One Day, One Job » administrative

New York City Ballet

Willy Franzen — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:21:53 +0000

I’m the last person that should be telling you anything about ballet. I can’t remember the last time I saw a ballet performance, but I guarantee you it was at something like a middle school talent show. Despite my knowing nothing about ballet, I can tell you that the New York City Ballet is a big deal. They train their own artists and produce their own works, and with 90 dancers, they are “the largest dance organization in America.” It all started with Lincoln Kirstein, who had a vision of “an American ballet where young native dancers could be trained and schooled under the guidance of the world’s greatest ballet masters to perform a new, modern repertory, rather than relying on touring groups of imported artists performing for American audiences.” He met a guy named George Balanchine in London in 1933 and invited him to help start the school. The rest is history.

Nothing to Dance Around

If you want to read about that history, you can find it here. If you’re interested in learning more about the New York City Ballet from an artistic standpoint, there’s plenty to find on their website–you can read up on their dancers or their costume shop. If you really want an in-depth look at how the NYC Ballet operates, look no further than their Annual Reports. If everything looks good to you, then you may want to take a look at the New York City Ballet’s Jobs page. Right now they have some great opportunities that look well suited for new or recent grads including Major Gifts Assistant, Part-time Accountant, and Administrative Assistant (posted on Idealist). If you love ballet, these positions would be hard to beat.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to the ballet?

Highlights

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:05:50 +0000

Yesterday I almost got highlighted. I was in a boat, on a river, fishing with my Dad and a guide. A thunderstorm came up behind us, and we decided to tuck the boat in a cove under a bunch of trees and take cover. It wasn’t the best spot, but there wasn’t anywhere else for us to go. When it started hailing, I got a little nervous. And then BANG! A bolt of lightning hit the water about three feet to my right. You and I are both lucky that you’re reading this today. This story has nothing to do with today’s company except for the fact that yesterday’s near death experience made me want to regress back to being a little kid–the kind that reads Highlights. If you’re not familiar, Highlights is a Columbus, OH company that develops products for children with a common theme: “Fun with a Purpose.” It’s all about “wholesome fun” that “is dedicated to helping children grow in basic skills and knowledge, in creativeness, in ability to think and reason, in sensitivity to others, in high ideals and worthy ways of living.”

Share Your Highlights

I definitely had a subscription to Highlights at some point in my life, but even after it lapsed I still picked up the magazines in places like doctor’s offices. You can get a feel for what Highlights looks like today by taking a look a their Favorite Characters and Features page. My favorites were always the What’s Wrong and Hidden Pictures. I truly hope that these somehow find their way into Highlights’ hiring process. It wouldn’t be right any other way. You may also want to check out Highlights’ State of the Kid 2011 Report. It will help you get in touch with today’s Highlights reader. If “Fun with a Purpose” describes your approach to life, then you have to take a look at Highlights’ Jobs page. There are a few positions worth taking a closer look at including:

Administrative Assistant – Accounting & Finance
Analyst – Campaign Management
Web Production Associate

Before you apply, you probably want to pick up a recent issue of Highlights and get reacquainted.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you read Highlights as a kid?

Royal Caribbean Cruises

Willy Franzen — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:54:31 +0000

I’ve never been on a cruise ship, and I’m not looking to change that any time soon. I realize that cruises are the ultimate vacation for some people, but they’re just not for me (especially after hearing about food poisoning outbreaks and the Costa Concordia disaster). Still, I respect the brilliance of the cruise ship. Travelers can sample a variety of destinations without having to think about logistics or anything else really. When you can combine hospitality, transportation, and gambling all in one, you have pretty good foundation for a business. The second largest cruise company in the world is Royal Caribbean Cruises, which is based in Miami, FL and owns the following cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and CDF Croisières de France. Those all contribute to nearly $7 billion in annual revenue.

Go Cruisin’

There’s no doubt that the cruise business is extremely complicated. There are massive fixed costs (namely cruise ships), and there are also massive marginal costs (fuel, staff, etc). Then there’s the fact that the market for travel is extremely sensitive to economic conditions. That’s not to mention that cruise companies have to maintain massive boats while providing an amazing vacation experience for thousands of people at a time. There are plenty of businesses that I have no trouble wrapping my head around, but Royal Caribbean Cruises is not one of them. If this excites you, then you have to take a look at Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Careers page. From here you can check out shipboard jobs with specific lines, seasonal jobs, internships, and corporate jobs. We’ll focus on the latter, which are posted here. There are a few opportunities that look well suited for a new or recent grad including (I’d link to them but their ATS won’t let me):

Marketing Campaign Analyst
Cruise Rep (Wichita, KS)
Cruise Rep (Miramar, FL)
Cruise Rep (Springfield, OR)
Care Team Specialist
Financial Hotel Operations Analyst
Software Engineer
Accounts Payable Coordinator
Business Analyst
Transportation Coordinator
Casino Database Specialist
Administrative Temporary

Those jobs are just the tip of the iceberg (I shouldn’t say that when talking about cruise ships, should I?), so look through all of Royal Caribbean Cruises’ offerings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been on a cruise?

Slavery Footprint

Willy Franzen — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:06:50 +0000

SinglePlatform is hiring 50 new grads in New York City to help local businesses get discovered. Learn how you can be one of them.

If I told you that I had 52 slaves working for me, you’d either think that I was making an offensive joke about unpaid internships or just being offensive. Unfortunately, it’s the truth. It’s nearly impossible for anyone living in our society not to benefit from modern slavery. So what do we do about it? Before you can take responsibility for your consumption, you have to understand your “slavery footprint.” Slavery Footprint is an Oakland, CA based non-profit organization that aims “to generate awareness and action for the issues of forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking.” They’ve done this through a film called Call + Response, a documentary with CNN, and an online survey that helps you calculate your slavery footprint based on what you consume and own.

Leave No Footprint

Slavery Footprint’s standout feature is its design. They’ve built an extremely intuitive way for you to get a basic understanding of how slavery is part of supply chains that end with you. Most slavery happens at the raw materials level–well before manufacturers and brands act as intermediaries, so it’s easy to be blind to it. Slavery Footprint helps you spread the word to friends and identify where you can be more responsible with your consumption. In my opinion, Slavery Footprint’s best feature is also its biggest flaw. Because you can causally enter information into their app and calculate your “slavery footprint,” it’s easy to not take the results seriously and fail to take action. Still, it’s better than a PSA or other non-personalized message. If your slavery footprint results really hit you hard, one of the best ways that you can respond is to consider a job with Slavery Footprint. Right now they have a Executive Administrator/Office Manager posted on Idealist, that looks really well suited to a new or recent grad. Give it a look and see if it’s a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your Slavery Footprint?

