One Day, One Job » Germany

Brafton

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

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

Be Content at Brafton

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Brafton?

PUMA

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

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

Get Ready to Pounce

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own anything from PUMA?

W3i

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:19:57 +0000

Sponsored Job: PEAK6 is a Chicago, IL based proprietary trading firm that specializes in inventory and risk management, and they’re hiring a Junior Project Manager.

I recently discovered an awesome iPhone/iPad flight simulator/shooter game called MetalStorm: Wingman. It’s free, and it’s a lot of fun, but the publisher is constantly trying to eke revenue out of the game. There are ads, upsells to buy new planes and weapons, and suggestions of other apps to download. It’s that last one that caught my attention, and it led me to a company called W3i. They’re based in Sartell, MN, and they are in the business of “intelligently connecting people to apps.” They do this with both mobile and desktop apps, and they provide an opportunity for app developers to both expand the reach of their software and make money by promoting other apps.

Put the App in Apply

Believe it or not, W3i isn’t some startup. They’ve been in the business of promoting apps for over 10 years (and they’ve been profitable for most of the time!). That means that they’ve had to constantly adapt as the landscape of software downloading has changed. Some companies would get crushed by all of the changes in technology and app store rules (depending on Apple’s whims must be tough), but it sounds like W3i has responded by doubling sales since last year. If you want to really dig into what W3i does, you can read up on their offering for both desktop apps and mobile apps. You may also want to check out what they’ve done for some of their clients. If you like what you see, you’ll want to head over to W3i’s Careers page, which is beautifully done. You can learn about Life at W3i, browse careers by department, or head straight to a list of all of their current openings. The best positions for new grads include:

There are a ton of awesome opportunities at W3i, so hopefully one of them will be just what you’re looking for. If not, you can also apply for Future Opportunities. (I’m assuming that all of these positions are in the Sartell office because nothing states otherwise, but W3i also has offices in San Francisco, Berlin and Minneapolis.)

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your favorite apps?

Prophet

Willy Franzen — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:09:15 +0000

One of my favorite sources for company ideas is e-mailing people who unsubscribe from this mailing list saying they found a job or internship. I figure if somebody is hiring them, then there’s a good chance that that same somebody might hire other readers. A while back a reader told me that he landed one of a few coveted internships at Prophet. I’d never heard of Prophet before, but when I checked them out I saw that they’re “a strategic brand and marketing consultancy with offices around the globe.” Apparently, they’re headquartered in San Francisco, CA, but also have locations in Chicago, IL; New York, NY; and Richmond, VA along with a number of international offices. What I find interesting about Prophet is that they seem to lean more towards a management consulting model in how they do business, even though their focus is on areas including Brand, Marketing, Innovation, Design, and Insights & Analytics.

Make a Prophet

To get a better sense of what Prophet does, you should definitely dig into their Client List and Project Portfolio. They work with huge names like Sony, GE, Harrah’s, Visa, Cartier, United, GM, BMW, and Kellogg’s. It’s a big deal when companies like those entrust their brand identity to an outside firm. Prophet does a really great job with their website, so even though “strategic brand and marketing consultancy” can mean a lot of things, you should be able to get a really good idea of what they do and who they are by spending some time on their site. (You definitely want to look at their sections on Brand, Marketing, Innovation, Design, and Insight & Analytics.) After you’ve spent some time digging into what Prophet does, you can head over to their Careers page. Their entry level position is Associate. It looks really interesting, and I’ll bet it’s super competitive. They don’t mention needs in specific offices, but I’ll guess that they’ll find a place for you if you’re a great fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Prophet?

Admeld

Willy Franzen — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:24:55 +0000

A lot of people don’t realize that Google is an advertising company. Your main interactions with them are probably through their search product, Gmail, and maybe Google+ if you’re an early adopter, but all of those are just ways to deliver relevant advertising. Behind the scenes Google has been doing everything it can to become an even bigger player in the online advertising industry. That includes acquiring a New York, NY based advertising optimization startup called Admeld for $400 million. The acquisition hasn’t gone though yet because the Department of Justice is investigating whether Google’s buying Admeld should be considered anti-competitive. (This is stupid. Should a business not act in its own best interest so as to maintain a competitive market?) Regardless of the uncertainty caused by the investigation and the fact that Admeld employees will soon be Google employees, you have to be intrigued by the fact that the DOJ considers Google’s acquisition of Admeld such a big threat to competitors.

