One Day, One Job » Illinois

buildOn

Willy Franzen — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:49:24 +0000

It’s easy to think of the developing world as having completely different problems from the ones we have in the U.S. But when you look more closely, you start to realize that the link between poverty and a lack of good education is consistent across the world–our inner cities and the developing world have similar problems that require similar solutions. buildOn is a non-profit organization based in Stamford, CT that aims to break “the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education” by “putting youth in service and building schools in developing countries.” Most non-profits either focus on education abroad or domestically, buildOn is unique in that they believe that they can better solve both problems by working on them at the same time.

Build Something

You’ll probably want to start your research on buildOn by reading Founder Jim Ziolkowski’s story. After that you’ll want to dive into the “buildOn Is a Movement” video:

buildOn’s domestic programs are based in Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; New York, NY; Oakland/San Francisco, CA; Philadelphia, PA; and Stamford, CT. The goal is to engage 100,000 U.S. based students every week by 2031. In the same time period, they want more than 1 million students to be attending schools built by buildOn. It sounds like an amazing movement, so if you want to get involved, head over to buildOn’s Careers page. Right now there are a few positions posted worth checking out:

Program Coordinator (San Francisco, CA)
Program Coordinator (Stamford, CT)
Program Coordinator (Philadelphia, PA)

These look like amazing job opportunities, so give them a close look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about buildOn?

Crate and Barrel

Willy Franzen — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:36:24 +0000

Furniture shopping brings out the worst in me. I tend to revert back to my childhood when my sister and I would team up (by fighting of course) to make our parents miserable so that we could leave the furniture store sooner. Luckily, my fiancée loves going furniture shopping with me. She’s found that if she creates conditions for success (making sure that I’m in a good mood and have recently had a meal), I can actually act like a human being at places like Crate and Barrel. In case you’ve never been to a Crate and Barrel, it’s a giant furniture and housewares store that is essentially my worst nightmare. It all started with one store in downtown Chicago, but now Crate and Barrel is headquartered in Northbrook, IL and has more than 170 stores including CB2 and The Land of Nod locations.

You Can’t Spell Crate and Barrel Without Career

It’s almost as if a trip to Crate and Barrel or CB2 (which is targeted towards a younger crowd) is a rite of passage after you land your first job and move out of your parents’ place. You may not end up buying anything, considering that an entry level salary won’t get you very far at Crate and Barrel, but it’s at least worth a look. If you’re not quite at that point in your life yet, you still may want to visit a Crate and Barrel to get an idea of how they operate and what their style is. Then you can go take a look at the Crate and Barrel Careers page. They separate out job listings between Crate and Barrel, CB2, and The Land of Nod, but the Crate and Barrel job listings seem to be where all of the corporate jobs are. Here’s what’s available:

There are also a variety of Sales and Management Trainee positions across the country. You’ll want to check those out if you’re not tied to working at the Corporate office.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you shop at Crate and Barrel?

Chloe + Isabel

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:59:07 +0000

There are essentially two completely different jewelry businesses. There’s the high-end business that is centered around gold, platinum, diamonds, and other gemstones (I know all about that having recently bought an engagement ring). Then there’s the fashion focused business that is more about completing an outfit. The latter is where Chloe + Isabel is focusing. They are a New York, NY based startup that targets 18 to 28 year old women with jewelry in the $18 to $200 price range. That’s not all that unique. What is unique is that Chloe + Isabel is approaching this market by combining direct selling with web-based social technology. Essentially they’re bringing affiliate marketing to a group of people who may not even know what affiliate marketing is.

You + Chloe + Isabel

I tend to be skeptical of direct selling “opportunities,” but I know that they can be great for developing entrepreneurial skills. I think Chloe + Isabel really gets it right with their online platform. You don’t need to make an initial investment in inventory to sell for them–you can just use their “personalized online dashboard” to put together your “own boutique shopping experience.” To get a better sense of Chloe + Isabel’s style, I recommend that you take some time to browse their jewelry. Then you probably want to read up on their Merchandiser opportunity and watch this video about it:

Even if direct selling isn’t for you, it will help you better understand how the Chloe + Isabel works. Once you start to get it, you can take a look at Chloe + Isabel’s Jobs page, where they list their non direct selling opportunities including:

Customer Care Representative (San Francisco, CA)
Sales Development Manager (San Francisco Bay Area, Utah, Florida, Texas, and Michigan/Illinois)
Graphic Designer
Web Designer
Ruby Developer
User Interface Designer

Whether you’re interested in a full-time job or want to do some direct selling, Chloe + Isabel has some great opportunities for new and recent grads.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you purchased anything from Chloe + Isabel?

Peer Health Exchange

Willy Franzen — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:54:44 +0000

When I was in 9th grade I had to take a Health class. One day our teacher had us write letters to our future selves. She told us that she’d send them to us when we graduated high school. I never saw that letter again. I guess I’ll never know how I’m stacking up against the expectations of my 14 year old self. While many lessons from health class seem trite at the time, they can have life-long beneficial effects. Unfortunately, many public schools can’t afford to offer health education. This is a big problem because “teenagers today are engaging in risky behavior at alarming rates, harming their bodies and their futures.” Peer Health Exchange is a San Francisco, CA based non-profit organization (but they’re working across the country) that fixes this problem by recruiting, selecting, and training “college student volunteers to teach high school students a comprehensive health curriculum.” My sister is one of these volunteers, and she’s had a wonderful experience so far (which is why she has been bugging me to feature PHE).

To Your Health

Peer Health Exchange explains the need for their services with some simple statistics:

One in four teenagers is a binge-drinker.

One in four teenagers smokes cigarettes.

One in three teen girls becomes pregnant.

One in five teenagers experiences violence in a relationship.

One in six teenagers is overweight or obese.

