One Day, One Job » Kentucky

Council of State Governments

Willy Franzen — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:44:41 +0000

A lot of people overlook the importance of state and local governments. They get all excited about federal elections, but overlook the elections that are closer to home. I’m sure there are a lot of reasons for this, but I’d generally like to start seeing states taking back some power from Washington (though the thought of the State of Illinois having more power scares me to no end). Anyway, states have a huge advantage in governing in that they have 49 peers (more if you include territories, foreign provinces, etc.) who are dealing with similar issues. State governments can work together, share ideas, and benefit from each other’s experiences. A lot of that is done through the Council of State Governments, which is a nonpartisan non-profit organization that “fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy.” They’re headquartered in Lexington, KY (with multiple other offices), and they work in all three branches of state governments.

Sharing Capitol Ideas

Much of what the Council of State Governments does is done through region-based forums that bring together state officials to give them “opportunities to network, develop leaders, collaborate and create problem-solving partnerships.” A state governor always acts as the organization’s President, and a member of a state legislature always act as chairman. CSG’s programming is split into three key areas: Leadership Programs, Policy Programs, and Innovations. The best way to get a better understanding of what is going on at CSG is probably to read their Capitol Ideas Magazine. If you find yourself reading for a while, you may want to take a look at the Council of State Governments’ Career opportunities. Right now they have a few opportunities that might be suitable for a new or recent grad including:

Project Assistant – Just Reentry (New York, NY)
Project Associate – Justice Reentry (New York, NY or Bethesda, MD)
Project Assistant – Justice Reinvestment (Seattle, WA)
Logistics Assistant – Justice Center (Bethesda, MD)

Hopefully one of these opportunities will be a good fit for you. There are also offices in Sacramento, CA; Atlanta, GA; and Lombard, IL; so watch out for future opportunities in those locations.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you get excited about state elections?

American Greetings

Willy Franzen — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:36:40 +0000

I can’t remember the last time that I bought a greeting card, but I can remember the last time that I was part of the purchasing process. A good friend of mine was getting married, and he needed a card for his soon to be wife. Because of the dearth of cards for brides from their grooms, I made it my job to suggest alternatives. Trying to convince a stressed out groom to give his new wife a condolences card probably isn’t the nicest thing to do, but it’s certainly entertaining. Yes, greeting cards can be funny, but there’s more to them than that. That’s why American Greetings calls themselves the “leading manufacturer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships.” The Cleveland, OH based company is the largest publicly-traded greeting card company in the world, and their brands include American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings, and Papyrus along with a number of other paper products and online brands.

A Job for Every Occasion

Greeting cards may seem like a niche business, but American Greetings is a very large company with near $1.7 billion in annual revenue and 18,000 employees according to Wikipedia. The company was started in 1906 by a Polish immigrant named Jacob Sapirstein, and it’s been able to stick around through constant innovation. They’ve developed toy brands like Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears and digital properties like Webshots and Blue Mountain. If it can somehow be worked into “social expressions products,” then they’re on it. American Greetings seems to keep on growing, and that means lots of hiring. Their Careers page takes a little bit of navigating, but half a dozen clicks later you’ll find their job listings. There are a ton of jobs posted, but you should look out for the following opportunities: Artist Coordinator (Chicago, IL), Assistant Product Development Manager – Papyrus/Recycled Greetings (Fairfield, CA), Assistant Art Director (Cleveland, OH), Brand Analyst – Papyrus, Graphic Designer (Cleveland, OH), Graphic Line Designer – Derivative Planning (Cleveland, OH), Graphic Coordinator (Cleveland, OH), Marketing Product Assistant (Cleveland, OH), Merchandiser (Nationwide), Order Filler (Cleveland, OH), Programmer Analyst (Bardstown, KY), Receptionist – Papyrus/Recycled Greetings (Chicago, IL), Sourcing Coordinator (Cleveland, OH), and Supply Chain Leadership Rotation Program Associate (Cleveland, OH). That Leadership Rotation Program is the most intriguing, and makes me wonder if they have any other similar programs in different areas.