Melding Admeld

Why is Admeld so valuable? They have built a platform that helps publishers sell ads more efficiently in a market littered with middlemen. By helping customers optimize the ad sales process, Admeld is able to significantly increase the revenue that publishers generate. The way they do this is a little confusing for someone not in the advertising industry, but this video should help you better understand how their business works.

Until the acquisition gets approved, Admeld is going to continue to operate independently from Google. It’s hard to say how that will affect their hiring, but they continue to have jobs posted on their Jobs page. If you don’t mind a little uncertainty (and like the idea of ending up a Google employee), then you may want to consider a few positions they have like Demand Services Account Manager (London/Berlin/NYC), Client Services Account Coordinator (Berlin), UI Engineer (NYC and Toronto) and Software Engineer – Ad Serving (NYC). Even if Admeld isn’t right for you, you should think about how acquisition news might help you with your job search.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Admeld?

Octagon

Willy Franzen — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:19:11 +0000

Usually when readers recommend companies, I put them on my list and cover them soon after if they look interesting and have relevant opportunities. Lately I’ve had two readers mention that they applied to Octagon, but I somehow overlooked the company. My only excuse is that I’m often skeptical of sports and entertainment marketing companies because there are so many sports marketing hiring scams. But that’s very clearly not the case with Octagon, they’ve been around since 1983 and they have offices all across the world. As they put it, they’re “the recognized, global thought leader in passion-based, sports & entertainment marketing.” Some of people they represent are Chris Paul, Michael Phelps, Randy Johnson, John Elway, Elena Dementieva, Landry Fields, Michael Johnson, Anna Kournikova, Apolo Anton Ohno, and many more huge names.

Can You Compete Inside the Octagon?

From what I can tell, Octagon separates their business into four divisions. On their Octagon’s What We Do page, you’ll see links to: Marketing, Marketing North America, Athletes & Personalities, and Events. Within the Athletes & Personalities section you’ll find links to specific verticals like OctagoOly.com, OctagonHockey.com, OctagonBasketball.com. Additionally, there are separate sites for Octagon’s international businesses like OctagonBrazil.com, and Octagon-UK.com. It’s all a bit overwhelming, but it’s indicative of how big Octagon’s presence is in the field of sports and entertainment marketing. In fact, the best overview of what Octagon’s businesses actually do is on their Careers page. Once you read through that, then you can take a look at their current job postings. Right now they have a few positions that seem right for a new or recent grad including Account Executive – Telecom (Kansas City, KS), Non-Profit & Media Relations Coordinator (Portland, ME), Account Executive – Sales Assistant (Norwalk, CT), Associate Producer – Digital (Norwalk, CT), and Account Executive – Multicultural – Home Improvement (Atlanta, GA).

Octagon has offices in the following locations, so you may want to watch out for new postings in any of these places:

Atlanta, GA
Cary, NC
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Los Angels, CA
McLean, VA
Minneapolis, MN
Naples, FL
New York, NY
Norwalk, CT
Ormond Beach, FL
Portland, ME
Richmond, VA
Rogers, AR
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ottawa, Ontario
Waterlool, Ontario
Adelaide, South Australia
Hobart, Tasmania
Melbourne, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Beijing, China
Mumbai, India
Tokyo Japan
Singapore, Malaysia
Paris, France
Frankfurt, Germany
Doha, Qatar
Moscow, Russia
Cape Town, South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Barcelona, Spain
Sevilla, Spain
Stockholm, Sweden
Istanbul, Turkey
London, United Kingdom

That’s a lot of locations, so keep an eye on Octagon’s job postings for opportunities closer to home (or further away if that’s what you’re looking for).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Octagon?

