One Day, One Job » fitness

GNC

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:30:38 +0000

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

Lifting weights is one of the best things that you can do for physical fitness. Strength training can have amazing effects on its own, but you can get extraordinary results when you combine your training with proper nutrition. There’s a next step if you really want to get serious: supplementation. There seems to be a supplement for everything, from gaining muscle to improving brain function. And if there’s a name that you think of when you think of supplements, it has to be GNC. They’re a Pittsburgh, PA based worldwide retailer of health and nutrition products that include vitamins, supplements, minerals, herbs, and more. If you’re looking to get more out of your body, there’s something at GNC that will at least claim to help you do it.

Supplement Your Job Search

The only thing that I’ve ever bought from GNC is whey protein powder. I’ll barely ever even taken an aspirin, so the idea of taking all kinds of pills, powders, and extracts doesn’t really appeal to me. However, if you’re going to do it, GNC is a good brand to trust. They’ve set “the standard in the nutritional supplement industry by demanding truth in labeling, ingredient safety and product potency, all while remaining on the cutting-edge of nutritional science.” That’s a big deal when you hear about things like pro athletes testing positive for banned substance because they took supplements from a shady supplier. There’s absolutely no doubt that GNC is a world leader with more than 7,000 locations (they use a franchising model) and billions in revenue. GNC is exactly the kind of company that most people know about but never consider working for. Now is your chance. If you take a look at GNC’s Careers page, you’ll see that they have a few positions suitable for a new or recent grad including:

There are also opportunities at the retail/store level listed separately, so you may want to check those out too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use any supplements?

Everyday Health

Willy Franzen — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:39:06 +0000

Guys. If you’re going to land a job, you need pants. And shoes. And shirts. And maybe even a jacket and tie. Looking good is important, which is why you should outfit yourself in Bonobos like I do. Here’s $25 off your first order. My gift to you.

I have no idea where people went to ask embarrassing health questions before the Internet. I guess you could have gone to a doctor, but it’s really nice to pre-educate yourself before you ask a professional. That’s why there’s ridiculous demand for health-related information online. Everyday Health is a company that has been reacting to this demand since they started in 2002. They are a New York, NY based company that provides “consumers, healthcare professionals, and brands with content and advertising-based services across a broad portfolio of over 25 websites that span the health spectrum.” If you ask Google and embarrassing health question, there’s a really good chance that you’ll end up on one of their sites. In 2010 they were averaging 26.5 million monthly unique visitor, which is just a massive amount of traffic–especially in a niche as valuable as health related information.

Everyday Jobs

While Everyday Health calls their sites “partners,” I think it would be more accurate to call them properties. Some are generic like Prostate.net and TopDentists.com, while others are based on partnerships with recognizable brands like MayoClinic.com, DeniseAustin.com, and JoyBauer.com. Each site is obviously targeted at a very specific niche and monetized accordingly through advertising. If you’re interested in online publishing and health/medicine, then you need to take a look at Everyday Health’s Jobs page. Right now they have some great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

These look like great opportunities, so don’t pass them up.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use the Internet to ask embarrassing health related questions?

Greatist

Willy Franzen — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:32:45 +0000

Behavioral change is hard. Really hard. Whether you’re trying to be more diligent about networking or trying to lose a few pounds, you have to understand your own psychological shortfalls. If you try to make 20 changes all at once, you are going to fail. That’s why I really like how Greatist approaches health and fitness. They are aiming to inspire “the world to make one healthier choice per week.” It doesn’t sound like much, but it really adds up. And once you’re committed to one healthy choice a week, it gets a heck of a lot easier to make another one… and another one. Greatist is based in New York, NY, and they pursue their mission by providing health and fitness related content on their website. There are a million other sites that do this, but Greatist has a unique approach, a targeted market of the “young, savvy, and social,” and drastically growing traffic. Those are all really good signs.

Are You the Greatist?

Here’s a brief video that will give you an overview of what Greatist is and how they’re different from other sites (e-mail readers may need to click though to the post):

If you’re looking for more, you can read Greatist’s Health and Fitness Manifesto. The problem I see for Greatist is that monetizing health and fitness traffic usually means you need to peddle scammy, infomercially type stuff–or at least accept advertising for it. It’s what sells. Greatist once again is taking a different approach. They plan on making money through their own products. Take a look at their Bootcamps page to get a sense for how they’re approaching this. If you dig it, head over to Greatist’s Jobs page. They’re currently looking for a Contributing Writer, a Staff Writer, a Contributing Photographer, a PR/Communicatons/Brand Champion, a Technical Leader, and a Lead Designer. Greatist’s founder is a recent grad, so don’t be afraid to apply for any of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you live a healthy lifestyle?