MeetMoi

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:54:21 +0000

SinglePlatform is hiring 50 new grads in New York City to help local businesses get discovered. Learn how you can be one of them.

When I see my friends from Jelly Chicago (a co-working group), we often bounce ridiculous startup ideas off of each other. For some reason, many are centered around online dating. It’s a really fun space to think about because there’s a simple problem with limitless solutions–just look at all of the different dating sites out there. Most of them require your searching through profiles and contacting people (or waiting to be contacted). Others propose matches based on fancy algorithms. MeetMoi is a mobile dating company that uses push technology to help you meet new people, and it’s all based on where you are right now. MeetMoi is located in New York, NY, but you can use it anywhere (well anywhere that they have a critical mass of users). Basically, all you have to do is fill out a profile and get out of the house. MeetMoi will find people with similar interests and push messages to your phone when you’re near each other. You can initiate a chat and decide to meet immediately, another time or not at all. It’s a little creepy, but people said that about online dating not so long ago.

Meet MeetMoi

MeetMoi’s home page claims that 29,491 people joined their network this week and 71,148 people are meeting on MeetMoi today. It’s a free app download, so the hard part is really just getting enough people to be ok with location based mobile dating so that the network effect comes into play. Here’s an illustrated view of How It Works. The business is all based on MeetMoi’s “premium membership,” which “allows you to see who has been looking at your profile” and gives you “access to more advanced search and filtering options.” Those sound like the kinds of things that traditional dating sites offer. If I was in charge, I’d build in premium functionality that tells you where to go to meet the right people–keep the focus on being location based. If you’d like to work in the mobile dating space, then go take a look at MeetMoi’s Careers page. They have a few positions posted including:

Coordinator, Office of the CEO
Associate Product Manager
External Marketing Manager
Business Analytics Manager

The CEO Coordinator position is definitely the best fit for a new grad. It’s probably a bit administrative, but it’ll get you deep into the business and give you a platform to move into a different function.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you try MeetMoi?

Driscoll’s

Willy Franzen — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:16:09 +0000

In my fiancée’s mind there is no better dessert than fresh berries and whipped cream. I’d probably add a piece of chocolate cake to that, but the biggest variable in the equation is almost always the berries. Good berries, whether they’re strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or snozberries, taste better than candy, while bad berries often taste like dirt. Since I share Jerry Seinfeld’s feeling that fruit is a gamble, I’m not particularly brand conscious, but checking my refrigerator tells me that my most recently purchased strawberries are from Driscoll’s. They’re a Watsonville, CA based berry purveyor that has been family owned and operated for more than 100 years.

It’s the Berries!

The fruit business is tough. Many people see fruit as a commodity, but it most certainly isn’t. We often attribute especially good or bad fruit to randomness, but the truth is that there are a lot of inputs that determine quality. While Driscoll’s doesn’t actually farm the berries that they sell (they partner with independent farmers to do so), they do everything they can to ensure quality and maintain their position as a premium berry purveyor. It’s a surprisingly complicated process to get delicious berries into the hands of consumers all across the world, which means that you’ll find all kinds of jobs on Driscoll’s Careers page. Some opportunities that look well suited for new or recent grads include:

Category Development Specialist (Olathe, KS)
Blueberry Production Specialist (Oregon)
Administrative Specialist (Watsonville, CA)
Production Specialist (Santa Maria, CA)
Business Analyst (Watsonville, CA)
Organic Extension & Grower Support (Camarillo, CA)
Production Specialist I (Camarillo, CA)
Production Specialist (Camarillo, CA)
Organic Specialist (Watsonville, CA)

If you love berries, then Driscoll’s would be a wonderful place to start your career.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite kind of berry?

International Food Policy Research Institute

Willy Franzen — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:12:35 +0000

Have you ever bought Easter candy after Easter? They’re usually giving it away at about 90% off. We live in a country where food is so plentiful that it becomes undesirable if it’s not the right color or in the right packaging for the time of year. Those egg shaped Reese’s instantly won’t sell, even though they have a better peanut butter to chocolate ratio than the normal cups. It’s easy to forget how lucky we are to live in a society where one of our biggest problems is an overabundance of calories. The International Food Policy Research Institute is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that serves those who aren’t so lucky. The IFPRI envisions “a world where every person has secure access to sufficient and safe food to sustain a healthy and productive life and where food-related policy decisions are made transparently, including the participation of consumers and producers.”

What’s Your Food Policy?

When you start to think about food policy, you realize it’s tied into nearly every part of human life. Whether it’s trade, the environment, energy, or gender equality, nearly everything either affects or is affected by food. That’s why the International Food Policy Research Institute’s work stretches across so many areas. Just take a look at their Project Portfolio–it includes everything from Rebuilding after Emergencies and Crises to Social Protection, Livelihoods and Asset Building. There’s a lot to learn about the IFPRI and what they do, so I highly recommend that you dig into their site and start learning more about them. If you like what you see, then you should check out their Jobs page. Right now they have a few positions that may interest new or recent grads including:

They also have Research Positions for people with more advanced education and experience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the International Food Policy Research Institute?

ForeSee Results

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:30:19 +0000

Reasoning Mind is an education focused non-profit that uses the web to teach kids math, and they’re hiring 30 new grads as Program Coordinators. Learn more about these amazing entry level opportunities.

Yesterday we looked at a company with a terrible applicant tracking system (that’s the software that they use to post their jobs on their web site). If you’ve been job searching for any time at all, you’ve been frustrated to tears by how unusable some ATSs are. The companies that develop these terrible products obviously don’t use “customer experience analytics.” Or if they do, they’re focusing on the customers who are paying the bills (HR) and not the customers who are using the product. For companies that care a little bit more about how they interact with customers, there’s ForeSee Results, an Ann Arbor, MI based company that helps “clients deliver even greater satisfaction to their customers.” They do this by collecting “millions of satisfaction survey responses annually, quantifying voice of customer and putting it in context to support strategic and tactical decisions.”

