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Chloe + Isabel

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

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

You + Chloe + Isabel

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

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you purchased anything from Chloe + Isabel?

Boy Scouts of America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:37:46 +0000

Despite my outdoorsiness, I was never a boy scout. I’ll admit that I was a little jealous of the other kids when they came into school with their uniforms covered in patches, but I’m sure I earned plenty of patches as a kid–even if I never actually got patches (now I can buy them from Best Made Company). Still, I have a ton of respect for Boy Scouts of America. They’re an organization that has lasted more than a century by staying focused on a core set of values. They believe “that helping youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society,” and they’ve continuously adapted the way that they’ve helped you to keep current. Boy Scouts of America is headquartered in Irving, TX, but they operate (and have job opportunities) all across the country.

Always Be Prepared

The best way to get a sense of the scale that Boy Scouts of America operates on is to look at the numbers. In 2010 they had “more than 2.7 million youth members and more than 1.1 million volunteers.” Combined these people gave 28,335,249 hours worth of time with an estimated value of $605,240,919. Service is a huge part of scouting, but what I think is more impressive is how far reaching Boy Scouts of America has become. The organization’s goal is to build character, and the fact that 57.4% of astronauts were scouts and 206 members of the 112th Congress participated in Scouting indicates that they’ve done a good job. (Ok, the Congress one not so much). Still, Boy Scouts of America prepares kids for success. So as you prepare yourself for success, you may want to look to the Boy Scouts of America Careers page. They divide opportunities into a few different sections: National Office, Scout Camp, Supply, High Adventure Bases, and Regional Locations. While the National Office positions are probably most attractive, there aren’t any great fits for new grads at this point; however, the Regional Locations includes a ton of District Executive positions. The are clearly stated to be entry level positions, and they’re offered all across the country. The employer is the local council, so you have to do some legwork to find their contact information, but there are dozens of these opportunities. The other links above also lead to some interesting opportunities, so do some exploring and remember to always be prepared.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Were you a Boy Scout?

Urban Outfitters

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

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

Get Urban Outfitted

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

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a hipster?

Whole Foods Market

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:53:38 +0000

Even though I’m not a huge fan of turkey, I love Thanksgiving. It’s an all around great holiday for spending time with family and friends, and it gives me the opportunity to do some serious cooking. Some of my favorites are yams with marshmallows on top, brussels sprouts with bacon and onions, and apple pie. I’ve also been known to make a maple syrup slathered, bacon covered turkey, but I usually get overruled by people who inexplicably love bland, overcooked, dry white breast meat. I’m actually dying to try America Test Kitchen’s recipe, which includes brining and putting ice packs on the breasts so they cook slower than the rest of the bird. Anyway, I’ll likely be doing some shopping at Whole Foods Market this afternoon. I used to shop at normally priced supermarkets, but there’s one thing that keeps me coming back to bougie grocery stores like Whole Foods: bacon. You can’t get good quality bacon at a regular supermarket. And once you’re buying fancy bacon, you might as well get organic brussel sprouts and grass-fed beef and those awesome salted, chocolate-covered caramels that they sell.

Make Yourself Whole

Whole Foods Market isn’t just about being a higher end grocery store. They’re “the world’s leader in natural and organic foods,” and they “maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture.” Some people are happy paying more at Whole Foods because they get to choose from five different kinds of bacon; others because they know the pigs the bacon came from were humanely and sustainably raised. Whole Foods Market got its start in Austin, TX in 1980, and because of their unique value proposition they’ve been able to grow to more than 310 stores. A key part of that massive growth has been how they treat their people. They’ve worked extremely hard to build a “decentralized, self-directed team culture and create a respectful workplace where people are treated fairly and are highly motivated to succeed.” That’s why you might notice that Whole Foods employees are more helpful and more pleasant than the average supermarket employee.

