One Day, One Job » biology

Society for Neuroscience

Willy Franzen — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:43:16 +0000

Neuroscience is a word that is about as intimidating as astrophysics. Most people have no idea what it means, but they’re pretty sure that its definition is over their head. The truth is that neuroscience is simply the study of the brain and nervous system. That’s not to say it’s a simple science, but it’s a science that covers equipment that we all have. With that said, neuroscience gets a bit complex as it draws from “other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics, medicine and allied disciplines, philosophy, physics, and psychology.” (Here’s the Wikipedia article on Neuroscience.) The Society for Neuroscience is a Washington, DC based non-profit member organization for the scientists and physicians who study the brain and nervous system.

Get Your Neurons Firing

The field of neuroscience is young as sciences go, which is why the Society for Neuroscience was only founded in 1969 (I know that seems like a long time ago to you). Back then they only had about 500 members, but today they have more than 40,000. The Society for Neuroscience is similar to other scientific non-profit member organizations in that it works in a number of ways to move the field forward. These activities include creating “venues for sharing great science in an expanding field”; “connecting people around the globe and across specialties”; educating “the public about the wonders of the brain”; and advocating “for policies that promote research.” If you’re interested in things like brain development, sensation and perception, learning and memory, movement, sleep, stress, aging, and more, then you have to take a look at the Society for Neuroscience’s Jobs page. Their current openings include:

Neuroscience is a fast growing field, so now is a great time to get involved. And the Society for Neuroscience is a great place to get a start even if you don’t have a background in neuroscience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about neuroscience?

Amy’s Kitchen

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:57:13 +0000

Considering a job in Sales but lacking experience? SinglePlatform is hiring and training 50 new grads.

I don’t think that I’ve had a frozen dinner since I forced my mom to buy me Kid Cuisine in the early 90s. If I’m going to eat something unhealthy, it should at least taste good, right? Clearly I’m biased against frozen meals (maybe because I consider myself a pretty good cook), but I shouldn’t write them all off as unhealthy and unpalatable. That’s especially true because one the nation’s leading frozen food brands is all vegetarian and mostly organic. Amy’s Kitchen was founded in 1987 by a couple looking for a way to provide for a new baby. They started in their home with a vegetable pot pie, and since then the Petaluma, CA based business has grown to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Get in the Kitchen!

The variety of meals offered by Amy’s Kitchen is pretty astounding. You can have Asian Noodle Stir-Fry, Roasted Vegetable Pizzas, Breakfast Burritos, and even All American Veggie Burgers. I can’t vouch for how they taste, but there’s no doubt that they’re all nutritious and convenient. That’s a hard combo to do right, which is why Amy’s Kitchen is so successful (my guess is that they do the taste thing pretty well too). They may be a huge operation, but the brand still gives you the feeling that they’re running things out of their barn. That’s important for the market they serve. If you’d like to be part of the Amy’s Kitchen story, then go take a look at their Careers page. Right now they have a few jobs that could be interesting including:

Food Technologist – Microbiology Program (Santa Rosa, CA)
Food Technologist – Quality Assurance Raw Materials (Santa Rosa, CA)
Ag Field Representative (Santa Rosa, CA)
Territory Sales Representative (Portland, OR)

If you love organic vegetarian food, then you might like the smell of what they’re cooking at Amy’s Kitchen.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Amy’s Kitchen?

Solazyme

Willy Franzen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:34:11 +0000

“Yo I’m a Raptor doin’ what I can gonna eat everything till the appearance of man. Yo yo yo, see me, I’m living below the soil, I’ll be back but I’m comin’ as oil!” That has to be one of my favorite lines from Mrs. Doubtfire, a movie that I saw dozens of time as a kid. I thought it was funny even though I had no idea what it meant (probably because Robin Williams saying anything is funny). Mrs. Doubtfire was on tv recently, and I saw the scene for the first time in a long time and finally got it. Disappointingly, petroleum doesn’t actually come from dinosaurs, but from decomposed single-celled organisms that existed 10s or 100s of millions of years ago. That means that oil is a non-renewable resource… or at least it used to be. Solazyme is a San Francisco, CA based company that has “pioneered an industrial biotechnology platform that harnesses the prolific oil-producing ability of micro algae.” Yes, they are actually synthesizing real oil that can be refined and used to power things.

Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil

What Solazyme is doing may sound like a futuristic fantasy, but United Airlines has already flown flights with Solazyme’s algae based fuel. They’re also planning to buy 20 million gallons of the fuel in 2014. Solazyme’s business isn’t just about energy. They also develop products for the Chemical, Nutrition, and Health Sciences industries. You can learn more about each of these market areas here. You’ll also probably want to read up on Solazyme’s technology. If reading that gets you fired up about a future powered by Solazyme, then you’ll want to check out the company’s Careers page. They’re obviously a very science-focused company, but most of their non-science jobs require pretty significant experience (and so do most of their science focused jobs). The one position that stood out to me as possibly being a good fit for a new grad is Fermentation Research Associate. They also allow you to apply for unlisted positions, so you may want to do that if you think you’d fit in for a role that isn’t posted (they do offer internships, so those might be a good guideline for what kind of entry level opportunities could be possible).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Solazyme?

Association of Public Health Laboratories

Willy Franzen — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:48:10 +0000

For the most part illness is an individual problem. You get sick, you go to a doctor if it’s serious enough, and it eventually gets better with or without treatment. But sometimes your illness can be a public health issue. If you get something like influenza or food poisoning, there’s a good chance that information about your illness could help lots of other people stay healthy. At times like these “when new health risks emerge or well-known problems re-emerge, it is public health laboratories that analyze the threat and provide the answers needed to mount an effective response.” The Association of Public Health Laboratories is a non-profit organization based in Silver Spring, MD that “works to strengthen laboratories serving the public’s health in the US and globally.” The organization’s membership spans across all kinds of laboratories ranging from the public health labs mentioned in their name to environmental and agricultural labs. Many are government labs, but there are also corporate and non-profit labs included.

Check the Labs

To get a full understanding of what the Association of Public Health Laboratories does, you really need to understand what public health labs do. Luckily, the APHL has put together an About Public Health Labs page. Once you’ve read that, you’ll be better able to make sense of their programs and policy positions. But the best way to get a feel for why the APHL is an organization that you may want to work for is to check out their success stories–they’re the reason that promoting public health labs is so important. If you’d like to help the APHL deliver more success stories, you should check out their Jobs page. Right now they have a few positions that seem well suited for new and recent grads including Associate Grants Management Specialist, Associate Communications Specialist. There are a few more science-y positions, but they typically require a few years of experience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about the Association of Public Health Laboratories?

