One Day, One Job » automotive

Urban Science

Willy Franzen — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:26:44 +0000

I’ve only purchased a car once in my life. It was in 2001, and it was my first car–a ’97 Ford Explorer. I definitely did some online research, but most of my time was spent going to dealers and actually looking at cars. It seems that more than a decade later, the car buying process hasn’t changed all that much, even though so many other business models have been upended by the Internet. That’s not to say technology isn’t becoming a tremendous asset in the automotive retail business. Managing dealer networks and marketing cars can get extremely complicated for auto manufacturers, and that’s where Urban Science steps in. Though they may sound like a non-profit that teaches inner-city kids science, they’re actually a Detroit, MI based “consulting and software solutions” provider that helps “automotive clients increase market share and boost profitability through high performing retail networks.” It all started in 1977 with a Wayne State University professor named Jim Anderson, who was disappointed to hear that Cadillac was told one of their marketing problems “couldn’t be solved.”

Are You an Urban Scientist?

Since its founding Urban Science has grown from one guy to 750+ employees, and they serve all of the biggest names in the auto world. Just look at their Client Showcase. Every name you could ever want to see on there is: Audi, Bentley, Ford, GM, Land Rover, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Chrysler, Honda, and it keeps on going. It’s hard to understand what it is that Urban Science does if you’re not in the automotive industry, but you can start to understand by looking at their four step process for clients:

I highly recommend that you read through those pages, as they dig into the exact value that Urban Science provides to clients (and understanding that will help you understand how you can offer value to Urban Science). After you do that, check out Urban Science’s Careers page. They have quite a few jobs posted, and a bunch are “Recent College Graduate,” and they include:

Client Services Associate
QA Associate
Analytical Services Associate
Associate Developer
Information Technology Operations Associate
Analytical Services Associate (Long Beach, CA)
IT Associate (Long Beach, CA)
Client Team Associate (Long Beach, CA)
Associate (Herndon, VA)

Urban Science looks like a fascinating company, so look over these positions and see if any of them make sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When was the last time that you bought a car?

Internet Brands

Willy Franzen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:07:03 +0000

In case you missed our e-mail from last week, Kembrel loved the response from our post about them so they’re offering a free VIP card (usually 20 bucks) to all ODOJ readers and $5 in store credit. Sign up here.

On Monday we took a look at Vertive, a company that builds internet properties to help people save money. Today we’re going to look at a company with a similar model of building and buying websites, but a much broader approach. Internet Brands is based in El Segundo, CA and started as CarsDirect.com in 1998. It was a successful brand for them, but in 2005 they realized that the platform they had built could be applied to other verticals. Now Internet Brands operates more than 100 websites that reach over a billion visitors every year. Amazingly, they’ve been able to generate almost all of this traffic organically (without buying advertising). This is all because of the platform that they’ve developed and the ability to share resources across brands. Internet Brands is a case study of how economies of scale can work on the web.

Get Branded

The best way to get a better feel for Internet Brands is to explore their… brands. There are a lot of them, but they typically fit into one of nine verticals: Automotive, Careers, Health, Home, Legal, Licensing, Money, Shopping, and Travel. Chances are that most of the brands will be new to you, but I found a few that I was familiar with. Unlike Vertive, Internet Brands doesn’t shed much light on how they operate. Even the Internet Brands Careers page is filled with mostly generic stuff like “Do you have energy, drive and ambition?” and “Do you have a strong sense of where you are going and how to get there?” Would any job seeker answer no to those rhetorical questions? At least Internet Brands makes up for it with a ton of job postings. Here are the ones that look well suited for an entry level job seeker:

That’s a lot of jobs. Hopefully a few of them will catch your interest.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Internet Brands?

Crain Communications

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:35:49 +0000

Now that I’ve lived in Chicago for three years, I’m starting to feel more like a part of the Chicago business community. And a big piece of being a part of a community is keeping up on your local news. I rely a lot of sources, but I’ve found that Crain’s Chicago Business consistently does great reporting on the Chicago business scene. Crain’s Chicago Business is published by Crain Communications, which is “one of the largest privately owned business publishers in the U.S., with more than 27 leading business, trade and consumer publications and related websites in North America, Europe and Asia.” Crain is headquartered in Detroit, MI, but their publications are headquartered in a variety of places. Crain was founded in 1916 by GD Crain Jr., and it remains a family owned business to this day despite a few bumps in the road that would be expected for any company in the publishing industry (like layoffs a couple of years ago).