There are significant long-term consequences for our society associated with each of those stats. Peer Health Exchange offers a curriculum that leaves 96% of students saying that “they will use something they learned from PHE workshops to make a healthy decision in the future.” Although it’s hard to quantify what that actually means, it’s certainly a step in the right direction. If you’d like to get involved with Peer Health Exchange, check out their Jobs page. Right now they have quite a few positions avialable including:

Finance Analyst
Program Associate (Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA)
Program Associate (Washington, DC)

These are great opportunities to join an organization that is having a significant impact, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite memory from Health class?

Claire’s

Willy Franzen — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:59:34 +0000

When I think of shopping malls, I instantly think of escalators, Auntie Anne’s pretzels, and overpriced gadget stores. Because I was never a teen/tween girl, my memories don’t include Claire’s. In case you’ve never heard of Claire’s, they are a retailer of “fashion trends, accessories and jewelry for young women.” They have more than 3,000 stores across the world and are in 95% of U.S. shopping malls. That’s a massive retail presence. While Claire’s is headquartered in Pembroke Pines, FL, they only have Customer Service and Investor Relations located there. Most of the action (and most of the jobs) seems to be at Claire’s Hoffman Estates, IL office.

Accessorize Your Job Search

Claire’s describes their target market as “young women, teens, tweens and girls ages 3 to 27.” That’s an interesting range, as it’s very specific and much broader than I would have expected. One of the keys to Claire’s branding is ear piercing. They’ve pierced more than 80 million ears. That’s an absolutely unbelievable number in its own right, but it’s even more amazing when you consider that a massive number of women (and probably a good number of men) have a major life memory tied to Claire’s. That’s called branding. If your mall memories are deeply tied to Claire’s (or you’re just really interested in their business), then you should definitely check out their Jobs page. Right now there are a few great opportunities for new and recent grads including:

Associate Planner
Allocation Analyst
Transportation Operations Analyst

There are also a number of jobs that require a little more experience like Buyer, Planner, and Assortment Planner.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you shop at Claire’s?

GiveForward

Willy Franzen — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:26:25 +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.

At some point you’ve probably participated in a fundraiser to help pay for someone’s medical costs. You may have organized a car wash, bought a candy bar, run in a race, or just made a simple donation. It’s one way that we take care of people in our communities when they’re in need. The problem with fundraisers is that they can be an organizational nightmare. GiveForward is a Chicago, IL based company that solves this problem by offering people online fundraising pages. I met Ethan Austin, one of the company’s founders, about three years ago, and since then I’ve watched GiveForward help people raise more than $13 million and grow as a company at the same time. Every time I see him again, it seems like there’s a new success.

Moving Forward

When I initially heard about GiveForward, I assumed it was a non-profit. It just made sense, but GiveForward is a real business with a real revenue model. They take a 7% cut of all donations that come through their platform. That may sound a little steep, but when you look at how much value they provide to users (and realize how expensive credit card payment fees are), it makes a lot of sense. If you’re still not sure how GiveForward works, just take a look here or watch this video:

With such a simple product, it’s no surprise that GiveFoward has compiled a list of impressive success stories. I love it when companies can make money and provide tremendous social value at the same time. If you want to be part of the GiveForward team, check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Front End Developer, a UI Graphic Designer, a Lead User Interface Designer, and a UI Developer. They don’t have any non-technical positions posted right now, but if you want an idea of what might be available in the future take a look at their team page or their internship postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever raised money for medical expenses?

TrainSignal

Willy Franzen — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:39:54 +0000

SinglePlatform is hiring 50 new grads in New York City to help local businesses get discovered. Learn how you can be one of them.

What have you done to improve your skills since you started job searching? You better have an answer. If you’re the same candidate that you were 3/6/9/12 months ago, you’re not going to get hired. Self-improvement not only makes you immediately more employable, but it also signals to employers that you’re the kind of person that can grow in a company. There are plenty of ways to improve yourself as a candidate, but one of the easiest is computer training. In a short period of time you can significantly expand the number of jobs that you can apply for. TrainSignal is a Schaumburg, IL based company that offers video training for software from Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix, VMWare, CompTIA, and more. They provide both online video and physical media, and they serve both individuals and businesses of all sizes.

Send a Strong Signal

While I’ve never used TrainSignal, I have done a number of online video courses–mostly on software development topics. They’ve allowed me to do things that I otherwise would have had to pay people thousands of dollars to do. TrainSignal identifies 7 advantages that are unique to their training: Style, Content, Staff, Value, Curriculum, Effectiveness, and Confidence. All of those are important whether you’re investing in yourself or your employees. If you want to be part of a business that helps people improve themselves, take a look at TrainSignal’s Careers page. Right now they have a few positions that you may want to consider including:

They also have quite a few instructor positions, so if you’re a young technology expert, then you may want to check those out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What skills have you developed during your job search?

Millward Brown

Willy Franzen — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:39:07 +0000

If you’ve watched Mad Men from the beginning, you’ve probably noticed that research goes from completely irrelevant to getting marginal respect over just a few years. The progression has continued, and research has become a huge part of marketing and advertising. While Millward Brown hasn’t been around since the Mad Men days, the New York, NY based research agency has been “specializing in advertising, marketing communications, media and brand equity research” for the last 35 years. All of Millward Brown’s research is focused on building stronger brands, which is why their 82 offices across 52 countries are able to work with 90% of the world’s top 100 brands (not sure whose list they’re using).

Head Millward Brownward

The thing I love about advertising is that it’s truly a combination of art and science. The best research in the world can be more effectively applied with wonderful creative, and the best creative in the world can be made even better with research. To get a better understanding of how that works, you need to check out Millward Brown’s Case Studies. You can learn about things like how neuroscience can be used to improve direct mailings and how a South American country used research to promote wine consumption. It’s fascinating stuff, so if it convinced you to look into a career in research, then take a look at Millward Brown’s Jobs page. Right now they have a few opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Account Manager (San Francisco, CA)
Account Manager (New York, NY)
Associate Client Analyst (Chicago, IL)
Market Research Executive (Lisle, IL)
Part Time Client Service Support (Fairfield, CT)
Part Time Client Service Support (Detroit, MI)
Presentation Specialist (Santa Monica, CA)

They also have a ton of international opportunities, so you may also want to take a look at those.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Millward Brown?

