One Day, One Job » information technology

Society for Neuroscience

Willy Franzen — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:43:16 +0000

Neuroscience is a word that is about as intimidating as astrophysics. Most people have no idea what it means, but they’re pretty sure that its definition is over their head. The truth is that neuroscience is simply the study of the brain and nervous system. That’s not to say it’s a simple science, but it’s a science that covers equipment that we all have. With that said, neuroscience gets a bit complex as it draws from “other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics, medicine and allied disciplines, philosophy, physics, and psychology.” (Here’s the Wikipedia article on Neuroscience.) The Society for Neuroscience is a Washington, DC based non-profit member organization for the scientists and physicians who study the brain and nervous system.

Get Your Neurons Firing

The field of neuroscience is young as sciences go, which is why the Society for Neuroscience was only founded in 1969 (I know that seems like a long time ago to you). Back then they only had about 500 members, but today they have more than 40,000. The Society for Neuroscience is similar to other scientific non-profit member organizations in that it works in a number of ways to move the field forward. These activities include creating “venues for sharing great science in an expanding field”; “connecting people around the globe and across specialties”; educating “the public about the wonders of the brain”; and advocating “for policies that promote research.” If you’re interested in things like brain development, sensation and perception, learning and memory, movement, sleep, stress, aging, and more, then you have to take a look at the Society for Neuroscience’s Jobs page. Their current openings include:

Neuroscience is a fast growing field, so now is a great time to get involved. And the Society for Neuroscience is a great place to get a start even if you don’t have a background in neuroscience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about neuroscience?

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?

The Limited

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:43:42 +0000

I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve seen about dressing for interviews. Almost all of them can be summed up with three words: use common sense. If that’s not enough insight for you, how about this: look like you belong. There are way more important things to think about before your interview, but I do believe that most people perform better when they feel like they look good. If I had an interview coming up, my go to place to shop would be Bonobos. I’m not sure where I’d shop if I was female, but it looks like The Limited is a reasonable place to buy professional women’s clothing. The Limited is a Columbus, OH retailer of women’s clothing with a long and somewhat confusing history.

Know Your Limits

The Limited got its start with one store in 1963. As they added more stores, they became Limited Brands and went public in 1969. From there they went on an acquisition spree that included Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Henri Bendel. They also added some new brands along the way, and they were all rolled up into Limited Brands. Abercrombie & Fitch was spun off in 1996 as its own publicly traded company, and then The Limited was sold off to a private equity firm in 2007. That means that The Limited, the flaship brand, is no longer part of Limited Brands. The Limited is its own company with one additional brand, eloquii by The Limited (plus size). The story behind The Limited is pretty confusing (I relied heavily on Wikipedia for it since The Limited’s own site doesn’t offer much information), so browsing through the products on their website might be the best way to get a feel for them. If you like what you see, then you’ll want to continue on to The Limited’s Careers page. Right now they have some interesting opportunities for new and recent grads including:

There are some great jobs here, so give them a close look. You can also check out their store level positions if that interests you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you shop at The Limited?

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?

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Willy Franzen — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:47:01 +0000

100 years ago today the Titanic sank. It wasn’t the world’s first transportation disaster, nor was it the last, but it’s the one that continues to captivate people. As a kid I was absolutely fascinated by the story of the Titanic–the unsinkable ship that sank. I had a few books on the topic that I read over and over again. I learned about Alvin, the deep sea submersible, and Jason Jr., the underwater robot, and how they were used to explore the Titanic once it was discovered in 1985 (by essentially dragging video cameras just above the ocean floor). The discovery and expeditions were partially done by teams from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which is a Woods Hole, MA based “non-profit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers.” If it has to do with ocean science and exploration, there’s an extremely good chance that the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is on top of it.

Under the Sea!

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution focuses its research on a number of areas including Climate & Ocean, Coastal Science, Hazards, Ocean Chemistry, Ocean Circulation, Ocean Life, Ocean Resources & Policy, Polar Research, Pollution, Seafloor & Below, Tools & Technology, and Underwater Archaeology. They employ all kinds of scientists to work on a vast array of programs and projects. If you have any interest at all in oceanography, you need to take some to browse the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution website. It’s well designed and packed with information. After that, the next step is to check out their Jobs page. While they don’t have anything that is tailor made for a new grad, the Engineering Assistant positions are worth checking out. There’s also a Information Systems Associate II/III position that could be a fit. Finally, they have Scientist and Postdoc positions that might interest you if you’ve gone well beyond undergrad in terms of education.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you fascinated by the Titanic?

MathWorks

Willy Franzen — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:48:59 +0000

Reasoning Mind is an education focused non-profit that uses the web to teach kids math, and they’re hiring 30 new grads as Program Coordinators. Learn more about these amazing entry level opportunities.

Just a few days ago I mentioned that computers are better than humans at math. That’s true for many math operations, but the ultimate combination is a smart human working with a fast computer and great software. MathWorks is a Natick, MA based company that makes this possible, as they are “is the leading developer of mathematical computing software for engineers and scientists.” They’ve been around for nearly 30 years, which is a seriously long time in the software business. MathWorks is probably best known for MATLAB, which is “a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation.” It’s used everywhere from research in top universities to designing industrial machines. If advanced math is involved, there’s a good chance that MATLAB will be used.

Work at MathWorks

It’s easy to forget how important math is to our everyday life, even if our teachers reminded us time after time when we were in grade school. I’m not talking about calculating a tip or even understanding a newspaper article about poll numbers. I’m talking about the fact that nearly everything we interact with on a daily basis has been inspired by math, which means there’s a very significant chance that MathWorks’ software tangentially affects your life almost every day. That’s why they’ve been able to build a business $600 million in annual revenue and more than 2,000 employees. If you’re inspired by math and would like to join the ranks, then check out MathWorks’ Careers page. They have a special section for new grads and students, and you can use this search to identify only entry level jobs and internships. How luxurious! You can even sort the postings by Title, Job Function, Location, and Type. I’m going to leave it to you to browse through the postings, which are mostly math/engineering/software development focused, though there are a couple of accounting positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used MATLAB?

