One Day, One Job » manufacturing

Specialized

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:02:24 +0000

They say that you can’t forget how to ride a bike, but I’m giving it my best try. In elementary and early middle school I was constantly riding around town. I picked up inline skating for a year or two after that, and never got back on the bike. Now I tell people that I hate bike riding. I don’t actually hate it, but as I mentioned in my post on Niner Bikes, I love seeing people’s reactions to that statement. My twelve year old self would be disappointed that I don’t even own a bike, let alone a cool brand like a Cannondale or Specialized. Luckily for Specialized, they’ve been able to grow an impressive business without me as a customer. They’re based in Morgan Hill, CA, and from what I can gather their annual revenue is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars (but I can’t find a reliable source on that). That’s impressive considering that it all started in 1974 when founder Mike Sinyard sold his “old VW Microbus for $1,500 and used the money to fund a cycling trip through Europe.” That led to importing Italian bicycle parts into the United States, and a business was born.

Are Your Skills Specialized?

Specialized positioned itself at the high end from the start, and they’re still all about quality whether you’re talking about their Mountain, Road, Multi Use, or Kids bikes. Their vision is to be “the best cycling brand in the world,” and it seems that in many people’s eyes they’ve achieved that. It’s hard for me to really dig into Specialized since I’m no longer into bicycles, but I’m sure that those of you who are will find all of the information you need on their site. One thing I found frustrating about Specialized’s website is that you don’t find any background information on the company until you hit their Careers page. Luckily, there’s a ton of information there. There are videos, an About tab, a History tab, and obviously job postings. In fact, there are a lot of jobs posted, and some look great for new or recent grads including:

City & Globe Product Engineer
Credit Representative
Field Visual Merchandiser (Philadelphia, PA)
Field Visual Merchandiser
Jr International Trade Specialist (Salt Lake City, UT)
MTB Product Engineer
Social Media / Customer Service Specialist
Store Designer/BIM
The European Fitness / Mobility Graphic Designer (Switzerland)
Video Editor and Asset Manager

There are even more jobs that I didn’t cover, and there’s also a general job posting called Bike Shop Experience Wanted!. It mentions positions in sales, marketing, customer service, product, engineering, design, operations, and finance, so I’d apply to that position if you don’t see anything that matches up with your skills.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What kind of bike do you own?

MakerBot Industries

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:04:19 +0000

In case you didn’t get the drift from out post on Best Made Company, artisan craftsmanship is in and mass manufacturing is out (unless it’s done by Apple). But what if you could combine the two? You’d have the technology of mass manufacturing, but the closeness to the process of something that is handmade. That’s what MakerBot Industries is making possible. They’re a New York, NY (Brooklyn) based company that has been “producing an open source 3D printer to democratize manufacturing.” All you need is a CAD drawing and one of their Thing-O-Matic 3D printers, and you can print pretty much whatever object you want in plastic. I think they might have finally figured out Santa’s trick.

You Might Need a 3D Resume

To get a better sense of what MakerBot is doing with the Thing-O-Matic, you need to check out some of the things that people have already made with it. There’s the Turtle Shell Racer, a squirrel, a log cabin, and a whole lot more. What’s really cool about MakerBot is that they offer different sorts of gadgets that you can combine with what you print out to add functionality. That means you can even build something as cool as a remote control car–the opportunities are limited only by your imagination and your ability to do the CAD drawings. What I think is most remarkable, though, is the price. You can get a fully assembled Thing-O-Matic for $2,400. That’s a lot of money if you just want to print out a few toys, but it’s an absolute steal for someone who might be building prototypes or needs very specific one-off plastic items. Presumably the price will keep coming down, and it will be more and more likely that you’ll have your own Thing-O-Matic one day. If the idea of 3D printing has you amped up, then take a look at MakerBot Industries’ Jobs. They have a number of interesting opportunities right now, including:

There’s a ton of variety here, so take a look at all of the positions and see which one makes the most sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What would you make if you had a 3D printer?

Crain Communications

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:35:49 +0000

Now that I’ve lived in Chicago for three years, I’m starting to feel more like a part of the Chicago business community. And a big piece of being a part of a community is keeping up on your local news. I rely a lot of sources, but I’ve found that Crain’s Chicago Business consistently does great reporting on the Chicago business scene. Crain’s Chicago Business is published by Crain Communications, which is “one of the largest privately owned business publishers in the U.S., with more than 27 leading business, trade and consumer publications and related websites in North America, Europe and Asia.” Crain is headquartered in Detroit, MI, but their publications are headquartered in a variety of places. Crain was founded in 1916 by GD Crain Jr., and it remains a family owned business to this day despite a few bumps in the road that would be expected for any company in the publishing industry (like layoffs a couple of years ago).

Crain Your Neck

What I really like about Crain Communications is that their lineup of brands serves a lot of different interests. They cover broader business news in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and New York, and they cover the Advertising and Media Industry with titles like Advertising Age and TelevisionWeek. They publish Waste & Recycling News, and they have 7 publications focused on the Plastics and Rubber industries. High quality publications that target specific niches are great for advertisers, which is why Crain has an advantage over more general business publications. If you’re digging Crain’s approach to niches and you like their “Readers First” mentality, then you should definitely give their Jobs page a look. Right now they have a variety of great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Assistant Web Producer – Ad Age (New York, NY)
Digital Assistant Managing Editor – Investment News (New York, NY)
Digital Media Analyst – Pensions & Investments (New York, NY)
Digital Reporter – Ad Age (San Francisco, CA)
Editorial Assistant – Pensions & Investments (Chicago, IL)
Editorial Assistant – Business Insurance (Chicago, IL)
Freelance Reporter – Ad Age (Washington, DC)
Marketing Database Administrator (Detroit, MI)
Part-time Editorial Researcher – Tire Business (Akron, OH)
Research Analyst – Staffing Industry Analysts (Mountain View, CA)
Staff Reporter – Plastics News (Akron, OH)
Video Editor – Crain’s Chicago Business (Chicago, IL)
Web Developer – Ad Age (New York, NY)

There are all kinds of cool opportunities at Crain, so hopefully one of them will appeal to you. Ad Age may be a sexy name because you heard about it in Mad Men, but don’t overlook writing for Plastics News or Tire Business–sometimes things that seem mundane are actually pretty interesting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of Crain’s publications?

Octopart

Willy Franzen — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:06:23 +0000

Ever since I was a kid I’ve liked building stuff. That’s why there’s a part of me that wishes that I had majored in Engineering. I’m ok with building non-physical things like a community, a website, and a business, but I still have an urge to actually use my hands to make something. There are a lot of people with that same urge, and luckily many of them are actually building stuff in their jobs or on their own. Octopart is a New York, NY based company that helps these people find the parts that they need to build what they’re building. In other words, Octopart has developed “search technology to help engineers and scientists build the next generation of electronic devices.”

Are You the Part Octopart Needs?