Partnership for a Healthier America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:29:57 +0000

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. I don’t mind using a superficial date to initiate positive personal change, but it seems that using January 1st as that date makes you more likely to fail. Maybe that’s just because I know that my gym will be packed when I go this week, and in two months it will be half as full. It seems that most New Year’s resolutions are centered around weight loss and physical fitness, so I thought that it would be a good theme to run with. I went looking for non-profits that focus their mission on physical fitness, and I was surprised at how few there are. The only one that really stood out was the Partnership for a Healthier America, which is a Washington, DC based “independent, nonpartisan organization focusing on reducing the nation’s childhood obesity prevalence by facilitating meaningful action from the private sector, foundations, thought leaders, media, and communities to improve children’s health.”

Be Healthy

You may have heard about Partnership for a Healthier America because Michelle Obama is its honorary chairperson and the organization does a lot to support her Let’s Move! initiative. We all know how big of a problem obesity is in the United States, and it’s especially bad for children. It’s a hard problem to tackle, because it’s all about behavioral change. Still, Partnership for a Healthier America is doing whatever it can to help the more than 23 million overweight adolescents and children in this country. If you’d like to join them, you can check out their page on Idealist. They don’t have any jobs posted right now, but they did have a Finance & Grants Associate position a few months ago. Maybe if you reach out to them you can learn about new positions for the new year.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you make a New Year’s resolution>?

Weight Watchers

Willy Franzen — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:53:50 +0000

A little known fact about me is that I earned “The Speed Limit” as a nickname during my Senior year of high school. It wasn’t because I drove slowly; it was because I somehow managed to lose 55 pounds between the end of Junior year and the beginning of Senior year. I still don’t know how it happened–I wasn’t even trying to lose weight–but it did (I’ve since gained much of it back, but part of that is because I don’t have the body of a scrawny 17-year old anymore). Apparently, there’s some mysterious weight loss secret out there that I used, but don’t know about. Unfortunately, weight loss isn’t usually that easy, and for most people it’s a huge struggle. I’m a big proponent of “the slow-carb diet” and other methods from Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Body, but it’s all about finding what works for you. For many it’s Weight Watchers. The New York, NY based company was started in Queens during the early 1960s by Jean Nidetch who “began inviting friends into her Queens home once a week to discuss how best to lose weight.” Now more than a million people across the world go to Weight Watchers meetings every week.

Jobs to Watch Out For

The Weight Watchers business is based on providing “information, knowledge, tools and motivation to help you make the decisions that are right for you about nutrition and exercise.” Everybody knows that the science of weight loss is easy. If you’re burning more calories that you take in (or at least absorb), you will lose weight. Putting that scientific fact to work is what’s so difficult. Weight Watchers is really about overcoming the psychological obstacles that prevent people from losing weight. The meetings are one way that they help people achieve this, and their Points systems is another. By simplifying healthy eating into an almost game-like system, Weight Watchers makes it easier for people to make the right decisions. In a way, weight loss is a lot like the job search in that you almost have to trick people into doing the right things because they’ll rarely do what you tell them to do. Anyway, the weight loss industry is about as competitive as it gets, but Weight Watchers seems to continue to do well. They’re expanding their online presence, and they also seem to be hiring some new people. You can learn more on their Jobs page, where you’ll see positions like Administrative Assistant (Jericho, NY), CHAMP Reconciliation Specialist (Jericho, NY), Part-Time Collections Clerk, Corporate Sales Operations Coordinator, Field Coordinator, Program Innovation Developer, and Tally Clerk.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever tried Weight Watchers?

Fontainebleau

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:40:24 +0000

A few weeks ago I was able to escape Chicago just after the blizzard and spend a weekend in Miami Beach. My girlfriend’s company had a region-wide annual retreat, and significant others were invited–all expenses paid! I had a great time, mostly because I was with good friends and the weather was great. (I also got to go fishing. I caught a 70 lb tarpon and as I got it to the boat a 400+ lb shark came out from under the boat and ate it.) Another thing that made the trip great was the accommodations. We stayed at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, FL (no need to say it with a French accent, Fountain Blue is ok), and they took care of many of the weekend’s events. The resort was beautiful, the staff was great, and the location was quite an upgrade from Chicago in February. My only complaint was that Fontainebleau’s grounds are so expansive that you do a lot of walking, and sometimes you get lost. Still, it was an awesome trip at an awesome resort (I even got a massage).