Greatist

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

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

Are You the Greatist?

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you live a healthy lifestyle?

HealthTap

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:23:46 +0000

Admit it! You’ve used the Internet to self-diagnose a medical problem, and you probably used WebMD. For some of you it was to convince yourself that you’re not going to die tomorrow, and for some of you it was probably the opposite. It’s great having access to so much information, but it’s kind of dangerous when you a) can’t verify its accuracy and b) have no idea how to use it properly. Running to the doctor for every little issue is ridiculous, so there needs to be a better way to get medical information online. Luckily my little sister (who is awesome because she went to art school and then decided she wanted to go to med school, so she’s doing a postbac now) let me know about HealthTap. They’re a Palo Alto, CA based company that provides “free online and mobile answers from thousands of the best physicians in the U.S.” It’s kind of like Yahoo! Answers for medicine, but the people responding to your questions aren’t complete morons.

Get Tapped

There’s no doubt that there’s a demand for free medical advice online. But would doctors actually be willing to answer questions for free? HealthTap has proven that the answer is a resounding yes. Humans want to share their knowledge–just look at the endless reviews on sites like Yelp and Amazon–but professionals are usually more hesitant to give away their expertise for free. That’s why HealthTap sweetens the deal for docs. Their software helps “physicians better serve existing patients, find new ones, and build their reputation by demonstrating their expertise online.” If you were looking for a dermatologist, wouldn’t you consider the one who gave you great answers to your questions about a rash on HealthTap? I would (if I had a rash). Beyond helping doctors reach new people, HealthTap also provides a platform for doctors to provide something like a FAQ. That means that they spend less time answering the same simple questions over and over.

If you’re interested in the intersection of health care and technology, then a job at HealthTap would be an awesome fit. Here’s their video on why you should work for them:

The available positions most suitable for new or recent grads at HealthTap are pretty technical right now as they include Frontend Software Engineer, Backend Software Engineer, Mobile App Developer, and IT and Operations Engineer. The Interactive Writer / Copy Writer / Editor position looks pretty cool, but it seems like they want pretty significant experience. If you’re not a techie, you may want to try reaching out to jobs@healthtap.com to see if there’s any way you could fit in.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you use HealthTap?

GREE

Willy Franzen — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:29:06 +0000

There’s no doubt that Japanese companies have been and continue to be leaders in the gaming industry. Nintendo, Sega, and Sony are some of the names that you’re most likely to recognize, but it’s very clear that the old guard of gaming is facing stiff competition from upstarts like Zynga and ngmoco that are focusing on mobile and social gaming. While Japan has historically been big on console gaming, they’re not missing out on this trend. GREE is a Japanese that is fervently entering the U.S. market in order to grow a business that generated $1.7 billion in revenue last year. GREE is unique in that their U.S. based branding has been more about hiring than games. They’ve opened a San Francisco, CA office that they’re promoting heavily with billboards, referral bonuses, and even Google AdWords campaigns. They also acquired a company called OpenFeint to speed along the growth.

They’re Huge in Japan

While I love it when companies put a big emphasis on employment branding and recruiting, I’m a little annoyed by how difficult it is to dig into GREE’s business. Their website’s header includes some cool looking game characters, but there’s absolutely no information available about the company’s games. All the site really says is that their goal ” is to make mobile social gaming meaningful by building the best mobile social gaming ecosystem for users and developers worldwide.” The only tidbits of information come from GREE’s News page which mentions that they’re teaming up with Ubisoft for a new Assassin’s Creed mobile game and working with Gameloft on a “Gang Domination” game. You can also head over to OpenFeint’s site to learn more about their games. If you like what you see, then you’ll be thrilled about how many positions are posted on GREE’s Careers Page. Here are the jobs that seem best suited for new or recent grads:

Art, 2D Game Artist
Junior Web/Graphic Designera
UI/UX Designer, Mobile Games
Business Operations Associate
Strategy Associate
Android Engineer
IT Service Delivery Specialist
Software Engineer – Front End
Software Engineer, Game Backend
Software Engineer, Mobile Device Porting
Software Engineer, Mobile Games
Software Engineer, Mobile Integration
Software Engineer, Platform
Web Developer
Recruiting Coordinator
Junior Copywriter
Marketing Coordinator, Platform
Bilingual Executive Assistant (Japanese)
Customer & Community Specialist
Game Integration Engineer
Production Coordinator/Assistant
Executive Assistant

Like I said, GREE is extremely serious about expansion in the U.S., and that’s why they’re hiring so many people right now. There are a lot of jobs to wade through, but the variety of options is pretty wide.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play any GREE games?

Urban Science

Willy Franzen — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:26:44 +0000

I’ve only purchased a car once in my life. It was in 2001, and it was my first car–a ’97 Ford Explorer. I definitely did some online research, but most of my time was spent going to dealers and actually looking at cars. It seems that more than a decade later, the car buying process hasn’t changed all that much, even though so many other business models have been upended by the Internet. That’s not to say technology isn’t becoming a tremendous asset in the automotive retail business. Managing dealer networks and marketing cars can get extremely complicated for auto manufacturers, and that’s where Urban Science steps in. Though they may sound like a non-profit that teaches inner-city kids science, they’re actually a Detroit, MI based “consulting and software solutions” provider that helps “automotive clients increase market share and boost profitability through high performing retail networks.” It all started in 1977 with a Wayne State University professor named Jim Anderson, who was disappointed to hear that Cadillac was told one of their marketing problems “couldn’t be solved.”