ForeSee Yourself in a New Job

I don’t think I’ve ever heard from a new grad who wants to work in customer service. Yet we constantly hear about companies that are successful because of their amazing customer service. Where’s the disconnect? It seems to me that an ambitious young person who developed really strong expertise in customer service could build a pretty remarkable career. Or you could build a remarkable business. That’s what ForeSee Results has done. By developing a platform to continuously measure customer satisfaction “across channels and customer touch points, including websites, call centers, brick-and-mortar locations, mobile sites and apps, and social media initiatives”, ForeSee Results is able to deliver actionable information to their clients–information that can drive sales, decrease refund, and otherwise materially affect the business. If you’re excited by what ForeSee Results is doing in customer experience analytics, check out ForeSee Results’ Jobs page. Right now they have a few positions that you should make note of: Administrative Coordinator, Product Manager, Satisfaction Research Analyst, and Marketing Representative. Not all of the jobs can be considered “entry level,” but check them out and think about how customer service can play into your career plans.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about ForeSee Results?

Drchrono

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:26:37 +0000

The health care situation in the United States is a mess. It’s hard to disagree with that, but it’s easy to disagree about how we can fix it. I think that technology is a big part of the answer. I don’t mean medical technology (though that will certainly help)–I’m talking about administrative technology. I know it’s not nearly as exciting, but if doctors can run their practices more efficiently, they’ll be able to deliver better care at a lower costs. That’s a big deal. Drchrono is a Mountain View, CA based company that is using the power of the iPad to change how medical practices are run. They’ve developed a software-based patient care platform that does everything from patient check-in to managing electronic health records to billing. It may not sound like it’s going to turn around the health care situation, but it’s a start.

What’s App Doc?

While I have to guess that most people use their iPads for Angry Birds and not much else, it’s really cool to see how this device is enabling industry changing software to be built. The problem used to be finding a way to deliver the software. Apple solved it. Now it’s just about making the software work in the context of how most medical practices operate. That’s exactly what Drchrono is doing. You can read about the platform here, and you read about its benefits here. Another key to Drchrono’s success is that it helps physicians qualify for the HITECH Act, which offers “$44,000 or more in economic stimulus incentives for adopting a Certified EHR.” That’s a big incentive. If you’re excited about what Drchrono is doing, then take a look at their Jobs page. Right now they have quite a few opportunities posted including:

There are lots of cool jobs available, so take a look at the job descriptions and consider applying.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Drchrono?

Constitutional Rights Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:14:59 +0000

Think back to your favorite 90s sitcom. Odds are that there was an episode where your favorite main character was bored to death by some teacher trying to teach him or her about the Constitution. Your favorite character was completely unengaged until some major life event (usually artificially created by the brilliant teacher) came up that made the Constitution super relevant. I can already picture the specific Boy Meets World and Saved by the Bell episodes. Since those tv shows don’t actually teach much about the Constitution, we need our kids to have similar real life experiences. That’s what Constitutional Rights Foundation provides. They’re a Los Angeles, CA based non-profit that aims “to instill in our nation’s youth a deeper understanding of citizenship through values expressed in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights and to educate young people to become active and responsible participants in our society.” This is really important stuff–we can’t just expect future generations to learn it from watching reruns on tv.

Be on the Rights Side

As we learned from tv, you can’t just teach kids that civic participation is important. You need to show them the why and how. That’s what Constitutional Rights Foundation’s Programs are all about. One of the cooler things that CRF does is the Expanding Horizons Internships program. It takes Los Angeles high school students and puts them to work on constitutionally relevant projects at the city’s “most prestigious law firms, corporations, and non-profit organizations.” This just one of many great programs, so I highly recommend that you browse through them all to get a more complete understanding of how CRF goes about pursuing its mission. If you’re a Constitution lover and you want to pass it along to a younger generation, check out Constitutional Rights Foundation’s jobs on Idealist. Right now they’re looking for an Administrative Assistant/Office Manager. It looks like it could be a great fit for a new or recent grad.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Constitutional Amendment?

GTECH

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:15:20 +0000

Job searching these days feels a lot like playing the lottery. There’s all this hope of being that one in a million winner, but in the end you slowly get demoralized as the odds play out. But there’s one surefire way to win the lottery. Be the lottery. (So I guess it follows that one surefire way to get a job is to be the employer. That’s what I did. Entrepreneurship FTW!) Or you can be contracted by the lottery. That’s what GTECH is. They’re a Providence, RI based “gaming technology and services company, providing innovative technology, creative content, and superior service delivery.” They call themselves “architects of gaming,” which seems pretty accurate considering that they’re involved in pretty much every part of designing and developing gaming products.

Scratch Off to See If You Have a Job

From my attitude about lottery tickets, you’d probably guess that I’ve played and lost, but I’m actually permanently up for my lifetime. I won a $2,000 bingo scratch off when I was in college, and I decided to quit while I was ahead (though it’s not like I played that much anyway). That’s a hard decision to make considering lottery tickets are engineered… or architected to get you to keep playing. That simple scratch off has been designed through a ton of research and technology. Isn’t it funny how you always “almost” win? Or how winning a free ticket is a common outcome? GTECH may be committed to responsible gaming, but they still have to find new ways to make money. You won’t get too much inside info online, but you should browse through GTECH’s Products and Sevices. You’ll see that they’re not just focused on lotteries, but it does appear to be a huge part of what they do. If you want to get into the gaming industry, check out GTECH’s Jobs page. Here are some opportunities that might make sense for a new or recent grad:

Human Resources Coordinator (Providence, RI)
Finance Analyst (Providence, RI)
Clarity Software Engineer (West Greenwich, RI)
Marketing Representative (Washington State)
Administrative Assistant I (Madison, WI)

That’s just a small sampling of what’s available at GTECH. I picked the positions that look most interesting for new grads, but there’s a lot more to browse through–and many of the jobs are spread across the country.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play the lottery?