Take Your Talents to Miami Beach

When I went to the Fontainebleau website to learn more, I realized that most hotels are more focused on providing information that customers want than providing information potential employees want. They don’t have an About page, and their History page won’t load for me, so I check out Fontainebleau’s Wikipedia entry, which calls the resort “one of the most historically and architecturally significant hotels on Miami Beach.” It appears that Fontainebleau is an independent resort since they’re owned by Fontainebleau Resorts. Fontainebleau Miami Beach is the company’s only open property; however, they are working on opening another one in Las Vegas. If you’re interested in the hospitality industry, and you love the idea of being in Miami Beach all year round, then you should check out Fontainebleau’s Careers page. They have a lot of openings, and quite a few seem well suited to a new grads. I’m not going to list out all of the positions, but there are opportunities in Sales & Marketing, Concierge, Spa/Fitness/Salon, Food and Beverage, Culinary, and more. Promotion from within is big in the hospitality industry, so don’t overlook jobs just because you think that you’re overqualified for them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you stayed at Fontainebleau?

Mindspark

Willy Franzen — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:59:37 +0000

There’s been a big uproar in the startup community because I Can Has Cheezburger just took on $30 million in venture capital funding. Now, I’m not qualified to determine whether that’s a smart investment, but I’m wary of people who are too quick to judge it. A lot of people have trouble differentiating between serious businesses and businesses that sell serious products. There’s a lot of room for fun on the Internet, and there are lots of companies that are profiting by providing fun. One of them is Mindspark, which is an IAC company. Mindspark is based in White Plains, NY with additional offices in New York City and Ra’anana, Israel. They manage a number of social and entertainment web properties including Zwinky, and Zwinky Cuties, IWON, Retrogamer, MyWebFace, and GirlSense. Mindspark also offers interactive communication products like Webfetti, My Fun Cards, SmileyCentral, Smiley Creator, Cursor Mania, Popular Screensavers and Kazulah. Additionally, Mindspark also runs Excite and DailyBurn. As you can tell by the names, this isn’t the most serious collection of sites.

A Spark for Your Job Search

Now, I know that you never thought that visiting Zwinky Cuties would be part of your job search, but if you want to land a job at Mindspark, you’re going to have to check out all of their sites. You should be able to run through each of their sites and identify the target audience, the ways in which the sites engage their audiences, and how Mindspark is monetizing the attention from those audiences. That’s the kind of analysis that you should be doing on any company that you want to work for—it’s just going to be a little more fun for Mindspark. Once you have a handle on that, you should check out Mindspark’s Careers page and Job postings. They have a ton of jobs posted (so you have to think that they’re doing well), and a number of them seem appropriate for new or recent grads. Unfortunately, the system that they use to post the jobs, Jobvite, won’t let me link directly to the job descriptions. The positions that you’ll want to look out for include Business Development Coordinator (Ask Partner Network – Oakland, CA), Product Support Specialist/Tester (White Plains, NY), Technical Customer Support Specialist (DailyBurn – New York, NY), Online Fitness Trainer (DailyBurn – New York, NY), Flash Game Developer (Virtual Worlds – Los Angeles, CA and White Plains, NY), Web Developer (Ask Partner Network – Oakland, CA), Web Developer (IWON – New York, NY), and Web Developer (Webfetti – White Plains, NY). You can also find DailyBurn’s technical positions posted here. There’s a lot of variety here, so hopefully something will catch your eye.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you visited any of Mindspark’s properties?