American Greetings’ Careers page also mentions the following business departments: Accounting, Business Intelligence, Creative, Communications, Engineering, Entertainment, Finance, Human Resources, Interactive, Information Technology, International Operations, Legal, Management, Manufacturing and Distribution, Marketing, Retail Merchandising, Sales, Supply Chain Management, Transportation/Logistics, and Writer/Editor. So if you are interested in any of those areas but don’t see a job that fits you, you might want to keep checking in (or apply for an unlisted position).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s the last greeting card that you sent?

Volunteers of America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:22:13 +0000

When you’re job searching, volunteering is a great way to both put your skills to use and develop new skills. There are countless non-profit organization that put volunteers to work in situations where they can really make a difference. One of our country’s largest volunteer organizations is Volunteers of America, which is a faith-based non-profit headquartered in Alexandria, VA. With their staff of 16,000 paid employees and 70,000 volunteers, they’re able to help “more than 2 million people in over 400 communities in 48 states.” Since the organization was founded in 1896, they “have supported and empowered America’s most vulnerable groups, including at-risk youth, the frail elderly, men and women returning from prison, homeless individuals and families, people with disabilities, and those recovering from addictions.” An organization that has been around as long as Volunteers of America has must adapt to changes over the years. While they continue to remain focused on providing neighborly aid to all people, it looks like Volunteers of America is putting more emphasis on helping the growing population of aging Americans.

Volunteer for a Job

Volunteers of America has a nice video on their About page that goes more in-depth in describing how they work and what they do. I’ve embedded it below (e-mail readers need to click through).

Volunteers of America also has this Overview sheet that provides some really specific information about the organization’s work. If you’re moved by their mission, then you’ll want to check out Volunteers of America’s job opportunities. They separate these into three groups: National Office, Nationwide, and Health Services. The Nationwide section actually has over 200 positions posted, along with 25 entry level opportunities, so it probably makes the most sense to check out. They have a wide range of opportunities, and they’re in a variety of locations, so you should be able to find something that piques your interest.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Volunteers of America?

Lloyd’s of London

Willy Franzen — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:17:19 +0000

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I still have a lot of Inc. 500 companies to look over as I try to find you all jobs; in fact, I haven’t even reached #50 yet. I’ve passed up quite a few companies that look interesting, but don’t have any entry level opportunities right now; however, one company with no jobs page really caught my attention—Exceptional Risk Advisors. They are high limit disability insurance experts, and reading about them made me instantly think of Lloyd’s of London, which has plenty of jobs (though most of them are in the United Kingdom). Lloyd’s of London is behind every cool insurance policy that you’ve ever heard of. They’ve issued a $1 million policy on Troy Polamalu’s hair, as well as policies on Celine Dion’s vocal chords, Keith Richards’ fingers, and Tina Turner’s legs. According to Wikipedia, Lloyd’s of London isn’t actually a company, but a “meeting place where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members come together to pool and spread risk.” If it helps, you can pretend it’s a company. Anyway, Lloyd’s of London has a long and storied history, as they got their start by serving mostly people in the shipping and maritime industries.

Insure That You Find a Job

It’s not often that we feature international companies (mostly because it’s hard to say whether they’ll hire U.S. students), but Lloyd’s of London is just so cool. They’re not only a company that is just generally worth learning about (I’m excited about them and I hate insurance companies), but they’re also one of the best places you could possibly be if you wanted to learn the insurance industry. Now, Lloyd’s of London has offices around the globe including ones in New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Frankfort, KY; Los Angeles, CA; and St. Thomas, USVI. Unfortunately, Lloyd’s Careers page only covers positions in the U.K. They have a great section of their site for graduates, which provides everything you could ever want to know about their hiring process—from an Introduction to a Blog to How to Apply. Lloyd’s graduate program offers opportunities in the following areas: Corporate Communications, Delegated Authorities, Exposure Management, Human Resources, Information Technology Group, International Markets, International Regulatory Affairs, Market Operations, Market Services, Relationship Management, Risk Management, Strategy and Business Planning, and Underwriting Performance. Lloyd’s will hire foreign students, but it’s up to you to do all of the visa stuff yourself—you can also reach out to people at the U.S. offices to inquire about positions here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you had to insure one part of your body, what would it be?

