One Day, One Job » food

Grubwithus

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:58 +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.

Sharing a meal is a great way to get to know people. Eating provides enough of a distraction to cover up awkward pauses that might come up in other settings without completely killing the ability to have a conversation. Yet very rarely do people use eating as a way to meet new people. You either eat alone or you eat with people you already know. Grubwithus is a company that throws a little uncertainty into your dining experiences by pairing you with strangers who have common interests for a tasting menu at a local restaurant. Grubwithus is based out of Venice, CA, and they’ve built a ton of buzz. I know a bunch of people who have already tried it and had good experiences, and I’d totally host a One Day One Job/Internship focused Grubwithus meal in Chicago if there was enough interest (e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com).

Jobwithus

The idea of meeting strangers for dinner can be a little intimidating, but stepping out of your comfort zone is kind of the point. To get a better sense of how Grubwithus works, you should probably read through their FAQ and etiquette guidelines , and then watch this video (you may need to click through to view):

It’s a pretty simple idea, but I think it has the potential to be pretty powerful. I especially think it’s a good idea for job seekers to give Grubwithus a try. While it may not lead to a job–just getting out and interacting with new people is great practice for interviewing and networking. And if you want a job with Grubwithus, you should definitely give one of their meals a shot first. Then you can apply for one of the positions that looks well suited for new grads. These include:

There appear to be some great opportunities for techies and non-techies alike, so take a look at the jobs and give Grubwithus a try.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you try Grubwithus?

Solazyme

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

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

Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Solazyme?

Claxton Fruit Cake

Willy Franzen — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:51:55 +0000

I’ve never even seen a fruit cake in person, let alone tasted one, but I know that they’re a part of Christmas tradition for lots of families. For some it’s more of a joke, but for others it’s a serious matter (there must be some fruit cake connoisseurs out there). I’m not sure that Claxton Fruit Cake in Claxton, GA is hiring these days (they may be slowing down in terms of production now), but they are one of the major fruit cake manufactures in the U.S. You could inquire about employment with them, but I think it’s more important that you look to other Christmas traditions that might lead to new ideas for your career search. Even though the holidays are usually a slow time for the job search, they can be a great time for idea generation. Make the most of it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

ClaxtonFruitCake.com

Do you eat fruit cake for Christmas?

4-H

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:27:38 +0000

One of my favorite classes at Cornell was Animal Science 290, which was better known as “Meat Science” or “Meats.” We did pretty much everything including slaughtering, butchering, curing, cooking, and eating, but, even better, we learned all about the scientific reasons for why we were doing what we did. Everything about the class was great (especially the eating), but one of the unexpected benefits was getting to interact with an entirely different group of students than I was accustomed to. A lot of the kids in the class actually grew up on real, working farms, and I don’t think that I had ever met anyone my age who grew up on a farm before Cornell. They were the kind of kids I assumed did 4-H in high school. It turns out that my view of 4-H was a bit narrow, as it’s much more than an organization for farm kids–it’s a non-profit that “empowers youth to reach their full potential, working and learning in partnership with caring adults” in all environments. 4-H is based in Chevy Chase, MD, and it’s pretty clear from their website that they’re trying to build an image that goes beyond agriculture. Still, 4-H is administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture and works through the Cooperative Extension of “America’s 109 land-grant universities,” so agriculture remains extremely important within the organization.

Head, Heart, Hands, and Health

I had absolutely no idea that 4-H is as big as it is. There are 90,000 affiliated clubs across the United States with a total of more than 6.5 million members between the ages of 5 and 19. There are also more than 60 million alumni. Today, 4-H’s programs are split into three distinct areas: Science, Citizenship, and Healthy Living. These programs are delivered in a variety of ways including clubs, camps, after school programs, and even in school programs. Yes, a lot of the programming is focused on agriculture and surrounding topics, but they also cover things ranging from robotics to digital photography. If it’s relevant to helping develop young people into better citizens, then 4-H probably does it. With 90,000 chapters, you’re going to get a ton of diversity, and that’s what is so cool about 4-H. If you’re excited about what 4-H is doing for America’s youth, then check out their Careers page. They have a bunch of job openings that seem suitable for new or recent grads including Community Coordinator – my4-H.org, Consumer Insights Specialist, and Multi-Channel Merchandising Assistant. The opportunities are as diverse as the organization, so give them a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you do 4-H?

Whole Foods Market

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:53:38 +0000

Even though I’m not a huge fan of turkey, I love Thanksgiving. It’s an all around great holiday for spending time with family and friends, and it gives me the opportunity to do some serious cooking. Some of my favorites are yams with marshmallows on top, brussels sprouts with bacon and onions, and apple pie. I’ve also been known to make a maple syrup slathered, bacon covered turkey, but I usually get overruled by people who inexplicably love bland, overcooked, dry white breast meat. I’m actually dying to try America Test Kitchen’s recipe, which includes brining and putting ice packs on the breasts so they cook slower than the rest of the bird. Anyway, I’ll likely be doing some shopping at Whole Foods Market this afternoon. I used to shop at normally priced supermarkets, but there’s one thing that keeps me coming back to bougie grocery stores like Whole Foods: bacon. You can’t get good quality bacon at a regular supermarket. And once you’re buying fancy bacon, you might as well get organic brussel sprouts and grass-fed beef and those awesome salted, chocolate-covered caramels that they sell.

Make Yourself Whole

Whole Foods Market isn’t just about being a higher end grocery store. They’re “the world’s leader in natural and organic foods,” and they “maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture.” Some people are happy paying more at Whole Foods because they get to choose from five different kinds of bacon; others because they know the pigs the bacon came from were humanely and sustainably raised. Whole Foods Market got its start in Austin, TX in 1980, and because of their unique value proposition they’ve been able to grow to more than 310 stores. A key part of that massive growth has been how they treat their people. They’ve worked extremely hard to build a “decentralized, self-directed team culture and create a respectful workplace where people are treated fairly and are highly motivated to succeed.” That’s why you might notice that Whole Foods employees are more helpful and more pleasant than the average supermarket employee.