Exa

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:53:50 +0000

Everything that I know about aerodynamics I learned from MythBusters. Ok, that’s not completely true–AP Physics taught me a little bit too, but MythBusters does a remarkable job of explaining how different objects (from bullets to cars) react to the drag forces of air and water. Today I found a company that puts MythBusters to shame, at least when it comes to aerodynamics (but definitely not when it comes to explosions). Their name is Exa, and they’re a Burlington, MA based company that “develops, markets, and supports simulation software for the fluids engineering marketplace along with a full suite of engineering consulting services.” They typically work with companies in the “automotive, aerospace, architectural, environmental, electronic, and heavy equipment industries,” so I’m sure that you can imagine what kind of cool projects they’ve been involved with. Think optimizing the USA 4-man bobsled that won the Olympic Gold Medal or providing simulations for a Discovery Channel TV show called Ultimate Car Build-Off (ok, it’s not MythBusters).

Are You Dynamic Enough?

Since I’m only TV educated, I’m obviously not the best person to judge Exa’s offerings. But their clients are. Since companies like Audi AG, BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai, Kenworth, MAN, Nissan, Peterbilt, Renault, Scania, Volkswagen AG, Volvo Trucks and many others trust Exa to help them “create competitive designs” and shorten “product design cycles and improving time-to-market,” I have to believe that Exa is a leader in the field. In addition to aerodynamics, Exa also focuses on thermodynamics, aeroacoustics, and how they interact with each other. I’d tell you more, but I’m already in over my head. Obviously, Exa is looking for people with very specific types of knowledge, but they do offer some opportunities that could be appropriate for a new grad (though many require Master’s Degrees or higher and some prior experience). If you look at their Jobs page, you’ll see positions like Application Engineer (Livonia, MI), Field Application Engineer (Livonia, MI), Aerodynamics Application Engineer (Burlington, MA), Geometry Expert (Stuttgart, Germany), Praktikant (Stuttgart, Germany), Application Engineer (Stuttgart, Germany), Aerodynamics Application Engineer (Livonia, MI), Computational Aeroacoustics Engineer (Brisbane, CA), Thermal Engineer (Livonia, MI), Application Engineer(s) – Heavy Vehicle North America (Burlington, MA), Software Engineer – Geometry (Burlington, MA), Computational Aeroacoustics Engineer (Livonia, MI), and Application Engineer (Munich, Germany). All of these job postings have very specific requirements, so it’s hard for me to determine what might be appropriate for recent grads.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How aerodynamic are you?

Become.com

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:54:07 +0000

I don’t do a ton of shopping, but when I do, I almost always buy stuff online. It’s become way too easy not to do. It’s also usually significantly cheaper. I used to shop around a lot online, but I’ve gotten to the point where if Amazon stocks the item, I go with them. They almost always have the best prices, and they’re as reliable as can be (and having free 2-day shipping from Amazon Prime doesn’t hurt—by the way, I think it’s now free for students). If you’re not as trusting, and you really want to find the best price, then you’re probably going to want to use a comparison shopping site. Become.com, which is based in Sunnyvale, CA, is one of the big ones. They get millions of unique visitors every month, and they have tens of millions of dollars in investment from a variety of firms. The cool thing about their business is that all they do is provide information. They don’t actually sell anything, but they get a cut of every sale that they refer through affiliate programs.

What Will You Become?

Become.com is a tech company, a content company, and a marketing company. There’s a ton of technology behind the scenes, which helps them find all kinds of relevant information on products including where the best deal is. They then use the content that they collect to add value to the purchasing process. You’ll be a better informed buyer if you use Become.com instead of the retailer’s site. Finally, the most important thing for Become.com is to get shoppers on their site. This is the Marketing side, and a lot of it has to do with search engine optimization (SEO). Become.com wants their content to rank well in search engines, so that when you search for a product, you find their page. You like what you see, so you click one of their links to a retailer and buy. Become.com profits. You can help them do that as an SEO Analyst or a Jr. IT Engineer. They have a few other positions (including some in Europe and India), but those two seem the most suitable for new grads.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Become.com?

