One Day, One Job » design

Wayfair

Willy Franzen — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:03:50 +0000

I’ve made a point of being more active in Cornell’s entrepreneurship community, so I like to think that I do a good job of keeping tabs on which other companies have been started by fellow alums. That’s why I was shocked to learn that the #2 online retailer of home furnishings and housewares was not only a company that I’d never heard of before, but a company founded by two Cornell grads. It’s called Wayfair–they’re based in Boston, MA and did $500 million in sales last year. The reason I hadn’t heard of them is that they were known as CSN Stores until last year (they were founded in 2002). CSN Stores was focused on building out 200+ product specific properties with generic domain names like Bedroomfurniture.com, Cookware.com, AirHockeyTables.com, and AllBarstools.com. Last year they decided to get serious about branding and started pulling all of their sites into the Wayfair brand.

Find Your Way

If you’d like to read a more in-depth version of the Wayfair story, check out this write up from GigaOm. It provides a lot of interesting details, but I actually think the Wayfair site is even better. Their About page is beautifully designed and packed with information, and the same can be said for the company’s Careers page. It’s also nice that they have a Campus Recruiting section that includes this video (you may need to click through to view it):

The campus recruiting page also includes four positions targeted towards 2012 grads: Business Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst, Category Management Associate, and Software Engineer. Additionally, they have a ton of job postings for immediate hire:

Category Analyst / Entry Level Buyer (Sydney, Australia)
Jr. Designer/Web Production Artist
Customer Service Consultant (Sydney, Australia)
Bilingual Sales & Service Consultant (Galway, Ireland)
Customer Service Consultant (Ogden, UT)
Email Sales and Service Consultant (Ogden, UT)
Inbound Sales Consultant (Ogden, UT)
Sales Consultant (Ogden, UT)
Junior Web Operations Engineer
Software Engineer
Analyst, Email Marketing – Private Sale

There are a ton of great opportunities at Wayfair, which was named one of Glassdoor’s 2012 Best Places to Work, so browse through the postings and see if any of them are appropriate for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you purchased anything from Wayfair?

Internet Brands

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

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

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

Get Branded

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Internet Brands?

Vertive

Willy Franzen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:54:07 +0000

Having written profiles on more than 1,500 companies, I start to see the same stories over and over again. Some business models are just better than others, and those are the ones that seem to keep popping up. One of the most effective models these days is based on providing a free online resource to help save people money and using affiliate programs to monetize the traffic. Sites like Slickdeals, Fatwallet, Savings.com, ShopAtHome.com, CouponCabin, and WhaleShark Media have all taken that approach and succeeded. Vertive is another. They’re based in Austin, TX, and they were founded “to provide search engine marketing consulting and affiliate marketing services.” They eventually started building their own web properties, and that turned out to be way more profitable than consulting. Vertive’s biggest property is Offers.com, but other properties include DailyDeals.com, CouponCodes.com, and Subscription.com.

Get an Offer from Vertive

Because their properties are separate brands, the Vertive.com website is solely dedicated to providing information about the company. Luckily, the information is by no means generic. Vertive actually offers a pretty good look at how their business works. The section title How We Do It is especially good at describing Vertives’ approach to performance marketing. They also provide some good information on what it’s like to work at Vertive. If you like what you see, then you’ll want to check out Vertive’s Jobs page. Right now they have a good number of opportunities that are suitable for new or recent grads including:

Even if Vertive isn’t a good fit for you, it’s worth spending the time to learn about their business. The performance marketing model is… performing extremely well lately. It’s time that you understand how it works.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Vertive?

Brafton

Willy Franzen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:10:35 +0000

There’s a reason that web startups with no semblance of a business plan but heaps of traffic continue to get venture capital funding. Consistently driving high quality traffic to a web property is extremely difficult, and almost all businesses need attention to succeed. Quality content is the cornerstone of driving traffic (that’s why I looked for writers when I was hiring interns), and content generation is not a core competency for most businesses. It is for Brafton. They’re a Boston, MA based “online news and content agency that offers integrated content marketing services.” They don’t brag about who their clients are like some other types of agencies (you can request live client samples), which makes sense since clients typically want people to think the content is coming straight from them.

Be Content at Brafton

I doubt any writers from Brafton will be winning Pulitzer Prizes, but I’m sure that’s ok with them. Their goal is to help their clients reach more customers by developing content that grabs attention and performs well on search engines and in social media. Brafton has a section of their website that is devoted to their business model, so I highly recommend that you read through that–including their case study–so that you can get a better sense of how they operate. They also provide information on their different teams, so you’ll probably want to read up on Account Management, Content Writing, and Social and E-mail. If you’d like to join one of those teams, you’re in luck because Brafton’s Careers page shows a ton of entry level opportunities. These include:

Graphic Resource Coordinator (Boston, MA)
Blog and Content Writer (Boston, MA)
Market Research Executive (Boston, MA)
German News and Content Writer (Remote)
News and Content Writer (Chicago, IL)
Inside Sales Representative (Boston, MA)
News and Content Writer (Boston, MA)
Jr. Web Developer (Boston, MA)
Business Development Executive (Boston, MA)
Business Development Executive (Scottsdale, AZ)
Content Marketing Specialist (San Francisco, CA)

You won’t be writing the next great novel at Brafton, but I’m sure you’ll learn a ton about developing content for the Internet with a focus on ROI. That’s insanely valuable these days.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Brafton?