Are You an Urban Scientist?

Since its founding Urban Science has grown from one guy to 750+ employees, and they serve all of the biggest names in the auto world. Just look at their Client Showcase. Every name you could ever want to see on there is: Audi, Bentley, Ford, GM, Land Rover, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Chrysler, Honda, and it keeps on going. It’s hard to understand what it is that Urban Science does if you’re not in the automotive industry, but you can start to understand by looking at their four step process for clients:

I highly recommend that you read through those pages, as they dig into the exact value that Urban Science provides to clients (and understanding that will help you understand how you can offer value to Urban Science). After you do that, check out Urban Science’s Careers page. They have quite a few jobs posted, and a bunch are “Recent College Graduate,” and they include:

Client Services Associate
QA Associate
Analytical Services Associate
Associate Developer
Information Technology Operations Associate
Analytical Services Associate (Long Beach, CA)
IT Associate (Long Beach, CA)
Client Team Associate (Long Beach, CA)
Associate (Herndon, VA)

Urban Science looks like a fascinating company, so look over these positions and see if any of them make sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When was the last time that you bought a car?

Coursekit

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

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

What’s in Your Kit?

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Urban Outfitters

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

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

Get Urban Outfitted

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

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a hipster?

O’Reilly Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:26:08 +0000

Is it just me or are Black Friday and Cyber Monday pretty much the same these days? Online retailers have big Black Friday sales and brick and mortar brands are offering tons of Cyber Monday deals online. Still, I figured it was worth browsing Cyber Monday deals to see if I could find some cool job opportunities. I lucked out as a deal for 60% off e-books from O’Reilly Media popped up in my Twitter feed almost immediately. This deal is doubly relevant for job seekers because in addition to having some cool jobs, O’Reilly Media is a Sebastopol, CA based company that “spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, research, and conferences.” In other words, they provide educational tools that can make you far more employable.

Oh, Really?

While I’ve never owned an O’Reilly book or attended one of their conferences, I know that they have an amazing reputation in the innovation community. O’Reilly Media was started by Tim O’Reilly in 1978 as “a technical writing and consulting company,” but in 1984 they started “retaining rights to manuals” they created and began offering them to the public. The business continued to grow, and now they’re at the point where they’re covering nearly everything important that relates to the web and technology in one way or another. You could spend hours just trying to figure out all of the topics the they cover, and I strongly recommend that you do that if you’re considering a job with O’Reilly Media. Right now they have a couple of positions that look like they might interest new or recent grads including Publishing Technology Engineer, Web Producer, and Sales & Marketing Coordinator. They also take on people for freelance work, so that may be another way to get your foot in the door.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any books published by O’Reilly Media?

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Willy Franzen — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:01:25 +0000

Columbus Day isn’t much of a holiday anymore–it’s become yet another regular work and school day for many. It makes sense considering Christopher Columbus wasn’t really the guy that my 1st grade teacher taught me that he was. Still, I’m amazed by the feats of guys like Columbus (which is why I’ve written about Garmin and Facet Technology on past Columbus Days). Getting in a boat with an uncertain route to a far away destination still seems crazy to me, and these guys did it in a time when navigation equipment was quite basic. Their minds would be blown if they knew what kind of information the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (formerly the National Imagery and Mapping Agency) has. The agency is headquartered in Springfield, VA and has major facilities in St. Louis, MO (I learned about them from one of my awesome interns whose boyfriend works for the NGA). They are part of the Department of Defense, and they are tasked with providing “timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security.”

Do You Have Geospatial Intelligence?

If you want an example of what the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency does, you’re not going to get a full answer because a lot of what they do is classified. However, they have been identified as playing a “critical role” in Operation Neptune’s Spear, which was the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. The agency’s employees operate in a number of areas including aeronautical analysis, cartography, geospatial analysis, imagery analysis, marine analysis, the physical sciences, geodesy, computer and telecommunication engineering, photogrammetry, and more. The NGA website is ok, but I highly recommend that you check out Wikipedia’s entry on the agency for a really good overview of the organization’s history and what it does.

If you like what you read, then you’ll want to take a look at the NGA’s Careers page. (Remember that we’re dealing with the federal government, so this isn’t going to be simple.) First, you’ll probably want to visit the Occupations page, where you’ll see that the NGA offers the following positions:

Accountants
Aeronautical Analyst
Bathymetrist
Contract Specialist
Counterintelligence Officers
Enterprise Account Managers
Geodetic Surveyors
Geospatial Data Stewards
Geospatial Intelligence Analysts
HD Consultants
Imagery Scientists
Imagery Intelligence Analysts
Information Assurance Officers
Maritime Analysts
Open Source Analysts
Police Officers
Political Geographers
Program Management Execution Officers
Project Scientists
Recruiters
Regional Geographers
Regional Source Analysts
Scientific and Technial Program Managers
Source Strategies Analysts
Systems Engineers

You won’t see most of these positions in the NGA’s Current Opportunities, so you may be better off meeting them at one of their On-Campus Recruiting Events or by reaching out to them at recruitment@nga.mil. You may also want to read through the NGA’s Recruitment FAQs and looking at their Application Process. It’s all complicated, but that’s to be expected with one of our country’s intelligence agencies.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you amazed by what the NGA does?