The Nature Conservancy

Willy Franzen — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:50:09 +0000

Last night I started watching Planet Earth and ended up staying awake later than I intended. This morning the same channel was on, and I ended up watching documentaries on Yellowstone. There aren’t many things that I find more fascinating than nature, so it’s easy for me to get caught up in these kinds of shows. It’s also why I think the work of The Nature Conservancy is so important. They’re an international non-profit organization based in Arlington, VA that is “the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.” The Nature Conservancy was founded in 1951, and since then they have grown their membership to more than 1 million people. The organization’s huge size gives it a ton of power and has enabled it to do some really amazing work.

Nature Over Nurture

Everything that The Nature Conservancy does is rooted in science. They gather facts first, and then they take action on a local and a global scale. That’s why they’ve been able to protect “more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide.” What strikes me most about The Nature Conservancy is that they take a “non-confrontational, pragmatic” approach that sets them apart from some other conservation organizations. This may occasionally limit their short-term effectiveness, but it ensures that in the long run The Nature Conservancy will have the respect and legitimacy to continue protecting ecologically important lands and waters. If you want to dig deeper into this topic, you should really check out The Nature Conservancy’s Why We’re An Effective Nonprofit page. There’s a ton more to check out on The Nature Conservancy’s website (like How They Work and Where They Work), but I’ll leave the rest of the research to you. If you like what the organization is all about, check out their Careers page. They have some great opportunities for new or recent grads including (sorry I can’t link to the postings, but it’s a bad applicant tracking system):

Burn Crew Technician (Glyndon, MN or Karlstad, MN or Center, ND or Clear Lake, SD)
Philanthropy Coordinator (San Francisco, CA)
Preserve Management Assistant – Prairie Forest Border Ecoregion (Cushing, MN)
Seasonal Field Representative (Keene Valley, NY)
Human Resources Coordinator (Austin, TX)
Stewardship Field Assistant (Brunswick, ME)
Prairie Recovery Specialist (Watson, MN)
Conservation Coordinator (Anchorage, AK)
Preserve Management / Bison Research Technician (Leola, SD)
Grassland Bird Technician (Minor, ND)
Digital Marketing Programmer Analyst (Arlington, VA)
Stewardship Assistant (Choteau, MT)
Communications Coordinator (Oklahoma City, OK)
Assistant Land Steward (Letts, IA)

If you love nature and want to work at a non-profit, it would be hard to beat a gig with The Nature Conservancy. So take a look at these positions, and see if any are a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about The Nature Conservancy?

Liquidia Technologies

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:49:06 +0000

When I was a kid, there were two kinds of visits to the doctor’s office: ones where I had to get a shot and ones where I didn’t. Children will never be able to understand how lucky they are to have the opportunity to get poked in the arm with a needle so that they can be vaccinated. Tomorrow’s kids will be even luckier to get poked if Liquidia Technologies keeps innovating. They’re a Research Triangle Park, NC based company that is “developing engineered particle-based vaccines and therapeutics that have the potential to dramatically improve the quality of human life.” Liquidia Technologies was founded in 2004 based on discoveries made by a Professor Joseph DeSimone of UNC, and since then they’ve raised a ton of financing.

There’s No Vaccine for Unemployment

I was in over my head as soon as I landed on Liquidia Technologies’ website, but maybe that’s because my Biology education ended after 9th grade. Luckily, I found the company’s corporate video, which does a great job of explaining what they’re all about:

If you’re yearning for more information on the science behind what Liquidia does, you should be able to find a good amount of info on their website. If all the biotechnology lingo makes sense to you without a need for translation, then you might be a good fit for a job at Liquidia Technologies. Right now they’re hiring Associate Scientists in Biology, Drug Delivery, Bio Conjugate Chemistry and Materials Science. They’re looking for people with 0-4 years of experience, so these jobs can be considered entry level. Liquidia also accepts general applications, so that’s an option if you think you could be a good fit in a different role.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you hate getting shots as a kid?

Synthetic Genomics

Willy Franzen — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:31:40 +0000

When I think of the energy industry, I think of big machines like oil drills, windmills, and coal elevators. Microbes and genetics just don’t come to mind. Synthetic Genomics is a company that is aiming to change that. Energy is just one of the industries that they are working to disrupt as they develop “breakthrough genomic-driven solutions for major global issues.” Right now Synthetic Genomics, which is based in La Jolla, CA, has put a heavy emphasis on working with the energy and chemical industries because there is so much potential for gain–especially in terms of the environment; however, they’re also working on things like food production, human health, and water availability. It’s all about “turning novel science into life-changing solutions.”

Synthetic Opportunities

Obviously commercialization is a key concern for Synthetic Genomics–they need to develop technologies that can actually make money, but they seem to have decided that fixing some of the world’s most pressing problems will provide plenty of revenue opportunities. Makes sense to me. From what I can tell Synthetic Genomics is really all about developing the technology. Once they have something that is ready for the market, they find partners in the industry to put the technology into action. I wish I could dive deeper into the specifics of what Synthetic Genomics does, but words like “environmental genomics, microbiology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, plant genomics, genome engineering, synthetic biology, and climate change” tell me that I’m in over my head. If you have no problem following along with their What We Do page, then you may want to consider taking a look at their Careers. Right now they’re hiring a Research Associate and a Research Associate – Production R&D. They have a bunch of other positions that require more experience/education, and the only other job that you might want to take a look at is the Business Development Associate position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Synthetic Genomics?

DNAnexus

Willy Franzen — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:29:43 +0000

The idea of having my genome sequenced kind of freaks me out. I’m certainly warming to it, but I don’t like the idea of finding out about a deep, dark family secret or the fact that I’m predisposed to some kind of cancer from a DNA test. I know it’s irrational, and I know that I’ll overcome it eventually. I fully expect that within 20 years every child born in the U.S. will have his or her genome sequenced at birth. So maybe I should just the bite the bullet and get my genome sequenced. But if I’m going to do that, I need your help. The other day I came across a post about Palo Alto, CA based DNAnexus on Hacker News (an awesome site for programmers and people interested in startups). The post was focused on the company’s referral program that offers $20,000 and a full genome sequencing to anyone who refers a software engineer that they hire. That clearly caught my attention (I am trying to run a business here), but, more importantly, it introduced me to what DNAnexus is doing. A single genome contains over 100 gigabytes of data. Storing and analyzing this data requires some serious hardware, especially if you want to do it on a large scale. DNAnexus is an “early-stage software technology company that aims to become the data platform of the genome era.”

You Are the Data

It’s mind blowing when you think about how much data is contained in every single cell of your body. When you multiply that out by the number of people in the world, you realize that computing is going to have to come a long way to be able to be able to crunch all of that data. DNAnexus wants to be the leader by “building the DNA operating system – a platform that will handle the data deluge coming from exponentially increasing whole human genome sequencing.” It’s hard to say what kind of things will be made possible as whole human genome sequencing becomes more common, but you can bet that it will lead to some amazing medical breakthroughs (see their testimonials here). For DNAnexus though, it’s really all about hardware and software breakthroughs. They have built their “infrastructure from the ground up to run on Amazon Web Services, the world’s leading cloud computing provider,” so that they can deliver “computing and storage infrastructure” with 100,000s of CPUs and 100s of petabytes of storage available.