Holstee

Willy Franzen — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:47:43 +0000

Usually we associate with brands based on our experiences with their products. After a while we know what brands we like and use brand names as a heuristic to make purchasing decisions easier. Occasionally when a brand has an exceptional story, the brand actually becomes the product. That seems to be the case with Holstee, a New York, NY based company that focuses on “lifestyle design with a conscience.” The only reason I had heard about them is that they’re often on Fab.com, yet there are a ton of people who have bought a printed version of the Holstee manifesto to put on their walls (see the manifesto here). The brand has literally become the product. Some may write off Holstee as an online store for “hipsters,” but the “People, Planet, Product” approach has a lot of meaning for a lot of people, and it’s enabled Holstee to grow their business.

Design Your Lifestyle

Holstee’s product line is pretty small, and it’s pretty random, but it’s all tied together by a story. They’ve curated a collection of products that help people live their ideal life. Whether you’re buying the Holstee original with a bizarre pocket on the side or Sugru Hacking Putty to repair old stuff instead of buy new stuff, you know that you’re making an ecologically conscious decision (while also sending a message about who you are). You’re also empowering “entrepreneurs in the developing world through,” as Holstee donates 10% of all sales to Kiva. If you’ve already ordered a copy of the Holstee manifesto to hang on your wall, then you’re probably dying to hear about Jobs at Holstee. They take a slightly different approach in that they don’t post job openings. They expect you to tell them about your dream job and why they should give it to you, so go do it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you purchased anything from Holstee?

Coursekit

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

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

What’s in Your Kit?

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Specialized

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:02:24 +0000

They say that you can’t forget how to ride a bike, but I’m giving it my best try. In elementary and early middle school I was constantly riding around town. I picked up inline skating for a year or two after that, and never got back on the bike. Now I tell people that I hate bike riding. I don’t actually hate it, but as I mentioned in my post on Niner Bikes, I love seeing people’s reactions to that statement. My twelve year old self would be disappointed that I don’t even own a bike, let alone a cool brand like a Cannondale or Specialized. Luckily for Specialized, they’ve been able to grow an impressive business without me as a customer. They’re based in Morgan Hill, CA, and from what I can gather their annual revenue is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars (but I can’t find a reliable source on that). That’s impressive considering that it all started in 1974 when founder Mike Sinyard sold his “old VW Microbus for $1,500 and used the money to fund a cycling trip through Europe.” That led to importing Italian bicycle parts into the United States, and a business was born.

Are Your Skills Specialized?

Specialized positioned itself at the high end from the start, and they’re still all about quality whether you’re talking about their Mountain, Road, Multi Use, or Kids bikes. Their vision is to be “the best cycling brand in the world,” and it seems that in many people’s eyes they’ve achieved that. It’s hard for me to really dig into Specialized since I’m no longer into bicycles, but I’m sure that those of you who are will find all of the information you need on their site. One thing I found frustrating about Specialized’s website is that you don’t find any background information on the company until you hit their Careers page. Luckily, there’s a ton of information there. There are videos, an About tab, a History tab, and obviously job postings. In fact, there are a lot of jobs posted, and some look great for new or recent grads including:

City & Globe Product Engineer
Credit Representative
Field Visual Merchandiser (Philadelphia, PA)
Field Visual Merchandiser
Jr International Trade Specialist (Salt Lake City, UT)
MTB Product Engineer
Social Media / Customer Service Specialist
Store Designer/BIM
The European Fitness / Mobility Graphic Designer (Switzerland)
Video Editor and Asset Manager

There are even more jobs that I didn’t cover, and there’s also a general job posting called Bike Shop Experience Wanted!. It mentions positions in sales, marketing, customer service, product, engineering, design, operations, and finance, so I’d apply to that position if you don’t see anything that matches up with your skills.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What kind of bike do you own?

Underground Elephant

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:42:53 +0000

Nearly 500,000 teaching jobs will be added in the next decade. If you’re considering a career in education, take a look at our guide to entry level teaching jobs.

Company names usually take one of two directions. They either explain exactly what the company does (i.e. Accuweather), or they tell you absolutely nothing about what the company does (i.e. Benzinga). There’s a third type that sounds totally random but actually has a significant meaning, and those tend to be my favorite. Underground Elephant is one of those names. The company is based in San Diego, CA, and they offer “a complete turnkey solution” for customer acquisition in “a wide range of vertical markets.” How is this relevant to their name? Underground Elephant plays a huge role in their clients’ businesses, yet their participation is essentially invisible to everyone but insiders.

The Elephant in the Room

If you’re not familiar with the performance marketing industry, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. How can a company that delivers tons of customers to their clients do so without being noticed? Watch this video on Underground Elephant to get a better idea of how their business works.

While what Underground Elephant does a good job of keeping a low profile when working for clients, they haven’t been able to do the same in the San Diego media. Their CEO was named a Most Admired CEO Finalist for the third consecutive year by San Diego Business Journal, and they’re also one of San Diego’s fastest growing private companies. I guess an elephant can only hide underground so long. Now that you’ve found them, you need to take a look at their Careers page. Right now they have some great openings for new or recent grads including:

There are a ton of great entry level or near entry level job opportunities at Underground Elephant, so don’t look past them. Not only does Underground Elephant look like a really cool company to work for, but they’re based in San Diego.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard bout Underground Elephant?