A typical college grad probably isn’t even considering a grocery store as an employment option, but Whole Foods has created an environment that attracts great talent. They’ve been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by Fortune for the past 14 years, and they offer exceptional benefits. They generally do a great job with their Careers site, though they don’t make it easy to find Corporate positions. Before you dig into their job postings, I recommend that you read up on Whole Foods Market’s Career Paths and Hiring Process. You have to navigate Whole Foods’ job listings by geography, so if you want to find corporate positions you have to look at Texas. The company’s culture is big on hiring from within, so getting started in one of their stores is definitely a smart choice.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are you cooking for Thanksgiving?

Revolution Prep

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:37:24 +0000

I actually kind of liked taking standardized tests during my high school years, but now I’m glad that they’re 10 years in my past. While I imagine that the tests haven’t changed all that much in the past decade (beyond the SAT adding a section), test prep has. There are a ton of companies that have developed technology and systems for improving student performance on standardized tests. One of the big ones is Revolution Prep. They’re based in Santa Monica, CA, and they’ve grown at a 211% rate over the past three-years to $18.8 million in revenue. This growth has been fueled by a “vision to transform education and provide the highest quality instruction to all students regardless of their ability to pay.” It’s pretty clear that Revolution Prep isn’t just about teaching students how to beat the test–they want to turn their students into better learners and thinkers.

Join the Revolution

From what I can tell, Revolution Prep has three core product areas: Academic Tutoring, Test Prep, and Ivy Insiders. Within these product lines there are a wide range of different offerings, so it seems that they are able to serve all kinds of different learning needs. Revolution Prep must be doing a good job too–94% of their grads recommend them. What I like most about Revolution Prep is that they put current students and recent grads to work helping students. They don’t have a unified Careers page, so it’s kind of hard to get your head around what kind of opportunities they offer. The one you’ll probably want to find is the Revolution Prep College Careers Programs page. This is where you can learn about their Entrepreneurial Management Program, Campus Recruitment Leader positions, Summer Management Program, and Instructor/Tutor Positions. If you’re looking for something a little more corporate, then you can take a look at their other job listings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you use Revolution Prep?

Smashburger

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:03:10 +0000

I love hamburgers, but I wouldn’t eat a fast food burger even if it could make me fly. Luckily, better burger places are popping up all over the place. Some are local joints and some are chains, but they’re all working to remind us what a burger is supposed to be. Smashburger is taking a leading role in restoring dignity to hamburgers, although I can’t fully support a burger chain that won’t cook a burger medium-rare or even medium. They’re another Inc. 5000 company with 2,673% three-year growth from $1.4 million to $39.4 million in annual revenue. Smashburger is based out of Denver, CO and they have locations all across the country. They “start with 100% Angus Beef, smashed, seared and seasoned on the grill, placed on a butter-toasted artisan bun and topped with the highest-quality cheeses, freshest produce and condiments.”

Smashing Jobs

It used to be that chain restaurants were indelibly linked to low quality food, but that has definitely changed. Smashburger is a perfect example of how combining higher quality food with the fast food business model can lead to rapid success. In 2007 there was one Smashburger in the Denver area. Then they opened a few around town. Now there are dozens of Smashburgers all across the country. If you don’t have one in your neighborhood yet, it’s only a matter of time (they plan to grow from 70 restaurants to 500 restaurants over the next 4 years). With this rapid growth, Smashburger is hiring a ton of people. Most of them are obviously in the restaurants, but they’re also growing on the Corporate side. If you look at Smashburger’s Jobs page, you’ll see a few opportunities that are suitable for new or recent grads including Strategy Analyst, Real Estate Analyst, Data Analyst, FP&A Analyst, and Field Marketing Coordinator (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a Smashburger?

Redbox

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

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

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

Think Inside the Redbox

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Redbox?