A typical college grad probably isn’t even considering a grocery store as an employment option, but Whole Foods has created an environment that attracts great talent. They’ve been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by Fortune for the past 14 years, and they offer exceptional benefits. They generally do a great job with their Careers site, though they don’t make it easy to find Corporate positions. Before you dig into their job postings, I recommend that you read up on Whole Foods Market’s Career Paths and Hiring Process. You have to navigate Whole Foods’ job listings by geography, so if you want to find corporate positions you have to look at Texas. The company’s culture is big on hiring from within, so getting started in one of their stores is definitely a smart choice.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are you cooking for Thanksgiving?

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?

Zingerman’s

Willy Franzen — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:20:00 +0000

I spent the weekend in Ann Arbor, MI visiting some friends, and today I’ll be doing office hours at The Career Center at University of Michigan from 3 – 5 PM (if you’re a UMich student, you should definitely stop by and say hi). I’ve already been to Zingerman’s twice, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my girlfriend forces me to go one more time (not that I’m complaining). In case you’ve never been, Zingerman’s is an Ann Arbor institution. Their flagship store is a deli, but they also have the following businesses: a bakery, a workforce training consulting firm, a caterer, a mail order company, a creamery, a sit-down restaurant, a coffee company, and a confectioner. The whole business generated nearly $40 million in revenue in 2009, and the deli alone generated more than $10 million in revenue. The really remarkable thing is that they’ve stayed local throughout. It’s not about taking the concept and growing it into a chain.

Zing!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered a sandwich (always modified to exclude the disgusting substance known as mayonnaise) and had no confidence that the person taking my order actually listened to what I said. At Zingerman’s that’s not an issue. Their staff is phenomenally well trained and extremely attentive. It’s not what I’ve come to expect when I deal with businesses in the service industry. It all has to do with Zingerman’s approach to people. They hire selectively, they train well, and they offer amazing benefits. Most of their jobs aren’t of the type that we’d typically cover, but “the Zingerman’s experience” changes everything. So take a look at Zingerman’s Jobs page, and see if any of the positions appeal to you. There’s a ton to be learned at Zingerman’s, and I’m sure that they do a lot of promoting from within.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a sandwich from Zingerman’s?

Tootsie Roll Industries

Willy Franzen — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:01:21 +0000

I was a master Trick-or-Treater as a kid. I had a plan for Halloween, and it was all about maximizing my candy haul. I laughed at the kids who carried around those stupid pumpkin pails for candy. I had a backpack and an extra bag just in case. If I didn’t get double digit pounds of candy, I was disappointed. The best part was seeing all kinds of weird candy that you don’t see at other times of the year. One of my favorites was the tootsie rolls that came in flavors other than the traditional chocolate (which I hate). If you pay attention to the wrappers you realize not only that there are a ton of different candy companies out there, but also that a lot of the big ones are behind more brands than you’d ever think. One of the big names in the confections industry is Tootsie Roll Industries, which is based in Chicago, IL. They market and manufacture Andes, Charleston Chew, Charms Blow Pops, Dubble Bubble, Junior Mints, Razzles, Sugar Daddy, along with the obvious ones like Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops.

Let Me See You Tootsie Roll!

Before we jump in to talking about Tootsie Roll’s jobs, we’re going to go back to Trick-or-Treating and how it can actually help your job search. While going door to door asking for a job probably won’t work, sorting through a massive pile of different kinds of candy could. Effective job searching is all about idea generation, and a bucket of candy could probably introduce you to a dozen companies that you never even considered working for (or only one if you bought one of those grab bags from the store). You can do the same with cleaning supplies under your kitchen sink (CPG companies) or books on your shelf (publishers). Sometimes you just need to step away from looking for jobs, and start looking for interesting companies. Now, let’s get back to Tootsie Roll Industries. They’re a publicly traded company with half a billion dollars in annual revenue and thousands of employees, but their Jobs page doesn’t really answer any questions. It has the following information:

If you’re interested in applying to join the Tootsie team, you must meet the following criteria:

1. You’re eager to contribute to a long tradition of confectionary excellence;
2. You’re responding to a CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES posting
(Tootsie neither retains nor considers unsolicited resumes); and
3. You’re not averse to sharing your workspace with giant bowls of tasty, complimentary candy.

But then there aren’t any current opportunities posted. There isn’t even a message saying that they don’t have any openings right now. That’s pretty mean after getting us all excited with point #3–I guess it’s a trick and not a treat today. So you can either wait for a job to be posted, reach out to them against their wishes through their Contact page or LinkedIn, or look at some of the other candy companies that we’ve featured like: Russell Stover, Mars, The Hershey Company, NECCO, Charles Chocolates, Jelly Belly, Just Born Quality Confections, and Vosges. Or you could check out other Halloween related organizations like the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Confectioners’ Association, Trick or Vote, or Children’s Dental Health Project. I hope all those links didn’t scare you off.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Boo!

ZeroCater

Willy Franzen — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:27:19 +0000

Want to get ahead in your job search? Don’t just rely on the advice of your friends, family, and alumni. Step up your job search with personalized guidance from executives at Blue Chip Career. Get paired with an expert and receive the inside scoop on how to land the job.

I’m terrible about eating lunch during the work day. It’s a hassle and a distraction. I wish delicious, healthy food would just appear in front of me (preferably for free, but I’d be willing to pay a reasonable price). That’s exactly what ZeroCater does, except they typically do it for companies bigger than a single person. They’ve already made a name for themselves by helping companies that don’t have the resources for a Google-like cafeteria feed their employees. ZeroCater is based in San Francisco, CA, and they’ve already started expanding into New York, NY (companies like Square, WePay, Tagged, and Justin.tv are already using ZeroCater). As they keep growing, they’ll just bring more and more food from awesome restaurants into the workplace without all the hassle.

