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Luke Kaestner
Lead Assistant Director Of Admissions at Coding Dojo
Professional Background
Luke Kaestner is an accomplished professional known for his dynamic roles in admissions and recruitment, particularly within the technology and educational sectors. Currently serving as the Lead Assistant Director of Admissions at Coding Dojo, Luke has made significant contributions to enhancing the sales and recruitment processes of the institution. His commitment to 'keeping moving forward' is not just a personal motto but a philosophy he instills in his teams, seeking continual growth and improvement.
Prior to his current role, Luke successfully navigated various challenging positions that enriched his skills and understanding of the admissions and sales landscape. His previous experience as an Assistant Director of Admissions/Sales at Coding Dojo allowed him to hone his expertise in strategic recruitment and sales techniques, ensuring that potential students receive the information and encouragement they need to advance their careers in coding and technology.
In addition to his contributions at Coding Dojo, Luke's background includes an impressive track record as a Technical Recruiter and Employment Manager at Summit Group Solutions, LLC. In this role, he focused on sourcing top talent for a range of companies, helping them to build strong and efficient teams. His transition to this role built upon his earlier experiences as an Independent Contractor at Appen, where he gained valuable insights into the tech recruitment landscape, connecting talent with opportunities in a rapidly evolving industry.
Earlier in his career, Luke applied his skills in various other capacities, including roles in sales and management. As the Lead Delivery & Sales Manager at DAYVILLE HAY & GRAIN INC, he showcased his abilities in managing operations and driving sales for agricultural products, proving his versatility across different industries. Additionally, he served as a House Manager at New Method Wellness, where he developed leadership skills while overseeing daily operations and ensuring that client needs were met effectively.
Luke's career began with a foundational role as a Sales and Promotion Associate at Nutrishop, where he first discovered his passion for sales and customer service. This early experience set the stage for his future endeavors, allowing him to understand the importance of building relationships and creating value for customers.
Education and Achievements
Luke Kaestner's educational journey began at Saddleback College, where he focused on developing the foundational skills necessary for success in his professional career. The knowledge and experiences he gained during this time contributed significantly to his ability to excel in various roles across multiple industries.
His commitment to personal and professional development is reflected in his career trajectory, showcasing his dedication to learning and mastery within his fields of interest. This steadfast approach to self-improvement and advancement has allowed Luke to thrive in competitive environments, ultimately leading to his current leadership position at Coding Dojo.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Luke Kaestner has demonstrated exceptional skills in recruitment and sales, contributing to the growth and success of the organizations he has been part of. His leadership role at Coding Dojo, combined with his previous experience in recruitment and management, paints the picture of a professional who is not only capable but also effective in optimizing team performance and enhancing admissions processes.
With each step of his career, Luke has been dedicated to finding innovative ways to attract and retain potential students and talent, making significant impacts on the recruitment strategies implemented by the organizations he represents. His journey exemplifies a commitment to continuous advancement in both his personal and professional life, embodying the true spirit of perseverance and growth.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.