One Day, One Job » construction

Samaritan’s Purse

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:13:00 +0000

This is a sponsored post for Samaritan’s Purse.

We all have a Good Samaritan story–a time where we helped someone in need or were helped by someone when we were in need. These are the moments when people are at their best, yet they don’t seem to happen often enough. Samaritan’s Purse has spent the last 40 years working to ensure that the story of the Good Samaritan lives on and continues to inspire people to “go and do likewise.” Samaritan’s Purse is a non-profit “nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.” They’re based out of Boone, NC, but they’re constantly repositioning their resources to react to world events. Samaritan’s Purse’s work can typically be separated into two categories: Emergency Relief Programs and Community Development and Vocational Programs. While these two Program groups serve very different situations, they share the goal of helping people in need wherever they may be.

Be a Good Samaritan

There’s no better way to get a feel for Samaritan’s Purse’s work (besides actually joining them and doing it) than taking a look at the In Pictures section of their website. It will give you a feel for what they do, how they do it, and whom they help. One of their major relief projects is focused on helping Japan and the Japanese people recover from the earthquake and tsunami that struck in March of 2011. Samaritan’s Purse was on the ground almost immediately (as you can see here, here, and here). The need for immediate relief supplies has obviously subsided, but now Samaritan’s Purse is leading a rebuilding effort. They are working in a number of communities to get the Japanese people back to a normal way of life before winter comes. This is a tall task when you consider that one community they’re working in “lost 70% of its physical structure” and another was hit by a wave as tall as a 12-story building, but Samaritan’s Purse has a history of excelling with this kind of work.

Right now Samaritan’s Purse is recruiting heavily for their Japan reconstruction effort. Right now their biggest need is for Japanese Interpreters and they think that recent college grads could be perfect fits (they’d also love to hear from people with more experience). This position is vital to the reconstruction effort, and it offers an amazing opportunity to get life-changing experience while doing amazing work. Christian values are an essential part of what Samaritan’s Purse does, so be sure to read their Statement of Faith and learn about their leader Franklin Graham before applying. And if you don’t speak Japanese, there are plenty of other job opportunities posted on Samaritan’s Purse’ Jobs page, and many are perfectly suited for new and recent grads. They include:

Japanese Interpreter (Japan)
Digital Video Producer (Boone, NC)
Marketing/Metrics Analyst (Boone, NC)
Network Administrator (Boone, NC)
Curriculum & Training Specialist (Boone, NC)
Bio-Med Technician (Boone, NC)
Field Accountant (Juba, South Sudan)
Social Media/Marketing Specialist / Communications (Boone, NC)

These look like amazing jobs that truly offer the opportunity to make the world a better place. Give them a look and see which positions fit you the best.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Samaritan’s Purse?

Perkins+Will

Willy Franzen — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:25:29 +0000

Despite having a father who is an architect, I have to admit that my appreciation for architecture is quite basic. Except when my Dad drags me along, I don’t go out looking at buildings just for the fun of it, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t notice things that are architecturally interesting. When I came across a link to some positions at Perkins+Will, the first thing that I did was look at their work. I was surprised by how many of their projects I’ve noticed and enjoyed. Just a few of them include the San Francisco Ferry Building, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, and The Contemporaine (which is only a couple of blocks from me). And that’s just a small sampling of the work that the firm has done. Perkins+Will was started in Chicago, IL in 1935, but since then they’ve expanded to 23 offices across the world (including locations in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Dubai, UAE; Hartford, CT; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; London, UK; Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; New York, NY; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Research Triangle Park, NC; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Shanghai, China; Toronto, ON; Vancouver, BC; and Washington, DC.) I spent some time trying to figure out if they have an actual headquarters or main office, but I couldn’t come up with anything.