Bluefin Labs

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:58:16 +0000

When I first learned about Google Trends, I was shocked to see how much Internet search traffic is driven by television. It’s pretty clear that browsing the web and watching the tube go hand in hand, which is great news for both marketers and tv content producers. Since its inception tv’s biggest problem has been that it is a one way medium with no real feedback loop. That’s changed, and Bluefin Labs “has accomplished a breakthrough in this field by applying cognitive science research combined with large scale computing techniques to successfully and automatically link TV to social media.” If all goes as planned, the Cambridge, MA will make traditional tv ratings obsolete. Who cares how many people are watching when you can know who’s watching and what they’re saying?

Hook a Bluefin

While there’s no doubt about what Bluefin Labs does, they don’t really emphasize their business on the website. You have to scroll down on their home page to learn that their “clients span TV networks, advertising agencies, and brand advertisers” and include AMC Networks, CBS, MTV Networks, Mars, PepsiCo, MediaCom, and lots more. The solution that they sell to these clients is called Bluefin Signals, and you can read about the science behind it here. If you want to get a very basic sense of the kind of data that Bluefin Labs offers, you can check out their sample dashboard. Last night’s hottest show was the Heat vs. Hawks game, which was closely followed up by Jersey Shore (I know which one I would have preferred to watch). I found out about Bluefin Labs from a reader who landed a job there recently. They don’t post specific positions on their Jobs page, but it mentions that they’re looking for people in the following areas:

Machine learning
Natural language processing
Computer vision
Social network analysis
Data analysis
Information visualization
Interaction design
Large scale data storage and analytics
Sales
Account management
Marketing
Product development

That covers a wide range of interests, so don’t be afraid to reach out to careers@bluefinlabs.com and apply for a position in one of those areas.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Bluefin Labs?

Lumosity

Willy Franzen — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:25:20 +0000

I don’t know about you, but some days I feel sharper than others. Whether I’m trying to spike a volleyball or write a piece of code for this site, I have my good days and my bad days. There are a ton of factors that can affect how you perform on a given task from day to day, and many of them are hard to control. But the best way to overcome these fluctuations is to improve your overall skill through practice. This is pretty straightforward when you’re talking about specific tasks, but what if you are just aiming to improve your mental sharpness? As I’ve learned from reading Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything memory is a skill that can be trained just like any other skill. That’s why I was intrigued when I saw a commercial for Lumosity. They’re a San Francisco, CA based company that has used cutting edge science to develop “the most effective online tool for cognitive enhancement.” I’m skeptical of a lot of the claims in favor of brain teaser games, but Lumosity has actually built their products based on research from top neuroscientists at places like Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, and Columbia. It’s hard to argue with that.

Lumos!

People who compete in memory competitions often train in basements with ear plugs and blinders on. That’s what you have to do if you want to memorize the order of a deck of cards in under a minute. But what if you just want to use your downtime to have fun and improve mental performance a little bit? That’s what Lumosity offers. You can play their brain games on your computer or any mobile device. The exercises will help you sharpen memory, focus attention, reach peak performance, and enhance creativity. Lumosity tracks your progress and tailors your training to suit your cognitive goals. They have a ton of success stories, so it seems that a lot of people are finding the games useful. I’m not sure Lumosity accomplishments would be very helpful on your résumé, but maybe their games could help you remember names and more effectively answer questions in interviews. That would be cool–especially if you were interviewing with Lumosity. If that sounds like something that you’d want to do, then take a look at Lumosity’s Jobs page. Right now they have a number of positions posted that might interest you including Customer Care Representative, UI/UX Designer, Interactive Designer, Front-End Engineer, iOS Engineer, Software Engineer, and Technical Support Engineer. If none of those opportunities catch your eye, don’t be afraid to reach to jobs@lumoslabs.com about opportunities on the Marketing or Research side.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Lumosity?

PUMA

Willy Franzen — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:25:19 +0000

I’ve always wanted to see a mountain lion in the wild–as long as it’s not stalking and about to eat me. They’re amazingly strong, athletic animals, and they have a serious mythology surrounding them. That’s why they’re called by so many names including panther, catamount, ghost cat, painter, and PUMA. It’s an appropriate name for a “sportlifestyle” company that “designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories.” By bringing together sports and fashion, they’ve built an iconic brand that is known all over the world. What I find odd about PUMA is that they were founded in Germany in 1948 and are based in Herzogenaurach, Germany (with their USA headquarters is in Westford, MA). I find that strange because pumas are very much American cats, but I guess plenty of American companies use foreign animals in their branding.

Get Ready to Pounce

In addition to their eponymous brand, PUMA also owns Cobra Golf and Tretorn (a Swedish rubber tire company that used to make a lot of products for tennis and now is more boot focused). I actually don’t own anything from PUMA and I don’t play golf, but my Tretorn flip flops and boots are awesome. The best way for you to get familiar with PUMA is go to PUMA.com and start browsing their products. They go in a variety of directions with their “sport lifestyle” focus, but their two main product areas remain apparel and footwear. If you love the PUMA brand, then you need to check out PUMA’s Jobs page. It’s a bit difficult to browse through their listings (and their Entry Level Positions page is a dead end), but if you do you’ll see some great opportunities for new or recent grads including: Running Tech Rep (Atlanta, GA), Facilities Coordinator (Westford, MA), Accounts Receivable Representative – Cobra Puma Golf (Carlsbad, CA), Credit Analyst (Westford, MA), Credit Analyst (Carlsbad, CA), Assistant Developer Footwear – Lifestyle (Westford, MA), Junior Designer – Brand Marketing (Westford, MA), Junior Brand Strategist – Brand Communications (Westford, MA), and a number of other positions. So start stalking PUMA and see where it leads you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own anything from PUMA?