Cater to Your Career Needs

ZeroCater is different from other delivery services because they streamline the whole food ordering process. Here’s how it works:

Tell us how many people eat, what days, and any dietary needs.
ZeroCater orders meals for you from a rotation of dozens of great local restaurants.
Rate the meals that arrive so ZeroCater learns your tastes and adjusts.

ZeroCater offers a ton of flexibility, so even the pickiest eaters at a company will be happy (that’d probably be me). ZeroCater makes their money by charging a 7% fee on top of the cost of the meal. The average all-in cost for a company to use ZeroCater is typically about $12.50 per employee fed, but I imagine there are certain things that can sway it either way. Another hidden benefit is that ZeroCater is able to get restaurants that don’t normally deliver to do delivery because of the size and consistency of orders that they bring in. If you’re excited (and hungry) after hearing about what ZeroCater is doing, then check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for people in Customer Service (San Francisco, CA) and Restaurant Outreach (San Francisco, CA and New York, NY). These look like perfect jobs for new grads, so give them a shot.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you be more likely to work for an employer that uses ZeroCater?

Smashburger

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:03:10 +0000

I love hamburgers, but I wouldn’t eat a fast food burger even if it could make me fly. Luckily, better burger places are popping up all over the place. Some are local joints and some are chains, but they’re all working to remind us what a burger is supposed to be. Smashburger is taking a leading role in restoring dignity to hamburgers, although I can’t fully support a burger chain that won’t cook a burger medium-rare or even medium. They’re another Inc. 5000 company with 2,673% three-year growth from $1.4 million to $39.4 million in annual revenue. Smashburger is based out of Denver, CO and they have locations all across the country. They “start with 100% Angus Beef, smashed, seared and seasoned on the grill, placed on a butter-toasted artisan bun and topped with the highest-quality cheeses, freshest produce and condiments.”

Smashing Jobs

It used to be that chain restaurants were indelibly linked to low quality food, but that has definitely changed. Smashburger is a perfect example of how combining higher quality food with the fast food business model can lead to rapid success. In 2007 there was one Smashburger in the Denver area. Then they opened a few around town. Now there are dozens of Smashburgers all across the country. If you don’t have one in your neighborhood yet, it’s only a matter of time (they plan to grow from 70 restaurants to 500 restaurants over the next 4 years). With this rapid growth, Smashburger is hiring a ton of people. Most of them are obviously in the restaurants, but they’re also growing on the Corporate side. If you look at Smashburger’s Jobs page, you’ll see a few opportunities that are suitable for new or recent grads including Strategy Analyst, Real Estate Analyst, Data Analyst, FP&A Analyst, and Field Marketing Coordinator (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a Smashburger?

Hamilton Farm Bureau

Willy Franzen — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:53:35 +0000

Somehow my Dad and I forgot to get the proper cord to hook up my iPhone to his car speakers. That’s a big mistake when you’re doing two 13 hour drives in less than a week. We really could have used a book on tape considering that NPR is pretty much the only non-music station that comes in reliably in Northern Maine (and the CBC once we get close to the border). I know I’ll catch a lot of flack for this, but I’m not an NPR fan (it bores me to tears, and the CBC is even worse); however, there was a segment this morning that caught my attention. It was on Hamilton Farm Bureau and how they’re having trouble hiring qualified people. Considering that the company is based in Hamilton, MI and has locations across the state of Michigan, you’d think they’d be able to tap into the nearly 20% of state residents who are under or unemployed. Who knew that a cooperative that “sells fertilizer and propane gas, packages and ships eggs, and helps farmers market what they raise” would have so much trouble finding good people?

Cooperate with Hamilton Farm Bureau

I get a lot of complaints from readers who think that I cover too many companies in tech. I realize that a lot of people don’t have the skills for those kinds of jobs, but that’s where the jobs are. I’m waiting for the day that someone e-mails me and asks me about resources for learning the kind of skills that might make them a fit for these kinds of jobs. Hamilton Farm Bureau is facing a similar problem to many tech companies. I guess there just aren’t a lot of people who have strong sales skills and an interest or background in agriculture. If you went to an ag school, you could be a great fit–and if you didn’t, maybe there’s some way you could position yourself to become one.

I must admit that I am a bit frustrated with Hamilton Farm Bureau. Wade Blowers, their COO, was quoted extensively throughout the NPR piece on how the cooperative has had to slow down its growth (they currently have 130 employees and $130 million in revenue) because it can’t find the right people for jobs. He goes on to mention a few ideas for why this might be such a problem (but he never dives into exactly what he is looking for). I have a way better idea than he does. THEY DON’T HAVE JOBS POSTED ON THEIR JOBS PAGE. I’m not joking. They just had a huge PR win for their employment branding efforts, and they are completely unprepared. All they have posted are two delivery positions. I don’t see any postings for sales people who “typically take on a heavy consultative role in the farm.” I don’t see any positions related to agricultural technology. So how you should respond? Do some research. Learn more about Hamilton Farm Bureau and their business. Then track down Wade Blowers and tell him how you can help grow the business. It’s worth a try, right?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you hear the NPR segment on Hamilton Farm Bureau?

Nathan’s Famous

Willy Franzen — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:34:01 +0000

Today is all about celebrating America! In past years we’ve looked at Phantom Fireworks, the National Safety Council, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Fireworks, fireworks safety, and the American Revolution are all great patriotic things, but nothing makes me love my country like watching grown human beings gorge themselves for the sake of gorging (I kind of feel awful for talking about this after featuring an anti-hunger non-profit yesterday). The Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is especially patriotic this year, as it represents a huge step forward for women’s equality–yes, there was a women’s division of the contest this year. For a while the Japanese had more Fourth of July pride than we did, as Takeru Kobayashi won six consecutive contests from 2001 to 2006, but in 2007 an American named Joey Chestnut took the championship, and he’s held on to it ever since. He even holds the world record for eating 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. While the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is held on Coney Island, the Nathan’s Famous corporate office is actually located in Jericho, NY. According to Wikipedia, Nathan’s worldwide presence “consists of 24 company-owned units, 380 franchised or licensed units and more than 1,400 stores in 41 states, the District of Columbia and 17 foreign countries.”