Crain Your Neck

What I really like about Crain Communications is that their lineup of brands serves a lot of different interests. They cover broader business news in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and New York, and they cover the Advertising and Media Industry with titles like Advertising Age and TelevisionWeek. They publish Waste & Recycling News, and they have 7 publications focused on the Plastics and Rubber industries. High quality publications that target specific niches are great for advertisers, which is why Crain has an advantage over more general business publications. If you’re digging Crain’s approach to niches and you like their “Readers First” mentality, then you should definitely give their Jobs page a look. Right now they have a variety of great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Assistant Web Producer – Ad Age (New York, NY)
Digital Assistant Managing Editor – Investment News (New York, NY)
Digital Media Analyst – Pensions & Investments (New York, NY)
Digital Reporter – Ad Age (San Francisco, CA)
Editorial Assistant – Pensions & Investments (Chicago, IL)
Editorial Assistant – Business Insurance (Chicago, IL)
Freelance Reporter – Ad Age (Washington, DC)
Marketing Database Administrator (Detroit, MI)
Part-time Editorial Researcher – Tire Business (Akron, OH)
Research Analyst – Staffing Industry Analysts (Mountain View, CA)
Staff Reporter – Plastics News (Akron, OH)
Video Editor – Crain’s Chicago Business (Chicago, IL)
Web Developer – Ad Age (New York, NY)

There are all kinds of cool opportunities at Crain, so hopefully one of them will appeal to you. Ad Age may be a sexy name because you heard about it in Mad Men, but don’t overlook writing for Plastics News or Tire Business–sometimes things that seem mundane are actually pretty interesting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of Crain’s publications?

National Hot Rod Association

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:46:56 +0000

I suffer from Labor Day cognitive dissonance. I love the idea of a long weekend dedicated to celebrating our productivity (even if it does mean the end of summer), but I feel that in a lot of ways that we’ve missed the mark. After spending four years studying Labor Relations in college and another four years devoted to helping college students make the most of their productive capacity, I’ve come to realize that we are going to have to radically change the way we look at work if we’re going to continue to succeed individually and as a nation. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t appreciate Labor Day for what it has become, an awesome day off. In past years we’ve looked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Labor, and Stetson (read the post if you want to know what they have to do with Labor Day). Today we’re going to look at the National Hot Rod Association, which is “the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body with 80,000 members, 140 member tracks, more than 35,000 licensed competitors, and more than 5,000 member-track events.” The Glendora, CA based NHRA has been around for 60 years now, and their races seem to keep getting faster.

Hot Roddin’

You’re probably wondering what the heck the National Hot Rod Association has to do with Labor Day. Well, I learned from the Wikipedia article on Labor day that the NHRA annually holds “their finals to the U.S. Nationals drag race” at Indy on Labor Day. I also think that cars that can go up to 330 MPH are a great way to showcase how productive labor can be. If you think that hot rods are awesome and would consider working for the NHRA, check out their Jobs page. While they mention openings in areas including Accounting and Finance, Administration/General Management, Communications/Community Relations, Competition/Officiating, Event Management, Facility Operations/Event Staff, Human Resources, Information Technology/Web Services, Legal, Sales & Marketing, and Technical Services, the only active posting they have is for Notification of Future Opportunities. It looks like you can apply for this “position,” so maybe they’ll contact you if they like what they see.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you watch the NHRA finals?

Jaguar Land Rover

Willy Franzen — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:22:39 +0000

After driving for nearly 14 hours to get from Connecticut back to Chicago yesterday, I fell asleep well before my usual bedtime. As a result, I woke up extra early today–but not quite early enough to watch the Royal Wedding. Lucky for me, my girlfriend decided to DVR it. Despite my pretending to be disgruntled at having to watch a wedding on television, I actually found the whole thing to be somewhat interesting. I was especially intrigued by the fact that the whole thing kind of became a British car show. There were a bunch of Bentleys, a few Rolls Royces, and a Jaguar that carried Carole and James Middleton. Oddly enough, none of these car companies are still British owned. Bentley is owned by Volkswagen, Rolls-Royce Motors is owned by BMW (and the original Rolls-Royce company isn’t in the automobile business anymore), and Jaguar was owned by Ford and is now owned by an Indian company called Tata. Still, the Brits seem to be especially proud of their car brands, and that includes Jaguar Land Rover, which is based in Gaydon, UK but they also have a reasonable presence in the United States out of Mahwah, NJ.

Hear Jaguar Roar

We all know Jaguar as a luxury automobile brand, and that’s exactly what they are. Jaguar probably doesn’t have the most youthful image, but that makes sense since most people can’t afford fancy cars until later in life. Jaguar actually got its start as the Swallow Sidecar Company, which made sidecars for motorcycles, but they eventually moved on to manufacturing automobiles and changed their name after World War II. The company is now obviously very international; however, most of their operations still occur in the United Kingdom and they’re still very much a British company. Beyond the cameo in the Royal Wedding, Jaguar manufactures cars for the British Prime Minister and “holds Royal Warrants from HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.” Jaguar doesn’t offer much information about their company or their careers on their website, but you can check out their jobs here. I got excited because they have a bunch of Analyst positions, but those all require 5 years of experience. The one seemingly entry level position that they have right now is Land Rover Parts Operations Coordinator. You can check that out, or wait to see what other positions they might post in the near future. And don’t be afraid to use the Royal Wedding for other job search ideas.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

Better Place

Willy Franzen — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:08:32 +0000

Sponsored Job: Marathon Building Services is a Gaithersburg, MD based company that offers construction cleaning services. They’re currently looking for new and recent grads to join as Sales Representatives to help them grow their business. If you’re interested, send a résumé to Meredith Berlin at hr@movementtechnologies.com.