WhaleShark Media

Willy Franzen — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:54:41 +0000

You probably should have already purchased and given all your gifts for the holiday season, but if you haven’t, it’s a wonderful time to get deals. Retailers are eager to grab a few more dollars from all of the people returning ugly sweaters and books they’ll never read, so they’re offering deals. And if you’re looking for deals, you’ll likely end up on some WhaleShark Media properties. They’re an Austin, TX based company that runs “the world’s leading marketplace for coupons and deals.” Their sites include RetailMeNot.com (one of my favorites), Deals.com, CheapStingyBargains.com, CouponShare.com, and a lot of others. I’m not exactly sure what separates these sites from each other, but they seem to do really well in search rankings and that is why they reach more than 265 million visitors every year.

A Whale of a Deal

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not brand loyal to RetailMeNot.com, but whenever I search for coupon codes, it seems one of their pages pops up. I can’t tell you how much money I have saved by taking 15 seconds to search for a coupon code when I’m making a purchase. This behavior is getting more and more common, and that bodes well for WhaleShark Media’s business model. If you’d like to learn more about that model and see how a profitable coupon business is built, check out WhaleShark Media’s Jobs page. Right now there are a number of opportunities or new and recent grads including:

Part-time Business Intelligence Analyst
Associate Software Engineer
Merchandiser – Deals2Buy.com
Accounts Coordinator
UX Designer
Visual Designer

There are a number of other interesting looking positions, but they all require more experience, so take a look at these and see if any of them make sense.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use coupons?

Flavorpill

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:30:54 +0000

It often seems that I don’t hear about cool events until after they’ve happened. I’ll spend a Friday night reorganizing my fishing closet, and on Saturday I’ll realize that there’s something really fun that I missed out on. I’m sure you’ve faced the same problem. But how do you keep up with what’s going on in your city? Flavorpill is one answer. They provide an online culture guide, and they will send you personalized e-mails that cover both events and news. I first heard about Flavorpill because one of their writers was interviewing me (the story ended up being published elsewhere), but I think they were a bit more news focused then. They say that they cover “cultural events, art, books, music, and world news,” though it seems that Flavorpill, which is headquartered in New York, NY, now leans very strongly towards the events side.

Flavorpill in Your Ear

Flavorpill currently has editions in New York, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Miami, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Seattle. I don’t know if there are any new locations on the horizon, but you’d think that they’d continue to grow the brand by adding new editions. There isn’t much info on the business behind Flavorpill, but it’s pretty obviously ad-supported. The Flavorpill Media Kit is probably the best way to get an inside look at how the company makes money. If you consider yourself culturally literate and want to to help others be like you, then a job at Flavorpill might be worth considering. Right now they have two Jobs pages. One is linked to from their site and the other is the first Google result for “Flavorpill internships.” My guess is that the former is the one to go by, but it’s hard to say for sure. Flavorpill’s current postings on that page include Designer, Front-end Developer, Product Manager, and Web Developer, and on the other page they include Editorial Partner (Las Vegas) and Advertising Sales Manager. Take a look at the job postings and see which ones best suit you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read Flavorpill?

AppSumo

Willy Franzen — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:05:26 +0000

Want to give AppSumo a try? Be sure to use this link to sign up.

I know that a lot of people are getting sick of daily deal sites, but I’m a huge Groupon fan (maybe because my fiancée works there); however, I must admit that the daily deal e-mail that I’m most excited for every day comes from AppSumo. They’re an Austin, TX based company that offers amazing bargains on software, online courses, and other tools that are extremely useful for entrepreneurs, web professionals, job seekers, and anyone who wants to use technology to a fuller extent. I’ve used AppSumo to buy things from Udemy (a PHP course), Tout (an e-mail management tool), StickerMule (awesome custom One Day One Job stickers), and a bunch of other cool companies. Each purchase has been valuable for building my business, and they’ve all come at unbelievably low prices.

Be a Sumo

AppSumo was founded by Noah Kagan just oner a year and a half ago. He’s a guy that I’ve had a chance to hang out with, and he’s super smart and extremely interesting. That’s why it’s no surprise that he’s built the company to more than half a million customers in that time. Unfortunately, you can’t get the AppSumo story for free on their website. Noah is a smart businessman, so he charges $79 for the behind the scenes story and charges $500 for an hour of one-on-one time (those are discounted prices). If I were you, I’d buy both of them and use them to try to land a job with AppSumo. They have a “For any reason anytime before you die” 100% money-back guarantee, so if you don’t get hired, you can totally get your money back. You can see all of AppSumo’s current and past openings on their Jobs page, so check that out. Right now they’re looking for a Python Developer and two Business Development Sumos, but they’ve had past jobs in Marketing, Design, Customer Support, Quality Assurance, Copywriting, and Taco Eating.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever bought something from AppSumo?