Summit Energy

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:45:39 +0000

We’re constantly hearing about green technology, alternative energy, and other buzzwords aimed at stopping climate change. It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s hype. Yet there has been a group of people who have been preaching responsible energy use for as long as we can remember. They’re call Dads. You’ve probably heard one of these: “What are you trying to do? Cool the entire house? Close the refrigerator door!” or “Why did you raise the thermostat to 63? Go get two more blankets!” or “Do you really need that light on to do your homework? Can’t you do it by candlelight?” And it’s all to save a few cents off of the electricity or gas bill. Well, think of Louisville, KY based Summit Energy as the mother of all Dads (I know that makes no sense). They’re in the business of energy management, which means that they help companies that spend a lot on energy spend more efficiently. Summit Energy manages “nearly $20 billion in annualized global energy spend,” so while your Dad is saving pennies, they’re saving millions of dollars.

Reach the Summit

I’ve obviously oversimplified what Summit Energy does. They work with clients in a variety of industries, and they offer services that include Market Intelligence, Strategic Sourcing, Rates Analysis, Risk Management, and Energy Sustainability. If it can help clients manage energy costs, then Summit Energy probably does it. The best way to get a basic understanding of the work that Summit Energy does is probably to read their blog, EnergyBurrito. If the name doesn’t make it clear, it’s more focused towards a lay audience. If you like the way an EnergyBurrito tastes (Red Bull on a burrito sounds nasty), then you should check out Summit Energy’s Careers page. Right now they have a few positions that seem suitable for new or recent grads. These include Client Implementation Associate and Sustainability Sales Representative. There are a few other positions, but they require more experience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What was your Dad known to say in reference to energy use?

College Hunks Hauling Junk

Willy Franzen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:52:17 +0000

Today is the last day to enter our Maghound Your Way to a New Job contest. With so few entries so far, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll win a one-year subscription to an awesome new magazine subscription service (3 monthly magazines for free!).

I’m still on my Inc. 5000 kick, and today we’re looking at a company whose name immediately caught my eye. They’re called College Hunks Hauling Junk, and that’s exactly what they are. Omar Soliman wanted to make some money during the summer, so he borrowed his mom’s cargo van to start hauling away people’s junk. He then entered his business plan in the Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition and won the $10,000 first prize. He realized that he had a business that he could grow, and now College Hunks Hauling Junk is doing $2.9 million in revenue. Guess that’s why Omar and his co-founder Nick were named (also by Inc.) as Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. College Hunks Hauling Junk is headquartered in Tampa, FL, but through expansion and franchising they now operate in Anne Arundel, MD; Baltimore/Howard County, MD; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; San Francisco/San Jose, CA; Tampa Bay, FL; and Washington, DC Metro.

Are You Hunky Enough?

College Hunks Hauling Junk certainly has a provocative name, but that’s part of their success. Finding someone to haul away your junk isn’t that hard, but it’s really easy to go with the brand you recognize. College Hunks Hauling Junk is all about grabbing attention so that they’re the company that you choose when you need to get rid of some junk. It doesn’t hurt that they can call themselves green, as they recycle 60% of the junk that they collect. Now, College Hunks Hauling Junk obviously has plenty of jobs available. If you want to get in the business of hauling junk to pay your way through college, they can help, but they’re also a growing company with growing needs. They have a bunch of corporate job postings that consist solely of titles. Since they’re a college startup, it’s hard to say how much experience they’re looking for with each position, but you’ll have to apply to find out. The posted job titles include Truck Captain/ Wingman, VP – Franchise Development, Client Loyalty Associate (Inside Sales Rep), Operations Manager, VP – Marketing, VP – Public Relations, VP – Finance, VP – Business Development, and VP – Information Technology.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used College Hunks Hauling Junk?