If you’re interested in the intersection of computing technology and genetics, you have to take a look at jobs at DNAnexus. I’m not only saying that because they offer an amazing referral bonus; I really think that they’re doing something that has amazing potential for impact on the human race. DNAnexus is looking to hire Systems Engineers, Security Engineers, Web Services Engineers, Data Visualization and Interaction Engineers, UI/UX Engineers, and Computational Genomics, Algorithms, and Machine Learning Engineer. You can apply for any of these positions on your own if you’d like, but if you want to help support One Day, One Job (and help me overcome my fear of having my genome sequenced) then send me an e-mail to willy@onedayonejob.com with your résumé or LinkedIn profile and I’ll submit it according to the rules of the referral promotion.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you get your genome sequenced?

OpGen

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:42:55 +0000

Everything that I learned about DNA I learned from the O.J. Simpson trial and Jurassic Park. That’s not entirely true, but it’s scarily close. DNA analysis seemed so futuristic back then, but now it’s an everyday type thing. Still, there continues to be a ton of innovation in the world of molecular DNA diagnostics, and one of the leaders is OpGen, which used to be headquartered in Madison, WI, but is now located in Gaithersburg, MD. OpGen’s business is based on “a unique and powerful Optical Mapping Technology that rapidly generates high-resolution, ordered, whole genome restriction maps from single DNA molecules.” I’d explain that to you if I could, but I think you’re better off reading OpGen’s explanation of Optical Mapping.

OpGen Sesame

So what is Optical Mapping good for? Well OpGen aims to have their technology “positively influence healthcare outcomes, advance scientific research, and enhance public health.” But what does that actually look like? You’ve heard about the latest E. coli outbreak in Europe, right? Understanding the genetics of this new, extremely virulent strain of bacteria is essential to fighting it. OpGen’s Optical Mapping technology enables scientists and researchers to “discriminate between closely related strains or that detect insertions in engineered strains,” and, in turn offer “a tractable solution for triaging microbial strains for complete genome sequencing.” It’s still way over my head, but it’s really cool stuff. If you are interested in genetics and the science behind Optical Mapping, then you may want to consider check out Jobs at OpGen. They have a few opening that seem suitable for new or recent grads in Gaithersburg, MD including Customer Support Specialist, Laboratory Assistant I – Manufacturing, and Laboratory Associate. Check the positions out and see if you’re a good fit for any of them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about OpGen?

Sapphos Environmental

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:23:21 +0000

It used to be that if you wanted to build something, the hard part would be actually building it. These days the biggest hold up in construction and development is often environmental compliance. There are a multitude of regulations that limit what you can build, where you can build it, and how you can build it. The rules are often complex and they can vary greatly between jurisdictions. Sapphos Environmental is a Pasadena, CA based company that helps its clients resolve “planning, resource management, and environmental compliance issues through the development of pragmatic solutions and exemplary client service.” In other words they offer a range of services that ensure that development projects are done in an environmentally sensitive and compliant way.

Turning Compliance into Poetry

That maybe an odd heading, but it appears that Sapphos Environmental is named after an Ancient Greek poet. To get a feel for what the company does, you need to take a look at some of their past projects. They’ve worked on things ranging from the Hyundai Automotive Test Course to a Comprehensive Citywide Historic Survey of Santa Ana, CA. Looking at these cases, I can tell that Sapphos Environmental really digs in and looks at all of the issues surrounding a given project. Their job is to understand all of the factors that affect a given project, and then offer their clients a suite of options to their that work within the environmental and compliance constraints. It looks like fascinating work, which is why you may want to take a look at their Jobs page. They offer some really cool job titles like Archaeologist, Botanist, Avian Wildlife Biologist, Cultural Resources Coordinator/Architectural Historian, and Wildlife Biologist; however, most of these positions require significant prior experience. The two positions that you should look at are Wildlife Biologist/Botanist and Resources Specialist (if you have a Master’s Degree). If you have the right education and an interest in environmental consulting, you should be a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Sapphos Environmental?

Precision Therapeutics

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:00:42 +0000

In just the past year and a half, I’ve lost two important people in my life to cancer. Chances are that you’ve been similarly affected by the disease considering that 1 in 4 deaths in this country are caused by cancer and that there were more than 1.5 million new cancer cases last year. The numbers sound grim, but every year we’re getting better and better at treating cancer. One of the major trends that I keep hearing about is that doctors are starting to see cancers as individual diseases instead of as one disease that affects many areas of the body. Precision Therapeutics is a Pittsburgh, PA based company that is taking this idea once step further. They believe that cancer should be treated at an individual level. In other words, they see every single case of cancer as potentially unique, and they want to help doctors and patients find the best way to treat it.

You Need Precision in Your Job Search

Precision Therapeutics was founded in 1995, and since then most of their focus has been devoted to a single product. It’s called the ChemoFx® Drug Response Marker, and it is “a test that quantifies an individual cancer patient’s probable tumor response to various chemotherapeutic and biologic agents—providing both sensitivity and resistance information.” It works by testing a range of different chemotherapies on a patient’s cancer cells. It then determines which of the different therapies are most likely to be effective and ineffective, so that doctors have a better chance of taking the right course of action. Obviously I’m not qualified to give you the full overview since my last Biology class was in 9th grade, but what I’ve told you should be enough to pique your interest. If it has, then you will want to take a look at Precision Therapeutics’ Careers page. Right now they’re looking for a Data Analyst, a Java Software Developer, and a Medical Records Coordinator. All three positions look suitable for a new or recent grad, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Precision Therapeutics?

The Island School

Willy Franzen — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 13:48:55 +0000

Today marks the end of vacation for a lot of people. Tomorrow morning’s blaring alarm will mean back to work or back to school, and the great feeling of the New Year will start to wear off. I have a couple of days left, but I’m not too excited to go back to Chicago’s predicted 19-degree weather on Tuesday night. But what if going back to work or school meant returning to an island in the Bahamas? That would change some attitudes, which is why you should envy the teachers and students at The Island School on Cape Eleuthra. The Island School calls itself “a mind, body, and spirit journey that takes students away from traditional high school curriculum and invites them to confront authentic challenges” where “classes are designed to allow first-hand engagement with the people and environment of The Bahamas.” It’s most definitely not a vacation, but it’s education in a far more welcoming environment.

A Vacation from Vacation

I love experiential learning. There’s no better way to learn than by just sucking it up and doing something that feels uncomfortable. That’s what The Island School is all about. They only teach grades 10 and 11, so it’s a very focused environment. You can learn about their methodology by looking at their pedagogy and their curriculum. That should give you a good idea of what The Island School focuses on from an educational standpoint. Specifically, they teach english, math, environmental art, history, and marine ecology while there is also plenty of time devoted to SCUBA diving, island exploration, sky diving, science research projects, and “campus work that encourages each student to develop leadership and teamwork skills.” I have a friend who took some time away from my high school to go to The Island School, and I’m pretty sure that she loved it. If you’d like to spend some time in The Bahamas, you should check out The Island School’s Teaching positions along with their Teaching Fellowship Program. You can find all of the information on their Jobs page. The Island School offers the following subjects: Human Ecology, Marine Ecology, Literature of the Sea, Histories of the Bahamas, IS Mathematics, Land & Environmental Art, and Applied Scientific Research, so that’s where they need teachers. Give the positions a look and see if The Island School is the right place for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of The Island School?

