
Regardless of the initiative’s success, ADP turned down his idea of taking the program globally, which eventually led Ryan to realize his true calling: taking his corporate networking expertise and career coaching directly to professionals in need.
For the next two years, while still working his day job, Ryan spent nights and weekends quietly building the foundations of what would become the Job Hackers Network. During these two years, Ryan’s corporate career transitioned towards his strengths as he became responsible for leading the global career development webinar series for ADP across 17 different networking and branding subjects to help over 60,000 associates around the globe improve their network and branding skills.
In 2014, when faced with a relocation from his El Paso hometown to the ultra-competitive Seattle job market, Ryan managed to line up 33 interviews with major players like Microsoft and Amazon in just four days – without any local connections. His “hack?” Getting directly in front of hiring managers without talking to Recruiters, based solely on the strength of his direct value proposition.
“I’d send personalized messages identifying a problem in the business that I could directly solve and asking for a quick chat,” Ryan explains. “Some might see it as crossing a line, but if they did not want to meet, they could always just decline.”
His strategy of course ended up paying off, leading to multiple enticing offers and showcasing Ryan’s knack for devising creative job search strategies most overlook. “Lining up that many interviews so quickly in a new city is not the norm. I realized my unique approach was something I could systematize and teach others.”
By 2020, his passion project had become a full-fledged comprehensive job search system and group coaching program.
At its core is Ryan’s proprietary “Job Hackers Method” combining over 20 years of HR leadership experience with deep networking expertise. The step-by-step approach guides clients to pinpoint their strengths, craft authentic brands, master networking tactics to bypass job boards and negotiate for their true worth.
Through group coaching for operations, engineering, and business leaders, clients refine their elevator pitches, optimize resumes and LinkedIn profiles, analyze target companies’ hiring needs, and continuously optimize their job search success.
“We cut out the fluff and busywork so common in career advice,” says Ryan. “Our clients are true leaders used to consistent processes and seeing real results. That’s exactly what we deliver – tangible wins like landing higher-paid roles in just 10-12 weeks on average.”
Results speak for themselves with engineering directors doubling incomes, operations VPs landing dream roles, and motivated professionals shattering previous earning ceilings. When Ryan’s approach led multiple clients to double their total compensation packages, he knew it really worked.
“Being able to share the same expertise delivered in a Fortune 100 corporation and make it accessible to individuals — that’s incredibly gratifying,” Ryan shares.
With an ambitious mission to equip 100,000 business leaders to grow their impact, Ryan plans to keep expanding the Job Hackers Network. For this former corporate HR leader, steering careers is still the passion — just from a refreshingly new point of view.