QuinStreet

Willy Franzen — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:03:36 +0000

In March of 2009 I got an e-mail that looked a lot like the spam you typically see when you’re a webmaster with a publicly listed e-mail address. When someone refers to my site as onedayonejob.com, it gives me the hint that the e-mail was probably automated and that I should send it to my Junk folder. But I was still intrigued by the following sentence: “I am reaching out to see if you will be interested in selling your site and would like to discuss potential acquisition opportunities with us,” so I followed up. Over the next few months I traded e-mails with a guy who works at QuinStreet about potentially selling the site, but we never even made it to the offer stage. The reason that the Foster City, CA based company was interested in One Day One Job is that they’re one of the leaders in vertical marketing and online media. They have tons of online properties, and they use them to market and generate leads for other businesses. They’ve been at it since 1999, so they’ve been around the block a time or two.

Take a Ride Down QuinStreet

QuinStreet’s main areas of focus are in Education and Financial Services (two extremely lucrative markets for lead generation), but they also work in Home Services, B2B, Medicine/Health, and Premium Brand Advertising. You won’t see QuinStreet promote their properties on their home page like some other online media companies do, and you won’t get too many details about what they actually do. Online lead generation is extremely competitive, so secrecy is really important. They do have a What We Do, but it’s extremely limited in its explanation of QuinStreet’s business (you’ll find a little more on their How We Do It page). If you really want to learn more about QuinStreet’s business, their Investor Relations site is probably the place to go. What might even give you a better sense of what they’re working is their Jobs page. By investigating the positions they’re hiring for, I’ll bet you’ll get even more insight into the business. You’ll also see some great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Employee Benefits and Compliance Assistant
Client Strategy & Development Associate
Data Services Associate (Reno, NV)
Inside Sales Rep
Inside Sales Rep – Home Services (Portland, OR)
Jr. Java Developer
Jr. Vertical Manager (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Jr. Web Producer (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Marketing Analyst
PPC Media Associate
SEM/PPC Media Associate (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Media Associate
Media Associate – Home Services
PHP Developer
Vertical Manager – Online Marketing
Web Designer

If you’re interested in online marketing, QuinStreet would be a great place to learn, so give these positions a look and see what appeals to you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about QuinStreet?

Globe Pequot Press

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:33:51 +0000

I’m a big reader, so I usually end up getting quite a few books for Christmas. That’s starting to change because I’ve moved the to the Kindle for most of my reading, but I’m still a book collector. In fact, I have an award winning collection on fly fishing. A good number of those books come from a publisher called Lyons Press, which is now owned by a larger publishing company called Globe Pequot Press. They’re based in Guilford, CT, and they focus on four categories: Outdoor Life, Regional Interest, Special Interests, and Travel. These categories are represented by imprints that include FalconGuides, Knack, Skirt!, Insiders’ Guide, Footprint Travel Guides, and Popout Products. When you put all those together, you get a pretty decent sized publishing company.

Take a Trip Around the Globe

Globe Pequot Press published its first book in 1947, and for it remained quite small for its first quarter century. They focused mainly on local topics and worked with local towns and their historical societies. They eventually expanded to cover areas like “New England history, biography, architecture, antiques, genealogy and travel,” and as they grew they started to attract the attention of bigger players. In the 80s a series of acquisitions and changes in ownership began and continued up until 1999. That’s when Globe Pequot Press settled in Guilford, and since then they’ve continued to grow by buying or adding new imprints. You can learn a lot more about the company by browsing their site and taking a look at the titles that they publish, so I recommend that you do that before heading over to their Jobs page. Right now GPP is hiring a Digital Production Assistant and a Business Development Specialist. Take a look at the jobs and see if Globe Pequot Press is the place for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What books are on your Christmas list?

Say Media

Willy Franzen — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:05:27 +0000

When people ask me what I do, I tell them that “I run websites that help college students find jobs and internships.” About half the time, I get, “Oh, so you’re like a recruiter?” That’s pretty far off, so I try to provide an explanation that includes the term “online media.” That usually gets the point across. We live in a time where nearly anyone can build their own media property. Technology is so cheap and easy to use that the hardest problems in online media usually come down to content creation, marketing, and monetization. Say Media is a company that brings together the technology with the media savvy. They’re based in San Francisco, CA, and they’ve been built out of two companies that merged: Six Apart and VideoEgg. Six Apart worked mostly on the technology side, and VideoEgg was an advertising network. Together they’ve become a company that “empowers culturally relevant individuals with its publishing platform and media services designed to help them grow audience and earn a living.”

What Do You Say?

Say Media has built a network with massive reach–400 million monthly unique visitors. Not only do they provide services that bring together advertisers and publishers, but they also own Blogs.com and TypePad. It’s all about “passion-based media properties,” whether SayMedia owns them, provides the technology to run them, or helps monetize them. Say Media bases everything that they do on 7 principles:

Attention is scarce

Passion is abundant

Media is fluid

Advertising is content

Storytelling is vital

Influence is earned

Engagement is a science

If you want to learn how Say Media came up with those principles and how they put them to work, then take a look at their Careers page. Right now they have a few jobs that you may want to check out including Financial Analyst, UI Site Designer, Technical Account Manager, and Sales Executive (Toronto, Canada). There are a variety of interesting opportunities at Say Media, so give them a shot.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Say Media?