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone but an oil executive who isn’t excited at the prospect of electric cars. Yet, the only ones that I’ve seen on the road are from Tesla Motors, and those are few and far between. The problem is two-fold. First, the technology is just getting to the point where it’s actually reasonable to have an electric car as your everyday automobile. Second, the infrastructure for charging electric cars away from home is nearly non-existent. Better Place is a Palo Alto, CA based company that is working to change this. They “build and operate the infrastructure and systems to optimize energy access and use” for electric vehicles, so that they can achieve their mission of “accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation.” They have a long road ahead of them, but they’ve already made a big impact.

Better Jobs

When we think about fueling our cars, we automatically think of gas stations. Many assume that charging an electric vehicle will be similar, but that’s not necessarily true. Better Place is working on all of the potential options for battery charging. These include home charging stations, battery exchange, and charging networks. Because electricity can be transported so easily, the need for a gas station like system will probably fade. (The only question is where we’ll stop for bathroom breaks and Doritos.) Better Place is working on all fronts to make electric vehicles “affordable to buy, easy to use, and amazing to own.” Beyond charging solutions they’re also developing driver services and network software that will deliver increasing benefits as more people go electric. Better Place is even working with international standardization bodies to ensure that market fragmentation doesn’t slow the adoption of electric vehicles. If you want to be part of the transition to sustainable transportation, then it’s time to take a look at Better Place’s jobs. At first look it seems that their positions are either internships or require too much experience, but the Knowledge Management Associate Internship actually looks more like an entry level job. The descriptions for the year-long Market Development and Product Strategy positions also look pretty serious, so maybe you could take one of them and turn it into a full-time job.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Better Place?

Exa

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:53:50 +0000

Everything that I know about aerodynamics I learned from MythBusters. Ok, that’s not completely true–AP Physics taught me a little bit too, but MythBusters does a remarkable job of explaining how different objects (from bullets to cars) react to the drag forces of air and water. Today I found a company that puts MythBusters to shame, at least when it comes to aerodynamics (but definitely not when it comes to explosions). Their name is Exa, and they’re a Burlington, MA based company that “develops, markets, and supports simulation software for the fluids engineering marketplace along with a full suite of engineering consulting services.” They typically work with companies in the “automotive, aerospace, architectural, environmental, electronic, and heavy equipment industries,” so I’m sure that you can imagine what kind of cool projects they’ve been involved with. Think optimizing the USA 4-man bobsled that won the Olympic Gold Medal or providing simulations for a Discovery Channel TV show called Ultimate Car Build-Off (ok, it’s not MythBusters).

Are You Dynamic Enough?

Since I’m only TV educated, I’m obviously not the best person to judge Exa’s offerings. But their clients are. Since companies like Audi AG, BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai, Kenworth, MAN, Nissan, Peterbilt, Renault, Scania, Volkswagen AG, Volvo Trucks and many others trust Exa to help them “create competitive designs” and shorten “product design cycles and improving time-to-market,” I have to believe that Exa is a leader in the field. In addition to aerodynamics, Exa also focuses on thermodynamics, aeroacoustics, and how they interact with each other. I’d tell you more, but I’m already in over my head. Obviously, Exa is looking for people with very specific types of knowledge, but they do offer some opportunities that could be appropriate for a new grad (though many require Master’s Degrees or higher and some prior experience). If you look at their Jobs page, you’ll see positions like Application Engineer (Livonia, MI), Field Application Engineer (Livonia, MI), Aerodynamics Application Engineer (Burlington, MA), Geometry Expert (Stuttgart, Germany), Praktikant (Stuttgart, Germany), Application Engineer (Stuttgart, Germany), Aerodynamics Application Engineer (Livonia, MI), Computational Aeroacoustics Engineer (Brisbane, CA), Thermal Engineer (Livonia, MI), Application Engineer(s) – Heavy Vehicle North America (Burlington, MA), Software Engineer – Geometry (Burlington, MA), Computational Aeroacoustics Engineer (Livonia, MI), and Application Engineer (Munich, Germany). All of these job postings have very specific requirements, so it’s hard for me to determine what might be appropriate for recent grads.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How aerodynamic are you?

Nissan

Willy Franzen — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:52:28 +0000

If you haven’t already taken a look at our profile on MATCH Public Charter School, now is the time to do it. They’re changing the world of education, and they’re hiring a ton of new grads.

I don’t know about you, but my college never gave me Presidents’ Day off. At it’s core it’s an important holiday, but it’s pretty much become a reason for car dealerships and furniture stores to have sales. Since it’s a day for cars and I’ve been going through Fast Company’s list of The 2011 Most Innovative Companies, I decided it’s only appropriate that we take a look at Nissan USA, which came in at #4 on the list. While Nissan is headquartered in Japan, their US group is based in Franklin, TN with a number of other locations across North America. Now, the reason that Nissan is getting so much buzz is that they recently released the Nissan LEAF Electric Car, the “first mass-market all-electric car.” With the release of this automobile, Nissan went from an industry laggard to a leader in sustainability. It’s hard to say whether electric cars are truly the future, but you have to give Nissan props for going all out.