Will You Be Famous

I don’t know how many of you have had a Nathan’s Hot Dog, but I think they’re pretty good. (My favorite hot dog comes from Rawley’s in Fairfield, CT.) If they weren’t, do you think Joey Chestnut would be able to eat 68 of them in 10 minutes? It’s hard to not think about the Hot Dog Eating Contest when you think about Nathan’s, but they’re a serious business. If you want all the details, check out their Investor Relations Page, which has a ton of info because Nathan’s Famous is a publicly traded company. If you like what you see and you love hot dogs, maybe you should check out the Nathan’s Famous Jobs page. They don’t list specific job opportunities, and not many of their employees are on LinkedIn, but you have to think that a company with 1,400+ stores has a decent-sized corporate office. And if this whole thing grosses you out, hopefully you can find another way to celebrate our freedom.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a Nathan’s hot dog?

Share Our Strength

Willy Franzen — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 15:24:21 +0000

It’s hard to think about a hunger during a holiday weekend that is known for backyard parties and grilling, but summer is actually one of the worst periods for childhood hunger. There are 21-million children that rely on free or reduced-price lunches during the school year–school isn’t just a place to learn, but also a place to get a nutritious meal. In the summer when school is out, less than 3 million of these kids are in situations where they still get meals provided for them. That’s a huge gap and a major problem. Share Our Strength is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that envisions a world with “No Kid Hungry.” They were founded in 1984 and since then they’ve working tirelessly to make sure that every child that they can reach gets the nutrition that he or she needs to stay healthy and keep growing.

How Strong Are You?

Before you start reading up on Share Our Strength, you probably should take a look a their resources on childhood hunger. There’s a lot to learn on the issue, and they’re one of the best sources for information. After that you’ll probably want to read up on their History and their Progress to Date. They’ve accomplished a ton, and they’re working on a lot more. One of their big things is events. They have five major ones: Taste of the Nation, Great American Bake Sale, Dine Out No Kid Hungry, A Tasteful Pursuit, and Cooking Matters. These are all great ways to raise awareness and to raise funds for Share Our Strength’s mission. Share Our Strength is also really good at finding partnerships. They work with chefs like Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Thomas Keller, and Bryan Voltaggio while also partnering with major companies in the food industry like American Express, Tyson, Sysco, and Sodexo. If you like what Share Our Strength is doing to end childhood hunger, check out their Jobs page. There are a few positions posted, and you should take a look at the Grants Coordinator position and the Share Our Strength’s, Cooking Matters® AmeriCorps National Direct Program. Both look like they could be good fits for a new or recent grad.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Share Our Strength?

Savored

Willy Franzen — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:11:51 +0000

It’s funny how you hear about something for the first time, and soon after it seems to keep coming up over and over again. That’s how I feel about Savored. They’re based in New York, NY, and they were formerly known as VillageVines. They’re yet another deals site, but they’re standing out from a lot of the other “me toos” because of their creative approach–it’s OpenTable meets Groupon. Here’s how it works: You pay $10 for a reservation at one of Savored’s partner restaurants at a time they’re offering, and you get 30% automatically taken off your bill. That’s it. The focus isn’t so much on getting new customers into restaurants as much as it is on getting people to go to restaurants at times when business is typically slow. You can cancel the reservation up until two hours before, and you get a refund if your total savings are less than the $10 you paid for the reservation.

Unforgettable Working

A lot of people are down on the whole deal site phenomenon, but I think it will continue to be a strong market. Coupons and promotions have been around forever, and this is just the next stage. Offering discounts instead of spending money on marketing and advertising makes sense, and there are plenty of businesses with high fixed costs and low marginal costs that can benefit from filling in slow periods with lower margin customers. This is what Savored is all about. They just relaunched with the new name this week while also expanding into some new markets, but it seems that they already have a pretty killer lineup of restaurants participating. The business is built entirely on the $10 reservation fee, which makes it really easy on the restaurants. They just give you the discount, charge you as they normally would, and that’s that. If you like what Savored is doing, head over to their Jobs page. Right now they are hiring Sales Managers and Operations Managers. Despite the Manager titles, they don’t mention any experience requirements, so it’s definitely worth applying.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Savored?

Curbed Network

Willy Franzen — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:43:46 +0000

There’s a lot more to getting a job than being able to provide for essential needs like food, clothing, and shelter, but that’s a pretty big part of it–especially when you’re just starting out. It won’t take a lot in terms of wages to be able to pay for your basic expenses, but chances are that you’ll want to enjoy what you eat, what you wear, and where you live. If you’re all about that, then you should be reading the blogs from Curbed Network. They provide essential reads on how to get maximum enjoyment out of your essential needs. They’re based in New York, NY, and they run the blogs Curbed (real estate), Eater (food), Racked (clothes, style, and fashion), and the completely non-essential Gridskipper (travel). They don’t have a blog about air yet, but I hear that’s coming. The Curbed Network properties are very clearly built for yuppies with disposable incomes (what we all aspire to be, right?). 87% of the Curbed Network audience has a college degree, and 46% of them have a household income over $100k. Those are great stats for selling ads, which is what a business like Curbed Network is built on.

Kick Yourself to the Curbed

The best way to get a better feel for Curbed Network is pretty obvious–start reading their blogs. You’ll also want to check out the About pages for Curbed, Eater, Racked, and Gridskipper. You’ll get a rundown of how their audiences differ, who their advertisers are, what’s being said about them, and more. If you really want to dig into the stats on the Curbed Network audience, take a look at the Curbed Network Media Kit. It’s intended for potential advertisers, but you should learn a ton about them. Two stats that really stood out to me were that they get over 2 million monthly unique visitors and have over 170,000 e-mail subscribers. That’s quite a reach. If you’re digging what Curbed Network is all about, visit their Jobs page, which is centralized for all of the properties. They have a bunch of cool positions posted right now including Account Executive, Marketing & Events Coordinator, Designer, and a number of Editorial positions. Remember that a lot of Curbed Network’s properties are focused on locales, so there are job opportunities in these locales in addition to the ones located in NYC.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of the Curbed Network blogs?