Most of us have become accustomed to finding what we want, whether it’s information or a product, by searching online. Surprisingly, many of the parts that are used in the devices that power our ability to search the Internet are extremely hard to track down. And if you want to compare prices and availability, it’s even harder. That’s why two Physics grad students started Octopart to help “you compare the prices and availability of electronic parts across different distributors.” Whether you need a solid state relay or a red LED, they’ll help you comparison shop as if you were buying something a little more common like a television or a flight. Octopart is still a very small company, but their Jobs page shows that they have three positions open. They’re hiring a Frontend Software Engineer, an Analytics Software Engineer, and their first person in Business Operations (Business Development, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, and more). These look like awesome jobs, and according to the posting, every new hire gets a pony.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you build stuff?

SCOTTEVEST

Willy Franzen — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:41:28 +0000

It’s moving day for me. I’m staying in the same neighborhood, but I still had to pack up my entire apartment and load it into a moving truck. It was kind of a pain, but hiring good movers is one of the best investments you can make. If only I had a travel vest from SCOTTEVEST–I could have stuffed everything in there, walked down the street, and done it all myself. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you really can fit a ton of stuff in SCOTTEVEST products. The company is based in Ketchum, ID and was started by Scott Jordan to create gadget-holding alternatives for man-purses–or even worse, fanny packs. It all started with vests, but now SCOTTEVEST offers a wide line of clothing that makes traveling with lots of stuff easy.

For the Trip of Your Life!

To get a sense for how SCOTTEVEST’s products allow you to store so much stuff, you have to head over to their website and take a look at their products. Most of the pockets are internal, so you don’t have to worry about looking like your whole wardrobe is made of recycled cargo pants (and I hear that SCOTTEVEST stuff is also wrinkle-resistant). The combo of functionality and fashion seems to be working well for SCOTTEVEST, as they made the Inc. 5000 with 205% three-year growth to $6 million in annual revenue. They’re still a small company employee-wise, but their Jobs page does indicate that they plan to continue growing. The only potentially entry level position they have posted right now is Graphic Designer/Developer, but they also have positions in PR, Production Management, and Garment Design (along with future openings in Marketing, Sourcing, Design, and Manufacturing). They seem open to hearing from anyone interested in working for them (and living in Ketchum, ID), so reach out to them at jobs@scottevest.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own anything from SCOTTEVEST?

Niner Bikes

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:34:18 +0000

I get the dirtiest looks when I tell people that I don’t enjoy riding bikes. It’s as if I hate puppies and babies and unicorns. But if I did like biking, I’d probably enjoy mountain biking the most. And if I was to go mountain biking, I’d probably want a bike with control and stability. That’s exactly what Niner Bikes offers. They build bikes with 29-inch diameter wheels, which are bigger than the wheels on most other mountain bikes. Why? Rotational inertia. A bigger wheel is more likely to keep rolling when it hits an obstacle. Niner Bikes must give a pretty nice ride. Why else would the Torrance, CA and Fort Collins, CO based company have made the Inc. 5000 with 364% three-year growth to $5.8 million in revenue?

Did I Catch a Niner in There?

Since I’m clearly not a bike expert, you’re going to have to dig into Niner Bikes’ website to get a better feel for them. You’ll definitely want to browse through their bikes, their videos, and their wheel size explanation. If that’s not quite enough for you, you may want to Demo a Niner–they have dealers all across the country. Obviously Niner Bikes is a company full of bikers, so if you’re into bikes, you have to check out their Jobs page. Niner Bikes doesn’t post specific positions, but they are “always open to thoughtful letters, well-edited resumes and ideas about how you could be the next great addition to [their] team.” In other words, they want you to design your dream job.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever ridden on a Niner?

Quickparts

Willy Franzen — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:14:53 +0000

I’m headed to Atlanta for a wedding this weekend, so I decided to do a little searching for interesting companies in ATL. Pretty quickly (no pun intended) I came across Quickparts, and they stood out because I’ve never covered a business that does what they do before. The Atlanta, GA headquartered company that is “dedicated to providing [their] customers with an online e-commerce system to procure low-volume and high-volume custom manufactured parts.” What does that mean? You can upload CAD drawings for some sort of part or product to their site, and they will instantly offer a quote based on “the part geometry, the required materials, lead time, and quantity.” If the quote meets your specs, then you give them the go ahead to start manufacturing. Yes, this company actually make stuff!

Be Quick

It’s kind of mind blowing how easy it is to have a product made these days. Quickparts makes it even easier. They’ve worked with huge names like Boeing, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, General Electric, NASA, Nike, and plenty of others, so you know that they must do great work. I wish I knew more about Rapid Prototyping and Injection Molding, so that I could explain them better, but I only have experience in building web products. If you really want to dig into the ins and outs of Quickparts’ business, you should check out their Learning Center. If you like what you see, you’ll want to look at jobs at Quickparts. Right now they have a few positions that you may want to check out including Receptionist, Territory Accountant, Graphic Designer, Project Manager, Business Analyst, and Inside Sales Manager. All of the positions have some experience requirements, but they’re generally pretty light.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Quickparts?

OpGen

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:42:55 +0000

Everything that I learned about DNA I learned from the O.J. Simpson trial and Jurassic Park. That’s not entirely true, but it’s scarily close. DNA analysis seemed so futuristic back then, but now it’s an everyday type thing. Still, there continues to be a ton of innovation in the world of molecular DNA diagnostics, and one of the leaders is OpGen, which used to be headquartered in Madison, WI, but is now located in Gaithersburg, MD. OpGen’s business is based on “a unique and powerful Optical Mapping Technology that rapidly generates high-resolution, ordered, whole genome restriction maps from single DNA molecules.” I’d explain that to you if I could, but I think you’re better off reading OpGen’s explanation of Optical Mapping.

OpGen Sesame

So what is Optical Mapping good for? Well OpGen aims to have their technology “positively influence healthcare outcomes, advance scientific research, and enhance public health.” But what does that actually look like? You’ve heard about the latest E. coli outbreak in Europe, right? Understanding the genetics of this new, extremely virulent strain of bacteria is essential to fighting it. OpGen’s Optical Mapping technology enables scientists and researchers to “discriminate between closely related strains or that detect insertions in engineered strains,” and, in turn offer “a tractable solution for triaging microbial strains for complete genome sequencing.” It’s still way over my head, but it’s really cool stuff. If you are interested in genetics and the science behind Optical Mapping, then you may want to consider check out Jobs at OpGen. They have a few opening that seem suitable for new or recent grads in Gaithersburg, MD including Customer Support Specialist, Laboratory Assistant I – Manufacturing, and Laboratory Associate. Check the positions out and see if you’re a good fit for any of them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about OpGen?

Jaguar Land Rover

Willy Franzen — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:22:39 +0000

After driving for nearly 14 hours to get from Connecticut back to Chicago yesterday, I fell asleep well before my usual bedtime. As a result, I woke up extra early today–but not quite early enough to watch the Royal Wedding. Lucky for me, my girlfriend decided to DVR it. Despite my pretending to be disgruntled at having to watch a wedding on television, I actually found the whole thing to be somewhat interesting. I was especially intrigued by the fact that the whole thing kind of became a British car show. There were a bunch of Bentleys, a few Rolls Royces, and a Jaguar that carried Carole and James Middleton. Oddly enough, none of these car companies are still British owned. Bentley is owned by Volkswagen, Rolls-Royce Motors is owned by BMW (and the original Rolls-Royce company isn’t in the automobile business anymore), and Jaguar was owned by Ford and is now owned by an Indian company called Tata. Still, the Brits seem to be especially proud of their car brands, and that includes Jaguar Land Rover, which is based in Gaydon, UK but they also have a reasonable presence in the United States out of Mahwah, NJ.