Plug In to Nissan

It’s really interesting to think about careers in the automotive industry. In some ways it seems super risky–there’s a ton of change going on. On the other hand it has to be a good bet–cars aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The big question for car guys and girls is where do you go? Do you take a risk on a newcomer like Tesla Motors? Or do you play it safe (or not so safe) with one of the Big Three? Maybe somewhere in between? It’s really hard to say which car manufacturers will be on top in ten years, but you have to like Nissan’s chances. Their slogan is “SHIFT_the way you move,” and they say that they want to make “cars that are more efficient, more beautiful, more inspiring and more human than ever before.” If that gets you fired up, then you’ll want to check out Nissan.jobs. The site includes a section on Student Opportunities, but it really only tells you that they offer internships, entry level jobs, and an MBA rotation program. It’s completely unhelpful, and their job search function isn’t much better.

Despite Nissan’s claim that they “have many exciting opportunities for recent undergrads,” I don’t see them posted. My recommendation is that you take a look at their internship postings, and use the information in those to inform you on what might be available. Then send a general application from here. Nissan’s current internship offerings include (can’t link to them because of the way their site works): Communications Intern (Franklin, TN); Manufacturing Intern (Smyrna, TN); NTCNA Engineering Intern (Farmington Hills, MI); Production Control/SCM (Smyrna, TN); Parts, Service, & Accessores Intern (Mt. Juliet, TN); Purchasing Intern (Farmington Hills, MI); NMAC Dealer Review Coordinator Intern (Irving, TX); Sales & Marketing Intern (Franklin, TN); NMAC Collections Intern (Irving, TX); Infiniti Business Unit Intern (Franklin, TN); Finance Intern (Franklin, TN); Social Media Marketing Intern (Franklin, TN); and Engineering Intern (Canton, MS). I wish that I could be more helpful, but Nissan needs to get their campus and online recruiting acts together.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever driven a Nissan?

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Willy Franzen — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:57:06 +0000

I love Memorial Day because it comes with so many traditions. Obviously its initial (and most important) purpose is to honor our fallen heroes, but it’s also the official start of summer for most Americans. That’s why I took some time this morning to read up on Memorial Day traditions. In past years I’ve featured Weber-Stephen and the National Park Service, but today we’re going to focus on a late May tradition that I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t know was linked to Memorial Day Weekend—the Indy 500. I’m obviously not a race fan, but I think that you’ve gotta respect the fact that they can fill up a stadium with people who want to watch a bunch of guys (and 4 girls) in fast cars make a lot of left turns. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway plays host to the Indy 500 every year along with the Brickyard 400 and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. The facility has been around since 1909, and the Indy 500 is coming up on its centennial in 2011. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway also happens to be the “largest spectator sporting facility in the world.”

Get Up to Speed

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is just one venue, but it has to be one of the most storied sporting venues in the world. Our country has an amazing automotive tradition (that is often displayed in Memorial Day parades), and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a key part of that tradition. I’m well aware that racing doesn’t interest everyone, but it certainly has its share of fanatics. If you’re one of them, a job with Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be quite a thrill. Right now they don’t have any full-time openings posted on their Jobs page, but they do have a few seasonal employment opportunities posted. They also invite interested applicants to reach out to jobs@brickyard.com, so that might be your best bet for landing an entry level job at the Speedway. I’d also strongly recommend using LinkedIn to investigate what kind of positions might be available in the future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Happy Memorial Day!

Dealer.com

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:03:16 +0000

I know that it sounds like a place to buy illicit substances, but Dealer.com is a legal operation as far as I know. They may operate in the underworld of search engine optimization, but so do I, and I’m not a sleaze bag or spammer. Dealer.com is a Burlington, VT based company that “has become the global leader in online marketing solutions for the automotive industry.” They provide a platform for car dealers to generate leads online. I’d imagine that Dealer.com is a direct competitor with Cobalt, a company that we featured back in January. It’s no surprise that automotive online marketing is a growing industry. Most car dealerships don’t have the resources to do online marketing themselves—cheesy tv commercials don’t translate to the web. So how do they reach the masses of people who are using search engines to aid in car buying decisions? They either build an internal online marketing division, hire a local agency that doesn’t know anything about the industry, or go to Dealer.com. Which decision do you think will sell the most cars?