Metromix

Willy Franzen — Fri, 13 May 2011 11:22:43 +0000

My two biggest problems in life are figuring out what to wear and where to go. Since we covered the former yesterday, today it’s time to cover the latter. Ok, those aren’t really my two biggest problems in life, but I sometimes get frustrated that I live in a city the size of Chicago and feel like I can’t come up with a good idea of what I should do on a given weekend. There are a million opportunities out there, but figuring out what’s worth your time is difficult. That’s why Metromix was started as a joint-venture between newspaper behemoths Tribune Co. and Gannett Co. Metromix covers 60 different geographic areas (each individually) and offers a “guide to local restaurants, bars and clubs, events, concerts and movies.” While sites like Yelp have been built off the backs of their users, Metromix has an editorial staff generating content for each of their sites along with some user-generated content; however, smaller cities seem to get less original content. I must admit that Metromix isn’t my go to for what’s happening in Chicago, IL (which is where Metromix is located), but they seem to generate a ton of traffic and they have the resources of two major publishing/ad sales businesses behind them.

Get in the Mix

It’s kind of tough to get a full read on Metromix as a company. Once you’ve gone to one of their local sites, like the Austin, TX one you get redirected there whenever you try to go to Metromix.com. I guess this makes sense for a normal use case, but it means that you can’t really find any general information about Metromix beyond their Wikipedia page. The world of local publishing can often be a bit decentralized, and that certainly seems to be the case with Metromix. They don’t even make it easy to find where they’re headquartered (I had to check their LinkedIn company profile). If you start looking through their staff on LinkedIn, you see a lot of Chicago, but you also see a lot of other cities. My guess is that they hire a lot of freelancers to hone in on local markets. Metromix directs job seekers to their Careerbuilder page, which shows an even more decentralized approach to hiring. Most of the jobs that appear are posted from local tv stations or newspapers. I guess Metromix farms out some work like ad sales and marketing to other affiliated businesses. I don’t quite get it, but the opportunities are worth checking out, especially the Metromix Marketing & Promotion Coordinator position in Denver, CO and a couple of Account Management positions in Cincinnati, OH. If you’re looking for something else, you might find it difficult to track down the right person to contact, but it could be worth it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Metromix?

Central Intelligence Agency

Willy Franzen — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:52:33 +0000

I was a senior in high school on September 11, 2001. We were told what had happened during our morning announcements period, and a few of who had free periods after went to the beach across the street from our school’s campus. We knew that on a clear day you could usually see the Twin Towers from there, but all we could see was a plume of smoke. We listened on the radio and heard reports of the towers falling and rumors of other attacks in the works. I was deeply affected by what happened that day, and since then I have been waiting for our country to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. Yesterday, a group of NAVY SEALs did just that under the command of the Central Intelligence Agency, which is based in Washington, DC but operates all over the world. I am extremely grateful to all of those who were involved–especially for those who risked their lives to make us safer. It’s a reminder of how important it is for our government agencies to have top talent working for them. WIthout great people working at the CIA and in our armed forces, bin Laden would still be at large.

Share Your Intelligence

The Central Intelligence Agency “was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman.” We often think of it as some super secret spy agency, and in some ways that what it is; however, there’s a lot more to the CIA. As the CIA’s About page mentions, the CIA is under the direction of the Director of Central Intelligence, and he or she is tasked with:

Collecting intelligence through human sources and by other appropriate means, except that he shall have no police, subpoena, or law enforcement powers or internal security functions;
Correlating and evaluating intelligence related to the national security and providing appropriate dissemination of such intelligence;
Providing overall direction for and coordination of the collection of national intelligence outside the United States through human sources by elements of the Intelligence Community authorized to undertake such collection and, in coordination with other departments, agencies, or elements of the United States Government which are authorized to undertake such collection, ensuring that the most effective use is made of resources and that appropriate account is taken of the risks to the United States and those involved in such collection; and
Performing such other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting the national security as the President or the Director of National Intelligence may direct.