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

Like I said before, I’m not much of an architectural critic. It definitely says something that Perkins+Will’s work caught my eye, but what’s more important is that they’re constantly getting recognition from big names in the industry. They’ve been ranked #1 Sustainable Design Firm and #2 overall in the “Architect 50″ by Architect magazine, #2 University Design Firm by Building Design+Construction, and #2 Interior Design Giant and one of the Most Admired firms by Interior Design. I’m even more impressed by the names that they’ve worked with, which include: Cornell University, Chicago O’ Hare International Airport, NASA, Mayo Clini, Stanford University, UCLA Medical Center, Perspectives Charter School, Crate & Barrel, and plenty more. If you want to get the full view of all of Perkins+Will’s noteworthy accomplishments, just check out their Press Kit. Anyway, if you love Perkins+Will’s work, then you have to check out their Careers page. Their current job listings include entry level positions like Architect I (Chicago, IL), Architect I (Seattle, WA), Graphic Designer (Dallas, TX), Interior Designer I (Glastonbury, CT), Interior Designer I (Washington, DC). That’s it for now, but I’m sure that they regularly have positions popping up all across the world.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Perkins+Will’s projects is your favorite?

The Taunton Press

Willy Franzen — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:58:06 +0000

The world of publishing is a pretty crazy place right now. We hear about prestigious brand names struggling to stay afloat, while relative newcomers like Demand Media are IPO-ing. One of the key takeaways from all of the turmoil is that advertisers want results. That means that publishers need to be able to deliver targeted audiences that will respond to ads, whether it be through traditional outlets like magazines and newspapers or online. The Taunton Press is a publisher that has understood this for a long time. They’re based in Newtown, CT (a lovely town where I’ve done a lot of fishing), and they publish magazines, websites, and books for people who have a passion for creative activities. Their titles include Fine Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding, Fine Cooking, Fine Gardening, Threads, and more. Most of the publications come in both magazine form and an online version, so readers can consume the content however they feel comfortable.

The Finer Things

The Taunton Press reminds me a lot of Prime Publishing, another company that has found success by publishing content for niche markets. The Taunton Press seems a bit more brand focused, which is explained best by a quote on their About page:

We don’t run advertising that isn’t directly related to the subject matter of our magazines. We believe our ad pages serve as another vehicle for passing on educational information. It means our magazines might cost a little more at the newsstand. But it also means every page will be worth the price.

I love that! Advertising doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I often say that you can tell how intelligent your media consumption habits are by looking at the advertising that is targeted to you. If you’re seeing a lot of Shake Weight commercials, you might want to start worrying. Whether you have a specific interest in the topical areas that The Taunton Press covers or you are generally interested in media and publishing, The Taunton Press looks like a great place to start a career. Check out their Careers page and their job listings. Right now they have a couple of positions that might be suitable for a new grad: Assistant Editor – Threads Magazine and Chef’s Assistant. They also offer internships in Editorial, Media Sales, Publishing, and Web Publishing, so there’s the potential for more entry level opportunities in the future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of The Taunton Press’ publications?

Warrior Group

Willy Franzen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:42:30 +0000

Today is Job Action Day 2010. Check out our post on Creating Opportunity with No Experience.

I’m guessing that the large majority of you lived in a dorm or some other form of student housing during your time at college. They’re not typically the most luxurious places to live, but they get the job done. And as more and more people pursue higher education, more and more dorms are going to need to be built. That must be why DeSoto, TX based Warrior Group has been growing so quickly. They’ve seen 731% three-year growth to $124 million, which puts them at #405 on the Inc. 500. Their revenue is actually flat over last year, but you can’t blame them for hitting a plateau during a brutal recession that has hit the construction industry especially hard. I guess the market for “permanent modular construction and construction management services” has held up well—Warrior Group has become “the largest woman-owned, minority-owned construction services company in the U.S.”

Are You a Warrior?

By focusing on markets like Education and Healthcare, Warrior Group has been able to avoid many of the problems in the residential and commercial real estate markets. They’ve also put a focus on green building and sustainability, so that should only help their long-term growth. If you’ve always wanted to work in the construction industry, but have been thwarted until now by the recession, give Warrior Group a look. Their Jobs page doesn’t include specific positions, but it does allow you to apply generally. My guess is that there are positions in construction management, marketing, business development, and probably a few other areas.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Were your dorms built by Warrior Group?

Institute for Market Transformation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:31:24 +0000

I firmly believe that most situations can be made better by allowing markets to operate freely; however, I’m well aware that there are also plenty of examples of market failure. The ultimate examples are any markets that have a direct, or even indirect, effect on the environment. The reason for this is that pollution is a cost that is usually distributed across large groups of people over a very long time, so they don’t realize that they’re getting a raw deal (or in some instances they may think that they’re getting a worse deal than they are). Nobody is ever in favor of pollution, yet we constantly face tradeoffs. The Institute for Market Transformation is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that is pursuing “various strategies for the creation of permanent, self-sustaining success of energy-efficient technologies in the marketplace.” Instead of fighting the market, they want to use it in combination with new technology to help us make the right choices when it comes to the environment.