See What You’re Dealt

The thing that really stands out about Dealer.com is their culture. They’re aiming to be the “most sought after automotive web solutions provider in the world,” and it’s very clear that they think that treating their people well will help them get there. Their “brand-new Green Certified Corporate headquarters has a 35,000 square foot fitness facility and in-house organic cafe,” and they offer half-off ski passes at local mountains. It’s the epitome of a cool place to work, which is why they probably keep racking up awards. This attitude is also reflected in the way that Dealer.com does recruiting. I randomly came across the company’s website last night, and it turns out that they’re having a big recruiting event today at the Sheraton in Burlington. I realize that you probably won’t be able to make it, but you can watch the event live at 6 PM EST today on their Careers page. It’s a recruiting tactic that I haven’t seen before, and I really like it. You can tell that they’re serious about talent. There are plenty of job openings at Dealer.com, so if you can’t login to the event, check out the following positions: Billing Specialist, Marketing Graphic Designer, Jr. Graphic Designer, Web Developer, SEO Analyst, SEM Analyst, Product Training Evangelist, and Javascript Developer. You can apply online for any of these positions, so get to it. I’m sure the event today is going to make it very competitive for a lot of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any companies run live events for recruiting like Dealer.com?

DriveCam

Willy Franzen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:00:48 +0000

It’s every teen’s worst nightmare. You finally reach that magical age where the state says that you’re ready to drive a car. Your parents reluctantly hand over the keys to the family station wagon. You get a lecture, but you’re going to escape. You’ll finally have the freedom that you’ve been waiting for all your life. But there’s a catch. Your parents have installed a camera in the car to assess your driving and mitigate risk. It’s from a San Diego based company called DriveCam. To you it’s a terrible idea. You hate being spied on. You know you’re a good driver with your state mandated 20 hours of experience behind the wheel. What you probably don’t know is that car accidents are the leading cause of teen death. You’re too caught up in having a sense of freedom to care that this device has reduced the risk of reportable crash by 70% over the course of 2 million miles.

I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me

I’m sure that I would have resented my parents if they had put a DriveCam in my car, but I must be getting old because now I think it would be a pretty good idea. If you’re not convinced, all you need to do is look at some of the videos on DriveCam’s website to get it. The way it works is pretty cool—DriveCam is only triggered by “fairly aggressive or inattentive driving.” It is constantly recording so that it can catch the moments before a triggering event, but any data collected that is not immediately before a triggering event is deleted. By setting the goal of not triggering the camera, DriveCam forces drivers to slow down and pay more attention. It’s not just for teens, many companies use it to monitor fleet drivers as well. The way it works is that DriveCam uploads video via a cellular network to DriveCam’s servers, and then there’s a Software as a Service subscription that allows the parents or business owners to analyze the data uploaded by DriveCam. The software even provides coaching advice and risk scores. There was a lot of resistance to seat belts when they first came out, but now nearly everyone uses them. I see the potential for the same to be said about DriveCam in 10 or 20 years. That’s why they’re one of the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies. They have a ton of potential for growth, and they’d be a great place to start a career. Their Careers page doesn’t list any positions beyond an internship right now, but they do invite interested applicants send a résumé and cover letter to jobs@drivecam.com. Take a look at their company profile to see what kind of positions they might have.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did your parents install a DriveCam?

Cobalt

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:09:06 +0000

Check out this week’s sponsor, New York City Teaching Fellows. They’re seeking new grads with no prior teaching experience or background in education to help make a difference in NYC’s public schools.

When I last bought a car in 2001, the best way to go about it was to stop by dealerships to see what they had in their inventory. I remember using the Internet to some extent, but it wasn’t all that helpful. Although I haven’t purchased a car since, I’m pretty sure that the web is playing a much larger role in the car buying decision process these days. That’s why Cobalt, a Seattle based company, is doing so well. They’re in the business of automotive marketing, and they made the Inc. 5000 last year with 134.0% three-year revenue growth to $168.4 million. Cobalt works with both dealers and manufacturers to “increase their retailing effectiveness and profits.” The company has been around since 1995, and it consists of three key subsidiaries: Dealix, UsedCars.com, and IntegraLink.

Drive Your Career in the Right Direction

The big reason that Cobalt has been so successful is that they were ready for the transition to digital marketing from the start. A lot of people in the automotive industry weren’t ready for a change in their business model, but luckily they have Cobalt to rely on for marketing. More than two thirds of auto manufacturers and one half of dealers in the US use Cobalt’s services in some capacity. Cobalt is a lot like a fully-integrated marketing agency in terms of the areas in which they work, but their business doesn’t appear to be quite as client focused (for instance they run a UsedCars.com—a destination site). If you’re intrigued by what Cobalt does, then you’ll want to take a look at their Careers page. It goes into a lot of detail about what it’s like to work at Cobalt, and then it will direct you to take a look at their job postings. There are lots of opportunities for new or recent grads including: Data Normalization Clerk (Columbus, OH), Technical Customer Support (Columbus, OH), Website Technical Support (Lynnwood, WA), Online Marketing Specialist (Lynnwood, WA), Technical Inside Sales (Redwood City, CA), Operations Analyst – Inventory (Seattle, WA), UI Web Developer (Seattle, WA), Build and Release Engineer (Seattle, WA), and Sales Operations Specialist (Seattle, WA).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When is the last time that you bought a car?