HY Connect

Willy Franzen — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:38:34 +0000

One of the best ways to land a job is to show an employer what you’ve done. That’s hard when you don’t have any experience, and that’s why I recommend that every job seeker pick up some sort of project to put who they are into product form. Getting a job is a lot like landing an account for an agency, which is why HY Connect leads with their work. When you get on the Milwaukee, WI and Chicago, IL based company’s home page, you see the best of what they do best. While looking at an advertising campaign can tell you a lot, it doesn’t tell the whole story. HY Connect offers “integrated advertising, public relations and media solutions,” which means that their Services page includes a remarkably long list of things that they do well.

Say HY

Although you get a good taste of HY Connect’s work on their home page, it’s important that you really dig in and get a feel for how they work and how they’re different from other agencies. You can start by looking at all of their work and continue by going through their case studies. You’ll see that they’ve worked with names like Yamaha, Peapod, Comcast, and The Museum of Science and Industry (my favorite Chicago museum). Once you really have a feel for HY Connect’s work, you’ll probably want to read up on their process. All of this information should help you better understand your value proposition to them. Once you have an idea of where you could fit in, then it’s time to check out HY Connect’s Jobs page. (I know it feels backwards, but it works. I promise.) HY Connect has some great job opportunities for new and recent grads including:

Research Analyst – SEO/SEM (Milwaukee, WI)
Web Developer (Chicago, IL)
UX Planner (Chicago, IL)
UX Planner (Milwaukee, WI)
Media Associate (Chicago, IL or Milwaukee, WI)

These look like awesome positions so look them over and figure out which ones make the most sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of HY Connect’s work?

Buzz Referrals

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:38:30 +0000

Everybody wants their stuff to go viral on the Internet. The problem is that it’s way easier to do with funny pictures than it is with useful things like articles and products. If you can’t get the natural word of mouth flowing, you need to incentivize (bribe) people to spread the word. I’m sure that you’ve participated in some sort of referral program before (I love Gilt’s program), and hopefully earned some sort of reward. I’ve seen so many companies use referral bonuses to accelerate their growth, and it’s often amazingly effective. Surprisingly, most of these businesses build their own technology for referrals. Why do that when you can pay Chicago, IL based Buzz Referrals to do it for you? They’ve developed a platform that easily plugs into an existing site and creates “referral programs and buzz worthy promotions that drive new customer acquisition and increase engagement.” (Would any of you participate in an ODOJ referral program?)

Generate a Buzz

If you want to get a better feel for what Buzz Referrals offers, you should read their How It Works and FAQ pages. They’ll give you a better sense of how the product actually works. I was reminded of Buzz Referrals when I was writing about SitterCity yesterday (they use it to get new customers), but I’m sure I heard about them before considering they were part of Excelerate Labs’ Class of 2011 (it’s a Chicago startup incubator). This is all relevant because Buzz Referrals just raised $600k to grow their business. That may not sound a lot when you hear about companies closing rounds of funding in the double digit millions, but it should be enough to help Buzz Referrals get their product out to many more customers. And that’s exactly what their Jobs page shows they’re looking to spend money on. Right now they’re hiring an Inside Sales Representative, a Marketing Coordinator, and UX Designer. All of the positions look like they could be great for a new or recent grad, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How many friends have you referred to One Day One Job?

SitterCity

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:38:53 +0000

While very few new and recent grads have experience hiring babysitters, I still like to use the “babysitter example” when explaining how the hiring process typically works in a company. This lesson from the Creative Thinking section of Found Your Career will explain what I’m talking about. The gist of it is that parents seek quite a few alternatives before they hire a babysitter outside of their social network–they want to hire someone they can trust. If they do end up going online to find a babysitter, a good way to find someone trustworthy is SitterCity. It’s a subscription based site (here’s a discount/coupon link for 30% off) that offers a “better way to find sitters and nannies.” SitterCity is based in Chicago, IL and claims that “within 24 hours after posting a job, parents usually get an average of 17 replies.” Those are the kind of results that nervous parents are happy to pay for.

Don’t Just Sit There

Finding willing babysitters is great, but there’s more to the equation. Parents want to know every little detail about the sitters and nannies that they hire. That’s why SitterCity provides extremely detailed profiles on all of their sitters with background checks and reviews. Here’s a more detailed overview of how SitterCity works. Most companies that try to build online communities like this offer up their content for free and try to monetize through advertising, but some very companies like Angie’s List, SitterCity, and lots of online dating sites have had a ton of success charging for what is essentially online matchmaking. The only thing that annoys me about SitterCity is that they provide every little detail they can about their babysitters, yet they barely have any information about their company online. You can barely even find their Careers page. Luckily, I did, and it has some interesting opportunities. The ones most suitable for new grads are Care Advisor and Software Engineer, though there are a few others that you may want to take a look at. If those don’t work for you, you can always apply for an unlisted position or join as a sitter (which is free).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about SitterCity?

Health Leads

Willy Franzen — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:36:48 +0000

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” This often seems to be the case in medicine. Doctors are the only people who can prescribe drugs, so that’s exactly what they do. Sometimes it works, but for many (most?) health problems, medication isn’t the most effective answer–especially for low income patients who have trouble paying for basic needs. What if doctors could prescribe “food, housing, health insurance, job training, fuel assistance, or other critical resources just as they do medication?” They can if they’re working in a facility affiliated with Health Leads, which is a Boston, MA based non-profit organization that currently operates in Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Providence, RI; and Washington, DC.