Hear Jaguar Roar

We all know Jaguar as a luxury automobile brand, and that’s exactly what they are. Jaguar probably doesn’t have the most youthful image, but that makes sense since most people can’t afford fancy cars until later in life. Jaguar actually got its start as the Swallow Sidecar Company, which made sidecars for motorcycles, but they eventually moved on to manufacturing automobiles and changed their name after World War II. The company is now obviously very international; however, most of their operations still occur in the United Kingdom and they’re still very much a British company. Beyond the cameo in the Royal Wedding, Jaguar manufactures cars for the British Prime Minister and “holds Royal Warrants from HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.” Jaguar doesn’t offer much information about their company or their careers on their website, but you can check out their jobs here. I got excited because they have a bunch of Analyst positions, but those all require 5 years of experience. The one seemingly entry level position that they have right now is Land Rover Parts Operations Coordinator. You can check that out, or wait to see what other positions they might post in the near future. And don’t be afraid to use the Royal Wedding for other job search ideas.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

Russell Stover

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

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

Are You Sweet on These Jobs?

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you enjoy Russell Stover candies?

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?

Nissan

Willy Franzen — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:52:28 +0000

If you haven’t already taken a look at our profile on MATCH Public Charter School, now is the time to do it. They’re changing the world of education, and they’re hiring a ton of new grads.

I don’t know about you, but my college never gave me Presidents’ Day off. At it’s core it’s an important holiday, but it’s pretty much become a reason for car dealerships and furniture stores to have sales. Since it’s a day for cars and I’ve been going through Fast Company’s list of The 2011 Most Innovative Companies, I decided it’s only appropriate that we take a look at Nissan USA, which came in at #4 on the list. While Nissan is headquartered in Japan, their US group is based in Franklin, TN with a number of other locations across North America. Now, the reason that Nissan is getting so much buzz is that they recently released the Nissan LEAF Electric Car, the “first mass-market all-electric car.” With the release of this automobile, Nissan went from an industry laggard to a leader in sustainability. It’s hard to say whether electric cars are truly the future, but you have to give Nissan props for going all out.

Plug In to Nissan

It’s really interesting to think about careers in the automotive industry. In some ways it seems super risky–there’s a ton of change going on. On the other hand it has to be a good bet–cars aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The big question for car guys and girls is where do you go? Do you take a risk on a newcomer like Tesla Motors? Or do you play it safe (or not so safe) with one of the Big Three? Maybe somewhere in between? It’s really hard to say which car manufacturers will be on top in ten years, but you have to like Nissan’s chances. Their slogan is “SHIFT_the way you move,” and they say that they want to make “cars that are more efficient, more beautiful, more inspiring and more human than ever before.” If that gets you fired up, then you’ll want to check out Nissan.jobs. The site includes a section on Student Opportunities, but it really only tells you that they offer internships, entry level jobs, and an MBA rotation program. It’s completely unhelpful, and their job search function isn’t much better.

Despite Nissan’s claim that they “have many exciting opportunities for recent undergrads,” I don’t see them posted. My recommendation is that you take a look at their internship postings, and use the information in those to inform you on what might be available. Then send a general application from here. Nissan’s current internship offerings include (can’t link to them because of the way their site works): Communications Intern (Franklin, TN); Manufacturing Intern (Smyrna, TN); NTCNA Engineering Intern (Farmington Hills, MI); Production Control/SCM (Smyrna, TN); Parts, Service, & Accessores Intern (Mt. Juliet, TN); Purchasing Intern (Farmington Hills, MI); NMAC Dealer Review Coordinator Intern (Irving, TX); Sales & Marketing Intern (Franklin, TN); NMAC Collections Intern (Irving, TX); Infiniti Business Unit Intern (Franklin, TN); Finance Intern (Franklin, TN); Social Media Marketing Intern (Franklin, TN); and Engineering Intern (Canton, MS). I wish that I could be more helpful, but Nissan needs to get their campus and online recruiting acts together.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever driven a Nissan?

Necco

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

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

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

Be Theirs

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Conversation Heart saying?

Nestle Purina

Willy Franzen — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:37:26 +0000

This is a sponsored post for Nestle Purina.

Who else thinks there aren’t enough pets in college? I understand that college students are often stressed, busy, and living in places where animals aren’t permitted, but I’d like to see more pets on campus. My roommates and I had a cat, a bird, a hamster, and an occasionally visiting dog—all of which our landlord didn’t quite know about. We knew we weren’t supposed to have them, but the excitement that the animals constantly brought to the house made it well worth the risk of a $500 fine. I know a few people who decided to get a cat or dog after graduating from college, but most held back because they didn’t know if their work schedule would allow them to give their pets the care that they would need. This isn’t a problem at Nestle Purina, a St. Louis, MO based company (with dozens of other locations) that is a “leader in the pet products industry.” Not only do they offer a pet-friendly workplace, but they also offer a work environment where you’ll be “dedicated to improving the lives of cats and dogs through quality nutrition and care.” You’re probably familiar with a number of Nestle Purina’s brands including Pro Plan, Purina ONE, Dog Chow, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Beggin’ Strips and many more—and I hope your pets are too.

Calling All Animal Lovers

If you’re wondering why there’s a Nestle in front of the Purina name, it’s because of a merger in 2001—they’re not making chocolate flavored dog food. Along with the Purina name, they’ve also held on to the company’s iconic checkerboard logo that you see above. What I like most about Nestle Purina is their commitment to recruiting top talent. For many companies a Jobs page is an afterthought, but Nestle Purina has an entire careers site at NestlePurinaCareers.com. The site provides extremely detailed information on their career opportunities and what it’s like to work for them, so you don’t have to wonder whether it makes sense for you to apply or not. The site include information on Locations, Culture & Benefits, Departments, Company History, and more, but the most important thing for you is their Step One Management Trainee Program. It’s an 18-24 month program that offers opportunities in Engineering (mechanical, industrial, chemical, and more), Food Science, Microbiology, Supply Chain, Occupational/Safety/Health, Packaging Engineering, Packaging Design, Engineering Technology, Human Resources, Information Systems, Computer Science, and Accounting. They even have podcasts that go into great depth about many of these opportunities, and you can also check out their Choosing Your Career Path page and their walk-through of the hiring process.

The Nestle Purina Management Trainee Program is offered in three locations: Jefferson, WI; Davenport, IA; and Bloomfield, MO. Once you’ve completed the program you can expect to relocate to any of Nestlé Purina’s 21 plant locations in the United States. As you can see, Nestle Purina pays a lot of attention to their college recruiting, which is why they were “named by Experience.com and Yahoo!HotJobs as one of the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads in 2010.” They’ve put together some great opportunities for when you graduate, so check them out and Apply for the Nestle Purina Management Trainee Program →.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have any questions about Nestle Purina? Ask them here and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.