Classified Ventures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:33:00 +0000

I remember being in middle school and deciding that I wanted a drum set. I already had a snare drum, but I knew that a full set would be much cooler. My mom bought me a copy of the Bargain News, a local paper full of classified ads, and helped me pore over the listings in search of a drum set. That’s certainly a relic of the past, but classified ads are far from dead. They’ve just moved online. You’re probably most familiar with Craigslist, and maybe you’ve considered using Facebook Marketplace or something like that. What you probably didn’t realize is that there is still a huge business behind classified ads. Take Chicago based Classified Ventures for instance. They’re another Inc. 5000 company, and they’ve increased their revenue from $146.7 million to $297.5 million over the past three years. They’ve done this with four distinct businesses: Apartments.com, Cars.com, HomeGain.com, and HomeFinder.com. You’ve probably noticed at least one of those sites before, which is exactly what they’re looking for.

Get Classified

Whether you’re looking for a car, an apartment, or a home, Classified Ventures is going to do its best to grab your attention and show you some ads. Since classified ads are the kind of ads that people actually seek out, Classified Ventures’ main focus is on driving traffic. As long as they can keep linking up more buyers and sellers, their business is going to grow. They’re already a pretty good sized company with “offices in Chicago, IL, Emeryville, CA, Santa Monica, CA and Austin, TX, and over 1,100 employees in 37 states,” but they’re not stopping there—their Jobs page shows 33 current openings. You might want to consider the following positions: Product Specialist – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Ad Trafficker – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Dealer Experience Advocate – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Software Engineer – ApartmentHomeLiving (Austin, TX), Software Quality Assurance Analyst – HomeFinder.com (Chicago, IL), Inside Sales Manager SBU – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Freelance Web Designer – Cars.com (Santa Monica, CA), Account Receivables Analyst – Corporate Services (Chicago, IL), Account Manager – Apartments.com (Chicago, IL), and Technical Web Producer – Apartments.com (Chicago, IL). You can apply online directly from the job descriptions, so see which of these jobs suits you best—no need to scan the classifieds.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used classified ads in your job search?

Zipcar

Willy Franzen — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:47:23 +0000

The great thing about living in downtown Chicago is that I’m constantly bombarded with new ideas for companies to feature here. In suburban Connecticut most of what I saw when I was driving around was trees. Here in Chicago there are few trees in sight, but plenty of businesses, billboards, and buses (with advertising on the side, of course). There are also plenty of taxes. Sales tax is 10.25% and the parking tax is 28%, but likely soon to be 33%. This is on top of already outrageous monthly parking fees, so it’s no wonder that there’s a Zipcar location just a hundred yards down the street from my building. Zipcars are kind of like rental cars, but better. They’re more affordable (I think, but I haven’t done the math), they’re intended for residents instead of travelers, they’re green, and you don’t need to be 25 to take them for a ride. It’s kind of like having a friend with a car except you have to pay that friend whenever you use his car.

Zipjobs

It’s probably no surprise to you that Zipcar is a growing business. They’ve located themselves in urban centers, college campuses, and other places where it’s a hassle (or absurd expense) to own a car. Although the marginal expense of driving a Zipcar is greater than owning a car, most people who live in cities don’t use their cars enough to justify the fixed costs of parking, insurance, and car payments. Zipcar’s business model is ingenious because it feels like a luxury, but it saves people money every month. That’s why we won’t be surprised to see Zipcar thrive even in a declining economy; in fact, they must be pretty confident about their future considering that their Jobs page shows more than 20 job openings.

Most of the jobs aren’t exactly what new college grads are typically looking for (they either require too much experience or are intended for people without college degrees), but there are still a few jobs that we think that you might want to consider. The most interesting job is the Business Development Manager (Universities) position, which looks like a perfect entry level opportunity for a new grad with some selling experience. There are also a number of software development positions with Zipcar. These include Database Administrator / Software Engineer, Software Engineer – Embedded Systems, Software Engineer – Web Applications. These jobs all require some previous software development experience (including internships), but they may still be worth looking at. They’re located in Cambridge, MA along with the Business Development position, and you can apply by e-mailing the addresses included at the bottom of the job descriptions (they vary depending on the positions). Zipcar also has some positions that are “entry level,” but not geared towards new college grads such as Fleet Associate, Campus Fleet Coordinator, Street Team Member / Promotional Rep, and Street Team Marketing Representative. These jobs vary by location, so head over to the Zipcar Jobs page to get more information.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used a Zipcar?

Garmin

Willy Franzen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:43:43 +0000

Ok, it may be politically incorrect to celebrate Columbus Day, but it’s just about the only holiday that I had off in college. Maybe it just happened to be a convenient weekend for Fall Break, but I still can’t believe that I didn’t have class on Columbus Day, but did have class on Labor Day (when I went to a School of Industrial and Labor Relations). Anyway, Christopher Columbus wasn’t much of a navigator. He had no idea where he was going, and he tried to take the long way around the world. Still, his ineptitude was the reason that he “discovered” the Americas. Had Garmin been around in the 1490s, Columbus never would have ended up where he did. Then again, the existence of a company built on GPS technology would have changed a lot of things for famous explorers five centuries ago. (Much like the existence of iPods – like the one we’re giving away – would have changed the world for musicians back then.)