BodyBuilding.com

Willy Franzen — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:47:31 +0000

Does anyone else find it vexing that gyms get completely packed in the first few weeks of January? I have a lot of respect for people who use the new year to motivate themselves into getting in shape, and I’m certainly approaching my workouts with more energy than I was in December, but I hate the crowds. Last month I mentioned that I was reading Tim Ferriss’ new book, The 4-Hour Body. I recently finished it, and it has encouraged me to try some new things at the gym. One of the suggestions that I’m excited to try is “kettlebell swings.” They were a bit hard to understand until I saw a video of how to do them in one of Tim’s blog posts. The video was hosted on BodyBuilding.com, and when I went to check the site out I saw a link to a Careers section at the bottom of the page. I started looking around, and I learned that the Boise, ID based company is the most visited bodybuilding and fitness site in the world, the #1 sports nutrition e-commerce site, one of the top 500 e-commerce sites in America, and a former Inc. 500 company. I knew that online fitness could be big business, but I had no idea that BodyBuilding.com owned such a dominant place in the market.

Build Your Body, Build Your Career

BodyBuilding.com has taken a really smart, two-pronged approach to growing their business. Instead of just focusing on e-commerce or just focusing on content, they do both. While most companies that build online communities do so to sell advertising, BodyBuilding.com has done it to advertise their own e-commerce business. Apparently it’s working, as BodyBuilding.com started in 1999 (not a great time for Internet companies) and has grown to more than 160 employees since. I think what really makes BodyBuilding.com stand out is that they’re built for the long-term. Lots and lot of companies that push fitness products online are about tricking people into buying some miracle product. BodyBuilding.com has built the ultimate online fitness resource for free—they want their customers to be well informed and trusting. They know that by consistently providing quality content, they will have a continuously growing group of loyal customers. If you want to join the growing ranks of BodyBuilding.com employees, check out their Jobs page. They have quite a few opportunities including a bunch that look well suited for new and recent grads like Import/Export Specialist (Costanza!), Quality Control Coordinator, Competition Content Coordinator, B2B Account Specialist, and Java Software Engineer. Now flex your muscles and apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you visited BodyBuilding.com?

CytoSport

Willy Franzen — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:42:19 +0000

A few days ago I started reading The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss on my Kindle. I enjoyed his first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, and I like Tim’s blog, so I figured it was worth a read. It’s a little out there, but I find that there’s always something that I can learn from Tim whether it’s what he’s actually teaching or how he’s teaching it. Anyway, The 4-Hour Body focuses on hacking your body to improve performance, so most of the focus is on diet, exercise, and supplementation. I’m somewhat familiar with diet and exercise, but I’ve never used supplements beyond a few scoops of whey protein. I do know that supplements are big business, and one of the big players in the industry is CytoSport, which is based in Benicia, CA. They aim to provide the highest quality nutritional products to professional and amateur athletes striving to reach their potential,” and they do that one of the biggest brands in the space, Muscle Milk.

Let Them See You Flex

What really makes CytoSport stand out is that they “wholly own [their] manufacturing and packaging equipment and facilities,” which means that they control the entire production process “from raw materials to finished products.” This is huge in the supplement industry because quality control can be a huge problem. CytoSport is a family business that has been around for 12 years, and they stake their name on quality. As they say, “Driven by Science – Inspired by Performance.” CytoSport even has a line of products specifically for NCAA athletes—they’re guaranteed to “meet the unique needs for Collegiate Athletics as outlined under NCAA® bylaw 16.5.2.2 for nutritional supplements.” If you’re fitness focused and interested at working at one of the top brands in the supplement industry, then you should check out jobs at CytoSport. They don’t list specific positions, but you can use LinkedIn to get a feel for what types of opportunities might be available.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used any CytoSport products?

Reach Sports Marketing Group

Willy Franzen — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:48:26 +0000

I get asked all the time about how a new grad with no experience or connections can get an entry level job in sports (click that link for all of the sports related opportunities that we’ve featured in the past). The truth is that I don’t have a good answer. Jobs in sports are in low supply and high demand, which means that you probably need experience in the form of internships or solid connections to get your foot in the door. It also means that there are a ton of scammers who use “sports marketing jobs” to lure wet behind the ears grads into MLM scams. Fortunately, there are some legitimate options out there. Take Reach Sports Marketing Group for example, they’re an Eden Prairie, MN based company that made the Inc. 500 with 806% three-year growth and $2.5 million in annual revenue. Their business is pretty simple, they sell local advertisements on “digital signage screens and direct mail coupon sheets.” They have digital signage in more than 300 recreation and fitness centers across the country, and there’s a decent chance that they’re in the gyms at your school.