Transform the Job Market

The Institute for Market Transformation operates in a number of areas including “technical and market research, educational outreach, and the crafting of building codes and other policy and program initiatives.” Two of the main levers that the IMT uses to transform markets are stimulation of consumer demand and stimulation of supplier innovation. Another key focus of the IMT is strengthening “linkages among property value, green building and energy performance.” Once again, that gives people an incentive to do the right thing. If you’re intrigued by the philosophy behind the Institute for Market Transformation, they you’ll probably want to take a look at their Jobs page. They currently have two positions posted: Program Manager: Energy Efficiency Finance Policy and Program Manager: Green Leasing and Federal Buildings. It’s kind of unclear how much experience they want for each, but the lack of specifics should mean that it’s worth a try.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the Institute for Market Transformation?

Green Education Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:14:52 +0000

When I was in Kindergarten, I was given a tree seedling in a half milk carton. I was supposed to bring it home and plant it. I’m sure there was some other lesson that came with the seedling, but all I can remember is having my own tree and thinking it was cool. I went home and planted the tree in a marginal spot where it took way too long to grow. The tree even made the move when my parents bought a new house, but it only lasted a few months in its new spot. This tree was obviously part of my “green education,” and that was back in the early 90s. Obviously, the need for environmental education continues to grow, and the Green Education Foundation in Walpole, MA is aiming to fill the growing need. They are a “non-profit organization that provides environmental education resources for Pre K-12 classrooms and youth groups nationwide.” I don’t know if seedlings in milk cartons is still in, but I bet the Green Education Foundation has much more innovative ways of teaching now.

Greening Our Youth

The Green Education Foundation’s programs include National Green Week, Green Energy Challenge, Green Thumb Challenge, Green Schools Initiative, I Play Green, and I Ride Green. Each is targeted towards mobilizing students and getting them to focus on a different area of environmental responsibility. GEF also offers editorials on a variety of environmental issues, and they provide curriculums for all different age groups. If the GEF sounds like something that you want to get behind, then you should check out both their Careers page and their jobs on Idealist. Their current openings include Environmental Science/Green Buildings Course Consultant, Graphic Designer, and Environmental Science Textbook Writer (probably not entry level). Check them out and see what fits you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What kind of green education did you get?

Populous

Willy Franzen — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:50:28 +0000

I thought that I had already cherry picked most of the companies that are hiring from Fast Company‘s list of Most Innovative Companies, but there were a few that I chose to save for later. Populous is one of them. They’re a Kansas City based design firm (with offices in Brisbane, London, New York, Knoxville, Denver, Singapore, Nashville, Auckland, and Hong Kong) that specializes in “creating environments that draw people and communities together for unforgettable experiences.” I know that verbiage is a little flowery, so to put it more simply, Populous offers comprehensive design and architectural services that focus on major venues like sports stadiums, arenas, exhibition centers, and similar large spaces. They recently finished Target Field for the Minnesota Twins, and before that it was the new Yankee Stadium. I’ve seen the new Yankee Stadium in person, and it’s incredible. If you want to see more of Populous’ work, you can take a look at their Showcase and their projects list. There’s no way you won’t be impressed.

Populate Populous

Looking at Populous’ work is cool enough, but what really puts it in perspective is looking at their page called Populous By The Numbers. Here’s a quick rundown: $20 billion in projects; 1,000 projects completed; 510 million square feet of space designed; 24 Major League Baseball franchise clients; 30 NFL franchise clients; 500 employees; and 150 design awards. There’s no doubt that Populous is a leader in their space. Their work appears to go well beyond architecture and design, so I’d imagine that they offer all kinds of jobs; however, right now the options are pretty limited. Their Jobs page provides some simple application information along with a list of current US based opportunities. Right now the only entry level position is for Help Desk Administrator. If that’s not what you’re looking for, but you’re digging Populous, I recommend that you check out what kind of positions current employees have via LinkedIn, and then reach out to the HR team at Populous to inquire about future vacancies.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Pupulous’ stats is most impressive to you?