Find Your Way to Garmin

Since Garmin started in 1989, their goal has been to “create navigation and communication devices that can enrich their customers’ lives.” GPS has certainly enriched my life, and I’m sure it’s done the same for you. Getting lost is a thing of the past, right? Ok, maybe not yet, but we’re getting there. I can say with certainty that with a GPS system I never would have started my first drive home from college during Columbus Day Weekend by driving for 45 minutes in the wrong direction. Garmin keeps improving their navigation devices, and they rely heavily on new grads to help them do it.

Garmin has a great recruiting site for college students called GarminU, although it’s easy to miss when you visit their Careers site. It’s just a little link on the left side of the page, but it’s well worth visiting. It includes behind the scenes videos with Garmin’s entry level employees, interview preparation tips, internship testimonials, and info on why you should pick Garmin. There’s also a link to Garmin’s campus recruiting schedule. You should definitely check that before applying for a job online, since campus recruiting is usually a much more effective way to make your first contact.

If Garmin isn’t visiting your campus, or if you’ve already missed them, then you’ll have to browse Garmin’s online job listings to find the right opportunity for you. They don’t have specific listings just for entry level opportunities, but we’ve identified which jobs that we think will be good fits for new grads. The listings are easy enough to browse, but we can’t link specifically to the jobs. We’ll list the titles, but you’ll have to search for them yourselves. Most of Garmin’s job opportunities are at their Olathe, KS headquarters. These include Cartography Technician, Web Content Writer, Web/Interface Designer, Test Software Engineer, General Accountant, Component Engineer, Software Engineer – Development Tools, and Software Engineer. There are also opportunities in San Francisco, CA (Software Engineer – Web Services and Web Developer); Minneapolis, MN (Software Engineer – Information Services and Web Software Developer); Salem, OR (Aircraft Systems Engineer); Tempe, AZ (Software Quality Engineer – Applications); and Los Angeles, CA (Software Quality Engineer – Automotive OEM). Garmin accepts online applications, so you’ll have to find the jobs that interest you and apply from there.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do any of you have any embarrassing travel experiences that would have been prevented by having a Garmin GPS unit? Please share in the comments.

Exponent

Willy Franzen — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:00:28 +0000

Imagine getting a job as a MythBuster, except instead of debunking urban legend, you’re investigating real life problems that plague businesses and sometimes hurt people. That’s what you could be doing at Exponent. Founded in 1967 by five Ph.D.-level researchers, Exponent was originally known as Failure Analysis Associates. They started out in the energy industry studying stress and fracture mechanics, but very quickly they were “investigating and analyzing accidents and failures of all kinds.” They eventually became The Failure Group, and were listed on the NASDAQ with the ticker FAIL. In 1998 they realized that they had outgrown their name, and changed again to Exponent, because it means “one who expounds or interprets.” We don’t usually get so deep into how a company chooses it’s name, but with the popularity of the FAIL meme (see also: FAIL Blog), we thought that you might be amused.

Failures Need Not Apply

Despite their fascination with failure, Exponent has a staff of nearly 800 people with backgrounds in over 90 scientific and engineering disciplines. In other words, people who work at Exponent deal with failure often, but they try to keep it at an arm’s length. Are you still not sure what we mean by failure? Here are some examples of projects that Exponent has worked on: investigating defects in automatic revolving doors; determining the path and altitude of Delta flight 191 which crashed and killed 134 people; recreation of the accident that killed James Dean for an NBC series, and testing the Suzuki Samurai for rollover vulnerabilities. There are many more projects that Exponent has worked on, and you can view multimedia presentations on many of them in the Exponent Multimedia Archive. We could keep writing about Exponent’s work for hours – it’s that interesting – but they have a plethora of entry-level job opportunities that we need to talk about.

Entry-Level Jobs to the Xth Power

Exponent’s web site is about as entry-level friendly as we’ve seen, although they could do a better job of making sure that new college grads can navigate to the right jobs. When you visit Exponent’s Careers Page, you’ll notice that they’ve prominently linked to their University Recruiting page. Their approach to University Recruiting on the web is really cool, but it’s not intuitive. There’s a text box that allows you to enter in your school name to search for current alumni from your school and to learn about upcoming recruiting events on your campus. There’s also a list of the 20 schools from which they employ the most alums. For instance, take a look at Cornell’s page (I’m not biased or anything – GO BIG RED!). It’s a really cool way to engage students, but it only works if the students go to a school that Exponent has a page for. A lot of students probably end up on the University Recruiting page and don’t know what to do next.