Art.sy

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:56:39 +0000

The University of Chicago has five job openings that are perfect for recent grads. Check them out here.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m the black sheep of my family because of my lack of artistic ability and appreciation for art. Still, I understand how hard it must be for art enthusiasts to find art that they love. There’s so much out there, and no easy way to explore it in an organized way. That used to be the case for music and movies, but companies like Pandora and Netflix have done a lot to change that by building amazing recommendation engines. Art.sy, which is based in New York, NY is trying to do the same for art. They’re working on “The Art Genome Project,” which is “an ongoing study of the characteristics that distinguish and connect works of art.” It’s based on evaluating works of art “along 500+ characteristics—such as art-historical movements, subject matter, and formal qualities—to create a powerful search experience that reflects the multifaceted aspects of works of art.”

Are You Art.sy?

While Art.sy would probably be a great tool for helping me develop an appreciation for art, that’s not really its intended use (most likely because I wouldn’t generate much revenue for them). Art.sy is focused on serious art collectors who want to buy more art but don’t know exactly what they want to buy. If you want a more detailed look at how Art.sy works, check out this Wired article from a few weeks ago. The software sounds amazingly cool, though I can’t check it out because it’s invite only right now. There isn’t a ton of information available on Art.sy’s website (and the logo I’m using for them seems to be outdated), but they do have a Jobs page. Right now their open positions include Developer, Designer, and Writer (Art History background). Give them a look and see if any of them make sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you looking for new art to appreciate?a

University of Chicago

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:51:58 +0000

This is a sponsored post for the University of Chicago.

Even though I’m five years out of college, I still miss it. As much as I know many of you would like to stay (or go back), it’s time to get a job and leave the world of academia. Or is it? I’ve recently heard from a number of readers who have found a way to have their cake and eat it too. Some have landed jobs at their alma maters, while others have gone to work for other colleges and universities. If you think that Chicago would be a cool place to live (it is!), then you have to consider the University of Chicago.

The University of Chicago was founded by John D. Rockefeller, and it first offered classes in 1892. They currently serve 5,134 undegraduate students and 10,492 graduate, professional, and other students with a full-time faculty of 2,188. These three groups along with the more than 150,000 worldwide alumni form “a community of creative, demanding, inspired scholars who debate and collaborate to enrich human life through their work.” If you want more info on what the University of Chicago is all about, check out their About page.

Right now, the University of Chicago’s Alumni Relations & Development Division is working with us to fill 5 positions that they think are well suited for the One Day One Job audience. These positions include:

These are great opportunities to start your career while still staying close to the college atmosphere. Give the positions a look, and see if any of them interest you. If you’re interested in other positions at the University of Chicago, be sure to take a look at their Jobs page.

Hotel Tonight

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:03:26 +0000

Want to try Hotel Tonight? Use this link to get $25 off your first booking.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I either book hotel rooms way in advance or the day of. When I reserve a room in advance, I’m usually looking for more than just a place to sleep. Price is still important, but it’s not the most important thing. But when I need a room for tonight, I want a place that meets my minimum standards for the lowest price. As long as I can get a good night’s sleep without being bitten by bedbugs or woken up by a domestic dispute, I’m happy. It’s the latter situation that can be frustrating for bargain hunters. You know that the hotel is at 12% capacity, but they still won’t give you anything better than the AAA rate. As long as they can cover the cost of cleaning the room, they should be willing to take you. Hotel Tonight is a San Francisco, CA based company that is making it easy to get rooms for up to 70% off at the last-minute.

Job Today?

At least for now, Hotel Tonight is completely app based. You can’t even search for a hotel on their website. They want you to whip out your phone (Android or iPhone) when you need a room and book from there. Every day they launch new deals at noon local time, so that’s the best time to check the app (some stuff does sell out). I spent a little time playing around with the app, and the deals look good, but they’re not mind blowing. If you stay somewhere expensive you can save a few hundred bucks, but a more basic hotel room might only come with $10-$20 in savings. Still, Hotel Tonight will help you find a good deal with almost no hassle, and it provides a great yield management tool for hotel owners. If you’re interested in the intersection of technology and hospitality management, then take a look at Hotel Tonight’s Jobs page. Right now they have some great opportunities available including:

Take a look at the jobs. Hopefully one of them will be a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite hotel?

Urban Outfitters

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:28:02 +0000

I’m a strong believer in the theory of hipster relativity. If someone has more interesting facial hair than you, wears more plaid than you, or has thicker rimmed glasses than you, then he’s probably a hipster… at least to you. I’m pretty far up the chain (though I do have an affinity for plaid), which means that a whole lot of 20-somethings look like hipsters to me. The only thing I don’t get is where they get all of their cool hipster gear. I often walk by Urban Outfitters, and occasionally step inside. The store is packed with people and filled with what I consider to be hipster merchandise. This confuses me, because I know that no true hipster would shop somewhere so mainstream. I mean, Urban Outfitters, which is based in Philadelphia, PA, is publicly traded, has nearly 200 locations, and also owns Anthropologie, Free People, BHLDN, and Terrain. I guess the only loophole for a hipster shopping at Urban Outfitters is if you liked corporations before they were cool.