Reach Your Potential

If you want to get a feel for what Reach Sports Marketing Group’s signage looks like, you can see a demo here. It turns out that Reach isn’t really in the business of marketing sports, but instead they’re in the business of marketing to sports enthusiasts. Most of the advertisers that they work with are local businesses that want to reach an athletic audience—orthopedists, plastic surgeons, dentists, etc. If you really want to dig into it, you can look at the Lifetime Fitness Media Kit that Reach Sports Marketing Group put together. The only bummer here is that Reach Sports Marketing Group’s entire website is in Flash, which means that I can’t link to specific pages. To get to their Careers page, you’ll need to click the About Us link, and then there will be a Careers link in the dark grey stripe. I missed it at first, so you probably will too. Right now Reach Sports Marketing Group is offering positions in Digital Network Advertising Sales, Reach4Deals Advertising Sales, and Software Sales; however, they seem to want people with prior sales experience. Your best bet is to reach out to Reach Sports Marketing Group at careers@reachsportsgroup.com and inquire about what kind of position might be suitable for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

ReachSportsGroup.com

What do you think of Reach Sports Marketing Group?

Girls on the Run

Willy Franzen — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 12:14:25 +0000

I’m about to head out to watch some friends compete in the Chicago Marathon, so I though that I’d run with that theme. As I ran down the list of charities associated with the Chicago Marathon, I tried look for organizations that are not only use today’s event to support great causes, but also using running as part of their mission. Girls on the Run is a perfect fit. They are a nationwide organization based in Charlotte, NC that “educates and prepares girls for a life time of self-respect and healthy living.” They focus on training girls aged eight to thirteen years old for 3.1 mile/5k events with the main goal of encouraging “positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development.” I’ve always hated running, but I totally understand why people like it—and watching 40,000 people compete in a marathon is a perfect example of what a great personal development tool it can be.

Run For It

I could tell you all about Girls on the Run, but that doesn’t make much sense when there’s a great video about the organization from the founder (you’ll have to click through to the original post to see it if you’re reading in your e-mail).

Now, Girls on the Run may be based in North Carolina, but they have chapters all over the country—42 states to be exact (and many states with multiple chapters). You can take a look at all of Girls on the Run’s locations here. Even though Girls on the Run’s Jobs page doesn’t currently list any opportunities, it’s quite possible that there may be opportunities at a more local level. If you love running and want to help support the personal development of young women, then you should reach out to both the national organization and the local chapters about potential jobs. It’s worth a shot.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever run a marathon?

Fitness Anywhere

Willy Franzen — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:13:06 +0000

As the beach volleyball season winds down, I’m starting to spend more time in the gym. Last Wednesday I did a leg workout that was heavy on box jumps, and today is the first day that I’m not feeling sore from it. That’s the sign of a good workout, but it’s also a sign that I need to spend even more time in the gym. I might even want to try some of the TRX Suspension Training products from San Francisco, CA based Fitness Anywhere. The company was founded in 2004 by Randy Hetrick, a former Navy SEAL who had developed some product ideas out of the necessity for training methods that could be used while on a mission without access to gym equipment—stuff you can do anywhere. As the company has evolved, they have grown to “deliver world-class training products and exercise programs for the serious athletes, fitness professionals, first responders and the US military.” You might recognize the names of some of the athletes who use Fitness Anywhere’s products—they include Drew Brees, Jamie Moyer (the dude is 47 and playing Major League Baseball), Carmelo Anthony, and Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser.

Jobs Anywhere?

Most of Fitness Anywhere’s product offerings are centered around the TRX Suspension Training brand. I imagine that it has been the key driver of Fitness Anywhere’s 2,297.2% three-year growth to $14.7 million in annual revenue and the #108 spot on the Inc. 500. Along with the suspension training system, Fitness Anywhere also offers a number of instructional DVDs to help people make the most of the equipment. To fully understand how the products work, you’ll have to check out the Fitness Anywhere site; however, the basic idea behind the TRX Suspension Training system is using leveraged body weight exercises to build strength. If you’re big on physical fitness, but you’re also seeking career fitness, then you’ll want to consider careers at Fitness Anywhere. They’re both a San Francisco Business Times Best Place to Work in the Bay Area and an Outside Magazine Best Place to Work, and they have potential entry level opportunities that include Web Developer, Associate Video Editor, TRX Training Center – Fitness Instructor, and a number of Field Marketing Representative positions in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles. Take a look, and see if your résumé is strong enough.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use any Fitness Anywhere products?