Chicago History Museum

Willy Franzen — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:20:57 +0000

I’m starting to get settled in my new place. After living in two moderately new high-rises in downtown Chicago, I’ve moved into a more historic building–it was built in 1921 and served as a Chinese consulate at some point. Now that I’m starting my fourth year living in the city, I feel that it’s only appropriate for me to start learning a little more about the city’s history. That’s why I should probably make a visit to the Chicago History Museum, which is just a mile down the street from me. Ironically, the museum, having been founded in 1856, “is the city’s oldest cultural institution,” though they pretty much had to start over after the Great Fire destroyed their building and most of their collection in 1871. Three years later there was another fire that destroyed most of what remained. Luckily, there haven’t been any more fires, so the Chicago History Museum has had a decent amount of time to build a new collection.

Make Your Job Search History

The Chicago History Museum’s collection focuses on eight specific areas: Architecture, Archives and Manuscripts (including Audio), Books and other Published Materials, Costumes and Textiles, Decorative and Industrial Arts, Fine Arts, and Prints and Photographs. The scope of these collections is limited to items related to Living in the Metropolitan Area, Working in the Metropolitan Area, Governing the Metropolitan Area, The Built Environment, and Individuals and Ideas. Apparently it all adds up to more than 22 million documents and artifacts. If you want to learn more about the specific collections, you should start here. And if you find that Chicago history speaks to you, then you’ll want to take a look at the Chicago History Museum’s Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Computer Support Technician and a Collection Manager – Costume and Textile (requires M. A. in Costume History, Museum Studies (Costume/Textile), or related field). If neither of those positions interest you, you could also consider volunteering.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you into your city’s history?

New America Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:01:46 +0000

There’s no question that America’s future is filled with challenges, and we’re going to be the ones who have to rise to them. It’s a huge opportunity, but it’s also a bit daunting. The New America Foundation is a non-profit organization that “emphasizes work that is responsive to the changing conditions and problems of our 21st Century information-age economy — an era shaped by transforming innovation and wealth creation, but also by shortened job tenures, longer life spans, mobile capital, financial imbalances and rising inequality.” They’re based in Washington, DC (and Sacramento, CA), and they’re working to ensure that every American generation is able to live better than the one that came before it.

Are You Part of a New America?

The New America Foundation has ideals that pretty much everyone can get behind, but how do they actually go about achieving their goals? They have a wide range of Programs and Initiatives that cover a number of areas including College Savings, National Security, Open Technology, Economic Growth, and lots more. These programs “combine ongoing research and publications with working groups, conferences and public events” to “bring innovative, cutting-edge policy solutions to the fore of the national debate.” The New America Foundation’s approach is broad, but if you think that you could help them build a better America, then take a look at their Jobs page. They have a number of positions available that look suitable for new or recent grads including A/V Multimedia Producer, Innovation Policy Research Associate, Program Associate – Global Assets Project, Research Associate – Global Assets Project, Schmidt Family Foundation Fellow, Events Associate, Field Analyst – Open Technology Initiative, and Research Associate. There are lots of options, so hopefully one of them will be a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your vision for a New America?

Internet Archive

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:11:35 +0000

Humans are really good at destroying history. It’s not usually intentional, but it’s hard to know what will be historically significant before it’s historically significant. Since most of us are constantly running out of space for “stuff,” it’s nearly impossible not to replace the old with the new. It’s happened with architecture, cars, toys, books, nature, and pretty much everything else we’ve touched, but nowhere is it happening more quickly than on the Internet. Old information is constantly being replaced with new information. It seems like a good thing–and it generally is–but we need to start coming to terms with the fact that more and more of our history is happening online. Luckily, we have the Internet Archive. They are a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that has been “building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form” since 1996. They’ve built an amazing resource, that you can access through the Wayback Machine. You can type in any URL and see what it looked like in the past. It’s amazingly cool, but a bit embarrassing for those of us who had websites back in the day.

Are You in the Archive?

The Internet Archive is full of useless information. Most of it will never be looked at again. However, we don’t know which archived sites might be interesting 30 years down the road. Maybe it will be a presidential candidate’s old blog or an entrepreneur’s first project. Since it’s impossible to know what will be important, the Internet Archive just keeps crawling and archiving the web as thoroughly as they can. I’m a huge fan of what they do, but I never thought to look to see what kind of jobs they offer until recently. If you look at the Internet Archive’s Jobs page, you’ll see that they offer a wide range of Engineering and Software Development positions. All of the current job postings are quite technical, but if you want to get a feel for what other types of positions they might offer in the future, take a look at the Internet Archive’s Staff page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you ever use the Wayback Machine?

Yeti Coolers

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:33:33 +0000

I spend a ton of time outdoors between fly fishing and playing beach volleyball. You’d think I’d have a cooler to take along with me, but I don’t. If I did, it’d have to be one of the models made by Yeti Coolers. They’re an Austin, TX based company that builds coolers that are more durable and keep things colder than any other coolers on the market. Yeti Coolers are built for tough conditions, which is why some of the biggest names in outdoors sports endorse them and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee has deemed them Grizzly Proof. You may think it’s cooler overkill, but the market for high quality coolers seems to be extremely strong. That’s why Yeti Coolers made the Inc. 5000 with 613% three-year growth to $13 million in revenue.

These Jobs Do Exist

Yeti Coolers’ business seems pretty simple. They build a superior product and market it to a demographic that appreciates the kind of quality that Yeti Coolers offers. It’s obviously been a bit more complicated than that considering how quickly Yeti has been able to grow. I’m sure their engineering and manufacturing is pretty high tech, and I’m sure that going up against entrenched cooler manufacturers is a big challenge for a relative upstart. Still, you have to love that there’s still a ton of room for Yeti to grow in the market. If you want to be a part of that growth, then you should check out Yeti Coolers’s Careers page. While they don’t have any openings posted there, they do have an Application Page where you can apply for positions in Account Management, Accounting/Finance, Administrative, Cusomter Service, Human Resources, IT, Marketing, Operations, Order Processing, R&D / Product Development, Sales, and Warehouse. Hopefully your search for these jobs will be more fruitful than the search for the Abominable Snowman.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a Yeti Cooler?