Bike New York

Willy Franzen — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:02:41 +0000

I played beach volleyball yesterday. On St. Patrick’s Day! And I was hot! No, I didn’t go on vacation. Chicago is having an amazing stretch of unseasonably warm weather. The best thing about it is that it gets people out doing what they love because they know that it still could snow again. For me it’s volleyball (or fishing if I can escape the city), but for others it may be running, playing with their dog, or riding a bike. Since I saw a ton of bikes yesterday, I thought it would be a good day to take a look at Bike New York. They’re a New York, NY based non-profit organization that aims to “promote and encourage bicycling and bicycle safety through education, public events, and collaboration with community and government organizations.” Biking is good for cities and good for people, so Bike New York isn’t just about biking for biking’s sake.

Pedal Faster

Bike New York has made a name for itself by “producing America’s largest cycling event, a 42-mile, traffic-free ride for some 32,000 cyclists known as the TD Bank Five Boro Bike Tour.” That will certainly get some attention, but it’s the day to day stuff where Bike New York really does its best work. Biker education is extremely important. Most people think that once they’ve learned to ride a bike they’ve learned everything they need to know. That may work for casual biking on a separate bike path, but if you’re going to bike through a major city like New York, you need to be better prepared. That’s why Bike New York offers classes like Savvy Cyclist: Traffic Skills 101, Winter Riding 101, and Bike Maintenance 101. This type of education directly saves lives (and by promoting biking it also saves lives by promoting healthier lifestyles and preventing pollution). If you love what Bike New York is doing, take a look at their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Bike Safety School Assembly Instructor, Bike Fleet Manager, a Youth Program Bike Instructor, and a Freelance Class Captain. Take a look at these positions, and then go enjoy the beautiful weather.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Bike New York?

National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:43:31 +0000

One of the most amazing things about the United States is our National Park system (check out National Park Service jobs)–it really shows off how vast and how diverse the country’s natural beauty is. While you’ve probably visited at least one National Park and know of many more, chances are that you’ve never heard of National Marine Sanctuaries. NOAA manages the system of sanctuaries “to conserve, protect, and enhance their biodiversity, ecological integrity and cultural legacy.” The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is a Silver Spring, MD based non-profit organization that “was created to assist the federally managed National Marine Sanctuary Program with education and outreach programs designed to preserve, protect and promote meaningful opportunities for public interaction with the nation’s marine sanctuaries.”

Under the Sea!

Before you dig in and learn about the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, you really need to learn about the National Marine Sanctuaries. This is probably a good place to start, and you’ll also want to read up on the history of the program. From there you can start to learn more about the NMSF. There isn’t a ton on their website, so the best way to take a deep dive into what they do is to read their most recent annual report. It’s a lot to read, but it will give you a much better idea of now the non-profit interacts with the federal government. If you like what you see, then you will probably want to check out the NMSF’s latest job posting for an Accounting and Administrative Assistant. It looks like a great way to get involved with a really cool organization–don’t overlook them like most people overlook our marine sanctuaries.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you visited any National Marine Sanctuaries?

Consumer Electronics Association

Willy Franzen — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:49:31 +0000

In case you haven’t noticed, we always feature non-profits on weekend. The vast majority of the non-profits that we profile are 501(c)(3)–organizations defined as “Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals.” But there are actually 28 types of 501(c) tax-exempt non-profit organizations. Today we’re going to look at the Consumer Electronics Association, which is 501(c)(6) “business league” based in Arlington, VA. They have a simple mission of working with their 2,000+ industry members to “grow the consumer electronics industry.”

Do You Consume Electronics?

You’ve probably heard of the Consumer Electronics Show (if not, it’s a massive electronics show), it’s put on by the CEA. It’s a way for all of their members (pretty much every major brand in the industry) to show off the latest and greatest. The show is probably the most public thing that the CEA does, but they also have a number of other initiatives. These include Market Research, Networking Events, Policy Advocacy, Technical Training, Technology Standards, and Member to Member Promotion. It’s interesting to see many of the CEA’s members fighting tooth and nail against each other in the marketplace, and then seeing them work together for the betterment of the industry. There’s obviously a careful balance. If you love consumer electronics and want to work for the CEA, check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Research Coordinator, Coordinator – Office of the President, and an Industry Communications Coordinator. These look like pretty cool positions for a new or recent grad, so give them a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite consumer electronic?

GREE

Willy Franzen — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:29:06 +0000

There’s no doubt that Japanese companies have been and continue to be leaders in the gaming industry. Nintendo, Sega, and Sony are some of the names that you’re most likely to recognize, but it’s very clear that the old guard of gaming is facing stiff competition from upstarts like Zynga and ngmoco that are focusing on mobile and social gaming. While Japan has historically been big on console gaming, they’re not missing out on this trend. GREE is a Japanese that is fervently entering the U.S. market in order to grow a business that generated $1.7 billion in revenue last year. GREE is unique in that their U.S. based branding has been more about hiring than games. They’ve opened a San Francisco, CA office that they’re promoting heavily with billboards, referral bonuses, and even Google AdWords campaigns. They also acquired a company called OpenFeint to speed along the growth.

They’re Huge in Japan

While I love it when companies put a big emphasis on employment branding and recruiting, I’m a little annoyed by how difficult it is to dig into GREE’s business. Their website’s header includes some cool looking game characters, but there’s absolutely no information available about the company’s games. All the site really says is that their goal ” is to make mobile social gaming meaningful by building the best mobile social gaming ecosystem for users and developers worldwide.” The only tidbits of information come from GREE’s News page which mentions that they’re teaming up with Ubisoft for a new Assassin’s Creed mobile game and working with Gameloft on a “Gang Domination” game. You can also head over to OpenFeint’s site to learn more about their games. If you like what you see, then you’ll be thrilled about how many positions are posted on GREE’s Careers Page. Here are the jobs that seem best suited for new or recent grads:

Art, 2D Game Artist
Junior Web/Graphic Designera
UI/UX Designer, Mobile Games
Business Operations Associate
Strategy Associate
Android Engineer
IT Service Delivery Specialist
Software Engineer – Front End
Software Engineer, Game Backend
Software Engineer, Mobile Device Porting
Software Engineer, Mobile Games
Software Engineer, Mobile Integration
Software Engineer, Platform
Web Developer
Recruiting Coordinator
Junior Copywriter
Marketing Coordinator, Platform
Bilingual Executive Assistant (Japanese)
Customer & Community Specialist
Game Integration Engineer
Production Coordinator/Assistant
Executive Assistant

Like I said, GREE is extremely serious about expansion in the U.S., and that’s why they’re hiring so many people right now. There are a lot of jobs to wade through, but the variety of options is pretty wide.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play any GREE games?