Athletes’ Performance

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:50:25 +0000

One essential part of the job search that is rarely mentioned is working out. You won’t often read about it career advice books or have your college’s career counselor advise you to get a gym membership, but I think that it’s extremely important. The self-discipline required to stay in good shape is the same that is required to land a job. Beyond that, the gym provides a good break from job searching and can even be a decent place to do some networking. But what if you’re a professional athlete? Going to the gym has a completely different meaning in relation to your job search—it’s absolutely essential. The problem is that most gyms don’t cater to athletes. They cater to people who are trying to lose a few pounds, socialize, or watch tv while “working out.” Athletes’ Performance is a different kind of gym. They aim “to provide the finest methods, specialists and facilities seamlessly integrated to efficiently and ethically enhance [their] athletes’ performance.”

How Will You Perform?

Athletes’ Performance has taken a scientific approach to training that is built on three core principles: improving performance, decreasing injury potential, and motivating through education. They currently have locations in Phoenix, AZ; Gulf Breeze, FL; and Carson, CA with an extremely ambitious plan to “roll out 125 sites over the next five years in 25 key metropolitan areas.” Obviously that kind of growth can’t happen while only catering to pro athletes, but I’ll bet there are plenty of non-professionals who would pay a significant premium to work out and train like they’re pros. Niche gyms are a growing market, and Athletes’ Performance seems to be well positioned to take advantage of the fact that not everyone is happy with an elliptical machine and some free weights. If you’re intrigued, you should check out jobs at Athletes’ Performance. Most of their “entry level” openings are located in Frisco, TX for what must be a new location. These positions include Performance Consultant (Sales), Performance Nutritionist, Performance Physical Therapist, and Performance Specialist. You can apply online for these jobs, but you better have a background in sports.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you train at a gym like Athletes’ Performance?

Sony Pictures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:00:22 +0000

I’ve never really understood the idea of the “Summer Blockbuster.” Why would you want to sit inside and watch a movie when it’s nice and hot outside? I guess sometimes it gets too hot, and sometimes it rains, but I’d rather be outside. If you disagree with me, then you’re probably a big fan of Culver City, CA’s Sony Pictures. They’re in the business of producing, marketing, and distributing entertainment, and you’re probably familiar with some of their recent an upcoming releases like: Julie and Julia, Angels & Demons, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. They’re also responsible for Seinfeld. Since I’m not much of a movie buff, I don’t know if anyone actually cares what production house puts out a movie, but I do know that Sony Pictures’ end products seem to pretty darn good—they even made my favorite movie (about the outdoors, obviously), A River Runs Through It.

Picture Yourself at Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures is obviously part of Sony, but there are also a number of distinct businesses within Sony Pictures. There is the Motion Picture Group, which has multiple labels including Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, and Sony Pictures Classics. Then there’s Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which brings feature films along with tv episodes right into your home. You also have Sony Pictures Television, which is actually responsible for those tv episodes and other tv programming, and Sony Pictures Digital Productions, which does visual effects and animation. If you’d like to work in any of these businesses or the Corporate arm of Sony Pictures, then you’ll need to head over to SonyPictures.com. It’s not a particularly great Careers site, but it gets the job done. From there you can check out all of their posted jobs, where you’ll see entry level opportunities like Financial Analyst, Global Ad Sales & Digital Media Coordinator, Marketing Assistant, Fitness Assistant, and Data Security Administrator. You can apply for any of the jobs with Sony Pictures online, and although nothing appears to be directly related to movie production, I’d bet that those jobs don’t just pop up on their job board all of the time (read: try networking).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite movie to come out of Sony Pictures?

Fitbit

Willy Franzen — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:12:17 +0000

Have you ever tried using a pedometer? It’s a neat idea, but it’s not very useful to know how many steps you’ve taken. To get a sense of how many calories you’ve burned, you have to do some calculations, and it’s pretty likely that whatever you calculate will be far from accurate. As technology continues to improve, we’re going to see more and more devices that provide data about our every day lives. The pedometer was the start, but things are going to get better and better. Fitbit is an impressive next step (pun intended!). We found out about them from Lifehacker’s list of Top 10 Up and Coming Products, and we’re pretty impressed. Fitbit automatically tracks your fitness and your sleep and then uploads the data to your computer wirelessly. They’re a startup that just launched at the TechCrunch50 Conference this week, and now that they’re out of stealth mode they’re looking for new people to join their team.