Museum of Food and Drink

Willy Franzen — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 14:20:07 +0000

As someone who has been a part of both a startup company (this one) and a startup non-profit (board member), I think that starting a non-profit is the more difficult of the two. It’s not all that hard to start a small organization that does good work, but to be able to fund it on a sustainable basis feels nearly impossible in the early stages. You actually need to get people to have enough faith in you and your team to give you money to achieve your mission. If you can do that, you can probably succeed. That’s why I’m excited about the Museum of Food and Drink in New York, NY. In March they held a Get-the-Ball-Rolling Fundraiser that included cooking by David Chang, Wylie Dufresne, Nils Noren, and some other big names. To get these chefs behind a cause and to get enough product donated for a $250 a plate lunch is a big accomplishment. It sounds like the dinner was a big success, which hopefully means that the Museum of Food and Drink ball is officially rolling.

Hungry Yet?

The Museum of Food and Drink is still a long way away, but the dream is big. They aim to be “nothing short of the Smithsonian of food.” I’m not sure I’d call myself a foodie, but I definitely love the art, science, and culture behind food. This museum sounds like it would be a must-visit for me–especially because “above all, when visitors come to the museum, they will eat.” There are three main goals of the Museum:

To educate everyone-from picky and apathetic eaters to gastronomes and food lovers-about the importance of culinary history and anthropology. Visitors will not only see exhibits, they will taste them.
To connect people to what they eat by explaining food production and distribution.
To encourage a widespread appreciation and understanding of lost and endangered culinary arts: recipes, techniques and regional ingredients.

It’s a massive project that is just getting started, but maybe you can be a part of it. Their website is barely anything, and there’s not much info out there about them beyond the coverage of their initial fundraiser, but they seem to have gotten a great start. Their Idealist page shows an Internship posting, but no jobs. That’s ok. Sometimes you need to “volunteer” your way in with an early stage non-profit. If you love the culture of food, a job with the Museum of Food and Drink would be a dream come true.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

MOFAD.org
Jobs at the Museum of Food and Drink (Idealist)

Would you visit the Museum of Food and Drink?

Johnsonville Sausage

Willy Franzen — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:35:34 +0000

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays. Some think that it’s unfortunate that the day has taken on a dual meaning, but I really enjoy both parts of the holiday. That’s why we took a look at Hope for the Warriors and their potential job opportunities yesterday, and today we’re going to look at the lighter side of Memorial Day. In past years we’ve featured jobs at Weber-Stephen, The National Park Service, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because all three have solid connections to the holiday. Today it’s all about Johnsonville Sausage, which is based in Sheboygan Falls, WI. I’m back to talking about grilling because it’s the first Memorial Day in three years that I’ll actually have a grill at my disposable. I’ll admit that Johnsonville products aren’t my first choice for grilling (I like steaks), but I do love brats.

Take a Trip to Johnsonville

Apparently Otto von Bismarck said, “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.” As someone who took a class called Meat Science in college and got an A+, I completely disagree. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the sausage making process, especially when you get to cook and eat it after the fact. Johnsonville Sausage is probably best known for their bratwurst, but they also offer Italian, Breakfast, Smoked, and Snack Sausage. Johnsonville also recently started offering three types of chicken sausage. If you’re excited about any of these types of sausage, then you need to check out jobs at Johnsonville Sausage. They have a pretty nice looking careers site (it makes me hungry) and some interesting jobs posted (though nothing immediately available that looks perfect for a new grad), so give them a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are you grilling for Memorial Day?

Center for Science in the Public Interest

Willy Franzen — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:57:42 +0000

You wouldn’t think that I’m actually happy when people unsubscribe from this list, but if it means that they landed a job or internship, then I’m as pleased as can be. I always try to find out where former subscribers go to work so that I can tell you about opportunities at those places (e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com if you have a recommendation). One reader e-mailed me and told me that she went to work at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is a non-profit organization that acts “as the organized voice of the American public on nutrition, food safety, health and other issues.” They’re based in Washington, DC, and they’ve been acting in the public interest since 1971. The organization’s main goals are to “educate the public, advocate government policies that are consistent with scientific evidence on health and environmental issues, and counter industry’s powerful influence on public opinion and public policies.” Most of us forget how important of an issue food actually is, but it’s a major public health issue that is only getting worse.

The Food Detectives

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has an interesting funding model. Instead of constantly soliciting for donations and chasing down grants, they publish and sell subscriptions to the Nutrition Action Healthletter. It’s circulated to nearly 2 million people, and it’s completely ad free. Some people call the Center for Science in the Public Interest the “food police,” but they prefer to be called the “food detectives.” Whatever you want to call them, they’re focused on eliminating many of the negative externalities that are caused by today’s food industry. To learn more about the organization, you should definitely watch this video from the organization’s founder Michael Jacobson, Ph.D (e-mail readers may need to click through).

The video mentions some of the many accomplishments of the CSPI. The list is extremely long, and it includes some really impressive things like winning a “decade-long campaign” to pass “a federal law requiring nutrition labeling of packaged foods and a ban on deceptive health claims.” If you want to be part of future CSPI wins, then you should head over to their Jobs page. Right now they have a few interesting positions open: Project Assistant – Nutrition Action Healthletter, Research Associate, and Policy Associate – Health Promotion Policy. If you’re big on nutrition, this could be a great place to work.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about what the CSPI does?