Blue Entertainment Sports Television

Willy Franzen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:36:53 +0000

Be sure to check out our new contest, Maghound Your Way to a New Job. We’re giving away two one-year subscriptions to an awesome new magazine subscription service that can help you find a job.

In continuing with my obsession over jobs at Inc. 5000 companies (which fits in perfectly with our latest giveaway), we’re going to take a look at Blue Entertainment Sports Television today. They’re a Louisville, KY based “full-service sports and entertainment management, event and production company.” They’ve taken the unified agency approach that you often see in Marketing and Advertising, and have applied it to sports. That means that their areas of work include representation, marketing, promotion, hospitality and events. Their strategy seems to be pretty solid considering that their revenue has grown 4,685.3% over the past three years to $22.9 million.

Are You the BEST?

Blue Entertainment Sports Television is fortuitously named, as their acronym is BEST. I guess you’re well on way to living up to that name when your clients include Magic Johnson, Reggie Bush, Victoria Azarenka, Shawn Marion, Bryan Brothers, and Caroline Wozniacki. Blue Entertainment Sports Television is actually a relatively new brand that came from the combination of preexisting brands SFX Tennis, SFX Events, SFX Media, Game-Seven Sports Marketing, Team Championships International, Blackwave Sports, Humarks, and Worldwide Football and Management Group. There’s actually a case study on the rebranding, and it seems to be correlated with huge revenue growth.

Although BEST doesn’t get specific about what kind of jobs they offer, they do make a call for résumés on their Contact page. To get a feel for what kind of jobs they might offer new college grads, you should browse through their LinkedIn Company Profile and take a look at what types of positions their current employees have. You can apply for a job at BEST by sending a cover letter and résumé to careers@experienceBEST.com. You should also note that they have quite a few offices beyond their headquarters in Lousiville, KY including domestic offices in Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; and Washington, DC and international offices in Australia, Austria, Canada, Argentina, and Poland.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about BEST?

Save the Children

Willy Franzen — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:35:04 +0000

As we grow up and start looking for our first jobs, we often fail to realize how easy we had it. Although good grades and getting into college are important, almost all seniors and new grads who are looking for an entry level job never had to worry about survival. It was a given. I’m sure that there are some of you reading who had very different experiences, but most of you are now facing the most distressing times of your lives – entering the real world. It’s easy to forget that there are millions of children in the world who live each day trying to survive. Save the Children is an international non-profit organization that focuses almost entirely on making the lives of children across the world better. They do so with a focus on 7 main areas: Economic Opportunities, Education, Emergencies, Protection, Health, Hunger and Malnutrition, and U.S. Literacy and Nutrition. Save the Children has spent the last 70 years fighting poverty’s effects on children through their unique self-help approach, and they’re not stopping any time soon.

Find a Job, Save the Children

Since one of your biggest life challenges is finding a job after graduation, yet many children across the world face much more pressing challenges every day, why not kill two birds with one stone and consider working for Save the Children? They have some a wide range of job opportunities across many locations. Most jobs with Save the Children require a decent level of experience, but we’ve found a few that seem to be suited to new college grads. These include Program Associate (Westport, CT), Specialist – Program (ESSS, Ops) – KY, E. TN (Berea, KY), Program Associate – Livelihoods (Washington, DC), and Program Specialist – Early Childhood (Fresno, CA). You may be able to find a few more jobs that will interest you by looking at all of Save the Children’s job postings. They’re a large organization and seem to do a lot of hiring, so keep your eyes open for new postings too. You can apply for any of these jobs through Save the Children’s online application form, or you can submit a general resume if you don’t see any jobs that fit your background. Working for Save the Children is a great way to help yourself and others at the same time.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Save the Children? Leave a comment.