Coursekit

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:42:34 +0000

I’ve been a devoted Apple fanboy since 1990, yet I didn’t watch the liveblogs for their Education Event yesterday. It’s hard to get excited about digital textbooks when you never intend to read a textbook again, but I have to say that I’m looking forward to seeing how much technology will change the ways that future generations learn. Apple pushed a lot of people forward yesterday, but there’s a lot more to education than the content. Communication between teachers and students is essential, and technology can play an amazing role in this relationship. Coursekit is a New York, NY based company that offers “instructors and students amazingly designed tools to manage their courses – calendaring, file management” while making “it unbelievably easy to interact with one another.” It may kill a lot of your excuses for why you didn’t do your homework, but I think that the benefits are pretty obvious.

What’s in Your Kit?

From what I can tell, Coursekit is currently focused on the college market. That probably makes sense, especially considering how terrible the Blackboard experience is for most students. To get a feel for what Coursekit looks like, check out this video (you may have to click through to see it):

There are already professors at top schools using Coursekit, so check out the company’s Case Studies to get a better feel for how the software fits into the education environment. The remaining question is how does Coursekit make money? The short answer is that they don’t–they’re still running on investor cash. As their FAQ explains, the platform is intended to always be free. How they monetize the platform is yet to be determined. If that doesn’t scare you off, then you may want to take a look at Coursekit’s Careers page. They have a number of opportunities that look great for a new or recent grad including:

If you want to help continue the convergence of technology and education, then it would be hard to find a better place to do it than Coursekit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Were you frustrated by your professors’ lack of tech savvy?

Super Sprowtz

Willy Franzen — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:01:09 +0000

Earlier this week I was catching up with Jason Seiden. We covered a ton of topics, but one thing that we kept coming back to is how frustrating it can be to work in the careers space. Why? Because, as Jason said, “Truly valuable career advice is like vegetables–you can’t give it away.” This is so true. You can try to force things on people, but you won’t get anywhere unless they want what you’re selling. Super Sprowtz is a company that is trying to change the way people–namely children–think about vegetables. They’re based in New York, NY, and they’ve seen how powerful cartoon characters can be in affecting children’s food choices, so they’ve developed a cast of “vegetable super heroes” to “entertain and educate children about healthy eating habits.” I started out thinking this was pretty weird, but I’m kind of warming to the idea.

How Super Are You?

When I first discovered Super Sprowtz, I assumed that they were a non-profit. Who would build a business on trying to get kids to eat vegetables? Even agricultural lobbies realize that they’re better off focusing on selling veggies to adults. But then you realize that Super Sprowtz’s customers aren’t children, but people who have children’s best interest at heart. Super Sprowtz develops DVDs, books, plush toys, apparel, and an interactive platform to sell to parents, teachers, nutritionists, and other concerned adults. Parents aren’t ever going to stop trying to get their kids to eat vegetables, so why not make an investment in products that are going to make their attempts more successful? There’s certainly a market for Super Sprowtz’s products, and it will be interesting to see how big it is. If you’d like to work directly with super heroes, check out Super Sprowtz’s jobs on Startuply. Right now they have mostly internships, but there is one Administrative Assistant position that looks interesting. Check it out, and don’t forget to bring along a bag of carrots if you get the interview.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your take on Super Sprowtz?

MakerBot Industries

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:04:19 +0000

In case you didn’t get the drift from out post on Best Made Company, artisan craftsmanship is in and mass manufacturing is out (unless it’s done by Apple). But what if you could combine the two? You’d have the technology of mass manufacturing, but the closeness to the process of something that is handmade. That’s what MakerBot Industries is making possible. They’re a New York, NY (Brooklyn) based company that has been “producing an open source 3D printer to democratize manufacturing.” All you need is a CAD drawing and one of their Thing-O-Matic 3D printers, and you can print pretty much whatever object you want in plastic. I think they might have finally figured out Santa’s trick.

You Might Need a 3D Resume

To get a better sense of what MakerBot is doing with the Thing-O-Matic, you need to check out some of the things that people have already made with it. There’s the Turtle Shell Racer, a squirrel, a log cabin, and a whole lot more. What’s really cool about MakerBot is that they offer different sorts of gadgets that you can combine with what you print out to add functionality. That means you can even build something as cool as a remote control car–the opportunities are limited only by your imagination and your ability to do the CAD drawings. What I think is most remarkable, though, is the price. You can get a fully assembled Thing-O-Matic for $2,400. That’s a lot of money if you just want to print out a few toys, but it’s an absolute steal for someone who might be building prototypes or needs very specific one-off plastic items. Presumably the price will keep coming down, and it will be more and more likely that you’ll have your own Thing-O-Matic one day. If the idea of 3D printing has you amped up, then take a look at MakerBot Industries’ Jobs. They have a number of interesting opportunities right now, including:

There’s a ton of variety here, so take a look at all of the positions and see which one makes the most sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What would you make if you had a 3D printer?

BookRenter.com

Willy Franzen — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:38:14 +0000

We’ll be wrapping up our survey soon, so speak now and help shape the future of ODOJ.

I’m convinced that textbook publishers are just really expensive money launderers. You spend an outrageous amount of money on some book that you probably won’t even open, and at the end of the semester you sell it back for 15% of what you paid for it. Your money is clean and you’re slightly more educated, yet there’s this sinking feeling that you’ve been had. Academic publishers have built monopolies title by title, and they’ve reaped the rewards for decades. It’s finally coming to an end. There are now open-source publishers like Flat World Knowledge and textbook rental services like Chegg and BookRenter.com that are digging into the publishers’ profits. Today we’re going to focus on San Mateo, CA based BookRenter.com which was founded in 2006 “to make education more affordable for everyone.” From what I can tell, they were the first textbook rental service, and they’ve been growing big time since they launched.