Ludus Tours

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:10:52 +0000

A few weeks ago I told you about a company called Sixthman that gets together groups of music fans and puts them on a cruise ship with their favorite artists. It’s a pretty cool idea that is making a bunch of money (even if it doesn’t sound like my kind of fun). Ludus Tours is another company that organizes group vacations, but they are focus on taking people to specific destinations for specific events. Their main focus is on sporting events like The Olympics, The World Cup, The Master’s, The Super Bowl, and other big events that are preceded with a “The.” However, they have branched out to do other types of trips like Oktoberfest in Munich, Carnaval in Rio, and The Running of the Bulls. They cover all the bases including travel, accommodations, tickets, and all of the other logistics involved with trips like these. San Diego, CA based Ludus Tours serves both individuals and groups, so you can book a tour for yourself or organize a group excursion. They must do a good job considering they’ve seen 1,253% three-year growth to $2.5 million in revenue.

Take a Tour

Part of what has made Ludus Tours successful is that they’ve developed partnerships with a ton of athletic governing bodies including USA Volleyball, USRowing, USA Wrestling, and lots more. Ludus Tours has also worked with some big name clients including Pepsi, Mercedes-Benz, ABC, IMG, and Octagon. Those last three should stand out, since they’re big names in sports–and they’re trusting Ludus Tours to make sure that their trips go on without a hitch. The best way to get a feel for the type of experience Ludus Tours offers is to go on one of their trips, but since you probably can’t do that right now, you should read through some of their testimonials. It should give you a better sense of how the business operates. If you like what you see, then head over to the Ludus Tours Jobs page. They have a number of positions posted. The best fit for a new grad is probably the PR Coordinator position (the linked job description is wrong), but they’re also looking for a Volleyball Account Manager, a Marketing Operations Manager, an Events Manager, and a Technology/IT Guru. Ludus Tours is also hiring London Tour Guides/London Event Staff for the 2012 Olympics, so that could be a cool opportunity as well.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If money were no object, which big name sporting event would you go to?

Hamilton Farm Bureau

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

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

Cooperate with Hamilton Farm Bureau

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you hear the NPR segment on Hamilton Farm Bureau?

Spiceworks

Willy Franzen — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:46:57 +0000

I don’t know a lot about Information Technology despite my being pretty in touch with the tech world. According to Wikipedia it’s “the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications” and it includes “anything that renders data, information or perceived knowledge in any visual format whatsoever, via any multimedia distribution mechanism.” In other words, IT can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. What I do know about IT is that it can be a huge cost center for businesses of nearly any size. Once you slap the IT tag on something, the price shoots through the roof. That’s why I was shocked to come across a company that offer free IT tools. Spiceworks is based in Austin, TX, and they have built “an easy-to-use software app that simplifies the life of IT pros…kinda’ like an ‘iTunes for IT management.’” And all of you non-techies better not stop reading, they have jobs for you too.

Are You Spicy Enough?

It seems kind of wacky to offer a free product in an industry where the streets are paved with gold, but the people at Spiceworks certainly aren’t stupid–they were on to something. If your customer base has access to big budgets and is accustomed to making big spending decisions, you can try to sell something to them and be just like every other IT vendor out there, or you can earn their trust and make them like you with a killer free product. Then you can provide access to your huge audience of big spenders by selling advertising to other IT vendors who want to reach them. This is an extremely well thought out advertising model. If you want to go orange (Spiceworks orange) and be part of the “free IT revolution,” then take a look at Spiceworks’ Jobs page. Right now they are looking for Online Media Account Executives, Marketing Managers, Software Engineers, UI Application Developers, and User Experience Designers. If those positions don’t quite suit you, don’t be afraid to submit a general application. You can get an idea of the other roles they offer by checking out Spiceworks’ Team page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Spiceworks?

Greencitizen

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:55:44 +0000

Usually when I get a pitch from PR or Communications agencies, I ignore them. Why? Most of the pitches are terrible. They’re not relevant to me, and they show no respect for my time. Even worse, some of them are downright spammy. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when I was going through my backlog of e-mail to see a really good pitch on a company that has entry level jobs for environmentally minded grads. (Did I mention that more than 160 people applied for an internship with ODOJ? I’m still getting through all of them.) The company is called Greencitizen, and they’re based in San Francisco, CA. They’re business is all about dealing with the “E-Waste Crisis.” They “help consumers and businesses reduce their environmental footprint of their computer and electronics… by keeping electronics running efficiently through online and in-store repair services, along with environmentally responsible electronics recycling.” So they do a lot of the same things as a typical IT services company (computer repair, data security, tech support, etc), but they’ve made a name for themselves by making everything they do green while also putting a huge emphasis on recycling.

Are You a Greencitizen?

Greencitizen has already served more than 110,000 consumers and 10,000 businesses, so they’re having some serious impact on the environment. They’re also making customers very happy–Greencitizen has 5 stars on Yelp with 55 reviews. That’s impressive. I really like how Greencitizen has positioned itself. Offering free recycling of e-waste is really an ingenious customer acquisition strategy. They must have a constant flow of potential customers walking through their doors. Anyway, Greencitizen seems to be pretty focused on promoting their Career opportunities to those who are interested in Green/Environmental Careers. Their Jobs page shows a number of opportunities that may interest recent grads. These include Entry Level Part to Full-time Warehouse Staff (Burlingame), On-Call to Full-time Warehouse Technician, and PC Technician (Burlingame). These jobs are certainly “hands on,” but they do pride themselves on allowing people to progress through the ranks rapidly (they claim to offer a “Green MBA”). You could also reach out to them about other types of positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How many pieces of hardware do you have lying around that need to be recycled?