Metromix

Willy Franzen — Fri, 13 May 2011 11:22:43 +0000

My two biggest problems in life are figuring out what to wear and where to go. Since we covered the former yesterday, today it’s time to cover the latter. Ok, those aren’t really my two biggest problems in life, but I sometimes get frustrated that I live in a city the size of Chicago and feel like I can’t come up with a good idea of what I should do on a given weekend. There are a million opportunities out there, but figuring out what’s worth your time is difficult. That’s why Metromix was started as a joint-venture between newspaper behemoths Tribune Co. and Gannett Co. Metromix covers 60 different geographic areas (each individually) and offers a “guide to local restaurants, bars and clubs, events, concerts and movies.” While sites like Yelp have been built off the backs of their users, Metromix has an editorial staff generating content for each of their sites along with some user-generated content; however, smaller cities seem to get less original content. I must admit that Metromix isn’t my go to for what’s happening in Chicago, IL (which is where Metromix is located), but they seem to generate a ton of traffic and they have the resources of two major publishing/ad sales businesses behind them.

Get in the Mix

It’s kind of tough to get a full read on Metromix as a company. Once you’ve gone to one of their local sites, like the Austin, TX one you get redirected there whenever you try to go to Metromix.com. I guess this makes sense for a normal use case, but it means that you can’t really find any general information about Metromix beyond their Wikipedia page. The world of local publishing can often be a bit decentralized, and that certainly seems to be the case with Metromix. They don’t even make it easy to find where they’re headquartered (I had to check their LinkedIn company profile). If you start looking through their staff on LinkedIn, you see a lot of Chicago, but you also see a lot of other cities. My guess is that they hire a lot of freelancers to hone in on local markets. Metromix directs job seekers to their Careerbuilder page, which shows an even more decentralized approach to hiring. Most of the jobs that appear are posted from local tv stations or newspapers. I guess Metromix farms out some work like ad sales and marketing to other affiliated businesses. I don’t quite get it, but the opportunities are worth checking out, especially the Metromix Marketing & Promotion Coordinator position in Denver, CO and a couple of Account Management positions in Cincinnati, OH. If you’re looking for something else, you might find it difficult to track down the right person to contact, but it could be worth it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Metromix?

Goya Foods

Willy Franzen — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:35:11 +0000

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I haven’t done a celebratory post for today’s holiday since I featured Party City in 2008, so I think it’s about time. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is mostly a general celebration of Mexican culture (much like St. Patrick’s Day celebrates Irish culture). In my opinion there’s no better way to observe this kind of holiday than by enjoying the culture’s food (some may prefer imbibing the culture’s alcoholic beverage of choice). When I think of Mexican food, Secaucus, NJ based Goya Foods is one of the brands that comes to mind. They are the “the largest, Hispanic-owned food company in the United States,” and they consider themselves “the premier source for authentic Latino cuisine” (that also includes Spanish, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Central & South American foods). The company offers more than 1,500 products, and many of them are ingredients for home cooking, which is exactly what holidays like Cinco de Mayo should really be about.

The Goya Mystery

Goya Foods is a big company. They have more than 3,000 employees, and they were the 355th largest privately owned company in 2006 according to Forbes. Yet, there is absolutely no evidence that they have jobs. They don’t have a Careers page. There aren’t any job listings that I can find through Google. There’s nothing. The only thing that I could find were some jobs at Flightpath, an ad agency that serves Goya. You’re probably asking why I’m writing about them then. Occasionally, I like to give you a challenge. Goya clearly has jobs. With 3,000+ employees and a good number of them on LinkedIn, there have to be some opportunities available. There aren’t any articles about layoffs or hiring freezes. There’s nothing. That doesn’t mean you should give up your interest in potentially working for Goya. Do some research, and start reaching out to people. See what you can find. It may not lead anywhere, but if you do find an in, you probably won’t be dealing with much competition for the job. And if you solve the mystery, please let me know how you did it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo?

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Willy Franzen — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:41:43 +0000

Ever consider a career in teaching? Here’s some info on how to get started.

There’s a long history of poking fun at Martha Stewart, and it started well before she went to prison. There’s just something funny about someone who takes perfection in domesticity as seriously as she does. My family even played an integral role in the satire of Martha with my little sister’s appearance in the parody magazine Martha Stuart’s Better Than You at Entertaining, which was a follow up to Is Martha Stuart Living? (here’s a picture my sister as young Martha Stewart in the parody). We can keep laughing at Martha Stewart, but she’ll always get the last laugh. She has an amazing track record of reaching the top in nearly everything that she has done–from babysitting for Mickey Mantle’s kids to starting a successful catering company in her basement to building a New York, NY based media empire in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart is apparently now worth well over half a billion dollars, and has used her personal brand to build amazing print, television, online, and merchandise properties.

Are You Living?

Whether or not you’re a Martha Stewart fan, you have to be impressed by what she’s done throughout her career. She’s had an amazing ability to stay relevant, and a lot of that has to do with her media strategy. She easily could have settled with a successful catering business, or a popular magazine, or having her own television show, but she didn’t. It seems that she is obsessed with using every channel possible to reach people with her “unique lifestyle content.” That’s what Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is all about. If you enjoy the Martha Stewart brand and want to work on the media or merchandise side, then you definitely need to take a look at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Careers page. There are some great opportunities posted in their job listings, and a few seem suitable for new or recent grads including: Assistant Food Editor, PHP Application Developer – Internet Content Management Systems, Front-End Web Developer, Decorative Pillow and Bedding Accessory Designer, Executive Assistant, Freelance Recipe Taster, Retail Merchandising Assistant, Apparel Designer – Martha Stewart Pets and Quilt Designer. You can also apply for an unlisted position if you don’t see something that suits you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a Martha Stewart fan?

Russell Stover

Willy Franzen — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:15:58 +0000

I always like to tie in holidays to the companies that I feature, so when Easter comes around I usually go looking for candy companies. Last year I actually found a candy related non-profit in PMCA, but in previous years I’ve featured Jelly Belly and Just Born Quality Confections (Peeps!) on Good Friday. I’ve also used other holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day to look at even more candy companies including Mars, The Hershey Company, NECCO, Charles Chocolates, and Vosges. I guess you can tell that I have a sweet tooth. This year we’re going to take a look at Russell Stover, a Kansas City, MO based confectioner that also owns Whitman’s and Pangburn’s. They’re the nation’s third largest chocolate manufacturer behind Hershey’s and Mars, and they’re the leader when it comes to boxed chocolates.