The End of Rent Seeking

You could make a pretty strong argument that textbook publishers are just rent seekers. They use their connections to professors to charge above market prices. Oddly enough, it’s the rental business that might just put an end to their monopoly power; though, I do wonder whether a move to digital publishing will tip the scales back towards the publishers. Anyway, BookRenter.com has built a remarkable business by making a capital investment in tons of textbooks and building out the logistics to get the books quickly to and from students. Now BookRenter.com just needs to get more and more students to try renting. That should be easy considering that they can easily save an average student more than $500 a year. If you’re liking what BookRenter.com is all about, then take a look at their Jobs page. They have a ton of open positions including:

There are all kinds of great options at BookRenter.com, so join their team and help put textbook publishers in their place.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your worst college textbook horror story?

Grist

Willy Franzen — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:50:30 +0000

So far our survey says that you find the job search frustrating. Tell us more so that we can help.

When I was in Ann Arbor, MI last weekend, I noticed that there’s a tremendous amount of interest in the environment there. Maybe it’s because two of the friends I was visiting got Master’s degrees from University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, but it was also the LED street lights and the students who I met who were asking about green careers. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a lot of subscribers to Grist in the Ann Arbor area. Grist is a Seattle, WA based magazine that “has been dishing out environmental news and commentary with a wry twist since 1999.” They’re a non-profit organization, so they’re “funded by foundation grants, user contributions, and advertising.”

Get the Grist of Things

A fair criticism of most of the environmentalist movement is that it lacks a sense of humor. It’s hard to have a laugh when you’re constantly screaming “the sky is falling.” Grist is certainly an exception, as their about page starts with:

Laugh now — or the planet gets it.

You know how some people make lemonade out of lemons? At Grist, we’re making lemonade out of looming climate apocalypse.

It’s more fun than it sounds, trust us!

The sense of humor comes through in articles like Live Your Tiny House Fantasies by Renting One on AirBnB, but there are also plenty of more serious ones like Making Federal Buildings Green Cuts Costs by a Fifth. If you’re digging Grists’s approach, then you may want to consider working for them. Their Jobs page shows that they’re looking for a Web Developer and Idealist shows that they’re looking for an Office Assistant. If neither of those positions sound right for you, you may want to take a look at Grist’s Writer’s Guidelines. There are both paid and unpaid opportunities for writers.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read Grist?

BeachMint

Willy Franzen — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:37:43 +0000

So far our survey says that you find the job search frustrating. Tell us more so that we can help.

Back in June we told you about Birchbox, a company that offers a subscription to customized beauty product samples for $10 a month. It’s an interesting model, and it seems to be working out extremely well for them. BeachMint is a “social commerce” startup with a similar subscription model, but a very different approach. They’re a Santa Monica, CA based company with four brands: JewelMint.com, BeautyMint.com, StyleMint.com, and ShoeMint.com. I think you can guess what each offers a subscription to. When you sign up they give you a quiz to get a sense of what you like and what you don’t like, and then they start making new recommendations for you every month. It’s a little weird in that it’s structured like a subscription, but you don’t have to buy every month (but it sounds like it’s more of a monthly opt-out than opt-in). I kind of wish they stayed true to their name and would send me to a different beach every month.

Making a Mint

BeachMint is still a very young company, but they’ve raised a ton of money (nearly $40 million) and had some great early successes (apparently BeautyMint got 500,000 visitors in its first day). A big part of BeachMint’s strategy and a likely reason for their rapid growth is that they’ve aligned with some big name celebrities like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Jessica Simpson, Rachel Bilson, and Kate Bosworth. I’m sure they had to spend a lot of their funding on getting those names to sign, but it seems to be paying off with huge growth now. I’ll admit that I find BeachMint’s model a little confusing, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping people from signing up.

If you’re intrigued by what BeachMint is doing, then you should take a look at their Jobs page. There are a ton of jobs posted though most of them are either tech (Web/Software/Mobile Development) or Mint Brand Ambassador Manager / Independent Sales and Promotions Coordinator positions. The latter are available all across the country, and seem to be heavily commission based. The job best suited for our readership is probably the Merchandising / Design Assistant, which unfortunately is only part-time right now. Additionally, there’s the option to apply for future opportunities, and I also found a Customer Care Associate position and an Executive Assistant/Office Manager position on Startuply. I also found a Content Department Coordinator posting from a couple of months ago. It seems that BeachMint might be a bit disjointed in posting jobs, so don’t be afraid to apply for future opportunities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried any of BeachMint’s offerings?

Time Out

Willy Franzen — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:15:42 +0000

We want to do even more to help you land a job. Take our survey and let us know how we can better serve you as we start our fifth year.

One of my favorite things about living in Chicago is the restaurants. There are so many great places to eat, and there are new ones opening constantly. It’s a lot of fun, but it can be overwhelming if you try to keep up with it. That’s why I rely on Time Out Chicago to keep me up to date with what’s going on in Chi-town, whether it’s restaurant openings, cultural events, or things to do. I guess I’m lucky that Time Out chose to cover Chicago, considering that the London, UK based publishing company typically focuses on major international destinations like Bangkok, Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Venice for their guides and magazines. As far as I can tell, Boston, MA; Chicago, IL, and New York, NY are the only U.S. cities to get weekly magazines, though a few other like Las Vegas and San Francisco do get their own travel guides. I must say that Time Out’s online presence is quite disjointed, so there’s a chance that there are locations in the U.S. where they might be hiring and I just missed them.

Take a Time Out from Your Job Search

It seems as though the U.S. based Time Outs operate somewhat independently from the parent company. You’ll probably want to bounce around TimeOut.com, NewYork.TimeOut.com, TimeOutChicago.com, and TimeOutBoston.com to get a sense of all of the different sub-brands. You may also want to take a look at Time Out’s Wikipedia entry to get a fuller sense of the business. But really you should focus on digging into Time Out’s content (a lot of which they publish online) and getting a feel for how they cover different locales. Then you’ll want to read up on the specific Time Out that catches your interest and take a look at their jobs (all of the Time Outs seem to hire independently from each other). In the Worldwide office based in London they have a few job openings and also offer what they call work experience. You can use the links below to find the Jobs pages for Boston, Chicago, and New York, and you’ll see that they have a number of interesting opportunities including:

SEO Master (New York, NY)
Copy Editor (New York, NY)
Ad Operations Specialist (New York, NY)
PHP Symfony Web Application Developer (New York, NY)
Account Manager (Chicago, IL)

They’re also big on internships, so if you want to get a position on the editorial side it would probably benefit you to start as an intern. (I have a friend who did exactly that at Time Out Chicago). Here’s a list of all of the internships that they offer:

Photo Intern (Boston, MA)
Editorial Intern Intern (Boston, MA)
Art & Design Intern (Chicago, IL)
Editorial Intern (Chicago, IL)
Online Photography Intern (Chicago, IL)
Online Production Intern (Chicago, IL)
Photography Intern (Chicago, IL)
Web Intern (Chicago, IL)
Admin/Human Resources Intern (New York, NY)
Advertising Intern (New York, NY)
Art – Magazine Design Intern (New York, NY)
Audience Development Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Visual Arts Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Food & Drink Intern (New York, NY)
Public Relations Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Music Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Online Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Shopping & Style Intern (New York, NY)
Marketing & Events Intern (New York, NY)
Online Production Intern (New York, NY)
Photo Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Film Intern (New York, NY)
Special Projects Intern (New York, NY)
TONY Kids Intern (New York, NY)
TONY Kids Photo Intern (New York, NY)

They’re all unpaid, but they could be a good way to get a foot in the door.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Time Out guides or subscribe to any of their magazines?

American Horticultural Society

Willy Franzen — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:46:11 +0000

I don’t think I realized how much I enjoyed the gardens my parents had in our backyard until I moved to a city and lived in a high-rise. As cool as it is to be 30 stories up and see tiny people going about their business below, I’d much rather be able to open my back door and see blooms, butterflies, bees, and birds. I’ll bet that the people at the non-profit American Horticultural Society would agree with me. The AHS “is one of the oldest national gardening organizations in the country,” and since their founding in 1922 they’ve grown to more than 20,000 members. The AHS is headquartered in Alexandria, VA at a placed called River Farm, which was owned by George Washington. It includes 25 acres of landscaped lawns and gardens, so I’m sure it’s stunning.

Enter the Garden

As the American Horticultural Society has grown, its mission has evolved to blend “education, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship with the art and science of horticulture.” You can browse through some of their programs on the AHS website, and the key thing to remember is that the AHS puts a really strong focus on providing information to its members–mostly because that’s what gardeners want. If you like the idea of working in a place surrounded by gardens, then you’ll want to check out jobs at the AHS. The one entry levelish position they have posted right now is only on Idealist , and it’s a Member Services Associate job. It looks like a great opportunity for a new grad, so check it out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have a garden?

Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

Willy Franzen — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:59:36 +0000

Yesterday I picked my parents up from the airport. Because of traffic, I ended up spending more time in the car to do a roundtrip of about 35 miles then than they spent on the plane flying from New York City to Chicago. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in terms of transportation over the course of human history, but we still have a long way to go. Society still has a ton to gain economically and environmentally through innovation in transportation. That’s why the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy exists. They’re a New York, NY based non-profit organization that “works with cities worldwide to bring about sustainable transport solutions that cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce poverty, and improve the quality of urban life.” They have offices in Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, so it’s clear that their mission is as much about international development as it is about transportation.

Transport Yourself

It’s easy to forget how much transportation affects nearly everything that we do. But when you see that ITDP’s six key issues are Climate Change, Urbanization, Poverty Alleviation, Road Safety, Health, and Air Pollution, you instantly realize just how many things are affected by transportation. ITDP’s biggest role is providing technical advice to cities on how they can improve themselves through transportation. To really get a sense of how ITDP is making the world a better place, you should read up on their work–they have some really interesting projects. If you’re excited about what you see, you should check out jobs at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. While they don’t have any positions that are perfectly suites for a new grad, it’s worth taking a look at the Administrative Assistant, Human Resources Associate, and Communications Officer (Guangzhou, China) positions. You could also try reaching out about an unlisted position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite mode of transportation?

TicketLeap

Willy Franzen — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:58:44 +0000

Last week we told you about Blue Chip Career, so here’s another reminder to check them out. They offer personalized guidance from seasoned executives to help you overcome your biggest job search challenges. Get paired with one of their experts and receive the inside scoop on how to land the job of your dreams.

Last September I went to see Seth Godin. I bought a ticket online and was pleasantly surprised a few days before the event to learn that it allowed me to bring a friend. The event was great–just what I would expect from Seth. Every detail went smoothly, even the ticketing process, which was done through TicketLeap. I barely noticed them when I originally registered for the event (which what you want from a ticketing provider), but when a reader e-mailed a few months ago to tell me that she landed an internship with TicketLeap I decided to take another look. They’re a Philadelphia, PA based company that was started in 2003 “to bring professional-grade ticketing to events too small to get the attention of the big ticketing companies.” They offer a great user experience, and their cost is pretty much unbeatable–$1 per ticket for events $10 and under, $2 per ticket for events over $10, and free for all free events.

Take a Leap

While I often like to tout a company’s client list, I’m not going to do that with TicketLeap. They’re not about serving the big names, they’re about serving the little guys with a product that would be suitable for many of the big guys. While I’ve been able to enjoy the TicketLeap from the attendee side, I haven’t tried it from the event organizer side, but it sounds great. TicketLeap thinks their product stands out for 7 reasons that range from great design to dedicated customer support to awesome analytics. What I think is most interesting about TicketLeap is that they have built a marketing platform into their ticketing solutions. It’s exactly what event organizers need if they want to sell out. If you’re digging what TicketLeap is doing, then you’ll want to head over to their Careers page. Right now they’re looking for Inside Sales Reps. I did a little more digging using our job search engine and also found positions for a User Interface Designer and an Energetic Assistant.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used TicketLeap?

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Willy Franzen — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:59:17 +0000

We’ve been having e-mail deliverability issues over the past couple of days. I’m working with our provider to figure out what’s going on. Hopefully this message will come through without a hitch and make this note irrelevant.

Yesterday we looked at a non-profit that is devoted to a unique sector of performing arts. Today we’re going to look at one that is more traditional. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is based in New York, NY, and they’re the organization that runs “the world’s leading performing arts center.” Lincoln Center is located on 16.3 acres, and it has 11 resident organizations that use their space but are run independently. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts “serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, an international leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus.” They seem to be doing a good job considering that Lincoln Center hosts more than 5 million visitors every year.