DivX

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:55:36 +0000

We’ve looked at plenty of Internet video companies in the past, but we haven’t spent too much time looking at companies that provide the underlying technology that drives Internet video. DivX is a San Diego, CA based company that develops and licenses video codecs. Codec is short for compressor-decompressor, which is essentially technology that allows you to more efficiently transfer data. In DivX’s case they provide a codec that allows high definition video to be compressed without sacrificing quality on the other end. They’re a big part of why Internet video finally works so well. Transmitting uncompressed video over the Internet takes a huge amount of bandwidth, but using a DivX codec significantly decreases the amount of bandwidth necessary to transmit your favorite time wasting video.

Decoding Your Job Search

If you’re going to end up working for DivX, chances are that you know more about video codecs than I do (please forgive me if my explanation above wasn’t up to snuff). While most consumers aren’t familiar with the DivX brand, they most likely use the company’s technology often. Whether it’s on the computer, the tv, or your phone, there’s a really good chance that DivX’s technology makes it possible for you to watch video. Since DivX isn’t typically selling you a product, they have to make most of their money through licensing this technology to third parties. DivX is very much a technology company, so that’s where most of their jobs are. Right now they have 25 open positions, and a few seem suitable for new grads including QA Tester (San Diego, CA), Integration Tester (Malvern, PA), Field Applications Engineer (San Diego, CA), Embedded Engineer – Software Development (Malvern, PA), and Certification Engineer (Malvern, PA). You can apply online for any of these positions, and if you’re interested in working internationally (Germany, Russia, or China), you should check out the rest of DivX’s job postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Had you heard of DivX before?

Invention Machine

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:49:03 +0000

A lot of people think inventing is easy. You see those guys like Billy Mays screaming on tv, and you think to yourself, “I could have thought of that.” Believe it or not, even those stupid infomercial products aren’t easy to come up with, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the world of invention. Inventing a new product is a long, arduous process that requires a ton of resources. Invention Machine is a Boston based software developer that “drives sustainable innovation by enabling global organizations to consistently generate breakthrough ideas that accelerate product development.” It’s hard for a non-inventor to understand how software can help the inventing process, but judging from the number of large corporations that are using Invention Machine’s software, there’s something there.

Become a Part of the Machine

Since Invention Machine has a corporate video that goes into more detail about what they do, I’m going to give you a little break from reading.

If you head over to Invention Machine’s Jobs page, you’ll see that they have a number of job openings right now. None of them scream entry level at me, but you should certainly take a look at both the Inside Sales Representative and User Interface Designer positions to see if they might give you an idea of where you can fit in at Invention Machine. They do offer a number of internships, so they clearly value young talent. They say that you “may submit your resume for a specific position, multiple positions or general employment by emailing a resume to jobs@invention-machine.com,” so don’t be shy about reaching out to them about a job opportunity.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever invented something?

Research In Motion

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:21:42 +0000

I’m an iPhone guy, so I tend to feel sorry for people who are constantly thumbing away on their BlackBerries. That’s just my being a smug Apple user though. I realize that a lot of people love their BlackBerries and for good reason. They’re pretty remarkable devices, and they’re perfectly tailored for business use. (Although not as perfectly tailored as my iPhone! Ok, I’m done.) That’s why Research In Motion, the company that makes BlackBerries, has a 16.6% share of the smartphone market. They seem to have hit a bit of a rough spot lately (at least their stock price makes it look like they have), but their market position is still very strong. That’s why it’s no surprise that they’re doing a good amount of entry level hiring; however, the real reason that I wanted to feature Research In Motion here is that they chose an unfortunate, yet inappropriately hilarious domain name for their Jobs site (it redirects now, but I think that you can figure it out).

Jobs at RIM

RIM’s description of what they do is pretty complex:

Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, text messaging (SMS and MMS), Internet and intranet-based applications.

However, I think that you can put it pretty simply by saying that they make BlackBerries. I’m sure that there’s a lot more that they do on the technology side, but it seems that smartphones are their bread and butter. They’re a big company, so it’s no surprise that their Careers site has a special section for students. You can get all of the details on RIM’s Student Hiring Program here, and then you can search their job postings for positions specific to your interests. Their job search function is very flexible, and it allows you to select jobs specifically for new grads.