Be a Health Leader

Health Leads relies on college student volunteers to be their “pharmacists.” These people work in the clinic’s waiting room and “fill the prescriptions” by helping patients access available community services. What I find really impressive is that Health Leads is already doing this on a large scale. They’ve had more than 1,000 volunteers work with more than 9,000 patients (that patient to volunteer ratio seems kind of low to me). Half of the patients got a prescription that solved at least one critical need within 90 days, which is pretty amazing (that’s more effective than a lot of drug prescriptions). If Health Leads sounds like an organization that you’d want to get involved with, you have two options. You can volunteer or you can consider a job with Health Leads. While their current postings aren’t ideal for new grads because they require a decent amount of previous experience, I still think it’s worth checking out their Data Analyst (Boston, MA) and Program Manager (Chicago, IL; Washington, DC, and Providence, RI) positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Health Leads?

comScore

Willy Franzen — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:41:26 +0000

Because I’m a tech savvy kind of guy, I often get asked a lot of computer and Internet related questions. One of the most common questions that I get is: “How do I see how much traffic a website gets?” This is useful information whether you want to check to see if a startup is really as popular as they claim or if you want to size a market, but it’s not easy information to come by. The best answer is get the login and password to the site’s Google Analytics account. Considering that’s difficult and likely illegal, your next best bet is to you use some of the competitive research tools that are available. The free ones include Alexa, Compete, Quantcast, and Google Trends for Websites. Unfortunately, none of these are particularly reliable or accurate, and they’re especially bad for sites that get less than hundreds of thousands of visitors a month. The gold standard for this kind of information is offered comScore, but it comes with a hefty subscription fee. The Reston, VA calls itself “a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence,” so paying those fees will get you a lot more than just traffic estimates for websites.

Score One for comScore

Some of comScore’s offerings include “online audience measurement, e-commerce, advertising, search, video and mobile and offers dedicated analysts with digital marketing and vertical-specific industry expertise.” If you’d like to look at more detailed descriptions, you’ll probably want to take a look at comScore’s Products & Services page. These are clearly out of most individuals’ price ranges, but advertising and marketing agencies, financial analysts, researchers, and all kinds of other people put huge value on the data provided by comScore, so they’re willing to pay big bucks to ensure that they’re getting accurate numbers. comScore’s high level of data quality comes from their methodology, which you can read more about here. If you’re fascinated by the world of data analytics, then you should head over to comScore’s Careers page. They have a special section for Campus Recruiting, so you can read up on their Training Program, watch video testimonials, and look at job postings tailored to new grads. Their ATS is kind of goofy, so I won’t link directly to the jobs, but here’s what they have available:

Client Service Analyst (Reston, VA; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA)
Data Analyst (Reston, VA)
Database Developer (Chicago, IL)
Marketing Coordinator – Online Marketing (Reston, VA)
Product Management Analyst (Reston, VA)
Software Engineer (Reston, VA)

comScore has a lot more opportunities posted on their job pages for North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, so check those out by finding the links on comScore’s Careers page if you’re looking for something a little more advanced.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What site’s traffic do you want to look up?

H.BLOOM

Willy Franzen — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:28:03 +0000

I’m in the doghouse. I’m the guy who forgot Valentine’s Day. Luckily, it’s not with my fiancée–I took good care of her yesterday. It’s with you. I didn’t give you a Valentine’s Day post after in past years telling you about jobs at places like eHarmony, Tiffany & Co., OpenTable, ProFlowers, Necco, Vosges, and even the American Heart Association. Flowers are the tried and true way of getting out of the doghouse, but a beautiful bouquet isn’t going to do it when that’s the status quo for Valentine’s Day. How about a flower arrangement every week? That might do it, and that’s exactly what New York, NY based H.BLOOM offers. They are a “flower service.” If you don’t know what that is, you can learn more here. Essentially it’s a subscription to flowers. Subscription based business models are all the rage these days, so it’s no surprise that someone is applying it to the floral industry.

Let Your Career Bloom

H.BLOOM is one of the few companies that I’ve come across without an About page. That’s a little odd, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It just means that you have to work a little harder to understand how their business works. The best way to start is pretend that you’re buying one of their collections. You’ll see that the process is pretty simple and it offers a ton of options–you can even order custom arrangements if you’re willing to spend more than $150 per delivery (flowers are expensive!). Right now H.BLOOM delivers in a few major metro areas: San Francisco; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; and New York, NY, but I’m sure that their list of zip codes will continue to expand. H.BLOOM also appears to offer jobs in all of these markets. Right now their Jobs page shows these postings:

Account Executive (San Francisco, CA)
Account Executive (Chicago, IL)
Account Executive (New York, NY)
Part-Time Floral Designer (Washington, DC)
Part-Time Floral Designer (New York, NY)

All of the positions are listed as mid-level, but I could see a new grad with the right background being a good fit for any of them. There’s also a ton of potential for H.BLOOM to offer more positions in different areas, so keep your eyes on them. Am I out of the doghouse yet?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you sign up for a flower delivery subscription?

The Marketing Arm

Willy Franzen — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:23:26 +0000

Although I only took one marketing class in college, I’ve really learned to love the field of marketing as I’ve built this business. There are so many different approaches, but the core of every valid one is having a great product. (I’m right in the thick of developing a new version of the site that you’re going to love.) Once you have a great product, there are a lot of different ways to spread the word. For the The Marketing Arm, a Dallas, TX based agency, the focus is on promotions. As they put it, they “help brands connect with those consumers by providing insight-driven ideas across nine emotional platforms: TV, film, music, gaming, celebrities, causes, multicultural, sports, and motorsports.” It’s all about creating an incentive to experience the brand, and then providing an exceptional experience when that happens.

Arm Yourself

Promotions is an area of marketing that I’m not all that familiar with in terms of execution, but I’ve certainly been lured in by my share of promotions. Here are some of the areas of promotions that The Marketing Arm focuses on:

Sweepstakes, games and contests
Frequency, loyalty, and reward programs
Discount offers
Partner marketing
Consumer, employee and business-to-business
Premiums and gifts-with-purchase
Design, collateral, and POS
Interactive (Web and wireless)

If you want to see what these look like in action, just head over to The Marketing Arm’s Case Studies. They have some in-depth stories on what they’ve done for different brands and what kind of results they’ve garnered. If you’re excited about what you see, then you’ll want to take a look at The Marketing Arm’s Jobs page. Right now they have a few opportunities that look exciting for new or recent grads including:

There are some excellent opportunities here, so promote yourself to The Marketing Arm and see what happens.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What kind of promotions are your favorite?

Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund

Willy Franzen — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:49:51 +0000

Today’s the big game! By the end of tonight there will probably be a new football hero for many fans. Unfortunately, even being the star of one of the world’s biggest sporting events doesn’t guarantee a carefree future. Football is a brutal sport that takes a terrible toll on the body. This is doubly bad for players. First, it causes all kinds of long-term health problems, and, second, it shortens careers significantly. This becomes a major problem for retired players who no longer have a source of income and are dealing with the physical aftermath of a career in football. Nobody wants to see their heroes down and out, which is why Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund was started. They’re based in Northbrook, IL, and they “provide financial assistance and coordinate social services to dire need retired NFL players who are pioneers of the game and have greatly contributed to the NFL’s status as the most popular sport in America.”

A Great Organization

I know that it’s hard to empathize with someone who played a game for a living, but even today’s players with their salaries that are often millions annually have a tough road ahead of them. Imagine if you made all the money that you’d make in your life in your first three years after college. It’d be pretty hard to be responsibly manage the money–especially knowing that there will likely be long-term medical problems. Fortunately, the NFL has realized the problems that life after football can present, and they’ve gotten much better about taking care of players after retirement; however, that still leaves many retired greats without help. Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, which is chaired by Mike Ditka, is helping to take care of these players by “treating them with dignity, and addressing the post-football related issues in their lives.” While Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund doesn’t have a jobs page, you can contact them here. They’ve offered internships in the pat, so it many not be unreasonable to inquire about a job. It’s at least worth trying if you’re a big football fan. You may also want to check out our past posts on the National Football Foundation, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, USA Football, and, of course, the NFL and its teams.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?

Weather Underground

Willy Franzen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:53:43 +0000

It’s supposed to reach the 50s today in Chicago, but Phil says that we’re in for six more weeks of winter. That kind of prognostication makes me hungry of groundhog stew (it’s a great cold weather meal). Despite my anger at Phil, I’m a huge fan of Groundhog Day–even if I always seem to forget about it. I think it’s great that we have a holiday devoted to the weather, even if it puts most of the focus on a rodent. That’s why I thought today would be a good day to take a look at Weather Underground (groundhogs live underground and predict the weather). They’re “committed to delivering the most reliable, accurate weather information possible,” and they do that by “providing free, real-time online weather information to millions of Web users around the world.” They’re headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI, and they have an office in San Francisco, CA (and jobs in Chicago and NYC). Weather Underground got its start as a Telnet weather service provided by University of Michigan in 1991, and has evolved with the Internet since then.

Underground Opportunities

Everybody has his or her favorite source for weather info–and we all get frustrated by their seemingly poor accuracy. I like Wunderground because of it has a really simple interface and navigation is easy to navigate, yet it provides very detailed technical information. A lot of of other weather sites have too many bells and whistles (or advertising) that interferes with my finding the information that I want. Still, Wunderground does have ads–that’s how they make money in addition to providing premium data services. If you love Groundhog Day for the weather and not the furry critters, then check out the jobs at Weather Underground. Right now they have a few openings that look like good fits for new or recent grads including Marketing Assistant (San Francisco, CA), Junior Sales Planner (San Francisco, CA), Ad Ops Assistant (San Francisco, CA), and Associate Account Executive (Chicago, IL). Oddly enough there’s nothing in Ann Arbor right now, but my guess would be that those would be the meteorology type positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think we’ll have 6 more weeks of winter?

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?

Wolverine Trading

Willy Franzen — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:32:44 +0000

When I was a kid, I had a huge baseball card collection (actually, I still have it). I never seriously collected any other sports cards, but I did have a phase where I collected a Marvel cards. I haven’t thought about those cards for years, but when I came across the name Wolverine Trading, they instantly jumped back in mind. Unfortunately, Wolverine Trading, which is based in Chicago, IL, doesn’t have anything to do with superheroes–though they may consider themselves financial superheroes. They are a “diversified financial institution specializing in proprietary trading, asset management, order execution services, and technology solutions.” Those are all just big words for making money by combining technology with knowledge of the financial markets.

Be a Glutton

Beyond being the name of a superhero, a wolverine is also a carnivorous mammal known for a gluttonous appetite and strength beyond its size (and the mascot of the University of Michigan). What a perfect name for a trading firm! Most trading firms keep what they actually do pretty close to the chest. If details about their internal operations leak out, then they lose their edge and ability to make money. Still, you can get a pretty good intro to Wolverine Trading from their Careers page. Beyond having their job postings, you can learn about their Culture, Benefits, Top 10 Reasons to Join Them, and FAQs on Trading and Technology. Once you read through all of those, you’ll either want to look at the College Recruiting page where they list a Rotational Trading Program and a Software Engineering Program. You can also check out their normal job postings for positions like Applications Developer, Trading Technical Support, Trading Associate (London), Software Engineer, Database Administrator, Junior Accountant, and Trading Assistant. There appears to be a lot of entry level opportunity at Wolverine Trading, so give them a really close look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Wolverine Trading?

mcgarrybowen

Willy Franzen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:11:56 +0000

I really enjoyed watching football last night. I’m not a huge football fan, but those were both great games. I’m also happy to see that advertisers are gearing up for the Super Bowl. They’re breaking out new commercials and actually trying to get viewers’ attention. That means it must be an extremely busy time of the year for an advertising agency like mcgarrybowen. They’re based in New York, NY and Chicago, IL, and they work with big names like Burker King, Chase, Disney, Kraft, Marriott, Reebok, Sears, Verizon, and plenty of others. They also recently landed the Bud Light account, and they’re expected to do some Super Bowl work for them. What a surprise! Bud Light will be advertising during the Super Bowl.