The operation that occurred yesterday is an example of the CIA at its best (well maybe at their true best we never even hear about it). Obviously, we can’t know most of the details of the operation, but it appears that the processes that the CIA developed over the past 10 years finally led to this accomplishment of one of the major goals of the War on Terror. If you’re inspired by this success, then maybe you should consider a Career with the CIA. They are a major entry level employer, and the Agency offers a very wide range of employment opportunities. Jobs are offered in the following areas:

Accounting, Budget & Finance
Analysis
Clandestine Service
Contracts & Acquisitions
Cyber Security
Engineering
Facilities Services
Geography & Cartography
Graphics, Multimedia, Publications & Photography
Information Management
Information Technology
Investigations
Legal Services
Library Services
Logistics Services
Medical Services
Science, Technology & Weapons
Security
Support Services
Trades and Labor

The CIA is one of the few government agencies that makes it extremely easy to browse through their job opportunities, and you can do that here. Today is a good day to be an American and a good day to think about career opportunities that will allow you to serve your country.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What secrets do you know about the CIA?

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?

Nourish International

Willy Franzen — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:35:21 +0000

There’s something special about non-profits that start on college campuses. They’re born with a sense of scrappiness and youthful idealism. It’s just the combination that can make amazing things happen. Nourish International in Chapel Hill, NC is a perfect example of this. It all started with a UNC student named Sindhura Citineni. She started a student group called “Hunger Lunch.” They’d sell “rice, beans and cornbread in the Pit for $3 and use the profits to fund Nourish’s first project: a nutrition project in Hyderabad, India.” Since then the mission has continued to be “to eradicate poverty by engaging students and empowering communities,” but they’ve certainly expanded their reach. Students raise money on campus throughout the year, and then they travel abroad in the summer to fund and conduct community development projects.

Nourishing Opportunities

Starting in 2007 Nourish International started thinking about expanding to more campuses, and they launched chapters at North Carolina State and Michigan. In 2008 they got serious about expansion and launched its Chapter Founders Program. They accepted applications from students interested in founding their own chapters, and then accepted students from 19 universities. This model allows Nourish International to stay lean while rapidly growing their ability to do meaningful work. You can get a full overview of how Nourish International works here, and you can take a closer look at their projects here. Nourish International appears to post all of their opportunities on Idealist. Right now they’re looking for Chapter Founders across the country, and they also have a one-year Fellowship Program based in their home office. It looks like a great organization to be involved with, so take a closer look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

NourishInternational.org
Jobs at Nourish International (Idealist)
About Nourish International
Nourish International’s Team
Nourish International’s Projects
Nourish International’s History
Nourish International’s Blog

What do you think of Nourish International?

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?

Build-A-Bear Workshop

Willy Franzen — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:44:06 +0000

Today the Fortune 100 Best Companies To Work For list came out. I’m not a huge fan of these lists, because they seem to be mostly driven by PR prowess. Still, they can be great tools to learn about new companies, which is why I’ve been running through the list to see which companies might appeal most to college students and grads. One that stood out right away was Build-A-Bear Workshop, which came in at #48 on the list. I’ve never built a bear, but I’ve walked by enough of their packed-with-kids stores to understand the brilliance of their business—they turn buying a stuffed animal into an activity. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, MO with stores across the country and a distribution center in Columbus, OH. Now, Build-A-Bear Workshop is really big on bear puns, so if you can’t deal with that, you better stop reading now.

Where Bearish Is a Good Thing

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Build-A-Bear Workshop, they’re a company that aims “to bring the Teddy Bear to life.” They do this by giving you the raw materials to build a stuffed animal that suits your personality. To start, you can choose from “30 varieties of stuffed animals including teddy bears, bunnies, dogs, kitties and more.” Then you can choose what sounds your animal makes, how “stuffed” you want him or her to be, what clothes your animal wears, and what his or her name will be. I’m not exactly sure how many different combinations there are, but they’re essentially infinite—just like the bear puns. Jobs are “op-bear-tunities,” employees “reach fur the stars,” and when employees work together they “collaBEARate.” If you dig the business and the puns, then head over to Build-A-Bear Workshop’s Careers page—you’ll see sections for jobs in Retail, Distribution, and at the World Bearquarters. While the first two offer great options, we’re going to focus on the latter.