Get Urban Outfitted

Despite my sarcasm, I actually think that Urban Outfitters is an amazing company. They started as a single store in Philly in 1970, and they have grown the brand and the business to an amazing level. Urban Outfitters may be a corporation with a $4 billion market cap, but they offer a distinctly different feel from many other retailers in the fashion industry. I think the paragraph on Urban Outfitter’s About page really says its all:

Our established ability to understand our customers and connect with them on an emotional level. The reason for this success is that our brands — Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and BHLDN — are both compelling and distinct. Each brand chooses a particular customer segment, and once chosen, sets out to create sustainable points of distinction with that segment. In the retail brands we design innovative stores that resonate with the target audience; offer an eclectic mix of merchandise in which hard and soft goods are cross merchandised; and construct unique product displays that incorporate found objects into creative selling vignettes. The emphasis is on creativity. Our goal is to offer a product assortment and an environment so compelling and distinctive that the customer feels an empathetic connection to the brand and is persuaded to buy.

If that sounds like a company that you want to be a part of, then check out Urban Outfitters Careers page. You’ll probably get overwhelmed if you look at all of their posted jobs (there are 100s of positions), so I recommend using some of the search criteria they offer to narrow down your search. For instance you can look at positions at their Home Office or in their Anthropologie Retail Stores. I’m not going to list all of the positions that make sense for new or recent grads, bot here are some that caught my eye:

This is just a small sampling of the jobs available at Urban Outfitters, so dig in and see what positions might be out there for you. Judging from that last posting, they must do some campus recruiting too–so that’s something to look into. Finally, Urban Outfiters has a Twitter account for job postings, so you may want to follow that.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a hipster?

MakerBot Industries

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

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

You Might Need a 3D Resume

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

BookRenter.com

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

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

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

The End of Rent Seeking

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your worst college textbook horror story?

littleBits

Willy Franzen — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:05:13 +0000

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

When I was a kid I had this really cool electronics set that allowed me to build all kinds of devices just by connecting different wires to each other. It looked kind of like this. A friend and I even built our own radio transmitter and were able to transmit music about 20 feet to my mom’s car. It totally blew our 10-year old minds. Unfortunately, neither of us had any idea how it worked. littleBits is a New York, NY based company that has more than one-upped the electronic playground. They have developed “a growing library of pre-assembled circuits that snap together with tiny magnets.” Not only do littleBits look super cool, but they should be pretty intuitive considering that each piece has a unique electronic function. I think it would be hard to play with them and not understand how they’re working.

littleJobs

When I see littleBits, I instantly see them as the perfect Christmas gift for a kid with a budding interest in science. However, littleBits aren’t necessarily even targeted towards kids. littleBits’ goal is to move “electronics from late stages of the design process to its earliest ones, and from the hands of experts, to those of artists, makers, students and designers.” They want more people to look at life through the frame of electronic hardware, and that’s definitely something that I can get behind. littleBits is still a little company, though they have a lot of people pushing for them succeed. If you love what they’re doing as much as I do, you should take a look at littleBits’ Jobs page. The only non-internship position they have posted right now is for an experienced Industrial/ Product Designer; however, they do say: “Other openings may also be available, if you have what it takes, and are excited to embark on this exciting adventure, get in touch (jobs@littlebits.cc), we’d love to meet you!” I say go for it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you play with littleBits?

BeachMint

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

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

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

Making a Mint

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried any of BeachMint’s offerings?

Time Out

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

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

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

Take a Time Out from Your Job Search

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

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

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Brunner

Willy Franzen — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:42:55 +0000

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

Every day within a few minutes of when I press send to deliver our daily e-mails, I get at least a few out of office replies. The names start to become familiar, as it’s often the same people–most of them work in career services. Lately, I’ve been noticing out of office replies from someone with a brunnerworks.com e-mail address. I didn’t make much of it until I went through some results from our survey and noticed someone recommended Brunner as a company that we should feature. I took a look at the Pittsburgh, PA and Atlanta, GA advertising agency and quickly agreed. Brunner’s tagline is “Ideas for a Smarter, Faster World,” and they seem to be living up to that with a Top 75 ranking among U.S. based ad agencies.

It’s Funner at Brunner

Brunner does work in a variety of areas including Insight and Startegy, Creative, Digital, Communications Planning, Media Planning and Buying, Mobile, Public Relations, Social Media, Shopper Marketing, One-to-One, and Measurement and Analytics. And they do it for big names like Heinz, Bob Evans, GNC, GlaxoSmithKline, Zippo, and Huffy. You can take a look at their work to get a better sense of their approaches to different kinds of campaigns. I really like the print campaign they did for Case Knives, but I’m sure you’ll have your own favorite. Brunner also has a great People section on their website, so you can get to know more about some of the folks behind the work.

If you’re digging what Brunner is all about, then you’ll want to take a look at their Careers page. They currently have a few opportunities that could be suitable for new or recent grads including Interactive Designer, Interactive Media Planner/Buyer, and User Experience Designer in Pittsburgh. There’s also an Interactive Media Planner/Buyer position in Atlanta. Additionally, Brunner encourages job seekers to apply to future openings or to apply for freelance work. There’s also an internship program and a Career contact on their Contact page, so you have a number of options if you’re trying to get in at Brunner.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Brunner?