IGT

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:38:01 +0000

My family is in Colorado Springs this week, and we’re staying at an amazing ranch on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Yesterday we went back to civilization for the first time, and we decided to visit Cripple Creek—an old mining town that was home to “the last great Colorado gold rush” and more than half a billion dollars in gold ore. Unfortunately gold mining can only last so long, and Cripple Creek eventually became a ghost town. In 1991 voters legalized gambling in Cripple Creek, and the city was reinvigorated, albeit with most of the storefronts inhabited with gaming establishments. Our visit was interrupted by a massive hail storm, so we waited in the car until it let up a bit and ran into the first restaurant we could find. Turns out that it was a restaurant inside of a casino, and we had to walk past a bunch of slots and other machines to get a bite to eat. Of course, I couldn’t make it past the Game King video poker machine without playing, and luckily I came away from “lunch” 90 bucks richer. That gave me the idea to take a look at IGT (International Game Technology), the Reno, NV based gaming company that designs and manufactures the Game King machine among many other casino machines.

A Jackpot for Your Job Search

IGT calls itself “the leading company specializing in design, development, manufacturing, distribution and sales of computerized gaming equipment, software and network systems worldwide.” And that seems fair considering how ubiquitous their machines seem to be on casino floors. I guess that’s why they just won 16 awards from Casino Player Magazine’s Best of Gaming Reader Poll—the most of any manufacturer. IGT’s success spans across types of gaming machines; however, some of their biggest successes have come with cobranded machines like the Wheel of Fortune slots. The only issue with IGT seems to be that they’re extremely sensitive to the recession, as any player in the gaming or hospitality industry will be. Judging from both their Job postings and LinkedIn, it appears that they haven’t been doing much hiring of late. However, IGT just named a new VP of HR, so that may get things going again.

IGT is really big on campus recruiting, and they seem to put a lot of effort into their University Relations presence for both entry level hires and internships (they’ve since merged this into their regular Careers page). You can get an overview of the types of opportunities available at IGT here, and they include positions in Accounting & Finance, Administrative Services, Casino Services/Casino Support & Training, Corporate Strategy, Engineering, Facilities & Security, Game Design/Art, Human Resources, Information Systems/ERP, Legal/Compliance, Manufacturing & Operations, Marketing, Product Management, Sales & Business Development, and Technical Documentation/Drafting. You can also take a look at ~~IGT’s Employee Profiles~~ (since deleted) to get a better feel for the positions that you might be interested in (most of which are located in Reno and Las Vegas, but they also have opportunities in nearly any area where gambling is big). Unfortunately, IGT doesn’t seem to provide an HR contact on their website, and their applicant tracking system is terrible. To apply for an unlisted position (since it’s off cycle for college recruiting right now), I recommend that you try reaching out to them at Careers@IGT.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you played any IGT games?

Anti-eco

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:42:57 +0000

I’m not a big t-shirt guy. Don’t get me wrong, I have a ton of t-shirts, but they’re usually ones that I somehow managed to get for free. For me a t-shirt isn’t a great way to make a statement, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy the statements that other people make across their chests. Anti-eco is a New York City based t-shirt company that is all about making statements. They are “lovers of social commentary, rational provocation and a thriving healthy planet,” so they poke fun at the environmentalist movement while actually supporting it. You’ll find t-shirts with sayings like “acid rain tastes like chicken,” “be organic. eat an organ,” and “global warming sounds comfy.” They certainly sound anti-eco, but then you see that they use organic cotton, water based inks, and certified responsible apparel production methods. How ironic!

Are You Anti-eco?

Anti-eco’s goal is to “create a product that is as planet-conscious as it is cheeky,” and they do just that. And to add to their responsibility, they also donate a percentage of every sale “to the clean-up and preservation of wildlife in the Gulf oil spill.” Anti-eco’s shirts are quite funny, and so is the copy on their website. As long as you’re not afraid of puns, you should take a look at their Philosophy page. Now, Anti-eco is just a tiny t-shirt startup right now, but they could become a lot more. They’re offering unpaid internships in areas like Fashion PR and Marketing, Creative/Humor Writing and PR, and Fashion Sales, so they appear to have an eye towards growth. If you want to work for Anti-eco and actually get paid, then you have two options: Sewer or Hand Beader. These aren’t exactly career track positions, but they certainly could lead towards something bigger at Anti-eco in the future. Maybe you even combine one of the paid positions with an unpaid internship and really force their hand. You can apply by contacting jonathan@anti-eco.com (who I hope calls himself the Anti-ceo).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you wear an Anti-eco t-shirt?

Vibram

Willy Franzen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:12:51 +0000

On Saturday I played in a beach volleyball tournament with my girlfriend. We ended up winning our division of co-ed doubles which came with a $60 prize (we got our entrance fee back). It was a great day despite the 94 degree heat, but it was definitely exhausting… and painful. The pain only came during my last match when I realized that I had developed some pretty nasty burns/blisters on the arches of my feet from playing barefoot for 9 hours on the scalding hot sand. Obviously I need to purchases something to protect my feet for my next tournament, and I was considering the Fivefingers shoes from Vibram (it turns out that they don’t do all that well in the sand, so I’ll need to get sand socks). Vibram is an Italian company (their U.S. office is in Concord, MA) that is the “world leader in high performance rubber soles, targeted to the outdoor, work, recreation, fashion, repair and orthopedic markets.” They’ve been around for 73 years, but they seem to have recently hit a tipping point in terms of brand recognition. The Fivefingers shoes are totally odd looking, but they apparently offer some really great benefits for your feet. I saw my first pair on a good friend who has recommended quite a few companies that we’ve featured (so he’s an in the know kind of guy), and since I saw them on him, I keep spotting them all over the place. I also know of Vibram because they make the soles that are used for my fishing boots (they grip slippery rocks that other soles would slip on).

Get a Grip on Vibram

Vibram is already producing 35 million soles each year, which makes sense because they truly are a technological leader in the footwear category. The interesting development is Vibram’s increased focus on its own brand. Most of the soles that they produce are for partners who manufacture and brand their own shoes. Now that Vibram has had such a big success with the Fivefingers, I imagine that they’ll look to expand their own consumer product line. I’ve been meaning to feature Vibram for at least a year, but only now have I found enough information to give you a good start on learning about jobs with them. Most of their operations are based at their headquarters in Italy, but the U.S. office in Concord, MA does seem to be growing. There isn’t a specific Jobs page for it, but on Vibram’s Contact page they list staff@vibram.com as an address to which you can send a job application. Additionally, there is a Jobs page for Brookfield, MA based Quabaug Corporation, which is the exclusive North American manufacturer for Vibram. It’s hard to say what kind of opportunities might be available, so I’ll leave it up to you to find out by reaching out to the folks at Vibram.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Vibram products?