ONOSYS

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:11:05 +0000

I’ve never liked ordering food over the phone (maybe that’s what growing up as a fat kid does to you). When I discovered that you could order food online, I was pretty psyched (even though I was no longer a fat kid). I even remember my first online food order–it was during my Freshman year at Cornell and CampusFood.com launched on our campus by offering a $10 credit for your first order. It still seems that most online ordering goes through third-party sites like GrubHub. However a company called ONOSYS is trying to change that. They’re based in Cleveland, OH, and they provide software platforms for restaurants to offer their own online ordering, mobile ordering, transaction-based marketing, and management services. This allows restaurants to own their relationships with customers instead of having to go through a third-party every time they receive an order.

Bring Me My Dinner

ONOSYS has more than “75 restaurant chains throughout North America & Europe” using their solution. You can check their client list here. They serve some big names including Applebee’s, Papa John’s, Panera Bread, and a whole bunch of more regional names. It makes sense that restaurants would want to have their own online ordering platform, but it would be kind of silly (and expensive) for each of them to build out their own proprietary software. ONOSYS offers affordable (there is a fixed fee and no transaction fee), customized solutions that offer everything the restaurants want while also increasing the average check size by 25%. That means that there’s a good chance that ONOSYS pays for itself. If you’re interested in helping restaurants better serve their customers through technology, then it’s time to take a look at ONOSYS’s Jobs page. Right now they have two seemingly entry level positions: Technical Support/Assistant Position w/ SQL Experience and Client Support Specialist. Both jobs look great, and I hear you might get a pair of orange Converse All-Stars if you land a job with them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you mind ordering food over the phone?

MailChimp

Willy Franzen — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:19:40 +0000

A few weeks ago in my post on SailThru, I urged you to consider e-mail marketing as a career option. It’s a field that provides an immense amount of value to businesses, yet it gets far too little attention–especially from college students and grads. One of the keys to doing well with e-mail marketing is finding great tools to use. I use Aweber to deliver our daily e-mails, but I’m constantly tempted to switch over to MailChimp. They’re an Atlanta, GA company that is growing at an insane rate. They offer a platform for e-mail marketing that just keeps on getting better for a user base that is climbing towards 1 million. MailChimp’s attention to design and detail has made them a standout in a space that is getting more and more crowded. Every day I seem to notice that another e-mail newsletter that I’m subscribed to has moved over to MailChimp.

Start Chimping Around

One of the best ways to understand how MailChimp serves their clients is to read through some of their Customer Stories. You’ll learn all about what MailChimp offers and how companies are using these services to build better businesses. You can even set up a free MailChimp account and use it to start learning a little bit about e-mail marketing. MailChimp is so product-focused that learning about their product is the best way to learn about their company–though they do seem to have a pretty sweet culture too (you can just feel it on their website). Additionally, MailChimp has one of, if not the best Jobs page that I’ve ever seen. It’s simple, clear, and beautiful. It also has a bunch of jobs that seem perfect for new or recent grads including Compliance Geek, Tech-support Geek, Multilingual Tech-support Geeks (Spanish, French, Portuguese, German or Dutch), Infrastructure Engineer, PHP Developer, IT Human, Zookeeper (Office Manager), and Web Analyst. These look like awesome jobs, so check them out–even if it’s just so that you can experience a Jobs page that isn’t completely frustrating to use.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you love MailChimp’s logo?

Yammer

Willy Franzen — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:40:57 +0000

Communication in the workplace can be a major hassle, especially considering the fact that a lot of people who work together are doing so from different locations these days. E-mail was an amazing step forward, but it still has a ton of flaws. (I’m dying for an e-mail client that is built for how I think and work–nothing comes close.) Now that I’m starting to consider hiring interns or part-timers (more on that soon!), I need to come up with a way to communicate with them and manage projects. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook are on to something with their interfaces, but they are most certainly not for communicating about work. I’ve played around with the the WordPress P2 Theme, which turns blogging software into something Twitter-like, but I’m not completely sold on it. I’ve also heard some good things about San Francisco, CA based Yammer, which seems to be a pretty sweet solution. Yammer enables “people to create private enterprise social networks.” It’s more collaborative than e-mail, and it allows you to open up conversations to a wider audience without annoying them.

Communicate Your Skills

Most major companies have Intranets. They’re moderately useful, but they are often completely lifeless. Yammer brings life to internal networks. They’re already working with major clients like Deloitte, Groupon, PayPal, and lots of other big names. The product looks like it’s super simple to use, and it has a ton of useful features. What may be the coolest thing about Yammer is that you only need an e-mail address to set up your own network. I put in my e-mail, and in a matter of a few seconds I had my own Yammer network set up (but nobody to Yammer with). There’s still a lot of progress to be made in the area of communication in the workplace, but Yammer has taken some major leaps. If you like what they’re doing, take a look at their Jobs page. They have great some great opportunities for new grads including:

Implementation Engineer (San Francisco, CA)
Implementation Engineer (United Kingdom)
Android Developer (San Francisco, CA)
Data/Analytics Engineer (San Francisco, CA)
iPhone Developer (San Francisco, CA)
Tools Engineer (San Francisco, CA)
Web Software Engineer (San Francisco, CA)
Technical Recruiter (San Francisco, CA)
IT and Corporate Applications Support Engineer (San Francisco, CA)
Associate Product Manager (San Francisco, CA)
Associate Product Marketing Manager (San Francisco, CA)
Quantitative Product Analyst (San Francisco, CA)
UX/Information Architect (San Francisco, CA)
Enterprise Business Representative (San Francisco, CA)
International Enterprise Business Representative – Spanish or Korean Language (San Francisco, CA)
Technical Support Representative (San Francisco, CA)

While most of the options are tech oriented, there are a few at Yammer for the not-so-technical. They’re doing some really cool stuff, so give them a nice long look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used Yammer?