A Better mcJob

Though I don’t typically keep up on the latest happenings in the ad agency world, my research tells me that mcgarrybowen is so hot right now. They’ve been picking up huge accounts left and right, and that led to their being named Agency of the Year on AdvertisingAge‘s Agency A-List. All these new accounts mean lots of new jobs. Just look at mcgarrybowen’s Chicago office that grew from 16 employees when it opened in 2009 to more than 200 now. The folks at mcgarrybowen would probably attribute this success to the fact that they’re “built differently, on the simple premise that clients deserve better.” I’ll take a wager that it also has something to do with their work. If you love the agency’s work and agree with the premise that clients deserve better, then you should visit mcgarrybowen’s Careers page. Right now they have a few openings worth checking out including Digital Account Executive (New York, NY) and Social Media Specialist with PR experience (New York, NY). If mcgarrybowen keeps winning accounts, expect even more jobs to get posted. You can even anticipate this by submitting a general application here

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you like mcgarrybowen’s work?

Benzinga

Willy Franzen — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:20:45 +0000

I have a simple investment strategy: Buy AAPL. I’ve had a few other winners, but Apple is the reason that my portfolio is up over the past 5 years. I’m not much of a trader, so I typically buy a stock and hold it indefinitely. If I took a different approach to investing, I might want to spend time on Benzinga. It’s “an innovative news and analysis service that focuses on global markets” and is intended for developing “actionable trading ideas.” Benzinga has offices in Chicago, IL and Dover, DE, but it’s very clear from their Careers page that everything important happens in the Southfield, MI office… very clear. There’s something about Benzinga’s site that reminds me of a social gaming site, which I guess is appropriate since stock trading is the ultimate social game.

Zing!

Benzinga has its own editorial and research team, so they’re not just aggregating financial news and spitting it back to you. They actually focus on three key areas: real-time news, actionable trading ideas and insightful commentary.” It’s hard for me to judge how good the content is considering that I’m not a trader, but Benzinga seems to have generated a good amount of buzz in the finance community. I’m pretty sure that I had heard of Benzinga before, but yesterday someone from their team reached out to me to tell me about some of their positions for new grads. I took a look at their Careers page (which is all about Michigan), and saw some great entry level positions. Their current openings include:

Developer/Programmer Ninja
User Interface / User Experience Expert
News Desk
Talented Writers
Business Developer
Public Relations Guru

There are some great opportunities here to dive in deep early in your career. Take a look at the positions and see if Benzinga’s offer of Faygo (why not Vernors?), Bigby Coffee, Moosejaw tees, and U of M or MSU football tickets is enough to woo you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you checked out Benzinga?

360i

Willy Franzen — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:11:38 +0000

I can’t tell you how many bad careers sites I’ve seen over the past 4+ years. Companies with beautiful, easy to use websites often have jobs pages that make you want to poke your eyes out. Even the simple ones that just have a few paragraphs about the company and a listing of jobs are disappointing. Why can’t companies actually put some effort into convincing you to work for them? 360i certainly puts in the effort. I recently landed on their newly relaunched careers page via a link from Twitter, and I was thoroughly impressed. 360i is a digital marketing agency, and it’s pretty clear that they’ve actually put some of their in-house talent to work on the 360i Careers page. It tells a story; it provides a great user experience; it introduces you to the company before throwing job postings at you; and it actually makes you want to work at 360i (they have offices in New York, NY; Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI; San Francisco, CA; and Chicago, IL).. This should be expected, but instead it’s the exception.

Do a 360

I usually say that the most important thing that you can look at in terms of a digital marketing agency is their client list and portfolio, but there’s actually one thing that’s more important. It’s the company’s website. If they’re not doing what they do for clients for themselves, then there’s something wrong. 360i does great work for themselves, and they also serve Bravo, Coca-Cola, J. Crew, Mattel, Oreo, Ugg and a bunch of other huge brands. 360i has done some really great work for themselves and for their clients, which is probably why they’ve been named one of Advertising Age’s “Best Places to Work and one of Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies.” If 360i sounds like the kind of place that you’d like to work, check out their Careers page first, and then dive into their job postings. Current openings include:

Ad Operations Digital Coordinator (New York, NY)
Community Manager (New York, NY)
Digital Media Planner Coordinator – SEM (Chicago, IL)
Marketing Designer (New York, NY)
Software Developer – UI and Back End (New York, NY)

If none of those positions seem like a good fit, take note that 360i categorizes their talent into: Insiders, Thinkers, Sharpshooters, Socializers, Makers, and Advisors. If you think you fit in one of those roles, don’t be afraid to submit a résumé for an unlisted position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard bout 360i?

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Willy Franzen — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:24:10 +0000

New Year’s Eve is a wonderful holiday for celebrating a great year past and the prospects of a great future. It’s a time that we spend with family and friends and think about how we can better ourselves. Yet for many alcohol plays a prominent role in the celebration, and the new year begins with a hangover. That’s not my style, but you’re free to have a great night however you want. Just make sure that your alcohol use doesn’t negatively affect anyone else. Most importantly, that means don’t drink and drive. That’s the message that Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been spreading since it was founded in 1980 by Candy Lightner “after her daughter, Cari, was killed by a repeat drunk driving offender.” Three decades later MADD, which has national offices in Irving, TX and Washington, DC and chapters all across the country, has made a lot of progress fighting drunk driving, but there’s a long way to go considering that there is an injury from an alcohol-related crash every minute.