Unfortunately, Build-A-Bear Workshop uses a dropdown menu to display their job postings, so it’s kind of a pain to browse through them all. There’s also no way to link directly to the job postings, and the site is actually a bit light in terms of posted jobs right now, but they typically offer opportunities in the following areas: Accounting/Finance, Administrative, Call Center, Creative/Graphic Design, Facilities Management, Human Resources, International, Information Technology, Legal, Logistics, Merchandise Planning/Allocation, Marketing, Product Development, Public Relations, Purchasing, Store Operations, Strategic Planning, and Web / Interactive. Still, there area few postings that seem suitable for new or recent grads including First Impressions Bear/HR Assistant (Receptionist) – Human Resources, International Product Planning Bear – International, and Usability Anabearlyst (Analyst) – Web / Interactive. Build-A-Bear Workshop also allows you to apply for unlisted positions, so you have no excuse not to bear down and send in an application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a Build-A-Bear?

Macy’s

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:37:20 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! In past years we’ve taken a look at jobs at Pilgrim’s Pride, Jennie-O, and Plimoth Plantation and Colonial Williamsburg. This year we’ve been influenced by the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, so we’re going to take a look at entry level jobs at Macy’s. They’re headquartered in both New York City and Cincinnati, and they are “one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2009 sales of $23.5 billion.” The company operates more than 810 stores across 45 states. Over the past decade or so they’ve absorbed a number of other retailers, but the Macy’s brand has reigned supreme—and I bet the popularity of today’s parade has had at least a little something to do with it.

A Parade of Job Opportunities

Obviously with a company as large as Macy’s, there are a lot of different places and ways that you can find information about them. I’m going to leave most of that up to you since I have a football game to get to, but once you start thinking about a job, you’ll want to skip over MacysJobs.com and go straight to MacysCollege.com for the company’s entry level opportunities. They offer Executive Development Programs in Store Management, Merchant, Product Development, Finance/Accounting, Human Resources, Logistics Management, Information Technology, Credit Operations, and Food Management. It looks like most of their on campus recruiting events are over; however, you can still apply for a multitude of positions all across the country by following the instructions here. So take a look at Macy’s, and then go stuff your face.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you shop at Macy’s?

Trick or Vote

Willy Franzen — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 15:12:24 +0000

Now, Halloween isn’t the most job search friendly holiday. Not only do you have to worry about incriminating pictures of you in your costume will be posted on Facebook, but you can’t exactly walk around from employer to employer and say, “Trick or Job!” Still, Halloween is a $6 billion industry by itself, so you shouldn’t completely ignore it in your job search. However, it’s a Sunday which means that we’re looking at non-profit jobs. It’s not as easy as you might think to find a non-profit that you can tie into Halloween. Last year we took a look at Children’s Dental Health Project, and this year we’re going to take a look at Portland, OR based Trick or Vote. They are a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that has volunteers “dress up in costume on Halloween and knock on doors in their neighborhoods reminding people to vote.”

Trick or Job!

Now, this idea may seem a little weird, but it makes sense. Apparently, “knocking on doors increases voter turnout by a whopping 8-12%, more than any other method,” yet most people are uncomfortable knocking on strangers’ doors—except for on Halloween. It’s all about getting out the vote, and Trick or Vote has found an extremely effective way to do that. In 2008 they had “30 organizations operating in 35 cities,” and “costumed volunteers knocked on 100,000 doors on that single night.” And the plan was to go even bigger in 2010. Obviously Trick or Vote’s operations are extremely time sensitive, so now is probably the worst time to think about getting involved, but you should still reach out to them and see if there will be any opportunities in the future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you dress up for Halloween?