Advanced BioHealing

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:16:28 +0000

Last week a friend was telling me that his wife, who is in her residency, was going to have to work in the ER on the Fourth of July. I have to imagine that’s one of the most active nights of the year with injuries from fireworks, barbecues, and gunshots (especially in Chicago). All you need is a little imagination to come up with some nasty scenarios that would have ruined your holiday and left you with a permanent injury like my friend who passed out at a barbecue and now has perfect grill marks on his forearm—yes, that means he put his arm down twice. Usually these types of injuries aren’t funny, and they can be extremely traumatic with lasting consequences. Luckily, we’re entering an age of regenerative medicine in which injuries may not be so permanent. Advanced BioHealing is a La Jolla, CA based company that “develops and commercializes living cell therapies that repair damaged human tissue and enable the body to heal itself.” Their current product is called Dermagraft, and it’s a “a bio-engineered skin substitute that assists in restoring damaged tissue and supports the body’s natural healing process.” Right now it’s FDA approved to treat diabetic foot ulcers, but it appears that Advanced BioHealing also has a product called TransCyte that might be used to treat the kind of burns that fireworks or barbecues could cause.

Can You Regenerate?

Now, my medical knowledge is pretty much limited to what I make up, so I’m not the guy to tell you all about Advanced BioHealing. You’ll have to head over to their website and delve into their Corporate Info, Product Details, and Press Releases. Once you get a feel for how Advanced BioHealing works and operates, then you can check out their Careers page. They have a ton of jobs posted, and plenty of them seem suitable for new grads with the right backgrounds. These positions include Manufacturing Associate, Shipping and Receiving Associate, Quality Control Microbiologist, Reimbursement Manager, Research Associate, and a number of Sales positions in various locations. You can check out the job descriptions to get a better feel for what they’re looking for since some of the jobs require specific educational backgrounds.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Advanced BioHealing?

General Mills

Willy Franzen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:51:47 +0000

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In past years we’ve looked at Shamrock Boats and Luck Stone to celebrate the holiday, but today we’re going to take a look at jobs with Minneapolis, MN based General Mills because there’s no more authentic Irish breakfast than Lucky Charms. Now, it’s been a while since I last had a bowl of everybody’s favorite marshmallow-filled cereal—ok, it’s been a month—but it feels like it’s been much longer. Beyond Lucky Charms, General Mills’ brands include Cheerios, Pillsbury, Gushers, Haagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Cascadian Farm, and many more names that you’ll recognize from the center aisles in the grocery store. Most of them may have nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, but add some green food coloring if that’s what you’re really concerned about.

Work at the Mills

There’s not much more to say about General Mills. Their focus is on their 100+ brands, and that’s what makes them the world’s 6th largest food company. They hold the No. 1 or No. 2 position in nearly every category that they compete in, and their products are so ubiquitous that the average U.S. grocery shopper places at least one General Mills product in his or her cart every time he or she shops. Because General Mills is such a large company, they have a very strong Campus Recruiting Program. Unfortunately, their Campus Events Calendar indicates that most of their recruiting has passed. Typically they place new grads into the following areas:

Because the Campus Recruiting season has passed for General Mills, your best bet is to use their job search function to look for positions. There are certainly entry level positions available, so give it a look and hope for some St. Patrick’s day luck when you apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite General Mills brand?

Hostess Brands

Willy Franzen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:55:09 +0000

I’ve failed you. After two years of getting it right, I forgot to do a post for Pi Day yesterday. In 2008 we looked at jobs at Pi Media, and in 2009 we looked at jobs with The Mathematical Association of America. So, what does the guy who is late for the Pi Day party do when he was supposed to bring the pie? He obviously goes the Hostess Brands route—the cheapest and easiest way to get Fruit Pies at the last minute (I guess McDonald’s is your other option). It may not be like the pies that your grandma makes (my grandma makes an awesome Chocolate Dream Pie), but it gets the job done. And if you don’t like the Fruit Pies, you can rely on other favorites from the Irving, TX based baking company like Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, Sno Balls, Ding Dongs, HoHos, and even Wonder Bread for those of you who are lacking a sweet tooth.

Be Their Guest

From what I can tell, Hostess Brands (Hostess and Wonder Bread) is owned by a company called Interstate Bakeries, which is going through some financial problems, but with that said, it appears that Hostess Brands still has plenty of job opportunities. The company may not be seeing growth like some companies that take a healthier approach to food are seeing, but Hostess and Wonder Bread are still iconic American brands. If it sounds like a brand that you might want to be a part of, then you can check out Hostess Brands’ Jobs page. Their job postings are all over the place—both in terms of location and fields (the Hostess Brands Operations Center is based in Kansas City, MO). There don’t appear to be many corporate positions posted, but there are Sales and Business Development positions from all across the country. You can apply for any of the positions online, so grab a Twinkie and start browsing.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Hostess Brands treat?

RKS

Willy Franzen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:00:10 +0000

Apparently the hot dog is a killer. Who knew? I had heard that the preservatives in hot dogs might cause cancer, but I read yesterday in this Fast Company article that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently “called for the redesign of hot dogs” because of the choking hazard. One of the Academy’s doctors even went so far as to say that, “If you were to take the best engineers in the world and asked them to design a perfect plug for a child’s airway, you couldn’t do better than a hot dog.” The article went on to discuss how RKS, a Thousand Oaks, CA based industrial design firm, was playing with ideas on how to redesign the hot dog. That’s a big task to bite off, but RKS was able to come up with some pretty cool concepts in their brainstorming. It shows why they can claim companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nissan, and HP as clients.

Bite Off More Than You Can Chew at RKS

Despite their work on sausage design (did I ever mention that I took a Meat Science course in college?), RKS actually isn’t usually focused on food. While they seem willing to work on any type of project, their areas of focus include: Product Definition, Consumer Research, Market Analysis, Brand Strategy, Brand Communications, Industrial Design, Engineering, Prototyping, Human Factors, User Interface, Manufacturing Liaison, Packaging Design, Web Design, Channel Strategy, and Experience Design. RKS says that they “create designs that harmonize function, aesthetics, and emotions,” and that’s the key to what they call Psycho-Aesthetics®. Those are all nice words, but to really see what it all means you need to look at RKS’s portfolio and case studies. The RKS website is filled with great information about them, so you should definitely spend some time getting to know what their business is about. Once you do that, you can check out their Jobs page. They don’t post any positions on there, but they do allow you to apply for a job in the following areas: Industrial Design, Design Strategy, Graphic Design, Engineering/Innovation, Project Management, Model Shop, and Business Development. I’m not sure what it takes to get an entry level job at RKS, but you can be sure that you have to be very good at what you do. In addition to their web submission form, you can also reach out to RKS about employment opportunities at careers@rksdesign.com or by contacting Amalia Azzam Human Resources at amalia@rksdesign.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How would you redesign the hot dog?

Berry Plastics

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:39:49 +0000

A couple of days ago the blogosphere exploded (pun intended) with news about bomb proof wallpaper. The story originally came from Popular Science with a video of a wrecking ball trying to knock down a brick wall that has been reinforced with the X-Flex Blast Protection System (the video is included below). I always love news stories like this one, because it puts the spotlight on a company that you never would have otherwise. In this case it’s Berry Plastics, an Evansville, IN based plastics company. Their products range from agricultural films to plastic bottles and from drink cups to trash bags. There’s a good chance that you have dozens of items in your house/dorm/apartment that were manufactured by Berry Plastics—you just don’t know it because most people don’t care who manufactured their shampoo bottles.