Get MADD

MADD is best known for it’s work to stop drunk driving, but they also do a lot of work to prevent underage drinking and to provide victim services. The organization played an extremely prominent role in pushing for the .08 BAC limit in the U.S., and now they’re setting their sights on legislation that requires convicted drunk drivers to “blow before they go” by installing in car breathalyzers. Some criticize MADD for fudging their statistics and being part of the “alcohol prohibition lobby,” but they’re really just about saving lives. For 2012 their goal is to get U.S. drunk driving fatalities under 10,000. It’s hard to argue with that. If you like what MADD is doing, take a look at their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for:

Court Monitoring Project Specialist (Chicago, IL)
Court Monitoring Project Specialist (St. Louis, MO)
Program Coordinator (San Diego, CA)
Program Coordinator (Los Angeles, CA)

All of these jobs require some prior experience, but they’re still worth checking out. Have a happy and safe new year!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Drive safely!

Allegiant

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:52:56 +0000

I don’t mind flying; in fact, I kind of enjoy it–especially on smaller planes. Unfortunately, it’s not often that you can hop in a 6 seater and get a sweet view for the entire flight. Usually you are crammed into a 150-seater and spend most of the time looking at clouds. I guess most people are more comfortable with that, but not me. When I’m flying I’m not particularly brand conscious, so I mostly choose my airline by who has the cheapest fare. That means that I end up on flying all different airlines, but I’ve never flown Allegiant. They’re a low-cost carrier and travel company based in Enterprise, NV. They travel to 75 destinations with a fleet of 75 MD-83s and MD-87s. All of Allegiant’s routes begin or end in one of 9 hubs: Bellingham, WA; Los Angeles, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Phoenix, AZ; Myrtle Beach, SC; Orlando, FL; Tampa Bay, FL; Fort Myers, FL; and Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Show Your Allegiance

Allegiant doesn’t cover a ton of destinations, but if you want to fly to one of the 9 places mentioned above, there’s a good chance that they’ll be offering a good fare. Allegiant is extremely focused on profitably (unlike some other airlines), so they’re constantly tweaking their routes and leaving airports that don’t perform well for them. They’re also constantly finding new ways to generate ancillary revenue. The average Allegiant passenger will spend nearly an extra $35 over the price of his or her ticket. Some of this is for baggage fees and in-flight food, but Allegiant also makes money by selling other travel products and services through their website. They seem willing to try anything, and they even are toying with the idea of variable pricing based on fuel costs at the time of the flight. All of this makes Allegiant sound like an airline that might be a little annoying to fly, but would be really cool to work for. That’s why you should check out their Careers page. Right now they’re hiring a Component Repairs Analyst, an A/C Structures Engineer, a number of Customer Service/Ground Operations Agents (Medford, OR; South Bend, IN; Peoria, IL; Des Moines, IA; Fort Collins, CO; and Laredo, TX), a Financial Analyst, a Materials Coordinator, a Revenue Management Analyst, and a few other positions. Give all the jobs a look and see what looks best for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you flown Allegiant?

OpticsPlanet

Willy Franzen — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:25:36 +0000

When I was a kid, I had eyes like a hawk. At my best I had 20/12 vision. Then in high school things started getting blurry, and I eventually had to get contact lenses. Luckily, humans have spent a ton of time and energy in developing technology that helps us see better. Whether you want to see something really small, far away, or in the dark, there’s optical equipment that can help you out. The thing is that microscopes, binoculars, night vision goggles, and even glasses aren’t something that you buy casually–you want to buy from someone who knows his or her stuff. OpticsPlanet is a Northbrook, IL based company that employs a whole bunch of those people. They are “one of the world’s leading online retailers of a wide selection of sport optics, tactical and military gear, scientific products, hunting gear, professional grade products and eyewear.” I get excited when I get a new contact lens prescription, so I bet getting to play with some of OptcisPlanet’s offerings would make me giddy.

Seeing Is Believing

When you end up on OpticsPlanet.com, it looks like a pretty generic e-commerce site. I would have never guessed that they generated $82.6 million last year, but thats’ what the numbers from the Inc. 5000 say. They’ve also been growing at a 113% rate over the past three-years, so they must be gaining a significant share in the optics market. I found a video on their About page that gives a pretty good intro to the company, so check it out below:

If you like what you see in the video and you also like the fact that OpticsPlanet was named one of “The Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces,” then you have to take a look at their Careers page. Right now they have some great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

User Interface Designer
Communications Designer
Content Project Manager
Junior Web Developer / JavaScript
Accounts Payable Specialist
Call Center Quality Assurance
Risk Management – Order Review Agent
Search Engine Optimization Specialist
Pay Per Click Marketing Specialist
Online Marketing Specialist
Copywriter
Vendor Services Account Coordinator

There are all kinds of opportunities at OpticsPlanet, so take a really close look and see if you like what you see.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What would you get from OpticsPlanet?

Travelzoo

Willy Franzen — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:15:38 +0000

On Saturday I’m heading to Aruba for two weeks! (Don’t worry, you’ll still get your daily e-mails–even on Christmas Day.) I booked well in advance, so I got a decent fare, but it’s still about four times more expensive than traveling at a different time of year. If you want to travel during the holidays, you’re probably going to have to pay through the nose. Still, it’s worth looking for a deal, and there’s no better place to do that than Travelzoo. They’re a New York, NY based company (with 23 other offices all across the world) that has perfected the art of the travel deal. They don’t just go out and find low rates–they actually “research, evaluate, and test thousands of deals to find those with true value.” Although it’s not exactly the same, they kind of do for travel deals what I do for jobs: curate. Though they have 250 experts working on it, which is 249 more than we have.