Right now there are 25 of those opportunities available in a variety of world locations and business areas. They include: Hardware Engineering Designer (Waterloo, Canada), Java Software Developer (Ottawa or Waterloo, Canada), Financial Analyst (Waterloo, Canada), Technical Writer (Waterloo, Canada), Embedded Systems Software Developer (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), Graphics Software Developer – Advanced Rendering Applications (Waterloo, Canada), Embedded Software Developer (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), Multimedia System Specialist (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), Communications Specialist (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), Mobile Phone Safety Test Specialist (Waterloo, Canada), 3GPP Compliance Specialist (Waterloo, Canada), Software Development Support Specialist (Waterloo and Mississauga, Canada), Database Developer – BlackBerry Infrastructure (Waterloo, CA), Project Coordinator (Waterloo, Canada), Software Test Specialist (Waterloo, Canada), Project Coordinator – Accessories (Waterloo, Canada), Carrier Technical Manager (Kansas City, KS), Systems Engineering Specialist – M&D (Mississauga, CA), Systems Engineering Specialist – Provisioning (Mississauga, CA), Protocol Stack Developer (Bochum, Germany), Systems Engineer (Irving, TX), Software Testing Specialist (Waterloo, Canada), Requirements Manager (Waterloo, Canada), and ISP Engineer (Waterloo, Canada).

You can apply for all of these jobs online from the job listings that you’ll find through the search function. Be wary though, because when you view a job listing and then hit the back button to get back to your search, you’ll have to reenter your search to get the results that you want.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have a BlackBerry?

frog design

Willy Franzen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:51:42 +0000

We’re big on innovation here. We don’t like talking about companies that are doing things the way that they’ve always done. They’re not only boring, but they’re also destined for failure. Look at the auto industry. You can blame the downfall of the Big 3 on a lot of things, but a lack of innovation has to be a big part of your argument. We’re trying to bring innovation to the way that you find jobs, and there are hundreds of startups out there that are defined by innovation. It’s all around us. frog design is a global innovation firm. They “work with the world’s leading companies, helping them create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences,” and they’ve been doing it for almost 40 years. They’ve worked with clients as vaired as Disney, GE, HP, Logitech, Microsoft, MTV, Seagate, Yahoo!, which goes to show you that they’re not easy to pigeonhole. frog design is based out of San Francisco, and they have offices (or as they call them, studios) in Austin, New York, San Jose, Seattle, Milan, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, and Shanghai

These Jobs Might Give You Warts

It seems that on most days the companies that we feature need a little help telling their story, so we do our research and try to make it easier for you to understand what exactly they do. That’s not the case today. Frog Design tells their story perfectly on their About page with the following image. That’s why we’re just reposting it.

I have nothing to add, except of course what kind of jobs at frog design might appeal to new college grads. Considering that they have a ton of internships, you might expect them to have some sort of college recruiting program, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Their Internships page actually says that they “occasionally have internship opportunities for entry-level,” but that’s in reference to internships. It seems like they might do all of the entry level hiring through internships, so you may want to check out our post about frog design’s internships on One Day, One Internship.

On the other hand, if you’ve developed some serious skills relevant to frog design’s core strengths, you might want to take a look at some of their “mid-level” jobs that could be attainable for top entry level candidates. Online Marketing Specialist / Web Developer (San Francisco), Digital Designer II (San Francisco), or Temp Model Maker (San Jose). These are probably stretches for new grads, so go read the Top 10 Reasons to Work at frog to get yourself amped up before you apply. Maybe you’ll just blow them away with your passion.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you love innovation as much as we do?

Rolls-Royce

Willy Franzen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:18:34 +0000

Let’s be honest – the closest that you’ve ever come to a Rolls-Royce was when you were watching MTV Cribs and saw one in a rapper/athlete/actor’s garage. I’ve seen some college students with some really nice cars, but never a Rolls. With that said, you can finally get close to Rolls-Royce through the college recruiting process. In fact, your lack of familiarity with Rolls-Royce automobiles won’t even matter, because Rolls-Royce plc (the company that we’re talking about today) doesn’t even make cars anymore. That business was sold to BMW in 1998. Rolls-Royce focuses on four global markets – Civil Aerospace, Defense Aerospace, Marine, and Energy – and two vital teams – Services and Research & Development. Although that may not be consistent with the brand image that you’ve associated with Rolls-Royce for a long time, you’re going to have to get used to it – especially if Rolls-Royce sounds like a company that you’d want to work for.