Girls on the Run

Willy Franzen — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 12:14:25 +0000

I’m about to head out to watch some friends compete in the Chicago Marathon, so I though that I’d run with that theme. As I ran down the list of charities associated with the Chicago Marathon, I tried look for organizations that are not only use today’s event to support great causes, but also using running as part of their mission. Girls on the Run is a perfect fit. They are a nationwide organization based in Charlotte, NC that “educates and prepares girls for a life time of self-respect and healthy living.” They focus on training girls aged eight to thirteen years old for 3.1 mile/5k events with the main goal of encouraging “positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development.” I’ve always hated running, but I totally understand why people like it—and watching 40,000 people compete in a marathon is a perfect example of what a great personal development tool it can be.

Run For It

I could tell you all about Girls on the Run, but that doesn’t make much sense when there’s a great video about the organization from the founder (you’ll have to click through to the original post to see it if you’re reading in your e-mail).

Now, Girls on the Run may be based in North Carolina, but they have chapters all over the country—42 states to be exact (and many states with multiple chapters). You can take a look at all of Girls on the Run’s locations here. Even though Girls on the Run’s Jobs page doesn’t currently list any opportunities, it’s quite possible that there may be opportunities at a more local level. If you love running and want to help support the personal development of young women, then you should reach out to both the national organization and the local chapters about potential jobs. It’s worth a shot.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever run a marathon?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Willy Franzen — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:40:42 +0000

I guess Labor Day isn’t such a great holiday when it’s just another day of looking for jobs. And who likes the end of summer? On past Labor Days we looked at jobs with the U.S. Department of Labor and Stetson, but today we’re going to talk about the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They are “the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics.” That means that lately they’ve been the bearer of bad news, but they’re also essential to economic recovery. Without reliable statistics our policymakers can’t know what to do. Additionally, without the BLS, I wouldn’t have been able to write my Labor Economics research paper on the effect of deer hunting season on employment rates in the state of New York.

Change the Statistics

The BLS vision is pretty straightforward, and actually comes without jargon. It’s to “be premier among statistical agencies, producing impartial, timely, and accurate data relevant to the needs of our users and to the social and economic conditions of our Nation, its workers, and their families.” The BLS.gov is an amazing resource, and it’s something that you could lose yourself in for hours—if you’re the right kind of nerd (I certainly am). Their About page is very matter of fact about their hiring needs. They say that the “BLS needs economists, mathematical statisticians, and Information Technology Specialists. It also needs some administrative and financial specialists and many types of technicians and assistants. The number of vacancies is difficult to predict, but some positions are available at most times.” I’m not going to run through all of the opportunities at the BLS today (it’s Labor Day!), but you can find the process for browsing through their Jobs here. Maybe if you find the right position, you can move some of the statistics in the right direction.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you react to BLS statistics?

American Eagle Outfitters

Willy Franzen — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:00:55 +0000

When I think of outfitters, I think of an adventure. I think of a business that is going to prepare me to fishing, hunting, canoeing, horseback riding, camping, or something along those lines. Apparently my definition is accurate, but the broader definition of an outfitter, at least according to Wikipedia, is “a shop or person that sells men’s clothes.” I guess that makes Bonobos and Gilt Groupe my two favorite “outfitters.” It also means that Pittsburgh, PA based American Eagle Outfitters was accurately named, at least until they started selling women’s and children’s clothing in addition to their men’s line. Maybe that’s why use see them using AE much more often than AEO. I’m sure you recognize the clothes, and you probably have seen one of American Eagle Outfitters 950+ stores in the last shopping mall that you visited. Their brand is all over the place, so it’s hard to miss.