Shriners Hospitals for Children

Willy Franzen — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:37:00 +0000

We hope you had a safe 4th of July. Unfortunately, every year some people don’t. Fireworks are a lot of fun, but they can result in some really nasty burns and injuries. Since we encouraged you to blow stuff up yesterday, we thought we’d counter that by featuring a non-profit organization that helps children who endure severe burns. The Shriners Hospitals for Children do exactly that. Who are Shriners? They wear funny hats. They drive little cars in parades. They’re Freemasons. And most importantly, they help kids through their hospitals. That’s going to be our focus today, since new college grads probably aren’t too interested in being part of a fraternal organization that seems like it probably has an average age north of 60. Then again, you probably got all hot and bothered about your college’s greek organizations and secret societies.

What Do Red Fezzes Have to Do with Burn Treatment?

So a group of Freemasons decided to start a non-religious fraternal organization for fun and fellowship based on a Middle Eastern theme, what the heck does that have to do with kids and burns? Somewhere along the way the guys in the organization decided to do some serious philanthropy, so they started Shriners Hospitals for Children which “is a one-of-a-kind international health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs.” Their three focuses are orthopedic care, burn care, and spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Over Shriners Hospitals for Childrens’ 86 years, they have provided free medical care to more than 865,000 children. Wow.

Do I Have to Wear a Funny Hat to Work There?

We don’t think wearing a red fez is a required part of the dress code, but we can’t make any promises. Shriners Hospitals for Children is headquartered in Tampa, FL and has hospitals in Boston, Canada, Chicago, Cincinnati, Erie, Galveston, Greenville, Honolulu, Houston, Salt Lake City, Lexington, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Northern California, Philadelphia, Portland, Shreveport, Spokane, Springfield, St Louis, Tampa, and Twin Cities. They have jobs available in just about every field imaginable, especially in medical related areas. Quite a few of these jobs are appropriate for entry-level candidates, but we’re not going to go through each of them. Shriners Hospitals for Children has a lot of job openings, and they do a nice job of organizing their Job Opportunities. Although their Careers site isn’t flashy, it should be easy to navigate. If helping children who are enduring seemingly unthinkable medical conditions is something that you could devote your life to (and you’re not going to Med school), there are few better places to begin a career then one of the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever seen the Shriners drive their little cars around?

Zappos.com

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:21:35 +0000

Most people like shoes. They protect your feet, offer support, and keep you warm. Some people love shoes – love them to the point that their loved ones (not the shoes) are likely worried about them. Oddly enough, the people who deeply love shoes often seem most interested in shoes that barely protect their feet, offer little support, and provide little or no warmth. We don’t really get that. Zappos.com puts these people to shame. As a company they have a shoe obsession that is far worse than that of the most Sex and the City addicted, Daily Candy reading, New York City fashionista. Why do we say that? Because Zappos.com is obsessed with everything shoes, not just the shoes of some designer whose name you’re supposed to know.

A Shoe-in for Best Customer Service

If you asked someone at Zappos what they love more, shoes or customer service, they’d probably have a hard time coming up with an answer. That’s because the Zappos equation is something like Amazing Selection of Shoes + Unparalleled Customer Service = Profit. It seems to be working, as they’re on their way to selling $1 billion in shoes this year. That’s only 2.5% of the US shoe market, but they’ve done it in 9 years. Their growth rate is excellent, and that’s why they’re doing a ton of hiring, as you’ll soon see.