Think High Tech Engineering, Not Luxury

As a “high technology engineering company,” Rolls-Royce is obviously always looking for top engineering talent, but they also need talent in other business areas. They rely heavily on college recruiting to fill these needs, and now is the time to get involved in the recruiting process. In fact, Rolls-Royce is already more than halfway through their campus recruiting schedule. They still have a few campuses to visit, but most of you are going to have to initiate the process online. Before we get into how you do that, let’s see what kind of entry level job opportunities Rolls-Royce offers.

Rolls-Royce has two entry level programs for new graduates – Leadership Development and Professional Excellence. To figure out which of the programs is right for you, you can look at the descriptions that we just linked to you, but you should probably first take Rolls-Royce’s Which Programme (they’re British) assessment. From here, you will hopefully find that your program of choice is open in your area of interest. Rolls-Royce provides a grid that shows which programs they offer in which areas by location (US, UK, and Germany). For the 2008-2009 recruiting season they are looking for people in Customer Management, Engineering, Finance, and Human Resources for the Leadership Development program and Engineering, Supply Chain Planning and Control, and Project Management for the Professional Excellence program. There’s actually a third program called Controls Fast Track for Engineering grads who are interested in becoming a Controls Engineer, but this only seems to be available in the UK.

Getting in the (RR)ecruiting Process

First of all, Rolls-Royce’s Careers site is filled with information. It’s a huge improvement from their old site, and should answer almost every question that you’ll have. The only problem is that it seems to make the assumption that you’ll be making your first contact with Rolls-Royce through campus recruiting. They don’t clearly state how applicants from schools that they don’t visit should apply. There is an online job application process that you can use; however, the Student and Graduate Programmes section only links to internships. The Other Job Opportunities section seems more promising in terms of listings, but it has a note that says “If you are a college student and you are interested in a co-op, intern, leadership program or entry level position, please click here to apply.” Unfortunately, the “click here” links to a page that redirects to Rolls-Royce’s main Careers site. This is a pretty big screw up considering that Rolls-Royce works so hard to sell college students on its jobs. We think that your best bet is to e-mail collegerecruiting@rolls-royce.com and ask them how you should apply (you may even want to include your cover letter and resume). If you figure out what works, please share it with the rest of our readers in the comments.

From what we understand, the Rolls-Royce recruiting process closes in December, so you still have time. They have 64 facilities in 26 states, and we’re not sure where they locate most of their entry-level hires, so that’s another question that you may want to direct towards collegerecruiting@rolls-royce.com. You’ve probably noticed that we’ve focused almost entirely on jobs in the US, but Rolls-Royce also offers opportunities for new grads in Germany and the UK. If those are something that you’re interested in, you can find all of the corresponding information on their Careers site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you know that Rolls-Royce wasn’t in the automobile business anymore?

Bazaarvoice

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:12:25 +0000

Shopping is supposed to be social. When you were a teenager, you probably liked to hit the mall with friends. Now, you probably lie in bed late at night surfing web sites looking for cool stuff to buy. It’s just not the same. You need social proof to back up your buying decisions. You want to hear what other people think. You want reviews, stories, and answers to questions that you may have about a product or service. Bazaarvoice is a software as a service provider that promotes social commerce by connecting customers to each other. They get their name from the word “bazaar, ” which “symbolizes the beginning of commerce – the initial marketplaces… lively centers of town, buzzing with neighbors, friends and merchants all sharing opinions and building a vibrant community.” That’s what Bazaarvoice is trying to recreate online for their clients.

Bazaar Entry Level Jobs

Bazaarvoice has a number of platforms that they use to promote social commerce. These include Ratings & Reviews, Ask & Answer, Stories, SyndicateVoice, BrandVoice, and the SearchVoice Microsite. Take a look at each of these – you’ll get a much better idea of how a company that uses Bazaarvoice has a huge advantage when it comes to getting consumers engaged online. They have an amazing client list, so if you want to see Bazaarvoice’s software in action, just visiting one of their clients’ sites.