Bomb Proof Your Job Search

I’m pretty sure consumers will be much more brand conscious when it comes to buying bomb proof wallpaper. Obviously the military is talking about using the X-Flex Blast Protection System, and I can also imagine the product’s being used in areas where hurricanes or tornadoes are prevalent. You’ll see why in the video below (subscribers should click through to view):

For me the obvious question whenever I find an interesting company like Berry Plastics is are they hiring? Considering that Berry Plastics has more than 13,000 employees (most of them in a manufacturing setting), I’d have to imagine that they’re always hiring at some level. Unfortunately Berry Plastics has the worst Applicant Tracking System that I’ve ever seen. It uses a Java applet, and it’s absolutely unusable. It doesn’t really make sense, since they have a pretty informative Careers page. Since I can’t get the read on specific positions, we’ll have to go by the fact that Berry Plastics says that they typically offer positions in the following areas: Accounting, Administration, Automation, Customer Service, Engineering, Graphic Arts, Human Resources, Information Technology, Production (Molding, Printing, Machine Operator, Material Handling), Maintenance, Management, Marketing, Materials Management, Purchasing, Quality Assurance, Sales, and Tool Room.

There’s no word on college recruiting, but you’d have to imagine that an Engineering focused company of 13,000 does at least some entry level hiring. You should also note that one of the benefits listed on their Careers page is “Fun.” I guess your best bet is to apply through their online application form, or if you’re really going to go for you could print your résumé on Berry Plastics’ bomb proof wallpaper and send it to them. They’d have to hire you because they wouldn’t be able to destroy your résumé.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to use bomb proof wallpaper?

Mars

Willy Franzen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:02:10 +0000

Tomorrow is Halloween, which means that we need to talk about candy today. We’ve already looked at companies like Jelly Belly, The Hershey Company, Charles Chocolates, Vosges, and Just Born Quality Confections. We’ve also discussed jobs at Mars & Co., which is a consulting firm, and not to be confused with Mars, the CPG and candy company. You probably know them best for M&M’s, Snickers, Dove, Milky Way, Twix, and Mars bar; however, they’re also behind Pedigree, Whiskas, Uncle Ben’s, and quite a few other brands. For your sake I hope you only run into the good stuff and not Whiskas or Pedigree during your trick-or-treating. While headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars has locations all across the world. They’re a huge company with a ton of international business, which makes for a great place to gain some experience.

Take a Trip to Mars

It all started in 1911 with butter cream candies in a kitchen in Tacoma, WA. Frank C. Mars and his wife started selling these candies, and now you’d be hard pressed to find a person who has never tasted one of his company’s confections. If you’d like to be part of this true American success story, then you need to check out Mars’ Careers page. They offer a lot of information about their company and what it’s like to work for them, and they even have a separate section for students. It seems that most of the information that they provide is on International careers, but they have a job search function that will let you find what you’re looking for. And since you’re in the trick-or-treating mood, I’m going to leave that up to you—but just so you know, they have job opportunities in areas including Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Logisitcs, Manufacturing, Marketing, Purchasing, Research & Development, & Sales.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite candy from Mars?

Kiva Systems

Willy Franzen — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:42:08 +0000

We’ve already taken a look at Kiva, a San Francisco based microfinance non-profit, but today we’re going to take a look at Kiva Systems, a Woburn, MA based logistics and robotics company. They were ranked #6 on the Inc. 5000 this year by growing from $204,000 in revenue in 2005 to $21.4 million in revenue in 2008. That’s 10,399.0%, which is just insane. Their growth is coming from the online shopping revolution, even though they’re not an e-commerce company. This is due to the fact that their automated order fulfillment systems are huge efficiency boosters for warehouse operations. It’s hard to imagine how a Kiva Mobile Fulfillment System works, but once you see the video below, you’ll totally get it—and you will be amazed.

Kiva’s Magic Job Shelf

Since there’s no better way to understand what Kiva Systems does than to watch one of their systems in action, I’ve scrounged up a video to demonstrate what they’re all about (e-mail readers please click through to watch).

As you can see, Kiva Systems has developed technology that is changing the way fulfillment happens without completely ridding the process of humans. They’ve worked with names like Zappos, Walgreens, and Diapers.com, and that client list is just going to keep growing. They’ve only been around since 2003, so Kiva Systems is still a very young company, which means that there couldn’t be a better time to get in than now. They’re one of the most fascinating companies that I’ve come across in my nearly two years of profiling companies, and they’re looking to hire lots of entry level talent. They have a special Jobs page for college students/grads that describes that they’re looking for. They are mostly hiring engineers to join their Software, Hardware, and Manufacturing Teams; however, they also have opportunities on their Professional Services and Customer Experience Teams. You can apply for a job by e-mailing your résumé and cover letter to jobs@kivasystems.com noting your area of interest and graduation date. Unlike items in a warehouse with a Kiva Mobile Fulfillment System, these jobs aren’t going to bring themselves to you, so get to work!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Kiva Systems?

Liberty Tire Recycling

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:39:46 +0000

While many of the companies that I’ve found from the Inc. 5000 have had excellent entry level job opportunities, there have also been plenty of companies that either didn’t have jobs suitable for new college grads or didn’t even have a Careers page. I thought that I’d take today to remind you that those companies aren’t necessarily out of reach. You can always try cold calling companies that you find fascinating. One perfect example is Liberty Tire Recycling. They’re a Pittsburgh, PA based company that does all kinds of cool things with used tires. Since used tires are pretty much garbage to most people, Liberty Tire Recycling is able to get them on the cheap and use their processing techniques to do all kinds of cool things. That explains why their revenue has grown from $35.5 million to $110.6 million over the past 3 years. I have no idea if that means that they’re hiring, but they’re still worth considering.

No Retreads for Your Career

People have been retreading tires for a long time, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg at Liberty Tire Recycling. They process used tires into crumb rubber, which, in turn, can be made into things like the base for artificial turf, extruded/laminated/molded rubber goods, playground surfacing, decorative mulch, or even tire derived fuel. Get this…

Liberty Tire Recycling currently produces enough Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) to generate 100% of the electricity needed to power a city of 153,000 … equal to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Rockford, Illinois or Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

Although recycling tires sounds pretty mundane at first, it’s amazing what kind of environmental impact Liberty Tire Recycling can have by taking a creative approach to recycling. That’s why I think that they’d be such an interesting place to work. They apparently have somewhere between 650 and 1,000 employees, but only a handful are on LinkedIn. That tells me that most of their employees are working on the industrial side, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not expanding on the corporate side. If you’re as fascinated by Liberty Tire Recycling as I am, why don’t you reach out to them at corporate@libertytire.com and see if they have any job openings available. The same goes for any other company that you find with no job postings. It never hurts to ask.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried cold calling any companies yet?