Marrone Bio Innovations

Willy Franzen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:10:07 +0000

Ten days ago we took a look at Rodale Institute, a non-profit that is “dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach.” We talked about how industrial farming has led to amazing boosts in productivity, but it’s also created a lot of problems. Marrone Bio Innovations is a Davis, CA based company that is taking a natural approach to one specific area of agriculture: pest control. They’re aiming to be “the world leader in natural product innovation” by making “natural, effective, safe, environmentally friendly products the mainstream future of pest management.” Usually you don’t hear organic and pesticide in the same sentence, but Marrone Bio Innovations’ business is predicated on bringing the two together.

Don’t Be a Pest

Marrone Bio Innovations has a range of products that solve problems from Fungal and Bacteria Disease Control to Blight Control. Now, I’m not a Plant Scientist, so I don’t know anything about the effectiveness of Marrone Bio Innovations’ products, but I do know that they recently received a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for the development of a natural biopesticide for control of invasive zebra and quagga mussels. If the NSF is backing them, then you know they’re one of the leaders in the field. If you’re excited about a world with less harmful pesticides, then you should check out jobs at Marrone Bio Innovations. Nothing is explicitly entry level, but if you’ve been working in a lab throughout college, I could see their Associate Research Scientist – Formulation position being a good fit. There’s also a Zequanox® Sales manager position that could be worth checking out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about biopesticides?

Cord Blood Registry

Willy Franzen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:09:40 +0000

You can sell anything to new parents. They want to create a perfect world for their new baby, so they often tend to go overboard on things like strollers, cribs, mobiles, and clothes. Recently, an expensive new option for parents-to-be has come to market. It seems a little out there at first, but it has the potential to be the most valuable purchase/investment that a parent could make. It’s having your child’s stem cells banked at birth by freezing the blood from the umbilical cord. The mention of stem cells often creates a lot of controversy, but that’s almost always directed at embryonic stem cell research. There are plenty of other ways to procure stem cells—and umbilical cord blood is one of the best, especially for individual medical use. Stem cell therapies are still pretty uncommon, but the hope is that future therapies will be available to those who have had their stem cells banked—and there’s already a long list of diseases that have been treated with stem cells from cord blood. Cord Blood Registry in San Bruno, CA is the world’s “largest and most experience cord blood bank” having “already saved cord blood for more than 325,000 newborns.” Banking cord blood may not be all that common yet, but if you’re going to do it, it looks like Cord Blood Registry is the place to go.

Banking on the Future

Now, there are some people who criticize cord blood banks for taking advantage of naive parents and selling them an expensive product/service that isn’t really necessary. There may be some truth to that, but I’m sure the parents of children who were treated with stem cells from their cord blood are pretty happy with their investment. Now, there’s no way that I could explain the whole process of cord blood banking, but the Cord Blood Registry website does a great job of that. They have sections on Why You Should Bank Stem Cells, Why You Should Choose Cord Blood Registry, and a great database of Frequently Asked Questions. The site is extremely informative, even if it is focused on selling parents on the idea of cord blood banking. If you’re fascinated by what Cord Blood Registry is doing, then you’ll want to head over to their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Client Support Representative, a Human Resources Coordinator, and an Associate Manager/Content Scientist. I wonder if employees get free cord blood banking for their kids?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would bank your child’s cord blood?

Rodale Institute

Willy Franzen — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:51:51 +0000

Last week I got an e-mail from a One Day, One Job reader who is just wrapping up a seasonal position and looking for her next gig. In doing so, she realized that other readers might be interested in her current position, so she wrote me to tell me about it. When I saw the name Rodale Institute in her e-mail, I swore to myself that I had already featured the organization, but it was actually a publishing company named Rodale that was started by the same person as the Institute and used to be financially linked to it as well. The Rodale Institute is a Kutztown, PA based non-profit organization that is “dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach.” They’ve been at it since 1947, and they’re going to keep “researching the best practices of organic agriculture and sharing [their] findings with farmers and scientists throughout the world” because they believe that eating organic is the healthiest option for people and for the Earth.

Go Organic!

What’s old is new again. For most of human history, farming was organic—there was no other option. But as technology moved forward, more and more chemicals made their way onto our farms—and this was great because it enabled us to produce food on a massive scale. Unfortunately, there are a lot of negative effects that come along with industrial farming. J.I. Rodale was one of the first people to realize what was going on, which is why he founded the Rodale Institute “to study the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people.” The mission hasn’t changed over more than 60 years, and The Institute continues to be a leader in research and advocacy for organic farming. They’re proving that improvements in farming technology don’t require chemicals and industrial practices. If you want to be part of the organic movement, then you should consider jobs at the Rodale Institute. The Seasonal Research Technician is the position that I was e-mailed about (there are 5 different options), and there’s also a Part Time Store Assistant position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you eat organic?

Forensic Fluids Laboratories

Willy Franzen — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:51:32 +0000

Do you like animals? Need a job? If you said yes to both, then you need to check out entry level opportunities at Nestle Purina. They’re our sponsor this week.

While on a fishing trip last month, I met a guy who was telling me about his daughter’s coursework in forensics. He mentioned that her college’s program has its own house for practicing crime scene investigation. Apparently, it’s filled with all kind of carnage—you know, bullet holes, blood stains, and other—ahem—bodily fluids. I told the guy that I didn’t understand how this house was any different from most college housing after a good weekend, but he didn’t seem to appreciate the humor. My point is that the area of forensics is growing, and Kalamazoo, MI based Forensic Fluids Laboratories is a perfect example of this. They’re an Inc. 500 company with 1,680.7% three-year revenue growth and $2.8 million in annual revenue. Forensic Fluids Laboratories specializes in testing oral fluids—in other words, spit—with a heavy emphasis on drug testing.

Salivate Over These Jobs

There’s a decent chance that once you land a job, you’ll be subjected to a drug test. It’s become a common practice, mostly because it helps companies limit their liability and reduce turnover costs. The problem with drug tests are that they’re extremely invasive. Both urine and blood samples are difficult to collect, and can only be 100% accurate if the samples are collected under supervision by a reliable source. Hair tests provide another alternative, but apparently they’re quite expensive. Forensic Fluids Laboratories offers the opportunity to test for drugs with a simple swab of the mouth. Within 72 hours they can identify a positive test for a laundry list of drugs, and within 24 hours they can identify a negative test. Forensic Fluids Laboratories’ are extremely reliable, and they’re even court approved. It truly is disruptive technology for the drug testing industry. If you’re fascinated by this kind of stuff, you should check out jobs at Forensic Fluids Laboratories. Right now they’re looking for a Laboratory Technologist, and it seems like a perfect entry level opportunity for someone with a background in “chemistry, medical science, biology, biochemistry, microbiology, toxicology or equivalent.” That’s all they have right now, but they’re growing fast and will likely be hiring more people in the near future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had your spit tested?