The fact that customers have a year to return any shoes that they purchased from Zappos (and get the shipping paid for) is impressive, but what really knocks our socks off is the way that Zappos trains their employees. Every new hire, no matter what they were hired for, spends 4 weeks in intense Customer Loyalty training answering phones in the Zappos call center. About a week into the training period Zappos offers their new hires an incentive – a $1,000 incentive – to quit. Yes, they bribe their newly recruited people to take their first week’s salary plus a cool $1,000 and run (hat tip to What Would Dad Say although it seems like he got a few things wrong judging from the Harvard Business Review article on Zappos’ HR practices that he linked to as the original source). Zappos figures that if someone values $1,000 now more than a future career at Zappos, they’re not the right type of person for the job. It may sound like an expensive proposition, but it’s a lot less expensive than hiring someone who is not fully committed to the company’s customer service principles.

Working at Zappos: Deal or No Deal?

Considering many people choose not to take the deal and stay with Zappos after the first week, it’s obvious that the company is offering a unique and exciting work experience. If you still need more convincing, you can read employee perspectives in the Inside Zappos Blog, look at photos and videos from Zappos’ Halloween 2007, watch Zappos YouTube videos, keep up with Zappos Employee Tweets on Twitter, follow the Zappos CEO’s Twitter account, or just look at cute pictures of the pets of Zappos customers.

Now that you’re totally convinced (if you’re not, the links at the end of the post will give you even more opportunities to research Zappos), here are the jobs at Zappos that we think might be considered entry-level or appropriate for a new college grad. In Henderson, NV you could get offered $1,000 to quit being a Financial Analytics Manager, Editing Assistant (labeled as Intern, but looks to be an entry-level job from the description), Front-End Developer, User Interface Designer, Web Content Strategist, Web Designer, Recruiting Assistant, Merchandise Planning Analyst, Merchandise Planning Coordinator, Merchandising Assistant – Clothing and Toys, Merchandising Assistant – Performance Bags, Merchandising Assistant – Private Label, Merchandising Assistant, Designer Footwear, Project Manager, Performance QA Engineer, QA Engineer, or a Software Engineer. In Shepherdsville, KY they’ll offer you $1,000 to quit being a Recruiting Assistant, Photographer Assistant, or Software Engineer. You can find more detailed information about each of these positions on Zappos’ Jobs page. Although their site is a bit cluttered looking, they do a great job of getting across information about each job. Our only complaint is that some of the items in the descriptions are a bit redundant, which can be confusing – especially in terms of what experience is required for each job.

Now go get researching so that you can say, “I turned down $1,000 to quit my new job after a week.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Zappos.com
Jobs at Zappos
About Zappos
Zappos Blogs
Zappos on Twitter
Zappos’ Core Values
Zappos on YouTube

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CNET Networks

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:48:05 +0000

There’s no doubt about it. Traditional media is dead. Even the stodgiest newspapers and magazines have been forced to go online. Television stations can’t thrive without a web presence. That means jobs in traditional media are dead too. We understand that some of you still aren’t trusting of jobs at Internet companies and that you want the “safety” of a well established company. That’s setting yourself up for failure. Sorry to be so blunt, but to paraphrase Seth Godin, every day you spend in a traditional media job is a day that the skills that you are building become less valuable. If you’re looking for jobs at a major media company with a proven track record, why not take a look at CNET Networks?

Practically Ancient

When it comes to internet media companies, CNET Networks has been around a long time. They started with a TV show in 1994, and since then they’ve been a major presence in online media. Despite their old fogey status, they’re also managing to keep up with the constant barrage of new online trends. To do this they’ve built up an impressive portfolio of sites, and now reach over 145 million unique users a month. Their brands include: BNET, CHOW, CNET, CNET Channel, International Media, GameSpot, GameFAQs, MP3.com, mySimon, Search.com, TechRepublic, TV.com, UrbanBaby, and ZDNet. You’ve probably come across at least one of these brands at some point in your web surfing.