Are You Sweet on These Jobs?

I have to admit that Russell Stover doesn’t always do it for me at Easter time. Their chocolate bunnies are pretty good, but I feel like I’m too old to be chomping on a chocolate bunny these days. I much prefer marshmallow and peanut butter eggs, and I think Hershey’s and Reese’s have Stover beat on the respective products. There must be a lot of people who disagree with me though, because Russell Stover candies seem to get a ton of shelf space. If you’re one of them, then maybe you’ll want to consider a career at Russell Stover. Their Jobs page offers some information, but it oddly doesn’t provide a listing of jobs. They do, however, invite interested applicants to apply to jobs@rstover.com. If you’d prefer to actually have a job to apply to, you can use our Indeed search function to get a better read on Russell Stover’s current job offerings. They’re a pretty big company, so there should be a relatively wide range of opportunities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you enjoy Russell Stover candies?

StarChefs

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:28:48 +0000

Sponsored Jobs: Love restaurants and looking for an entry level job? SinglePlatform has a ton of positions that are perfect for you. They’re our sponsor this week, and you can check out all of their positions here.

One of my favorite things about living in Chicago is that I am surrounded by some of the best restaurants in the world. Not only does that mean that I can treat myself to the occasional delicious meal, but I also have more celebrity chef sightings than the average person. Since most of you aren’t as cool as I am, you’ll need another way to get “a backstage pass to the celebrity chef world.” Luckily, there’s StarChefs, a magazine “for food and wine-savvy consumers and an essential information resource for aspiring professional chefs.” The New York, NY based publication has been around since 1995 and claims “monthly traffic of over 14.6 million hits” (or 30 million on another page). My analytics tell me that’s an overstatement (hits is an outdated measure that doesn’t really tell you anything), but they do have a sizable community that is extremely well targeted for advertising.

Are You a Star?

What impressed me most about StarChefs was the list of names on their Chef Advisory Board. There are a few that I can’t pronounce, but also a bunch that I recognized like Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson, Bobby Flay, and Todd English. Much of the content that StarChefs generates “is driven by in-person tastings and interviews across the world,” so they’re really focused on building a community resource where chefs and others in the food industry can learn from each other. Additionally, StarChefs runs StarChefs JobFinder, which is a job board in the food and hospitality space. This makes a ton of sense considering their position in the culinary community. There’s a ton of content on StarChefs.com, so you should really dig into it to get a better feel for the company. Once you do that, you can check out the StarChefs Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Print Designer and a Marketing Associate. Both jobs look like they could be good fits for new or recent grads, so give them a good look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read StarChefs?

SinglePlatform

Willy Franzen — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:21:43 +0000

This is a sponsored post for SinglePlatform.

There’s no doubt that the web has changed the way that people find and make reservations at restaurants, yet most restaurants seem stuck in 2002 when it comes to handling their own web presences. It doesn’t make any sense considering how competitive the food industry is. You’d think that restaurant owners would want to use every possible advantage to capture customers and encourage people to eat at their restaurants. The only answer is that managing a web presence is too complicated for the average restaurant owner. That’s why SinglePlatform was founded. They’re a New York, NY based company (with job offerings across the country) that “provides hotels, restaurants, bars and PR firms one stop to manage their digital presence and gain customers.”

One Platform, One Job

SinglePlatform may sound familiar. That’s because we already featured them last December. (You can read the original post here.) They loved the response, and now they’re sponsoring us so that they can reach more of our awesome readers. SinglePlatform has a ton of positions for new and recent grads, and they offer the opportunity to get in early at a startup that is growing rapidly. You can get all of the details on SinglePlatform’s Careers page, or you can take a look at their available positions below.

SinglePlatform is currently recruiting Inside Sales Consultants in:

New York, NY

SinglePlatform is currently recruiting Outside Sales Consultants in:

Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Houston, TX
Los Angels, CA
Miami, FL
Minneapolis, MN
Philadelphia, PA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC

If you’re interested in any of these positions at SinglePlatform, you can apply here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you find restaurant web presences frustrating too?

Reader’s Digest Association

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:48:21 +0000

I must admit that I’ve never known anyone under the age of 60 to subscribe to Reader’s Digest, but I’m sure that there’s at least one college student out there with a subscription. I mean it was the top circulating consumer magazine for a long time up until 2009. They also can claim “more readers with household incomes of $100,000+ than Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Inc. combined. That means that they have some serious advertising power. Now Reader’s Digest is just one of the publications owned and operated by New York, NY based Reader’s Digest Association, which is “a global multi-brand media and marketing company that educates, entertains and connects audiences around the world.” They also have AllRecipes, Every Day with Rachel Ray, The Family Handyman, and quite a few other brands.

Make Your Grandma Proud

We typically like to look at growing companies because they tend to offer the most exciting job opportunities. But sometimes larger companies that are struggling with environmental changes that affect how they do business can offer similarly interesting opportunities. Reader’s Digest Association is in a tough spot. Their big brand, Reader’s Digest, has a dying (sorry to be morbid) subscriber base and increasing competition from web based publishers. That’s why it’s no big surprise that Reader’s Digest Association went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009 after five straight years of reporting losses. Still, Reader’s Digest Association has vast resources and significant brand equity. There are certainly some bright spots in Reader’s Digest Association’s numbers. They have 90 magazine titles, worldwide readership over 100 million, 83 branded websites, and annual book, music, and video sales of more than 30 million units. Another bright spot is Reader’s Digest Association’s Jobs page–they have a lot of opportunities posted including quite a few that seem suitable for new or recent grads:

Advertising Sales Assistant – Home & Garden Group (New York, NY)
Marketing Coordinator, Reader’s Digest Ad Sales & Sponsorship Marketing (New York, NY)
Digital Coordinator / Project Management Team (Greendale, WI)
Online Food Editor – Australia Site (Seattle, WA)
Finance Leadership Development Associate (White Plains, NY)
Marketing Coordinator (Greendale, WI)
Account Manager – Home & Garden (New York, NY)

It’s hard to say what the future holds for Reader’s Digest Association, but I think that there’s a big opportunity for entry level talent to help them ensure that their brands are just as popular (or even more popular) when we become grandparents.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you know anyone under the age of 60 who subscribes to Reader’s Digest.