Nestle Purina

Willy Franzen — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:37:26 +0000

This is a sponsored post for Nestle Purina.

Who else thinks there aren’t enough pets in college? I understand that college students are often stressed, busy, and living in places where animals aren’t permitted, but I’d like to see more pets on campus. My roommates and I had a cat, a bird, a hamster, and an occasionally visiting dog—all of which our landlord didn’t quite know about. We knew we weren’t supposed to have them, but the excitement that the animals constantly brought to the house made it well worth the risk of a $500 fine. I know a few people who decided to get a cat or dog after graduating from college, but most held back because they didn’t know if their work schedule would allow them to give their pets the care that they would need. This isn’t a problem at Nestle Purina, a St. Louis, MO based company (with dozens of other locations) that is a “leader in the pet products industry.” Not only do they offer a pet-friendly workplace, but they also offer a work environment where you’ll be “dedicated to improving the lives of cats and dogs through quality nutrition and care.” You’re probably familiar with a number of Nestle Purina’s brands including Pro Plan, Purina ONE, Dog Chow, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Beggin’ Strips and many more—and I hope your pets are too.

Calling All Animal Lovers

If you’re wondering why there’s a Nestle in front of the Purina name, it’s because of a merger in 2001—they’re not making chocolate flavored dog food. Along with the Purina name, they’ve also held on to the company’s iconic checkerboard logo that you see above. What I like most about Nestle Purina is their commitment to recruiting top talent. For many companies a Jobs page is an afterthought, but Nestle Purina has an entire careers site at NestlePurinaCareers.com. The site provides extremely detailed information on their career opportunities and what it’s like to work for them, so you don’t have to wonder whether it makes sense for you to apply or not. The site include information on Locations, Culture & Benefits, Departments, Company History, and more, but the most important thing for you is their Step One Management Trainee Program. It’s an 18-24 month program that offers opportunities in Engineering (mechanical, industrial, chemical, and more), Food Science, Microbiology, Supply Chain, Occupational/Safety/Health, Packaging Engineering, Packaging Design, Engineering Technology, Human Resources, Information Systems, Computer Science, and Accounting. They even have podcasts that go into great depth about many of these opportunities, and you can also check out their Choosing Your Career Path page and their walk-through of the hiring process.

The Nestle Purina Management Trainee Program is offered in three locations: Jefferson, WI; Davenport, IA; and Bloomfield, MO. Once you’ve completed the program you can expect to relocate to any of Nestlé Purina’s 21 plant locations in the United States. As you can see, Nestle Purina pays a lot of attention to their college recruiting, which is why they were “named by Experience.com and Yahoo!HotJobs as one of the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads in 2010.” They’ve put together some great opportunities for when you graduate, so check them out and Apply for the Nestle Purina Management Trainee Program →.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have any questions about Nestle Purina? Ask them here and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.

Underwater Adventures Aquarium

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:52:05 +0000

When I’m doing my daily research and looking for interesting jobs or internships, I often find postings on third party job boards. I’m not a big fan of job boards, so I try to go directly to the employer’s site to get information on the opportunities. Today I was Googling an internship, and the first result was completely unrelated. Luckily, it was a way more interesting internship with Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. It’s the world’s largest underground aquarium, and it’s just the kind of place that you might end up at during a summer vacation road trip. They say it’s like scuba diving without getting wet. There are 1.2 million gallons of water, and there’s a “300 foot-long curved tunnel, complete with a moving walkway that simulates a scuba diving adventure.” Underwater Adventures has sharks, octopuses, jellyfish, and all kinds of fish, and you can watch them all get fed. They even offer birthday parties where you can sleep with the sharks.

Take Your Job Search Underwater

Judging from the excitement that Shark Week generates among my friends, there are plenty of you who would love to work at an aquarium. Whether it’s sharks, sea turtles, boring old fish, or one of their other 5,000 aquatic creatures that get you excited, Underwater Adventures (which will soon be rebranded as Sea Life Centres) is worth checking out. They don’t really have a great About page, so the Wikipedia article on them is the best place to get background information (beyond making a visit, of course). If you like what you see, then you should consider jobs at Underwater Adventures Aquarium. Right now they have positions available that include Animal Interpreter, Box Office Sales, Energetic Mascot, On-site Educator, and Outreach Educator. There are also some more advanced positions in Sales/Marketing. Take a look, hold your nose, and dive in.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited Underwater Adventures Aquarium?

Somark Innovations

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:43:26 +0000

If you’re anything like me, you’ve run into this problem before. You’re sitting around the house, and your lab mice are frolicking around. One of them starts misbehaving and you need to scold it, but you can’t because you don’t know it’s name. They all look the same, and you are completely clueless as to who the troublemaker is. Ok, I actually don’t have mice in my house, and I hope that you don’t either, but if you’ve ever worked with lab mice you probably know that identifying them is kind of important.Somark Innovation is a San Diego, CA based company that makes that a lot easier. They’ve developed technology called Labstamp that “applies automated tail tattoos for mouse identification.” The tattoos are human readable, permanent, and available with 46,656 unique alpha-numeric IDs.

San Diego Ink

I know that a lot of people don’t love the idea of animal testing, but it’s essential to all kinds of scientific research. Somark Innovations provides technology that makes testing with mice more cost effective and less prone to mistakes. It may seem stupid, but proper identification of lab mice can be absolutely essential to the success of a given study. There’s a version of Labstamp on its way for lab rats, and I’m interested to see how else Somark Innovations uses their technology going forward. Some of the earlier press on Somark Innovations mentions “chipless RFID tattoos,” which sounds really cool, but it doesn’t seem to be mentioned on their site anymore. Somark Innovations also doesn’t mention a Jobs page, but they do note on their Team page that they’re “always looking for more team members, especially engineers” and “if you would like to learn more about joining the SOMARK team, please send a note to LearnMore@somarkinnovations.com.” They are currently looking for a Marketing intern, so it may not be just technical people that they’re looking for.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you get a tattoo on your tail?

Genetic Alliance

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:53:40 +0000

As humans we must have some innate level of genetics knowledge. We know to look for favorable traits when we search for a reproductive partner, and once we make that choice, we know that our children are supposed to look at least a little bit like us and share some of our traits. That’s why genetic research is so mystifying. It offers the opportunity to know why we are the way we are. Yet, some think that genetic research hasn’t lived up to its billing. I have to agree that it’s extremely disappointing that with all of the genetic knowledge that we’ve gained in the past 20 or so years, it hasn’t helped us cure any major diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or any form of cancer. However, it still seems that plenty of good has come out of genetics research, and there is reason to hope that a lot more is on the way. Genetic Alliance would agree. They’re based in Washington, DC, and they’re “the world’s leading nonprofit health advocacy organization committed to transforming health through genetics and promoting an environment of openness centered on the health of individuals, families, and communities.”