Redbox

Willy Franzen — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:40:58 +0000

Want to land a job and save the world at the same time? This week’s sponsor is Samaritan’s Purse, a non-profit organization with some amazing entry level career opportunities.

There aren’t many companies that have as many loyal fans as Netflix. I swear that everybody loves them (check out jobs at Netflix). At least they did until yesterday when Netflix announced a change to their plans. They touted it as a good thing with their “lowest prices ever for unlimited DVDs,” but it really was a price increase for streaming subscribers. I guess yesterday was a good day for Redbox, which is based in Oakbrook Terrace, IL (with a major presence in Bellevue, WA). They operate more than 27,000 DVD and Blu-ray rental kiosks, or redboxes. Believe it or not, rentals aren’t dead, and Redbox has found a sweetspot between Blockbuster and Netflix. There’s definitely something I miss about the old school video rental shops–especially the pre-Blockbuster independent ones. But it’s mind blowing that Redbox is able to fit an entire video rental store in 12 square feet.

Think Inside the Redbox

Redbox has rented out more than 1 billion movies. Back in 2007 the kiosks were averaging nearly 50 rentals a day and almost $40,000 in annual revenue each. That’s pretty amazing considering Redbox kiosksi are typically just filling in empty space in high traffic buildings. Obviously a 12 square foot kiosk can’t offer much variety in terms of movies, but by stocking mostly new releases Redbox is able to stay relevant and serve a significant portion of the demand for in-home movie viewing. Now, we all know that streaming is the future, but there’s still a huge portion of the population that relies on hard media like DVDs and Blu-rays. It’ll be interesting to see how Redbox adapts moving forward, but for now I think they can still find opportunities for growth. If you like what Redbox is doing, you’ll want to take a look at their Jobs page. Unfortunately, it’s just a list of jobs, and there are a lot of them to browse through. Most are Field positions all across the country, but there are a few that seem better suited for recent grads. These include Service Representative – New Ventures (Hayward, CA), Sales & Use Tax Accountant (Oakbrook Terrace, IL), Machine Support Coordinator (Oakbrook Terrace, IL), Web Analyst/ eCommerce Analyst (Oakbrook Terrace, IL), Software Engineer (Oakbrook Terrace, IL), Service Representative – New Ventures (Fairfax, VA), Quality Engineer I (Kent, WA), and Business Analyst (Oakbrook Terrace, IL). There are a lot more mid-level options, so if you have some prior experience, be sure to check those out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Redbox?

Morningstar

Willy Franzen — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:01:41 +0000

Want to land a job and save the world at the same time? This week’s sponsor is Samaritan’s Purse, a non-profit organization with some amazing entry level career opportunities.

Sometimes during your job search a company name will keep popping up. You’ll ignore them because of assumptions that you’ve already made about them. Eventually you’ll give them a look, and you’ll realize that you didn’t know as much as you thought about them. That’s kind of how I’ve been with Morningstar. I knew of them well before I started this site. I have a friend who worked for them. They’re headquartered here in Chicago, IL, and they’re big supporters of the local startup and technology scene. They’re one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, and I’ve even had multiple people tell me to write about them. I guess it’s time to take a closer look at Morningstar, which is “a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.” They serve all investors from individuals to financial advisors to institutions, and they do so with a wide range of products that includes services, software, online publications, and print publications.

Good Morning!

Morningstar is a big company. They have thousands of employees, and work all across the world–26 countries to be exact. They provide “data on approximately 380,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 5 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets.” In other words, there are all kinds of job opportunities at Morningstar. Luckily, they do a great job with their Careers site. You should probably start with the Morningstar Story, and then read up on what it’s like to work at Morningstar (you may also want to check out their Employee Testimonials).

From there you will have two options. The first is to look at Morningstar’s Development Program, which is their formal entry level recruiting program. They’re actually having a Meet and Greet at their headquarters on August 4th for people interested in the program (you must register by e-mailing mdpresumes@morningstar.com before July 29th). The second option is to go straight to their Job postings. You can narrow it down to only Morningstar’s entry level listings, where you’ll see positions like Associate Municipal Credit Analyst, Data Analyst, Private Funds – Custom Software (Chicago, IL),
Data Management Analyst (Chicago, IL), Data Management Analyst (Oakland, MD), IFA Journalist (Australia), Investment Analyst – Morningstar Investment Management (Chicago, IL),
Operations Associate, Morningstar Investment Services (Chicago, IL), Product Consultant (United Kingdom), Product Consultant for Institutional Software (France), Product Support Specialist (Austin, TX), Quality Assurance Analyst – Custom Solutions (Chicago, IL), Research Analyst (Chicago, IL), and Sales Associate – Inside Sales (Chicago, IL). There’s a ton of opportunity at Morningstar, so don’t overlook them like I did.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What company have you been ignoring?

Samaritan’s Purse

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:13:00 +0000

This is a sponsored post for Samaritan’s Purse.

We all have a Good Samaritan story–a time where we helped someone in need or were helped by someone when we were in need. These are the moments when people are at their best, yet they don’t seem to happen often enough. Samaritan’s Purse has spent the last 40 years working to ensure that the story of the Good Samaritan lives on and continues to inspire people to “go and do likewise.” Samaritan’s Purse is a non-profit “nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.” They’re based out of Boone, NC, but they’re constantly repositioning their resources to react to world events. Samaritan’s Purse’s work can typically be separated into two categories: Emergency Relief Programs and Community Development and Vocational Programs. While these two Program groups serve very different situations, they share the goal of helping people in need wherever they may be.