U.S. Green Building Council

Willy Franzen — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:07:08 +0000

I live across the street from what was formerly the world’s largest building—the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. It’s massive at 4,000,000 square feet, which is extremely impressive considering it was opened in 1930. What’s even more impressive is that, with some debate, the Merchandise Mart is now the world’s largest “green” building. It is LEED-EB Silver certified, and apparently the retrofitting that they did to achieve this certification has cut utility bills by 10%. Upgrading one of the largest buildings in the world to be more energy efficient and environment-friendly is a daunting task, luckily the LEED Certification process provided the owners of the Merchandise Mart with guidelines to work to. The organization behind LEED is the U.S. Green Building Council, which is based in Washington, DC. They are a non-profit that is “committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.”

LEEDing You to a New Career

We’ve heard a lot about green jobs over the past few years, yet we haven’t seen the growth to back up the talk. Although the U.S. Green Building Council is a non-profit that probably won’t grow as quickly as a for-profit focused on the $60 billion green building industry, they do have some pretty cool job offerings. Here are some stats that explain why the USBGC is doing what they do:

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.

If you like where the USGBC is going, then you should check out their Jobs page. They have quite a few positions posted, and a number of them appear suitable for new grads. These include Associate – Chapter Leadership Development, Computer Systems Analyst, Education Review Associate, Executive Administrative Assistant, and LEED Technical Customer Service Associate. To apply for any of these positions you can send your “résumé and letter of interest with salary requirements and title of position applying for to jobs@usgbc.org.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the U.S. Green Building Council?

Luck Stone

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:21:57 +0000

Although people mostly associate St. Patrick’s Day with drinking, I like to think of it in terms of searching for something good. Just think – there’s the four leaf clover, and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and… ok that’s it. Well, you can also use St. Patrick’s Day as motivation for your job search. That’s why we’re looking at Richmond, VA based Luck Stone today. Not only are they a company that fits in with our St. Patrick’s Day theme, but they’re also a company that is all about searching for something good. The only thing that’s different about them is that they consider the stuff that you dig through to be the “pot of gold.” Yes, that’s right. It’s the stone that they’re after.

Bring Luck to Your Job Search

Lucky Stone “is the largest, family owned and operated aggregates company in the U.S. and is the 12th largest producer of crushed stone in the nation.” That means that they dig stuff up, and they sell it. It’s 21st century alchemy with an Irish flair! The good news for you is that you can stop eating your Lucky Charms in your underwear at noon every day and turn stone into a job because Luck Stone has a strong college recruiting program. Their job listings don’t show any jobs for new grads, but their College Recruiting page invites interested entry level candidates to contact their Talent Acquisition Consultants. It’s easier than finding a four-leaf closer, so get on it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?

Arena Stage

Willy Franzen — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:25:56 +0000

Continuing with our patriotic weekend, we’re going to take a look at Arena Stage, a non-profit theater company that produces “huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit.” They put out all types of productions “from vast epics to charged dramas to robust musicals.” Located in Washington, DC, Arena Stage has been around 6 decades and was one of the first non-profit theater companies. They reach an annual audience of over 200,000 people (we reach more here!) and strive “to instill in the public a life-long love of and participation in the theater arts through [their] education programs.”

Jobs Off Stage

Arena Stage has a number of job opportunities for the drama enthusiasts in the crowd. The most interesting opportunity is Audience Development Manager, which unfortunately isn’t described as entry-level. This job is all about “identifying and cultivating relationships with corporations and organizations to augment Arena’s group sales efforts.” They say that they want 3 years of prior experience, but if you did something like this in a college organization, it might be worth applying. Arena Stage also has job openings for Carpenters (set design), Inbound Sales Associates, and Telemarketing Sales Associates. If you want to get involved with a non-profit theater company, these are some great opportunities to get your foot in the door. We wonder if Arena Stage might have some opportunities specifically tailored to new grads, since they do appear to have a strong internship program. Keep an eye on their Jobs page, or send them an e-mail and see if they have anything else available.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We hope you had a great July 4th weekend. We sure did.