This is where a little searching helps. If you visit Exponent’s How to Apply page, you’ll see information for entry-level candidates. Here they direct you to contact their College Recruiter, Jenny Irwin, at jirwin@exponent.com or to take a look at their entry-level job listings (these are opportunities specifically for new grads). Here you’ll find a ton of fascinating jobs in a variety of locations. We will warn you, however, that seemingly all of the entry-level jobs currently listed with Exponent require some sort of advanced degree (MS or PhD). Since so many Engineers seem to stick around and get a Masters, we thought it would still be appropriate to feature Exponent’s jobs today.

Some of the most recent listings on Exponent’s site include Engineers, Vehicle Engineering (Menlo Park, CA and Natick, MA); Scientists, Public Health & Industrial (Menlo Park, CA; Bellevue, WA; Wood Dale, IL; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Oakland, CA; Irvine, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Alexandria, VA; and Washington, DC); and Engineers, Technology Development (Menlo Park, CA; San Diego, CA; and Washington, DC). There are many more opportunities listed on their site, and you can apply online through their applicant tracking system. If you want to work for Exponent but are just finishing up undergrad, then you better start thinking about graduate school.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you feel like your entry-level job search is a failure of such grand proportion that Exponent may have to investigate what happened? Subscribe to One Day, One Job (it’s free), and make sure that doesn’t happen.

Honda R&D

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:00:08 +0000

We mentioned a couple weeks back that Facebook now has a valuation on par with that of the Ford Motor Company. In our post about Facebook, we focused on how impressive the growth has been of “Web 2.0″ companies, but didn’t mention the equally impressive decline of American auto manufacturers. It’s sad to say, but the reason for the decline has a lot to do with foreign auto companies making better products, and doing it with American talent! Honda is one of those companies that has been kicking the Big Three’s butts by putting out great cars, and a big part of it has been because of their research and development.

Honda R&D starts their recruiting of American talent with a strong co-op/internship program and goes from there. Considering they compensate interns well, it’s obvious that they value talent as the key driver of innovation and success in R&D. Honda follows up by offering a litany of what appear to be entry-level jobs. There are jobs in a number of disciplines, but all current openings are engineering related.

The reason we said that the jobs appear to be entry-level is that they all say that they require 1+ years of experience. Considering Honda’s excellent co-op program and the fact that there are no jobs with a requirement of 0 years of experience, we think that they intend these jobs to be entry-level. Another reason we think that the jobs are entry-level is that the job requirements say that equivalent education can replace the need for experience. One final confusing detail is that Honda’s jobs have the same title regardless of required experience. An Automotive Exterior Engineer is an Automative Exterior Enginer, whether he or she has no experience or 4 years’ experience. So, pay attention to which job you apply for!

Here’s a rundown of the jobs that look to be entry-level. Some job titles are posted multiple times with slightly different descriptions, but we only listed the first occurrence, so look at the full job listings for more jobs.

For all you car buffs who happen to be near completing your degree in engineering, it doesn’t get any better than this. Honda will treat you well and allow you to jump into some really exciting work. Now get researching so you can build us a sweet car that gets 90 MPG!

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at Honda R&D.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We blogged about internships and co-ops at Honda R&D over on One Day, One Internship. If you’re not ready for a full time job, check it out.

Tesla Motors

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:00:16 +0000

So, we’re still on vacation here at One Day, One Job. We didn’t tell you, but for the past week our daily posts have been coming from a tropical island with poor wireless Internet coverage. We thought there’d be at least one rainy day where we could finish off our posts and act like no vacation ever happened, but, unfortunately for you, the weather has been beautiful. On that note, today’s post is going to be a quick run down of what Tesla Motors does and why they look like a cool company for college seniors to research for career opportunities.

Tesla Motors is a company that designs and builds electric cars. Not a company that is going to. One day. They’ve already done it. Their Tesla Roadster does zero to sixty in four seconds and will go 220 miles on a single charge. Not only are these cars solving the problem of dependence on foreign oil, they’re also fun to drive (no, we haven’t actually driven one, we could be wrong). What better way to introduce electric cars to the masses than build high performance sports cars that are entirely gas free?

Because of the nature of what they do, many of the jobs at Tesla Motors are extremely technical. Even non-engineering jobs require a firm understanding of how electric cars work. There are a ton of job posted, many of which seem to be pretty advanced. Many of the job descriptions use words and acronyms that we don’t even recognize, but the people Tesla Motors wants will know exactly what they’re talking about. A few examples of positions that might be appropriate for new college grads include Battery Test Engineer, Electro-Mechanical Technician and Desktop Technician.

Tesla Motors is offering jobs working around fascinating technology. If you have a background in engineering or just love cars, do some research using the links below and search for an opening that will put your skills, knowledge, and passion to use. If you can’t find a opening that fits, Tesla’s employment page has a list of e-mail addresses for you to send applications for unlisted positions.

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at Tesla Motors.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

There’s a 30% chance of thunderstorms here tomorrow, but unless the wireless network goes down again, we promise we’ll have our first non-profit job of the New Year. Even if it means leaving the beach a little early.