Ocean Spray

Willy Franzen — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:23:55 +0000

Have you ever had Craisins? The ingredients list only says “cranberries and sugar,” but I swear that there has to be something else in there that makes them so addictive. Ocean Spray has made a name for itself by consistently finding new ways to market the fruit that they produce. See, Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative (I assumed they were owned by some big conglomerate or something), which means that they’re “owned by large group of cranberry growers throughout North America.” Most of the 600 members are cranberry growers, but there are also 50 Florida grapefruit growers. This means that Ocean Spray is all about finding new ways to increase demand for two tart, but delightful fruits. The company is based in Lakeville-Middleboro, MA, and they’ve been “the leading producer of canned and bottled juice drinks in North America” since 1981.

Crave the Wave

Usually when you think about innovation in fruit, you think of genetic engineering and other creepy stuff like that. At Ocean Spray it’s all about giving consumers new ways to enjoy fruits that they’ve known all their lives. At first it was Cranberry Juice Cocktail in 1930, then Cran-Apple in 1963, Ocean Spray® Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice Drink in 1991, and Craisins in 1993. Ocean Spray has a solid history of successful new product launches, yet they’ve continued to stay true to their grower owned heritage. It’s a simple business, but it’s one that has continued to grow over 8 decades–to the point where Ocean Spray did nearly $2 billion in revenue in 2008. If you love grapefruits and cranberries and would like to become part of the Ocean Spray story, then you should check out their Jobs page. But before you do that, you absolutely need to make sure that you know what a bog is. Ocean Spray has quite a few positions posted, and a few seem suitable for a new or recent grad including Client Technologies Administrator and Supply Chain Coordinator (Kenosha, WI). They had a Business Development Analyst position posted that seemed perfect for a new gradd, and they seem to have removed it just as I was writing this. You can see the Google cache here. You can always reach out to them to see if there might be other similar opportunities that aren’t posted yet.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Ocean Spray product?

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?

Necco

Willy Franzen — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:57:39 +0000

Want to be our Valentine? All you have to do is go to your career services office and declare your love for us. And if you’re really hot for us, why don’t you convince them to add a link to us from their website?

Happy Valentine’s Day! May you get many Justin Bieber valentines with “Love” crossed out and “From” written in. And if you’re really lucky, maybe there will be a few Sweethearts Conversation Hearts tucked into the envelope. I’ve never particularly enjoyed the taste of those little candies, but they’re still a lot of fun. You may or may not realize that these little hearts come from Necco, the company that also manufactures Necco Wafers, Mary Jane, Haviland, Clark, Skybar, Mighty Malts, Candy Buttons, Canada Mints, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Slap Stix. The company is based in Revere, MA, and I didn’t realize that their name was an acronym for New England Confectionery Company until I drove by their factory in a cab from Boston Logan Airport.

Be Theirs

Necco is America’s “oldest multi-line candy company.” They were founded in the summer of 1847, and since then they’ve been behind some classic candy brands. One of the facts that I learned about Necco that fascinates me is that they Sweethearts Conversation Hearts are manufactured from late February through mid-January for the coming Valentine’s Day season. The company manufactures 100,000 pounds of the hearts every day, and stockpiles them for a six-week period in which they’ll sell out. That’s ridiculous. Luckily for Necco, most of their other products aren’t quite as seasonal. Anyway, Necco doesn’t have a Careers page, but I did find an Inventory Analyst position posted here. And if you’d like to inquire about other positions, you can try Necco’s Contact page. Now, the only question is whether you can craft your entire resume out of Conversation Hearts.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Conversation Heart saying?

UrbanDaddy

Willy Franzen — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:45:08 +0000

You love free daily e-mails. Obviously. We’ve covered a lot of companies whose main products are daily e-mails, and not so surprisingly, most of the businesses are focused on helping you find new places to spend your money—these include DailyCandy, Thrillist, and TastingTable. Then there are the ones that make you smarter like The Daily Beast, DailyLit, and the one you’re reading right now (the one that is also trying to help you grow your bank account). UrbanDaddy definitely falls into the former category. They dub themselves “the free daily email devoted to bringing you the single thing you need to know every day about your city.” They’re based in New York, NY, but their daily editions cover Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Jetset, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, National, New York, San Francisco, and Ski & Board. Each edition covers topics like Nightlife, Food, Style, Gear, Leisure, and Weekends—all things that you should be withholding from yourself until you get a job (just kidding).

Who’s Your UrbanDaddy?

For all the hype that social media and social networking sites get, it’s amazing how many businesses are built on good, old-fashioned e-mail lists. UrbanDaddy has a cadre of writers who know the cities they cover and have an exceptional skill for uncovering what’s cool and new. If you live in a city covered by UrbanDaddy, you’ll never really have an excuse to be bored. They’re aiming to be that friend—the one “who knows everyone—the maitre d’s at all the right restaurants, the bouncers at all the right clubs, the addresses of all the great parties. And the kind of guy who lives to share the wealth.” They even have a Perks Program that gives subscribers exclusive access to special deals (hey, everyone has to jump on the Groupon bandwagon—it’s too profitable not to). If you are that friend, or you’ve played a supporting role to that friend, then you need to check out jobs at UrbanDaddy. They have a number of great opportunities posted right now, and a few look suitable for new or recent grads including Copy Editor, Los Angeles Editor, Senior Writer (yeah, I know it says Senior, but why not try to wow them), Quality Assurance Analyst, Advertising Sales Planner, Interactive Designer, and Senior LAMP/Front-End Engineer. Check out the job descriptions and sign up for UrbanDaddy’s daily e-mails to see if you’ll be a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you subscribe to UrbanDaddy?

The Taunton Press

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

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

The Finer Things

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of The Taunton Press’ publications?