Jobs in the New Media

CNET Networks has two job search sites, one for college students and one for everyone else. We looked at the general job search site first (we didn’t realize that entry-level jobs were listed separately) and still found quite a few jobs that appear to be appropriate for new college grads, even if they’re not targeted to them. All of these jobs are located in San Francisco, and they include: Assistant Editor I, Console Previews, Assistant Editor I, Console Previews (yes, there are two separate listings for the same job title), Associate Editor II, Game Guides, Operations Engineer, Search Engine Optimization Analyst, and Search Strategist. All of these jobs sound really interesting, but the Editorial positions sound the best. They require some previous writing experience, but should be a great fit for a college student who loves both video games and the written word (that seems like a weird combination, not sure why).

As for jobs listed on CNET College Job Search site, there are positions such as: Associate Software Engineer, Associate Software Engineer (these first two listings are located in San Francisco), and Associate Software Engineer (Louisville, KY), Account Coordinator (San Francisco, CA), and Account Coordinator (New York, NY). Oddly enough, many of these jobs say that they require 1 year experience. That doesn’t make sense for jobs that are posted solely for college students, so we’ll recommend that you ignore that requirement. Regardless, CNET Networks does a great job of describing their jobs and requirements, so take a look and see if there’s anything that’s a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Planning on spending the summer job searching/sunbathing? You better subscribe so that you can spend less time wading through job sites (we’ll do that) and more time in the sun.

Pella

Willy Franzen — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:22:40 +0000

It’s hard for me to write this post, because I have a strong allegiance to Marvin, which is one of Pella’s biggest competitors. It started in 7th grade when I was working at my Dad’s architecture firm. The entire office was invited to a lobster lunch put on by some Marvin sales reps. My partner in crime (a friend of mine who was old enough to have the coveted title of intern) and I jumped at the chance to take a break from shooting rubber bands at each other and join the architects for a free lunch. We had to endure a long sales pitch about windows, like that South Park episode where the parents endure a time share sales pitch in return for a free skiing weekend, but when it was finally over, we chowed down. My then overweight 7th grade self put away a couple of lobsters and almost put one in my pocket for the ride home. It was by far the best day during my Summer job, but I’m willing to forget a couple lobsters and start pushing Pella, because they’ve truly impressed me with their college recruiting and entry-level hiring program.

Windows of Opportunity

Pella makes high end windows and doors. You can fluff it up by talking about how they provide great views in your home or office, but when it’s all said and done, they do something pretty simple, and they do it really well. So well, in fact, that they won the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates award for “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Window and Door Manufacturers.” Pella also has a reputation as one of the most energy efficient window and door manufacturers. It’s logical that windows and doors are two of the places that your house or office is most likely to leak heat (in or out), so it’s great that Pella is so invested in energy efficiency. They even “earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for windows in 2007 for its leadership in manufacturing energy-efficient windows and educating consumers about them.” We keep saying it – a company that takes pride in its products takes pride in its people, and that means that Pella looks like a great place to start a career.

The Door to Your Future

Pella appears to have an extremely strong entry-level hiring and college recruiting program. Their College Relations page has links to all the pages you’ll need to research jobs at Pella. They include a page detailing entry-level positions generally as well as a page that lists all of the possible career paths at Pella starting at the entry-level for each. Although Pella does a significant amount of campus recruiting, they still seem to be extremely friendly to new college grads who want to apply online. We wished they’d link their fabulous College Relations section of their website to specific entry-level job openings, but unfortunately they direct all attention to their somewhat disappointing job search function. There’s no way to find just entry-level jobs, so you have to scan the postings for promising job titles (at least there are only 20 listings, so it’s not hard).

Our search turned up job titles like Department Manager, Human Resources Representative, and National Account Retail Sales Representative – all of which appear to be entry-level. There is also a listing for an Engineering Career Development program for new grads. Pella has locations across the country, but they are headquartered in Pella, Iowa. All of the job descriptions are well detailed, so start looking through Pella’s entry-level opportunities and see if you find anything anything that is better than free lobster.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have the inside scoop on working at Pella? Leave a comment and let us know.