W.L. Gore & Associates

Willy Franzen — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:59:17 +0000

This week One Day, One Job is coming to you from the Northern woods of Michigan, which means that I have fly fishing on my mind. At least half my days up here are spent in waders—boots that go all the way up to your chest so that you can walk around in the river without getting wet—which gave me a great idea for a company to feature today. Newark, DE based W.L. Gore & Associates “is a leading manufacturer of thousands of advanced technology products for the electronics, industrial, fabrics and medical markets,” but they are most relevant to me (and probably to you too) as the company behind GORE-TEX®. If you’re not familiar with it, GORE-TEX® is a waterproof fabric that is breathable. That means that waders and rain jackets that are made out of GORE-TEX® not only keep you dry from the water on the outside, but they also keep you from drenching yourself with sweat on the inside.

Stay Dry with Gore

Most of Gore’s products are probably things that you won’t notice in your every day life, but they really hit the consumer products jackpot with GORE-TEX®. When you realize how important the other products that they manufacture are to everything that you do, I guarantee that you’ll be impressed. The good news on Gore is that beyond making amazing products, they’re also an amazing place to work. They’ve been named to FORTUNE magazines list of “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” every year since the list has been published, and it all can be attributed to Gore’s fabulous their culture. They have an excellent Careers site and even have a special section with Opportunities for New Graduates that lists the following positions: Process Engineer, Product Development Associate, Manufacturing Engineering/Operations Associate, Application Engineer, Process Control Engineer, Operations Management Associate, and Technical Sales Associate. Unfortunately that page doesn’t tell you were to go to apply for these jobs. Your best bet for applying is to use Gore’s job search function to search for jobs that match these titles (or you can just check the box “Early-Career Professional”). They also offer the option to apply for an unlisted position, so that might be a good thing to try too. They certainly could make things a little more clear for new grads though.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite GORE-TEX® application?

New Leaf Paper

Willy Franzen — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:41:52 +0000

I wasn’t going to write an Earth Day post today, because I hate the environment. (That’s not true, it’s just what I tell Green Peace people who harass me as I walk down the street. The real reason was that I was going to do Administrative Assistants’ Day instead.) However, I came across San Francisco based New Leaf Paper, which couldn’t be a more fitting company to feature on Earth Day. According to their web site, they lead “the paper industry in the development and distribution of environmentally superior printing and office papers.” It’s kind of like Dunder Mifflin gone green and moved to California (there’s an idea for the Michael Scott Paper Company!). If you’re surprised that a paper company can offer both quality and affordability while being eco-friendly, then you should check out New Leaf’s Eco Audit. I don’t know what to make of all those numbers, but hopefully you will. At the very least it sounds phenomenal that they saved 118 Trees, 5,551 Pounds of solid waste, 50,178 Gallons of water, 84 Million Btu of energy, and more.

Turn Over a New Leaf

Although our paper usage has probably peaked (the decline seems to have started in 2007), we still use a ton of paper. That means that there’s a lot of room for a company like New Leaf Paper to eat up market share as corporate paper buyers decide to go green. That’s probably why New Leaf Paper recently secured a $5 million equity investment, even though they’re a profitable company that has been around for more than 10 years. This recent investment is the reason that we decided to talk about jobs with them, even though they don’t have anything posted at the entry level (we found them because of their internship postings). In fact, I couldn’t find New Leaf Paper’s Jobs page by navigating their site; however, I did find it through a Google search. They do have one Senior Sales position listed, but we think that there might be future opportunities coming soon as New Leaf Paper starts investing the money that they recently got. You can reach out to New Leaf Paper about jobs at info@newleafpaper.com, but be sure to do some research on their LinkedIn profile first to get an idea of what types of positions might be available.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think is going to happen with the Michael Scott Paper Company?

Rawlings

Willy Franzen — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:29:08 +0000

It’s Opening Day! Although it may not be a real holiday to you, to those of us who who are die hard baseball fans it’s quite possibly the best day of the year (especially fans of perennial losers whose best record all season is 0-0). I already had my baseball fix this weekend, since I flew out to NYC to see the opening of the new Yankee Stadium in an exhibition game between the Yanks and the Cubs, but I am beyond excited to watch some games that actually count. With that in mind, we’re going to run with the baseball theme today. We’ve already covered jobs with Major League Baseball and its teams, so we’re going to look at St. Louis based Rawlings today. They were the manufacturer of my first ever baseball glove (which had a Jose Canseco facsimile signature on the palm), so I inevitably think of Rawlings when I think of baseball. Their posted job offerings are a bit sparse, but hopefully you’ll use the good vibes from Opening Day to inspire your job search. (Remember: These posts aren’t just about the companies that we feature. They’re also about bringing creativity to your job search.)

Catch an Entry Level Job with Rawlings

In case you’ve never heard of Rawlings before, they make equipment for Baseball, Softball, Basketball, Soccer, and Volleyball. At their heart, though, they’re a baseball company. They produce all kinds of fun stuff – gloves, bats, balls, batting gloves, uniforms, apparel, protective gear, batting gloves, and much more. Unfortunately, their website is entirely in Flash (is this getting more common?), so we can’t link to all of the specifics. If you’re a baseball player like me, you’ll probably get lost looking at all of the cool stuff that they make. I remember poring over baseball catalogs for hours to decide which new bat I was going to get when I was in high school. Anyway, Rawlings is mostly a manufacturer, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have interesting jobs for new college grads. Take a look at Rawlings’ Company Profile on LinkedIn, and you’ll see what kind of careers they typically offer. Right now, the only jobs they have posted are on Jarden’s Careers site (Jarden is Rawlings’ parent company), and they’re on the manufacturing side. If you don’t want to work on the line tanning gloves and dealing with chemicals, then do a little more research and see if you can find an in with Rawlings in another area of their business. You should also check out some of the links under the About Rawlings section on Rawlings’ home page – they have info on benefits and company kickball teams. Also, watch out for the blaring music that starts playing when you hit the home page. It’s pretty annoying.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Rawlings.com
Jarden.com (Rawlings’ Parent Company)
Jobs at Rawlings (Jarden’s Corporate Careers Site)
Rawlings’ Company Profile on LinkedIn

What other baseball related jobs have you come across? Whose signature was on your first baseball glove?

Alcoa

Willy Franzen — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:39:04 +0000

This is a sponsored post. We’ve worked directly with Alcoa to bring you the inside scoop on their top entry-level career opportunities.

My introduction to Alcoa came through the Baseball Express catalog. I was a high school baseball player, and I spent hours poring over the pages dreaming about saving up enough to buy a brand new baseball bat made out of cutting edge materials. The catalog’s copy had me convinced that a bat made from Alcoa’s latest alloy was the key to hitting home runs. Had I spent more time in the batting cage, and less time researching my baseball bat purchase, maybe I would have done more than played Club Baseball in college for a year. Then again, the bat that I finally chose did hit the ball a lot farther than the bats that I had used in previous years. Since you probably had better things to do in high school than read baseball catalogs from cover to cover, you may not be familiar with Alcoa, but you should know that producing aluminum for baseball bats is just a tiny sliver of what they do. It is, however, an excellent example of how Alcoa seems to have a hand in almost everything.

What Does Alcoa Do?