Be a Good Samaritan

There’s no better way to get a feel for Samaritan’s Purse’s work (besides actually joining them and doing it) than taking a look at the In Pictures section of their website. It will give you a feel for what they do, how they do it, and whom they help. One of their major relief projects is focused on helping Japan and the Japanese people recover from the earthquake and tsunami that struck in March of 2011. Samaritan’s Purse was on the ground almost immediately (as you can see here, here, and here). The need for immediate relief supplies has obviously subsided, but now Samaritan’s Purse is leading a rebuilding effort. They are working in a number of communities to get the Japanese people back to a normal way of life before winter comes. This is a tall task when you consider that one community they’re working in “lost 70% of its physical structure” and another was hit by a wave as tall as a 12-story building, but Samaritan’s Purse has a history of excelling with this kind of work.

Right now Samaritan’s Purse is recruiting heavily for their Japan reconstruction effort. Right now their biggest need is for Japanese Interpreters and they think that recent college grads could be perfect fits (they’d also love to hear from people with more experience). This position is vital to the reconstruction effort, and it offers an amazing opportunity to get life-changing experience while doing amazing work. Christian values are an essential part of what Samaritan’s Purse does, so be sure to read their Statement of Faith and learn about their leader Franklin Graham before applying. And if you don’t speak Japanese, there are plenty of other job opportunities posted on Samaritan’s Purse’ Jobs page, and many are perfectly suited for new and recent grads. They include:

Japanese Interpreter (Japan)
Digital Video Producer (Boone, NC)
Marketing/Metrics Analyst (Boone, NC)
Network Administrator (Boone, NC)
Curriculum & Training Specialist (Boone, NC)
Bio-Med Technician (Boone, NC)
Field Accountant (Juba, South Sudan)
Social Media/Marketing Specialist / Communications (Boone, NC)

These look like amazing jobs that truly offer the opportunity to make the world a better place. Give them a look and see which positions fit you the best.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Samaritan’s Purse?

Hill Holliday

Willy Franzen — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:52:54 +0000

I have to admit that I’m a little bummed that the holiday weekend is over. Since it’ll be a solid 2 months until we get another one, we’re going to have to make do with Hill Holliday. They’re a full-service advertising, marketing, and communications agency with presences in Boston, MA; New York, NY; and Greenville, SC. It all started in Boston in 1968 as Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Inc., and now it’s a firm of more than 800 employees with some really big name clients including Dunkin’ Donuts, Major League Baseball, Anheuser Busch, CVS, Liberty Mutual, Bank of America, and more. Unless you are a total hermit, there’s almost no way that you wouldn’t recognize at least some of their work.

Another Holliday!

Whenever I look at advertising or marketing agencies, the first thing that I do is look at their work. Hill Holliday’s work is super impressive, and there’s a ton of it to look at. At first I though there were only a few pieces, but then I noticed the slider at the top of the page that lets you browse everything that they’ve done by client. One of my favorites has to be Brian Wilson’s Beard. If you’re digging Hill Holliday’s portfolio, then you’re in luck, because they also appear to be an awesome place to work. In 2010 they were named #1 in the “Boston Globe 100 Top Places to Work.” That’s why you should check out Hill Holliday’s Careers page, and then dive into their job postings. They have a bunch of opportunities for new or recent grads including Junior Studio Designer (Boston, MA), Administrative Assistant (Boston, MA), Front End Developer (Boston, MA), Jr. Flash Animator/Developer (Boston, MA), and Junior Media Buyer (New York, NY). There are a bunch more positions that require a little more experience, so you may want to check those out too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Hill Holliday?

GigaOm

Willy Franzen — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:28:21 +0000

I’m a complete Apple fanboy. I have been since since I first touched an Apple IIe in 1990. Today is the keynote of Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, so I’m all sorts of excited. I’ve come to accept that they almost certainly won’t be announcing the iPhone 5 today, but I’m still pumped to hear about all of the software stuff that they’ve been working on. This means that I’ve been anxiously (and irrationally) reading all of the major online tech sites so that I can uselessly speculate about what kind of cool things my phone will be able to do after the next software update. A lot of interesting businesses have been built in the tech news space, which is why we’ve already profiled companies like Engadget, Gawker (Gizmodo), TechCrunch, and gdgt. Today we’re going to look at GigaOm, a San Francisco, CA based company that does the whole tech news thing, but also has a research arm that is growing extremely quickly.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmm

GigaOm was founded by Om Malik, a guy who “has more than 15 years of experience as a journalist covering technology and business news.” He helped launched Forbes.com as a Senior Editor back in the day, and he continues to lead the GigaOm Editorial Team. Despite doing a great job of covering tech news, GigaOm doesn’t appear to get anywhere near the traffic that some of the sites I mentioned earlier do. That would usually present a problem for a business that is built on covering news to attract eyeballs for advertising, but GigaOm has a slightly different model. They have a paid content section called GigaOm Pro that provides market research and analysis for a fee. This part of the business is doing really well, and must be a major reason for the $40 million valuation that GigaOm just got in their most recent round of investment ($6 million).

By building trust through their free content, GigaOm is able to generate leads for their paid section. It’s a smart idea, and it seems to be working really well. GigaOm intends to spend a big portion of that new capital on hiring to expand GigaOm Pro, so now is the time to start thinking about a career with them. Right now 10 of 41 GigaOm employees do research full-time. Maybe you can help be part of the expected growth in that number. The only position posted right now on the GigaOm Jobs page is for a Webmaster/ Jr. Developer, but that should change soon. You might as well just reach out to the folks at GigaOm now and let them know how you could help with the growth of GigaOm Pro. It’s worth a shot.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read GigaOm?