Are You a Good Fit for Fitbit?

Fitbit (which is the device and the company name, we’re talking about the device now) is based on an accelerometer like you’d find in the Nintendo Wii controller. It’s able to measure all kinds of data about your movement during the day. It then sends this data wirelessly to your computer when ever you come within close enough range. Web based software on your computer makes sense of the data and gives you insights into how you’re doing in terms of fitness.

Here’s a video with Fitbit founder James Park that will give you all the details about what Fitbit does:

There’s still a lot more that we’d like to know about the Fitbit, and we’ll probably have to wait until closer to December, when they officially release the product, to get all of the details. So what about jobs with Fitbit? There’s not a lot of info, but their About page says that they’re looking for talented people in software, hardware, marketing and business development. Early stage startups can be very entry level friendly, so this could be a really great chance to get in early on something big. We don’t know if Fitbit’s team is any bigger than their two founders right now, but you might as well consider joining them.

We can’t for the life of us figure out where Fitbit is actually located (edit: we’re now pretty sure that they’re based out of San Francisco, CA), but if you’re moved (pun intended, again!) by their product, reach out to them at jobs@fitbit.com. They’ll probably be thrilled to hear from you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Fitbit.com
About Fitbit (Job contact info here too)
Fitbit’s FAQ

Speaking of cool gadgets, we won the iPod touch in The Talent Buzz’s guest blogging contest with this guest post on using Twitter for networking. That means that we’ll be giving away an iPod touch in the coming weeks. We’re still figuring out what kind of contest we want to run, but we’re open to suggestions in the comments section or via e-mail at info@onedayonejob.com.

Equinox

Willy Franzen — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:08:37 +0000

The time after graduation is perfect for rest, relaxation, and taking care of the things that you’ve ignored in college, for instance, your bank account or your waistline. In January we offered up Mint as a company that has entry-level jobs and a product that will help you manage your finances. Today we’re going to look at Equinox, a company that operates full-service fitness facilities in New York, Illinois, California, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and also has quite a few career opportunities at the entry-level.

A Fitness Lifestyle Brand

Equinox, started in 1991, has “developed a lifestyle brand that represents service, quality, value, innovation, attention to detail and results.” They offer a wide array of products and services, including strength and cardio training, group fitness classes, personal training, spa services, apparel, and food/juice bars. The difference between Equinox and other gyms is the way that they do things. Equinox is upscale in every way. Just look at the right sidebar on their Press Page – recent celebrities spotted at Equinox locations include Hilary Swank, Renee Zellweger, Matt Damon, and Barack Obama. Ok, so who cares if celebrities work out at a health club? They may need to have nice bodies, but are they really physically fit? Well, fellow One Day, One Jobber Amy happened to have a membership at an Equinox club two summers ago. She was often working out next to members of the great Chicago Bulls championship teams of the 90s. So, yes, when it comes to working out, Equinox clubs are the places to be.

Winter to Spring, Summer to Fall

Although the following are full-time, year-round jobs, an equinox represents the change of seasons, which is a perfect metaphor for the life changing decisions that joining (or working for) an Equinox club can initiate. Equinox takes fitness seriously, so a job with them is a lot more than picking up sweaty towels and wiping down equipment. They have a number of job opportunities for new college grads across the country. The best way to find a job listing at Equinox is to use their job search function. Current offerings that appear to be entry-level include: Membership Advisor (Westchester, NY; Long Island, NY; Aventura, FL; Newport Beach, CA; San Francisco, CA; and New York, NY), Assistant General Manager (Dallas, TX; New York, NY; Long Island, NY; Los Angeles, CA; and San Francisco, CA), Sales Advisor (Boston, MA), or Personal Trainer Tier 1 (Westchester, NY; Darien, CT; Miami, FL; Vienna, VA; Long Island, NY; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Boston, MA; New York, NY; and Chicago, IL). These positions require varying levels of work experience, but they’re all positions that a new grad could fill. If you’re interested in being a trainer, but don’t have the required background, you may want to look at the Equinox Academy for Trainers.

As you can see, there are Equinox locations all across the country. Whether you’re interested in getting serious about your own health (Equinox offers their employees complimentary memberships), or helping others to do the same, a job at Equinox is a great way to get started on a career in the world of physical fitness.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever worked out at an Equinox club? What’s it like?