Is It in Your Genes?

There are all kinds of stakeholders when it comes to genetics research—individuals, doctors, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, disease-specific advocacy organizations, government agencies, non-profits, and plenty more. Each group has its own agenda, but all will benefit from advances in genetics research. Genetic Alliance brings them all together as “the voice of advocacy in genetics” with the goal of transforming health. It’s an exciting goal, and hopefully one that will be fruitful. We can’t control how much genetics have to do with our health, but however much it is, we need to find out and learn how to use that information to our advantage. If you’d like to be a part of that mission, then you might want to consider a job at Genetic Alliance. Right now they’re looking for a Grants Administration Coordinator and an Executive Assistant. Take a look at both positions and see if you’ll be a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Genetic Alliance?

Advanced BioHealing

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:16:28 +0000

Last week a friend was telling me that his wife, who is in her residency, was going to have to work in the ER on the Fourth of July. I have to imagine that’s one of the most active nights of the year with injuries from fireworks, barbecues, and gunshots (especially in Chicago). All you need is a little imagination to come up with some nasty scenarios that would have ruined your holiday and left you with a permanent injury like my friend who passed out at a barbecue and now has perfect grill marks on his forearm—yes, that means he put his arm down twice. Usually these types of injuries aren’t funny, and they can be extremely traumatic with lasting consequences. Luckily, we’re entering an age of regenerative medicine in which injuries may not be so permanent. Advanced BioHealing is a La Jolla, CA based company that “develops and commercializes living cell therapies that repair damaged human tissue and enable the body to heal itself.” Their current product is called Dermagraft, and it’s a “a bio-engineered skin substitute that assists in restoring damaged tissue and supports the body’s natural healing process.” Right now it’s FDA approved to treat diabetic foot ulcers, but it appears that Advanced BioHealing also has a product called TransCyte that might be used to treat the kind of burns that fireworks or barbecues could cause.

Can You Regenerate?

Now, my medical knowledge is pretty much limited to what I make up, so I’m not the guy to tell you all about Advanced BioHealing. You’ll have to head over to their website and delve into their Corporate Info, Product Details, and Press Releases. Once you get a feel for how Advanced BioHealing works and operates, then you can check out their Careers page. They have a ton of jobs posted, and plenty of them seem suitable for new grads with the right backgrounds. These positions include Manufacturing Associate, Shipping and Receiving Associate, Quality Control Microbiologist, Reimbursement Manager, Research Associate, and a number of Sales positions in various locations. You can check out the job descriptions to get a better feel for what they’re looking for since some of the jobs require specific educational backgrounds.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Advanced BioHealing?

ARKive

Willy Franzen — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:39:45 +0000

I’m up in Michigan for my annual Father’s Day fly fishing trip. The town that I stay in is called Grayling, which is named after a fish. Unfortunately, it’s a fish that I’ll never catch here, because it’s extinct—at least the Michigan population is. Back in the 1800s the entire state of Michigan was logged, and apparently the value of the wood harvested from Michigan during the Gold Rush was $1 billion greater than the gold found in California during the same time. That had some serious environmental consequences, and one of those was the extinction of the Michigan Grayling. The introduction of trout to many of Michigan’s rivers didn’t help either, as they outcompeted the grayling for food. Luckily, we still have populations of grayling in Montana, Alaska, and much of Canada. They’re not completely lost, but there are plenty of species that we’ll never get to see. ARKive is changing it. Not only are they fighting to prevent many species from going extinct, but they’re also documenting the world’s most endangered species so even if they are extirpated, they’ll never be completely lost. ARKive is an initiative of Wildscreen, a UK based organization with an American arm located in Washington, DC.

Get on the ARKive

Beyond having an extremely clever name, ARKive also has an insanely cool website. You can access all kinds of information and media related to species on the brink. For instance, you can take a look at the Kirtland’s Warbler, a bird species that also happens to be native to the Grayling, MI area. You can see everything from pictures to a list of threats to the species. It’s an amazing educational tool that will not only preserve species historically even if they don’t make it, but will also help build support to fight the root causes behind species extinction. ARKive has put together a fascinating resource, and you should really spend some time checking it out. If you really like what you see, you may want to start thinking about a job with ARKive. They don’t have any positions posted right now beyond a volunteer Administrative & Data Entry Assistant posted on Idealist, but you should still reach out to them and see if there’s anything coming in the near future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite endangered species?

Academy of Natural Sciences

Willy Franzen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:53:00 +0000

For most of us museums are just places to go to visit for a day and to learn something new. We rarely think about what is going on behind the scenes, but we should. At many major museums there is also a significant research function. A perfect examples is the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, which sounds like a research institution, but it also runs a museum. In fact, The Academy is the “oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World” according to Wikipedia. The Academy has been at the forefront of biological and earth sciences since its inception, and it continues to promote public education in those areas. Just to give you an idea of the scale on which they operate, their collections include more than 17 million specimens. That’s crazy!

Jobs for Naturalists

One thing that is severely lacking on the Academy of Natural Sciences website is a solid About page. I had to head to Wikipedia to get a full idea of what they do, so if you’re interested, be sure to do a little extra research. The Academy has a great history, and its place in Philly reminds us about how Philadelphia used to be America’s most influential city. It’s amazing to think that The Academy is now approaching its 200th anniversary, and if you want to be able to celebrate it with them, you’ll want to take a look at their Jobs page. It does appear that they have much more interesting internships than jobs, but they do have entry level positions like Office Manager, Academy Explorers Camp Leader, Academy Explorers Camp Assistant, and Lead Sales Associate available. Additionally, there are some PhD level positions including Postdoctoral Fellowship, Macroinvertebrate Ecology of Mongolian Streams and Rivers and Stream Ecologist. You can apply by sending a résumé, cover letter, and salary requirements to hrjobs@ansp.org with the job title and requisition number in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited The Academy?

Wildlife Conservation Society

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:41:20 +0000

I’m a nut about wildlife. I don’t watch Animal Planet all day or anything, but I get ridiculously excited when I see a new species in the wild. My hope is to one day run into a mountain lion in the wild, at least as long as I’m not being hunted. As fanatical as I am about wildlife, I bet I don’t even come close to the people at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a New York City based non-profit. They were founded in 1895 with a “clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe.” Their first major success was aiding the recovery of American Bison, and now they’re working to “protect many of the world’s iconic creatures here and abroad, including gorillas in the Congo, tigers in India, polar bears in the Arctic, and ocean giants in our world’s amazing seascapes.” Beyond doing that, they also run 5 parks in New York City—the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.