In the interest of full disclosure, Bazaarvoice is offering a referral bonus for all of their jobs and we’d be happy to receive a check from them. With that said, we think that they have some great product offerings, an amazing careers site, cool corporate culture, and jobs that look really exciting – that’s why we’re featuring them. We’ve identified a ton of jobs that look well suited for new college grads on Bazaarvoice’s Jobs site (which is seriously one of the top 10 of companies that we’ve featured). Before you look at the specific jobs, you should check out all of the media that they offer – YouTube videos, Flickr photos, a blog, and lots of text on what it’s like to work for them. They’ve been voted one of Austin’s Best Places to Work, and the image that they put forward on their site certainly backs that up.

Bazaarvoice has all kinds of jobs for people with all types of academic and experiential backgrounds. Not all of the jobs listed below are explicitly entry-level, but they all seem within reason for smart, high performing new college grads. Bazaarvoice is based in Austin, TX, and that’s where most of their jobs are located. These include:

Business Analyst
Client Marketing Analyst
Front End Web Developer
Online Community Manager
Operations Database Analyst
Training Team Lead
Web Support Engineer
Software Developer
Web Designer
Associate Product Manager
Market Development Associate
Content Analyst (Work from Home)
Content Analyst Foreign Language (Work from Home)

Bazaarvoice also has a number of international job opportunities that seem to be entry-level.

Implementation Project Manager (London, UK)
Online Community Manager (London, UK)
Market Development Associate (London, UK)
Market Development Associate (EU – Germany, Netherlands, France)

To apply for a job at Bazaarvoice, all you need to do is click the links above and apply through their website. They’re doing a ton of hiring, so they must be experiencing some serious growth. Check them out if you want to be part of making commerce social again.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Bazaarvoice’s services? Would you like to see more e-commerce sites hire them?b

Kurt Salmon Associates

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:25:03 +0000

Consulting jobs are hot for new college grads, even though a lot of people ask, “What could a new grad possibly consult on?” The truth is that consulting firms love fresh talent. They pick the best and the brightest and put them to work on teams with experienced pros to solve problems that other companies are struggling with. If you’re thinking about a job in consulting, you might as well aim for the one of the best. Kurt Salmon Associates is a consulting firm that focuses on Consumer Products and Retail (Supply Chain and Growth and Profitability) and Health Care consulting. They’ve been named a Top 10 Best Firm to Work For by Consulting Magazine for six years in a row, so you know that they’ll take good care of you – if you can land a job with them.

The Myth of the Two-Headed Salmon

Kurt Salmon Associates seems to keep their two businesses separate, which can be a bit confusing for college students who are considering working for them. They have parallel websites for their Consumer Products & Retail Consulting and Health Care Consulting; however, they do have a main Careers site which is shared by both. The shared Careers site mentions the typical career path at Kurt Salmon (Consultant –> Senior Consultant –> Manager –> Senior Manager –> Principal) and how “KSA is Keen on Green,” and then it directs visitors to the parallel Careers sections for their two businesses. Although the two separate businesses have many similarities, you want to make sure that you’re reading the site when you’re researching KSA’s job opportunities.

The Retail and Consumer Products side of Kurt Salmon Associates seems to be bigger than the Health Care side. The former has locations in Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Princeton, NJ; San Francisco, CA; Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan; Altrincham, UK; Amsterdam, NL ; Düsseldorf, Germany; London, UK; and Paris, France; whereas, the Health Care business only has locations in Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; and San Bruno, CA. If you want to learn more specifics about each of the businesses, you should check out their individual sites – Consumer Products & Retail Consulting and Health Care Consulting.