Put on a Good Performance

To really get a feel for what the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts does, you need to read up on the other 10 Resident Organizations. Here are the links to each of their websites (each of these organizations has its own job and internship opportunities):

In addition to these organizations, Lincoln Center also is home to quite a few programs. These include American Songbook, White Light Festival, Fashion Lincoln Center, and lots more. There’s a ton of other relevant information about the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on their website, so you should really dive in if you like what they’re all about. Eventually you’ll land on their Jobs page, where you’ll see that they’re hiring a Receptionist, a Grants Writer, a Special Event Sales and Client Services Associate, a Lead Telephone Agent, a Part-time Telephone Agent, and a Part-Time Visitor Services Representative. There are a number of options, so hopefully one of them will be a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to Lincoln Center?

Behance

Willy Franzen — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:36:12 +0000

Over the past two days I’ve been talking about how important it is for your career to be building something. This means generating new ideas and taking action on them. That’s what Behance is all about. They’re a New York, NY based company that “develops products and services that empower creative professinals to make ideas happen.” I’ve heard about Behance a lot before–probably because founder Scott Belsky is a fellow Cornellian, but it seems as though their name keeps coming up lately. I guess it’s easy to generate a buzz when you’ve developed a line of products that helps creatives overcome “inefficiency, disorganization, and careers at the mercy of bureaucracy.”

Be Behance

Behance’s flagship product is the Behance Network, which is a place for creative professionals to “create multi-media portfolios that showcase their work.” Instead of building a “social graph,” they’re building a “creative graph.” TechCrunch chronicles Behance’s growth to 1 million projects published here, and Behance has an awesome infographic that gives all kinds of stats on how the Behance community has grown. Behance’s other products include Prosite (personal portfolio sites), The 99 Percent (a think tank for research and best practices), and Action Method (a task management methodology). It all adds up into an awesome resource for creative people to manage and grow their careers. If you’re digging what Behance is doing, then you should take a look at their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Community and Office Associate, a Backend Developer, an Interaction Designer, a Web Developer, and a Web Tester. These jobs sound great, so give them a good look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a member of the Behance Network?

Yeti Coolers

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:33:33 +0000

I spend a ton of time outdoors between fly fishing and playing beach volleyball. You’d think I’d have a cooler to take along with me, but I don’t. If I did, it’d have to be one of the models made by Yeti Coolers. They’re an Austin, TX based company that builds coolers that are more durable and keep things colder than any other coolers on the market. Yeti Coolers are built for tough conditions, which is why some of the biggest names in outdoors sports endorse them and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee has deemed them Grizzly Proof. You may think it’s cooler overkill, but the market for high quality coolers seems to be extremely strong. That’s why Yeti Coolers made the Inc. 5000 with 613% three-year growth to $13 million in revenue.

These Jobs Do Exist

Yeti Coolers’ business seems pretty simple. They build a superior product and market it to a demographic that appreciates the kind of quality that Yeti Coolers offers. It’s obviously been a bit more complicated than that considering how quickly Yeti has been able to grow. I’m sure their engineering and manufacturing is pretty high tech, and I’m sure that going up against entrenched cooler manufacturers is a big challenge for a relative upstart. Still, you have to love that there’s still a ton of room for Yeti to grow in the market. If you want to be a part of that growth, then you should check out Yeti Coolers’s Careers page. While they don’t have any openings posted there, they do have an Application Page where you can apply for positions in Account Management, Accounting/Finance, Administrative, Cusomter Service, Human Resources, IT, Marketing, Operations, Order Processing, R&D / Product Development, Sales, and Warehouse. Hopefully your search for these jobs will be more fruitful than the search for the Abominable Snowman.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a Yeti Cooler?

The After-School Corporation

Willy Franzen — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:37:56 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I did a ton of learning after school. Sometimes it was in formal activities like Odyssey of the Mind or a computer class, but often it was on my own, whether it was digging holes in my backyard and finding artifacts or trying to teach myself how to write simplistic computer programs. While formal education sets the foundation for a successful life, it’s often the activities that students take up outside of school that influence what they do later in life. The After-School Corporation is a New York, NY based non-profit that works “in New York and the nation to change public policy and expand public funding so all kids from all backgrounds can have high quality experiences beyond regular school hours that support their intellectual, creative and healthy development.” They’re different from other non-profits that focus on after school activities in that The After-School Corporation does not actively operate after school programs.

What Are You Doing After School?

If The After-School Corporation doesn’t run after school programs, then what do they do? They “build the public-private partnerships that make after-school programs strong and reliable year after year.” Beyond that, they are constantly trying new ideas and conducting research “to expand the time and ways kids learn.” To really get a feel for TASC, you should read over their About page and their What We Do page. Reading both will help you better understand TASC’s focus on building better infrastructure for after school programs. If you like what you see, then take a look at The After-School Corporation’s Jobs page. The positions that you’ll want to look at include Development Officer, Special Assistant to the President, and Special Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer. These positions do require some prior experience, but some strong internships in the non-profit world could probably be sufficient.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about The After-School Corporation?

charity: water

Willy Franzen — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:36:13 +0000

For me water is all about recreation. It’s a place to fish, swim, kayak, and hopefully one day learn how to surf. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy drinking water–I’ve had servers at restaurant tell me that I drink more water than any other customer they’ve served–but it’s mostly an afterthought. Unfortunately, for nearly a billion people across the globe water is neither fun nor an afterthought. “Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.” charity: water is a non-profit organization that is “bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.” They’re based in New York, NY, but they’re doing work all over the world. One of the most interesting things about charity: water is that they’re able to put 100% of the public donations that they receive towards clean water projects. This is possible because a small group of private donors has committed to covering the organization’s operating expenses.

charity: job

I’d had my eye on charity: water for a while. I knew that they were getting a lot of attention, and I figured that they’d have to have jobs and internships available at some point. A reader alerted me that they were hiring right now, so I was excited to finally give them a closer look. According to the charity: water home page, they have funded 3,962 projects in 19 countries with 25 local partners. These projects have brought clean water to 1,794,983 people so far. That’s an unbelievable number, but it’s kind of scary to think that they’ve only served 2% of the population in need. They still have a long way to go, which is why they seem to be growing quickly. If you’re moved by the the charity: water mission then you’ll want to check out their Jobs page. Right now they have a few opportunities for new or recent grads including Digital Assistant, Software Developer, Front-End Developer, Water Programs Officer – East Africa, and Curator of the Well. There are some really exciting positions here, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about charity: water?