Jobs in the Wild

According to Wildlife Conservation Society’s About page, they’re committed to protecting 25% of the world’s biodiversity. I’m not sure where that number came from, how it’s measured, or what exactly it means, but it sounds like an ambitious goal for a passionate organization. The way that pursues this goal is by focusing on 4 key issues: “climate change; natural resource exploitation; the connection between wildlife health and human health; and the sustainable development of human livelihoods.” With so much on their plate, Wildlife Conservation Society has a lot of job opportunities. You can find all of the information on their Jobs page, where they separate opportunities into New York City Full Time, New York City Seasonal, and Opportunities in the Field. Oddly enough, all of these pages feed into the same job search function. You can narrow down your search by any of the aforementioned categories, or you can just look at all of their job opportunities. You’ll probably want to take an especially long look at the following positions: Development Associate – Operations, Guest Relations Supervisor, Marketing Assistant, Membership Sales Associate, Pathology Technician, Program Assistant – Global Program Development, and Program Coordinator. You can apply for any of these positions online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to any of Wildlife Conservation Society’s parks?

Green Seal

Willy Franzen — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:25:07 +0000

Whether or not we’re really going through a green revolution is up for debate, but I can assure you that Marketing departments across the world are taking advantage of the public’s appetite for “green” products. Unfortunately, “green” doesn’t really mean anything. To you it might mean one thing, and to me it might mean another. We assume that something that is labeled or advertised as green will be better for the environment, but how do we really know? That’s where Green Seal comes in. They are Washington, DC based “independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and service.” They do this by certifying products that meet their Green Seal standards. By having an independent third party set standards, consumers can actually make informed choices about the products they buy (as long as they’re Green Seal certified, of course).

Are You Green Seal Certified?

There’s a lot that goes into the certification process, and there are plenty of other organizations and businesses that work in the green certification field. The reason that Green Seal is different is that their “standard-setting process is open, collaborative, fair, and completely transparent.” There are no trade secrets. That means that even the most environmentally conscious customers will be able to know if Green Seal meets their personal standards. If Green Seal meets your personal standards, you may want to think about a job with them. I couldn’t find a Jobs page on their website, but they do post open positions on Idealist. Right now they have two opportunities that appear to be suitable for new grads: Environmental Scientist and Environmental Engineer. The jobs sound pretty similar, and they require a strong science background, so check out the full job descriptions and see if you’re the right fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you try to buy certified products? Which certifications?

National Park Service

Willy Franzen — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:37:02 +0000

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays—not only because it signifies the start of summer, but also because I love small town patriotism. My hometown always has a fantastic parade that is often accompanied by a fighter jet fly over. Now, today’s employer may not immediately make you think of Memorial Day like last year’s did (it was Weber-Stephen, the manufacturer of my favorite charcoal grills), but you’ll realize pretty quickly why the National Park Service is a great choice for today. Not only are some of the parks that they manage great places to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, but they’re also responsible for quite a few memorials including The Marine Corps War Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, and The World War II Memorial. Memorial Day is really about our fallen heroes, and the National Park Service is constantly working to honor them by maintaining and managing our memorials.

Celebrate Memorial Day All Year Long

If you love Memorial Day as much as I do, then a job with the National Park Service might be something worth thinking about. Whether you love the outdoors and want to be at Yosemite, love history and want to be at Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, or love our country and want to be at one of the memorials, you’ll have plenty of options. The NPS is constantly working to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” So, how do you land a job with them? You can start at the NPS Jobs page (it has some awesome photos from the 70s), but that will dump you into USAJobs.gov—use this link so that you only see jobs posted from the NPS. There are 163 jobs posted right now, and many of them are entry level, so we’re not going to wade through all of them for you, but you should know that the NPS typically hires in the following areas: Administration, Health and Safety, Archeology, History, Architecture, Human Resources, Biological Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Community Planning, Maintenance and Facility Management, Concessions, Natural Resources, Contracting, Park Police, Cultural Resources, Park Ranger (Protection), Engineering, Park Ranger (Interpretation), Financial Management, Park Site Interpretation, Firefighting, Physical Sciences, and Fire Management. That should help you direct your search on the USAJobs.gov site a little better. Applying for government jobs can be tricky, so be sure to pay very close attention to the details before you send in your application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite National Park/

Compendia Bioscience

Willy Franzen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:44:32 +0000

It’s not big surprise that jobs are constantly in the news these days. That’s part of the reason Jason Seiden and I launched our course. People need help finding and landing jobs. People in the news have picked up on the need, and now it’s newsworthy if a company is hiring. Take this article from mlive.com’s Michigan Business Innovation Blog – it’s about who’s hiring in Ann Arbor. That’s obviously of interest to me, since so many of you are at both University of Michigan and Michigan State (as well as other great Michigan schools). There were some pretty interesting names on that list, and one that stood out to me was Compendia Bioscience. They’re Biotech meets Software, and they’re also part of the future of Michigan.

Curing Cancer

There are a lot of people in this world whose lives have been ravaged by cancer. In turn, there are a lot of people who have made it their life goals to cure cancer. Although we haven’t come up with an outright cure yet, it’s amazing how much progress we’ve made in treating many types of cancer. When I think about curing cancer, I always think about medical doctors. That’s shortsighted of me, because there are all kind of people working on beating cancer that haven’t been to medical school. That’s what Compendia Bioscience is all about. Their mission is to “Harness the global collection of genomic data to change the practice of medicine.” Yes, they have MDs on their staff, but they’re using the power of software to help those on the frontlines of oncology. It’s kind of hard to believe that with the same skillset you could work at a Web 2.0 startup that allows you turn your friends into virtual zombies or you could be working towards a cure for cancer. Don’t get me wrong, I love Web 2.0 startups, but sometimes you need to aim for a higher calling. Right now Compendia has job openings in Bioinformatics Analytics, Project Management, and Software Development. It’s hard for me to say which of these jobs are best suited for new grads, but I’m sure you can gain a better idea by looking at the job descriptions on Compendia’s Jobs page. To apply for any of the jobs, send a cover letter and resume to careers2009@compendiabio.com. Here’s a little more information from Compendia’s MPowered Entrepreneurship Fair profile.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Compendia Bioscience?

Epic Systems

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:17:17 +0000

My Dad is an architect, and he often likes to send me suggestions on which companies I should feature next. Sometimes he finds some pretty cool stuff, and a month or so ago he sent me a link to the Winter 2009 online issue of HQ Magazine, which features an article called “Top 20 Places to Work.” Usually such lists focus on a range of reasons for a place’s being great to work at, but HQ is an architectural publication, so this list is all about office space (not the movie). The section of the article on Epic Systems says: “Epic’s campus fits into idyllic pastures and farmland, providing serene, relaxing views from within. Outside are hiking trails, playing fields, a treehouse. Meeting rooms have working fireplaces to further the sense of calmness.” It sounds amazing. Epic systems is a Wisconsin based, privately held, employee owned healthcare software provider.