Landing an Entry Level Job with Kurt Salmon Associates

Kurt Salmon Associates provides much more information about Retail and Consumer Products Consulting Careers than they do about their Health Care Consulting Careers. There isn’t much mention of college recruiting on the Health Care site, so if that’s what you’re interested, you should look at their specific job opportunities and consider applying. If you’re interested in a Retail and Consumer Products job, then you’ll have a lot more to look at. They actively recruit at target schools which include Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Geogia Tech, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Emory, Stanford, Penn State, and New York University (you can find this on their Campus Recruiting page), but they also accept applicants from other schools. To learn more, you may want to look at their brochure, their sample Case Interview, and their consultant profiles. If you’ve already graduated, you can look at KSA’s current opportunities, otherwise you can use KSA’s general application form.

As you can tell, navigating KSA’s web site can be a little bit confusing. If you follow our lead, you should be able to find all the information that you need about getting a job as an entry level consultant with Kurt Salmon Associates.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Trendstop

Willy Franzen — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:29:31 +0000

What you wear is important. Whether it’s for a job interview or your first day of work, there’s no debating that your appearance is essential to your success. It may not be fair, and it often isn’t legal, but it’s true. For many it’s enough trouble just to wear something appropriate, but for others being trendy is extremely important. They want to give the impression that they are at the cutting edge of what’s cool. It takes a lot of work for an individual to keep up with the latest trends (unless you sign up for trend alerts, of course). Now, imagine being responsible for putting out an entire line of trendy clothes. Many companies can’t do this on their own, that’s why they sign up for Trendstop, a fashion forecasting and trend watching service.

What’s Trendy in Trend Watching?

Trendstop specializes in trend analysis with a focus on color trends, fabric trends, trend silhouettes, store window trends, street fashion trends, runway trends, and fast fashion trends. Designers, manufacturers, retailers, and consultants all use the information provided by Trendstop to make key business decisions. Whether it’s what to make or what to buy, people in the fashion industry need to be in touch with what’s next. Trendstop is one of the best in the industry when it comes to providing this up to date information. How do we know? We’re not fashionistas, but we trust Infomat’s list of top trend forecasting services, which gave Trendstop an A+ rating.

Trend Spot for Trendstop

It’s only four words, but that’s quite a tongue twister! Trendstop doesn’t appear to be hiring for full-time positions in their London office, but they do have a number of part-time and freelance jobs available. Opportunities that are currently listed on their website include: Global Trend Spotters, New Business / Account Manager, Menswear Retail Reporter, Fashion Writers, and CAD Designer (Garments, Artwork). Only two of these jobs are linked to descriptions, so it’s hard to get a read on what qualifications are necessary for the jobs. We can say that we’re pretty sure that the New Business / Account Manager opportunity is reserved for people with experience in Account Management.

We’re not sure what the logistics are of working for Trendstop since they’re located in the UK (and most of our readers are US students). We do know that the Global Trend Spotter jobs are freelance positions that are available in Milan, Los Angeles, Moscow, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin and New York. We would imagine that the Menswear Retail Reporter and Fashion Writer jobs are also freelance positions, but we could be wrong about that. Your best bet is probably to contact Trendstop yourself and see what they’re looking for in each of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Want to keep up with the trends in entry-level employment? Subscribe.

Elgato Systems

Willy Franzen — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:00:31 +0000

Today’s post is probably a shot in the dark, but we love the company’s products, and it’s still MacWorld Expo week, so we’re going to write about them anyways. What Elgato Systems does is simple – they make products that allow you to watch television on your Mac. Their hardware devices are plug and play and their software is absolutely killer. It’s also a DVR, so you can record your shows, export them to your iPod and watch them wherever you want. You can even record Jeopardy!, export it, send it to a friend, and play over the phone – not that we’ve ever done that.

If their products are any indication, Elgato should be an excellent place to work. Robots can’t do everything for them, so they must occasionally have the need to hire an engineer, software developer, or marketing person. Maybe they even hire new college grads. Neither their website nor Google has any mention of jobs at Elgato. In fact, the only reference you’ll find on their site is to Steve Jobs. So, if you’re wild about El Gato’s products and would love to help make them, market them, or sell them, e-mail Elgato through their contact form and see what kind of response you get. We’re not even sure which addressee you should select from the drop-down menu.

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at Elgato Systems.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

And by the way, their products are pretty heavily discounted for today only because of MacWorld Expo. If you have no interest in jobs at Elgato, but want to watch TV on your Mac, check out their EyeTV products.