In one word: aluminum. Alcoa’s major cash cow is their Global Flat Rolled Products business, which “offers the widest variety of aluminum plate and sheet in the world.” If you’re using a product made out of aluminum, there’s a good chance that it started out at Alcoa’s Global Flat Rolled Products. Just think of all the cool things that are made from aluminum – baseball bats, beer and soda cans, airplanes, consumer electronics – we could keep going. If you really want to see some of the coolest things that have been made out of aluminum, you should check out Alcoa’s blog posts from the Consumer Electronics Show. The possibilities with aluminum as a material are seemingly endless, and that’s why Alcoa has branched out over the years into an a amazingly diverse array of businesses that include Defense, Plastics, Energy, Recycling, Propulsion, HVAC, and many more. They’re blogging about their work in Recycling and Aerospace, so check those blogs out for a unique look inside Alcoa.

When it comes to researching Alcoa, you could spend weeks learning about the entire company – it’s huge. They have 97,000 employees who work in 34 countries. Your best bet is to focus on the divisions that interest you the most, and learn about them and their specific entry-level opportunities. You may never have considered a job at a major industrial corporation, but you should look closely at Alcoa. It’s likely that they’ll exceed your expectations. For example Alcoa has recently been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies and one of the World’s Most Sustainable Companies. They also send their employees on Earth Watch trips and invite them to blog about their experiences. Pretty cool, huh?

What Can I Do at Alcoa?

Alcoa is a major entry-level employer, and they typically add about 175 new college graduates to their ranks every year. The positions that they hire for are as diverse as the businesses that they operate in, and they have locations all across the country – there’s something for everyone. They’ve worked with us to identify the positions that One Day, One Job readers will be most interested in, and you will find those listed below. They’ve also provided a link directly into their applicant tracking system for students who can’t find a job listing that is well suited for them. If you don’t find anything below, use this link to submit your cover letter and resume for consideration by Alcoa’s college recruiting team. If you look like a good fit, they’ll work with you to find the right position in the company.

We know that Alcoa has a very strong internship program, so we asked the folks at Alcoa what kind of jobs their interns who stay with the company usually take after they graduate from college. We were told that last year’s intern class went into areas like Legal, Electrical Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, and Finance. We were also told that Alcoa counts internships, volunteer work, and other similar activities as years of experience. That means that even if a job listing says that 3 years of experience is required, you shouldn’t be afraid to apply.

Here are Alcoa’s entry-level jobs for new college graduates with the most recently posted listed first:

ABS Technician (Continuous Improvement/Lean Production/Manufacturing) – Global Primary Products – Point Comfort, TX
Communications Specialist – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Warrick, IN
Associate Buyer – Alcoa Corporate – Springdale, AR
Capital Council Commodity Analyst – Alcoa Wireless Services – Pittsburgh, PA
NDT Level III – Aerospace Automotive and Commercial Transportation (Howmet Castings) – LaPorte, IN
Business Analyst I (HRMS) – Alcoa Corporate – Pittsburgh, PA
Product Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – LaPorte, IN
Safety Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
EHS Professional – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Massena, NY
Tooling/Product Engineer – Aerospace Automotive and Commercial Transportation – Flexible Location
Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
Metallurgical Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Winsted, CT
Electrical Engineer – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Alcoa, TN
Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
Mechanical Engineer – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Warrick, IN
Metallurgical Engineer – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Warrick, IN
Safety Specialist – Global Primary Products – Wenatchee, WA
Cost Accountant – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
Facilities Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – LaPorte, IN
Reliability Engineer (Power Distribution) – Global Primary Products – Wenatchee, WA
Sr. Accountant – Engineered Products & Solutions – Torrance, CA
Product Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
Project Specialist – Aerospace Automotive and Commercial Transportation (Howmet Castings) – Whitehall, MI
Process Engineer – Global Primary Products – Rockdale, TX
Facilities Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
Senior Treasury Analyst (Global Leasing) – Alcoa Corporate – Pittsburgh, PA
Safety Coordinator – Engineered Products & Solutions – Hernando, MS
EHS Engineer (EHS-RD) – Alcoa Technical Center – Alcoa Center, PA
Mechanical Engineering Technician – Engineered Products & Solutions – Cleveland, OH
Marketing Analyst – Engineered Products & Solutions – Nashville, TN
Jr. Business Analyst – Engineered Products & Solutions – Simi Valley, CA
Project Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Eastman, GA
Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Eastman, GA
Facilities Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
Environmental Engineer – Global Primary Products – Wenatchee, WA
Engineered Products & Solutions – Global Primary Products – Nashville, TN
Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
Manufacturing Engineer – Sapa (Alcoa Extrusions) – Morris, IL
Production Planner – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – LaPorte, IN
Plant Sales Representative – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
Manufacturing Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Hampton, VA

If you see something that catches your eye, just click the link, read the description, and apply. They’ll know that you came from One Day, One Job. If you’re intrigued by these jobs, but don’t see anything in your desired field or location, you can still send your resume and cover letter to Alcoa through this online form or you can use their search function to find newly listed opportunities. You may also want to look at Alcoa’s GREA Acquiring Talent Program, which is a Leadership Development Program and has a separate application process.

Thanks to Alcoa for working with us to bring you these excellent entry-level job opportunities. Now go get researching!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Alcoa.com
Careers at Alcoa
About Alcoa
Working at Alcoa
Profiles of Employees at Alcoa
Why Alcoa?
Alcoa’s Career Opportunities for Students (Mostly Internship Related)
Alcoa’s Businesses
Alcoa’s Vision and Values
Alcoa’s Annual Report

What’s your favorite product that’s made out of aluminum? Leave a comment.

Sun Microsystems

Willy Franzen — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:06:58 +0000

So what? I’ve become a mild Twitter addict. I keep finding internships by scanning tweets and following the links in them, but, unfortunately, I can’t say the same about entry-level jobs. The term entry-level is reserved mostly for job postings, while the word internship is near universal – so it’s used conversationally (like on Twitter). Yesterday, I found a link to a post by a Sun Microsystems employee who is looking for two interns. Her post led us to Sun’s main Careers site, which truly impressed us – especially because of the way that they present their entry-level job offerings.

The Sun Also Rises

You’ve probably heard of Sun Microsystems, but I’ll bet that you’re not quite sure what they do. It’s actually quite likely that you’re using their technology right now, and you don’t even know it. Their About page says that Sun provides “software, systems, services, and microelectronics that power everything from consumer electronics, to developer tools and the world’s most powerful datacenters.” They’re a huge company, with 33,350 employees worldwide and a ranking of 187 on the Fortune 500. They’re certainly a technology company at heart, but because of their size, their entry-level job offerings extend well beyond technical positions.

Looking for Bright New Grads

It’s pretty cool to find a big company with a blogger who posts about the company’s jobs, since it’s usually smaller startups that use social media for recruiting. Our first impression was to be totally impressed with Sun, but we were doubly impressed when we visited their main Careers site. It is by far the most usable Jobs site that we have come across yet. They have a Student Employment Zone, a Recruiting Blog, and the best job search feature that we’ve ever seen on a corporate site. All you have to do is check a box, and all of their jobs for new grads (all 167 of them) appear. Check another box and you only get entry-level jobs that are located abroad (none available right now). There’s no need for us to list specific entry-level jobs at Sun Microsystems, since should have no problem finding something that interests you – they even organize their search results by department. They are so easy to navigate!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Looking for internships at Sun Microsystems? We’ve got you covered.