PerkSpot

Willy Franzen — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:23:02 +0000

Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to those of you who served or are serving our country. If you’d like to use today for job search inspiration, you may want to check out jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Every job has its perks. Sometimes you have to look hard to find them, and sometimes they’re made apparent to you on your first day. A big part of the reason that I decided to intern at Orvis was that I knew I’d get a 50% discount off of everything they sold. It was awesome for someone as addicted to fly fishing as I am. As I proved, perks can be a huge recruiting tool for employers. Yet a lot of employers do a terrible job organizing, managing, and letting their employees know about perks. What’s the point in offering something if employees don’t even know it’s available to them? PerkSpot is a Chicago, IL based company that helps employers solve this problem. They have built a “proprietary technology platform” that provides “employees with a single point of access for specialty benefits, personal insurance products, and discounts on consumer goods and services.” It’s all online and in one place.

Perk Up!

I learned about PerkSpot when I met Chris Hill, the Founder & CEO, at a Chicago entrepreneurship event. We had a lot to talk about since we’re both working in the HR industry. What I liked about PerkSpot right off the bat is that they not only help employers organize the perks that they already offer, but they also help them find new perks to offer by linking them up with merchants. Although I haven’t seen PerkSpot’s software in action, it must be pretty good considering that Starbucks, DirecTV, AirTran, Williams-Sonoma, and CDW are all PerkSpot clients. If your ears perked up when you heard about what PerkSpot is doing, then you’ll probably want to check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a C# Web Developer and a Web Designer/UX Ninja. I know that they also have non-technical positions (just none that are open right now) because one of my other friends is a Marketing Coordinator there. So if you’re serious about getting in on the perks of working at PerkSpot’s perks, feel free to e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com and I can make an intro to Chris. He’s a busy guy (and so am I), so please make sure your intro e-mail is something that I’ll feel is worth passing along.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s the best perk that you’ve ever heard of?

Refinery29

Willy Franzen — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:38:05 +0000

Keeping up with fashion isn’t a priority for me, but I still like to dress well. That’s why I trust Bonobos and Gilt Groupe to do the curation for me, and then I just buy what I like from them (it also helps that I’ve accrued a lot of credits from both of them). I know that a lot of people are far more active in keeping up with fashion, which is probably why Refinery29 is growing so quickly. The New York, NY based company is aiming to be “the cornerstone of fashion, beauty, and shopping for a new generation” as they offer “the only 360-degree source for shopping, exclusive deals, trends, beauty news, local hot-spots, and at-home sneak-peeks of fashion’s finest.” That’s ridiculously ambitious, but the results so far indicate that they’re pretty much killing it.

Show Your Refinement

I learned about Refinery29 from a blog post by my friend Charlie O’Donnell. The post touches on something really cool that Refinery29 is doing that I think more companies should do. They started out by focusing on editorial and grabbing attention to sell to advertisers. That’s what most companies in this space do, and it works, but why not take the extra step? Refinery29 has built it’s own e-commerce product called Reserve, and it’s essentially built on the daily deal model. It’s smart because it allows Refinery29 to capture even more value from their users than they do by selling advertising. I think we’ll see more and more companies do this–build media products as channels to promote their own products (I guess it’s nothing new considering the same idea is where Soap Operas got their start). I highly recommend that you dig into Refinery29′s content and get a better feel for who they are. If you like what you see, then you should probably check out their Careers page. They have a bunch of cool opportunities that might appeal to new or recent grads including:

Account Manager
Miami Editor (Miami, FL)
Los Angeles Editor (Los Angeles, CA)
Marketing Data Analyst
UX + Interaction Designer

There are a bunch of other positions, but they generally have more significant experience requirements. Hopefully something at Refinery29 will catch your eye and be a great fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Refinery29?

Digital Kitchen

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:39:37 +0000

As I mentioned on Monday, I’m all about creative ways to find interesting companies that might be hiring (like looking at Halloween candy labels). Sometimes the ideas that I come up with are way out there, and sometimes they’re pretty simple. As I’ve randomly discovered more and more cool companies in my neighborhood, I’ve realized that walking around town and looking at the nameplates on buildings has to be worth trying. Though I’ve only done it casually so far, I think I probably would have come across Digital Kitchen more quickly if I had taken it a bit more seriously. They’re a Chicago, IL, Seattle, WA, and Los Angeles, CA based company that takes part in “creative mischief for progressive brands and entertainment properties.” In other words they’re a creative agency that has domes some pretty cool work for some pretty big names.

What’s Cooking?

The first thing that you notice when you land on Digital Kitchen’s website is that it’s beautifully designed and intended to direct all of your focus to their work. You can see what they’ve done for HBO (True Blood), AT&T (U-Verse), Discovery Channel (Shark Week), Showtime (Dexter), and lots of other big time brands. Beyond showing off their work, Digital Kitchen doesn’t have a lot to say about itself. If you want to get a look inside their offices, you can check out their Blog, and if you want a more basic overview, you can take a look at their Wikipedia page. If you like what you see, then you’ll want to check out Digital Kitchen’s Careers page, where you’ll see that they have some really cool positions like On-Air Traffic Coordinator (Los Angeles, CA), Web Developer (Los Angeles, CA), and Interactive Content Producer (Seattle, WA). Most of these positions require some previous experience, but I think that new grads with the right backgrounds could be a good fit for all of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Digital Kitchen’s work?