Take a Trip to the Zoo

Travelzoo’s site is about as basic looking as it gets. It’s simple, clean, and uncluttered. It may not look like the site of a publicly traded company, but it certainly stands out from other travel sites that seem to bombard you with useless offers. I guess that’s why they have 24 million members, though the fact that they require you to be a member to see their deals has to help with that too. Beyond travel, Travelzoo has also moved into entertainment deals and local deals, but travel is definitely their bread and butter. What’s so unique about Travelzoo’s model is that they’re not for sale. Yes, they accept payment from advertisers, but they only publish deals that they are confident will make their members happy. There’s no way to get on Travelzoo except offering a high quality deal. If you’re liking what Travelzoo is all about, then take a look at their Jobs page. They have a ton of openings, and a few look perfect for new or recent grads including: Associate Producer (Chicago, IL), Producer (Chicago, IL) Assistant Producer (Miami, FL), Producer (New York, NY), Assistant Producer – SuperSearch (San Francisco, CA), and Producer (Toronto, ON). Travelzoo’s Producers are “top-notch journalists whose commercial acumen would impress the Donald himself.” In other words they take on a role that includes researching, writing, producing, account managing, sales, and a lot more–they find the deals and get them live on the site. It sounds like an extremely cool role, so check all the positions out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used Travelzoo?

University of Chicago

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

This is a sponsored post for the University of Chicago.

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

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

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

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

Gorilla

Willy Franzen — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:09:04 +0000

Imagine that it’s 1994 and you’ve just started a CD-ROM production company. You’re doing really well because of all of the excitement about a storage medium that hold 600 times more data than the floppy disk. How much courage would it take to abandon what you were doing and start working on something new? Probably more than I have, but that’s exactly what Gorilla did. The Chicago, IL based company saw what was happening on the web and decided to jump in. Today Gorilla is a “web design, development and marketing firm” that focuses on e-commerce. They’re “striving to be the go-to ecommerce agency for mid-size businesses,” and they’re well on their way with clients including Bonobos, INC., Sub-Zero/Wolf, and lots of other big names.

A Smarter Species of E-Commerce

I’m most familiar with Gorilla’s work on Bonobos’ recently relaunched site. It’s fantastic, though it did have a bit of a hiccup due to yesterdays Cyber Monday sales. It offers an excellent user experience, and it definitely makes me want to buy more stuff. If you want to take a look at some of Gorilla’s other work, you should probably delve into their Case Studies. You’ll also want to look over Gorilla’s Services, as they offer a ton of solutions in Design, Development, and Strategy. If you’re impressed by their work and think that you could add value in some of the areas that they work in, then you should check out Gorilla’s Jobs page. Right now they have a few positions that you should check out including Business Analyst, Front-End Web Developer, and PHP Developer. If none of those positions seem suitable for you, you can also reach out to them at careers@gorillachicago.com to see if there are any other opportunities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Gorilla?

CouponCabin

Willy Franzen — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:44:09 +0000

A successful job search is all about improving yourself. One of my favorite places for finding tools and courses to make me a better entrepreneur is AppSumo, and they’re offering amazing 50% off Black Friday deals on gift certificates to use for future AppSumo purchases.

As good as Thanksgiving is for coming up with interesting job search ideas, I prefer Black Friday because it’s centered around commerce and leads to more realistic ideas. Seriously, just open up the newspaper and look at all the ads–you’ll find seemingly endless possibilities. Some of the companies that we’ve featured in the past that are extra relevant today include Amazon, Ernst & Young (you know why they call it Black Friday, right?), Visa, Fatwallet, Slickdeals, Savings.com, LivingSocial, and Groupon. Today we’re going to stick with the discount theme and take a look at CouponCabin. They’re a Whiting, IN based company that searches “tens of thousands of consumer emails, online forums, blogs, and merchant sites each week and even the Sunday newspaper to create a true one-stop-shop for savings.” They were formerly based in Chicago, IL, but they had to move across state lines (they’re still close to Chicago) because of an idiotic tax law that the state of Illinois passed.

Stay at the CouponCabin

CouponCabin is more about everyday discounts than going big for Black Friday, but they did build a Coupon Detector that can help you “be a Black Friday Ninja.” CouponCabin’s key differentiator is their quality control. I’ve used a ton of coupon sites that have expired coupon codes. CouponCabin tests all of their offers at least three times a week to ensure that users aren’t frustrated by dead deals. Their average user saves $19, they’ve saved users $22,005,132 over the past 90 days, and they’ve had 231,597,756 deals clicked since they launched in 2003. It’s no wonder that CouponCabin has been growing at an exceptional rate; in fact, they just raised $54 million in funding last month. That’s why you shouldn’t be discouraged by the fact that their Jobs page doesn’t show any listings right now. I’ll bet that money spurs some hiring pretty soon, so take CouponCabin up on their suggestion that you send a general application. It’s a more worthwhile way to spend a little time on Black Friday than “saving money” by spending money.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Find any good Black Friday deals?

Career Transition for Dancers

Willy Franzen — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:04:02 +0000

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

You often hear about professional athletes who go broke within a few years of retirement by frivolously spending away the millions that they earned. But what about the athletes that never even earn millions? They have it way harder. They spend most of their lives developing a career that is tied to their physical capabilities, and when they have to retire 20-30 years before most people, they’re left with a pretty tough outlook. This is true for players of nearly all sports that you can play professionally, but it’s also true for dancers. That’s why the non-profit Career Transition for Dancers exists. They’re based in New York, NY; Chicago, IL; and Los Angeles, CA; and they “are committed to providing the experience, insight and resources dancers need to define their career possibilities and develop rewarding post-performance careers.” Dancers, much like other athletes, still have a ton of value to offer after their bodies stop being able to keep up–Career Transition for Dancers helps them put their skills to work.

A Career Transition for You

Believe it or not, Career Transition for Dancers has been around since 1985. You can read up on the organization’s history here. Since then they’ve working in a number of program areas including career counseling, national and local outreach projects, scholarships and grants, maintaining a gallery, and providing online resources. They “have provided over 51,650 hours of individual and group career counseling, with a dollar value of over $4 million, and awarded over $3 million in educational and entrepreneurial support,” so they’re having a serious impact. If you love dance and want to help dancers take the next step in their careers, then you should check out Jobs at Career Transition for Dancers on Idealist. Right now they only have one position posted, but it’s a perfect fit for a new or recent grad: Gala and Client Outreach Coordinator (New York, NY). Check it out and see if it moves you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Career Transition for Dancers?