Epicly Helpful

Epic Systems only has 170 clients, but “they are some of the most respected organizations in healthcare.” Epic’s software apparently makes the patient experience a lot better, but until it makes waiting rooms obsolete, I’m not quite sold. Basically, what Epic’s software does is that it records every touch that a patient has with a healthcare provider. The information is kept securely, but in a way that allows patients to access it when they need it. Epic Systems provides a product that keeps doctors, nurses, and patients fully informed about what’s going on. We all know that the healthcare industry is a mess, but it’s also growing rapidly. Epic Systems seems to be taking advantage of this environment by making a product that makes healthcare better for all parties involved.

Here’s a sample situation from Epic’s website:

Imagine this: you’re from Dallas, but you’re on vacation in Seattle. Shortly after trying some of the free samples at the fish market, you come down with something nasty and end up in the Emergency Room. You can’t remember the names of the medications you’re taking at home, but you mention to the doctor that you’re normally seen at Black Springs Clinic in the Dallas area. The doctor in the ER is able to access your chart from the clinic without the need to place a call or retrieve a fax. Your ER doctor sees not only the specific medications and doses you were last prescribed at home, but also that you’re allergic to Iodine, preventing a potentially severe reaction during your care.

You get back on your feet after a few hours in the ER and are given a couple medications and a recommendation to see your doctor at home once you’re back from vacation. While still in Seattle, you pull out your laptop and are able to send a secure message to your physician in Dallas, letting him know briefly what happened. You also sign up for a follow-up appointment for when you return. When you arrive, your doctor has access to your clinic chart, as well as the information documented during your visit to the ER in Seattle.

Sounds pretty great.

Do Something Epic

Epic may have only made the list of Top Places to Work because of their building, but they look like they belong on any general list of the best places to work. Their Careers site is loaded with information – especially the Life and Work section. We could go on and on about how cool it looks to work at Epic, but you’re better off checking it out on your own (start by taking a tour of their campus). Epic allows you to browse their jobs by both Career Type and Educational Background; however, I prefer to look at their listing of all available positions. The jobs are insanely easy to scan for entry level positions, so there’s no need for me to list them here, and you can apply online. Although they are a software company, they have job openings in areas that include Accounting, Biotechnology, Botany, Consulting, HR, IT, Project Management, Writing, and, of course, Software Development.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Epic’s Campus.

National Audubon Society

Willy Franzen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:28:48 +0000

John James Audubon painted birds. His seminal work, Birds of America, was a collection of 435 life-size prints. To this day, when you hear the name Audubon, you think of birds. Interestingly enough, John James Audubon had no direct involvement with the founding of the National Audubon Society. Audubon’s widow, Lucy, tutored a man named George Bird Grinnell and some of Audubon’s love of birds must have rubbed off, as Grinnell was one of the Audubon Society’s founders. To this day, the Audubon Society persists in its mission “to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.” The Audubon Society works to achieve this mission through a national network of community-based nature centers and chapters and scientific, educational, and advocacy programs.

These Jobs Are for the Birds

The National Audubon Society has a long list of current job openings in locations all across the country. We scanned over them, and identified all the jobs that don’t list experience requirements for you. The Audubon does a very good job of identifying their desired experience level for each position, so you should be pretty confident that these jobs can be considered entry-level.

There are also quite a few jobs listed that require 2 to 3 years of experience. These may be worth a look, since many of them seem like they could be filled by competent new college grads, but we’ll let you go find them on Audubon’s Jobs page. We should also warn you that one job listing says that the start date is in 2006. We hope that this is a result of a careless copy-paste job, but we have no way of knowing how recently all of these jobs were posted. We couldn’t find much information on what it’s like to work for Audubon, but it probably varies widely depending on location. If you’re a birder, and you’re looking for non-profit work, figure out which of the above jobs you like the best and send your cover letter and resume to HumanResources@audubon.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite bird? We like birds of prey like hawks, eagles, and falcons.

Chicago Botanic Garden

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:35:16 +0000

We’ve featured jobs at a botanical garden before, but we thought it was time to reach out to those plant science and botany majors again. It’s especially appropriate because spring is in full force at One Day, One Job Headquarters. Everything has bloomed, and not only is it beautiful here, but it also smells great. As soon as we open a door or window we’re hit with a fragrant burst of springtime. Since we hear from a lot of people that we focus too much on jobs in New York and California (hey, that’s where a lot of the jobs are), the addition of the Chicago Botanic Garden to our employer profiles should be welcome.

Chicago Has Great Flora and Fauna

You may have heard that a wild cougar was recently shot by police in downtown Chicago and that another was sighted shortly afterwards. Usually big cities don’t get that much wildlife action, which is why things like botanic gardens were created – to make sure things didn’t get too urban. “The 385-acre Garden features 23 display gardens and three native habitats, uniquely situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes.” It sounds wonderful. I haven’t been there yet, but I’m in Chicago often enough that I will make a visit sooner or later. Once I go, I’ll leave a comment on this post with my observations. There are three core components to what the Chicago Botanic Garden does: collections, education, and research. There are job opportunities that touch on all three of areas, but most of the current openings are geared towards the education side.

Jobs for People Who Stop and Smell the Flowers

The good news is that the Chicago Botanic Garden has a wide variety of employment opportunities for new college grads. The bad news is that you have to look in a few different places to find them. That’s not really bad news though, because we’ve done all the hard work for you. Everything can be accessed from their Jobs page, which includes permanent, year-round positions at the Chicago Botanic Garden. There is only one job in this category that would be considered entry-level, and it’s as a Part-Time Horticultural Specialist, Plant Information Service (it’s 25 hours per week).

The next place to look for jobs is on the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Seasonal Employment page. Many of these jobs are actually perfectly suited to new grads, so they might be a great way to transition into something more permanent. Most of these jobs require or prefer a relevant college education, and they are, for the most part, only available during the summer. Current openings include: Camp CBG Instructor, College First Instructor, Plant Collections Specialist, Science First Assistant Instructor, Science First Program Assistant, Landscape Laborer, Natural Areas Land Management Assistant, Tram Tour Guide, and Visitor Services Assistant.

Finally, the Chicago Botanic Garden offers a number of different internships. That link will take you to One Day, One Internship, where we will cover the specific internships in depth. This should be of interest to new college grads because the Chicago Botanic Garden has an internship program that is specifically geared towards transitioning new college graduates into full-time employment with government agencies. That means that anyone who is looking or a full-time botany related job should not overlook internships with the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Although full-time entry-level opportunities are a bit sparse, the Chicago Botanic Garden offers quite a few interesting alternatives for a new college graduate. Their jobs website is really well done, and all of their job descriptions are well written and informative. They even put “Filled” in red text next to any job that they are no longer hiring for. That’s a really nice touch. We imagine that they’ll add more entry-level jobs periodically, so keep your eye on their website.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How is spring coming along where you are?