ReliableRemodeler.com

Willy Franzen — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:09:24 +0000

I’ve written before about how run down the house that I lived in during college was. It was in constant need of maintenance, which mostly consisted of quick fixes that would break within a week. The giant ball of mold that started growing out of the ceiling received a little more attention, but not much. The guys who did maintenance on our house were always nice (even if the landlord was a total jerk), but it made me a bit uneasy knowing that they had a key to my place – if you know what I mean. Since my roommates and I weren’t paying for the “maintenance,” we didn’t have any say in who was working in our house. If we did, we would have used a service like ReliableRemodeler.com, which connects quality contractors with homeowners.

Reliably Yours

ReliableRemodeler.com has “matched remodeling contractors to over 700,000 home improvement projects.” They’re located in Beaverton, Oregon and have a staff of over 70 people. Those 70 people must be doing a pretty good job since ReliableRemodeler.com was named by Inc. Magazine as the country’s 187th fastest growing private company with 1,109.7% 3-year growth to $6.8 million in revenue. ReliableRemodeler.com is in the construction business, and although they don’t actually do the construction, they need to know the business. Matching a contractor with a homeowner can be tough, as many factors go into the decision of whom to hire (here’s how it works). The company makes its money by charging contractors a monthly fee to be included on their site after going through a screening process. ReliableRemodeler.com also needs to know the Internet, because most of their business is done online. This makes for an interesting combination that should provide some exciting entry-level opportunities.

How Reliable Are You?

ReliableRemodler.com’s Jobs page is a bit sparse, and it fails to identify which of their jobs are geared towards new college grads. 3 positions are listed, all of which seem like real possibilities for entry-level candidates. Here they are with the descriptions from the site.

Affiliate Manager – Seeking an online marketing professional to recruit new partners and manage the day-to-day activities of our expanding affiliate program. In addition to recruiting and managing partners, this individual will participate in program development, and training.

Project Advisors – are responsible for answering incoming calls regarding remodeling jobs, making homeowner follow-up calls, performing windows-based data entry, and handling various customer service inquiries.

Area Managers – are the liaison between ReliableRemodeler.com and the member contractors. This position acts as the primary contact for all member contractors; responsibilities include approving new member contractors, matching contractors with remodeling jobs, and managing accounts receivables. Most importantly Area Managers are responsible for meeting sales goals on a weekly/monthly basis.

That’s all the information that ReliableRemodeler.com offers about careers. They invite interested applicants to send a cover letter and resume to rrjobs@reliableremodeler.com. We’d love to see them do a better job with their online recruiting presence. They look like a fantastic place for a young person to work, but it’s hard to find enough information to make you want to take the effort to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did your college housing have the same maintenance issues that mine did?

Pella

Willy Franzen — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:22:40 +0000

It’s hard for me to write this post, because I have a strong allegiance to Marvin, which is one of Pella’s biggest competitors. It started in 7th grade when I was working at my Dad’s architecture firm. The entire office was invited to a lobster lunch put on by some Marvin sales reps. My partner in crime (a friend of mine who was old enough to have the coveted title of intern) and I jumped at the chance to take a break from shooting rubber bands at each other and join the architects for a free lunch. We had to endure a long sales pitch about windows, like that South Park episode where the parents endure a time share sales pitch in return for a free skiing weekend, but when it was finally over, we chowed down. My then overweight 7th grade self put away a couple of lobsters and almost put one in my pocket for the ride home. It was by far the best day during my Summer job, but I’m willing to forget a couple lobsters and start pushing Pella, because they’ve truly impressed me with their college recruiting and entry-level hiring program.

Windows of Opportunity

Pella makes high end windows and doors. You can fluff it up by talking about how they provide great views in your home or office, but when it’s all said and done, they do something pretty simple, and they do it really well. So well, in fact, that they won the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates award for “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Window and Door Manufacturers.” Pella also has a reputation as one of the most energy efficient window and door manufacturers. It’s logical that windows and doors are two of the places that your house or office is most likely to leak heat (in or out), so it’s great that Pella is so invested in energy efficiency. They even “earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for windows in 2007 for its leadership in manufacturing energy-efficient windows and educating consumers about them.” We keep saying it – a company that takes pride in its products takes pride in its people, and that means that Pella looks like a great place to start a career.

The Door to Your Future

Pella appears to have an extremely strong entry-level hiring and college recruiting program. Their College Relations page has links to all the pages you’ll need to research jobs at Pella. They include a page detailing entry-level positions generally as well as a page that lists all of the possible career paths at Pella starting at the entry-level for each. Although Pella does a significant amount of campus recruiting, they still seem to be extremely friendly to new college grads who want to apply online. We wished they’d link their fabulous College Relations section of their website to specific entry-level job openings, but unfortunately they direct all attention to their somewhat disappointing job search function. There’s no way to find just entry-level jobs, so you have to scan the postings for promising job titles (at least there are only 20 listings, so it’s not hard).

Our search turned up job titles like Department Manager, Human Resources Representative, and National Account Retail Sales Representative – all of which appear to be entry-level. There is also a listing for an Engineering Career Development program for new grads. Pella has locations across the country, but they are headquartered in Pella, Iowa. All of the job descriptions are well detailed, so start looking through Pella’s entry-level opportunities and see if you find anything anything that is better than free lobster.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have the inside scoop on working at Pella? Leave a comment and let us know.

Navigant Consulting

Willy Franzen — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:00:23 +0000

This time of year, many of the entry-level consulting jobs are already filled. It’s amazing and a little disappointing if you’re still in the job market, but a good portion of consulting firms fill all of their entry-level job openings six to twelve months in advance of when the new hires will start working. That leaves a lot of soon to be college graduates who want to get into consulting with limited choices. Whether you were turned down when you applied in the fall, never got around to applying, or just realized that you’re interested in consulting, the apparent dearth of consulting jobs probably has you considering looking at other fields in lieu of consulting. Don’t give up so fast! There are still a lot of great consulting jobs out there, you just have to look beyond the sexy names. As is typical in the industry, Navigant Consulting does most of their hiring through campus recruiting in the Fall, but they still have some entry-level job openings.

Although consulting may sound like a very specific industry, it’s actually a pretty vague term that describes any company that helps guide other companies. Every consultancy seems to have certain specialties, but the main idea is that you hire a consulting firm because they have expertise in something that your company doesn’t. Navigant Consulting specializes in litigation, financial, healthcare, energy and operational consulting services for government agencies, legal counsel and large companies that are facing the challenges of uncertainty, risk, distress and significant change. Navigant Consulting is especially focused on industries that are “undergoing substantial regulatory or structural change.” So, that means that when the government changes the rules that businesses must abide by, Navigant is there to straighten things out. Since we seem to be in a world where the government increasingly interferes with and regulate businesses, this is an area of consulting that should see significant growth. Just look at the results from Navigant Consulting’s most recent quarter.

So why should you apply for a job at Navigant Consulting besides the fact that you can’t find any other consulting jobs? Well, they were ranked on BusinessWeek‘s list of “Best Places to Launch a Career” for the past two years (#53 in 2006 and #94 in 2007) and according to their recruiting profile from the BusinessWeek feature (this is really worth a look) they hire for approximately 100 entry-level positions every year. Since they’re relatively small company, entry-level employees make up a significant portion of their workforce. That should mean that there’s a youthful culture, which fits with what we’ve heard – that Navigant is more laid back than other consulting firms. We also like that they have a page about the career path for Navigant employees, since it makes it very clear what the opportunities for advancement are.

We like Navigant’s Careers Site since it has a lot of valuable content that is targeted to college students who are looking for their first job. The navigation is on the right hand side and is a little confusing, but the amount of information on their Careers Site more than makes up for it. We also like that it’s easy to find their entry-level positions, you just go here and click search. The job descriptions aren’t all that exciting, but they tell you everything that you need to know including minimum GPA, which varies by position. Current openings include: Energy Consultant in Burlington, MA, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC (yes, 1 job, 3 locations); Construction Consultant in San Francisco, CA; Healthcare Revenue Consultant in Washington, DC; and Disputes and Investigations Consultant in New York City, NY or San Francisco, CA (that’s two different positions).

That was pretty in-depth. We hope it wasn’t too much information, but there’s a lot to know about Navigant Consulting. Despite all we’ve covered, there’s a lot more to find out, so get researching!

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at Navigant Consulting. Since our original post, they’ve completely redesigned their site, so some things that we said may no longer be accurate. We took a brief look and fixed all of the broken links, and we have to say that site looks greatly improved.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you’re looking for an internship in consulting instead, take a look at our post on One Day, One Internship about internships at Navigant Consulting.