Fly Like an Eagle

American Eagle Outfitters’ target market is “15 to 25 year old girls and guys” who are looking for “high-quality, on-trend clothing, accessories and personal care products at affordable price.” It’s a pretty tight niche, but it’s one that they serve well. In addition to the main American Eagle Outfitters brand, there are also Aerie, which means bird’s nest and offers intimates for 13-25 year old females, and 77kids, which is a reference to AE’s oft-displayed year of founding and is targeted to kids aged 0-14. I guess this means that most of you are close to growing out of the American Eagle Outfitters lines, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be completely done with them. There’s always the chance for a job.

AEO’s Careers site is called LiveYourLifeLoveYourJob.com, and it provides a ton of information on what it’s like to work at American Eagle Outfitters. It’s a really well done site, but it’s done in Flash so I can’t link you to specific pages. If you take a look at the College Recruiting part of the site, you can check out American Eagle Outfitter’s Training Programs which are offered in four areas: Corporate Training, Assistant Buyer Training, Planning & Allocation Tracking, and College Trek (Retail Management). Not all of these programs are listed on AEO’s Job Search page right now, but you can be sure that they will soon as we dive into campus recruiting season. If none of those programs appeal to you, you can always check out other Corporate opportunities or even consider something at the retail level. For instance, right now they’re trying to fill the following positions: Executive Staff Assistant (NYC), Fit Model (NYC), Help Desk Analyst, Production Assistant – Denim (NYC), Paralegal – Real Estate, Associate Merchandise Planner – 77kids.com, Production Assistant – Undies (NYC), and Production Assistant – Men’s Graphics (NYC). Take a look, and see what fits.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wear American Eagle clothes?

U.S. PIRG

Willy Franzen — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:00:04 +0000

I didn’t watch The Real Housewives of DC the night before last, but it may have been playing in the background while I was trying to fall asleep. Besides hearing people Obama name drop often enough that you could make a college drinking game out of watching the show, I also noticed that lobbying was mentioned multiple times. I don’t really get how lobbying works, but I know that anyone (or I should say any entity) with a political agenda pretty much has to participate. For every interest there is a lobbying group, and some are far more powerful than others. Often this power goes against the public interest. U.S. PIRG is a non-profit federation of state Public Interest Research Groups that “stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being.” They’re headquartered in Boston, MA; however, they have a Federal Advocacy Office in Washington, DC and state chapters all across the country. Oddly enough U.S. PIRG and its affiliates have chosen to fight lobbying and special interests by being a lobbying group. I understand that they’re fighting for the public interest, but that’s still a special interest, right?

Enter PIRG-atory

U.S. PIRG and the state PIRGs are focused on a number of issues. These include Consumer Protection, Financial Security, Reforming Health Care, Toxics & Public Health, Transportation Solutions, Elections & Government Reform, Tax and Budget Policy, and Affordable Higher Education. I don’t think that anyone would disagree with the fact that these are all important issues. That’s why U.S. PIRG and the state PIRGs have built “a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country.” To get a sense for what this network of people are working on, you should take a look at U.S. PIRG’s recent accomplishments. You’ll see things like holding elected officials to higher ethical standards, closing contractor loopholes, and promoting young voter participation. If these sound like things that you’d like to be a part of, then check out U.S. PIRG’s Jobs page. They actually do a really nice job with their Career site, so it should be easy for you to find out about all of their opportunities. They have Campus Organizer, Citizen Outreach, and Fellowship positions for recent grads, and there are plenty of other options all across the country. U.S. PIRG is hiring more than 100 entry level people this year, and you can get a feel for the types of positions that they’re hiring for by checking out the staff profiles.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of U.S. PIRG’s work?

AREVA

Willy Franzen — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:52:52 +0000

I’ve been thinking about nuclear energy for a couple of reasons lately. One is that big oil spill that we have in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s put more momentum behind the alternative energy movement, and nuclear should be one of the options that we consider. The second reason is far more interesting (at least to me). It’s the fact that bananas are radioactive because they contain potassium-40. There are other foods that are even more radioactive like brazil nuts, but bananas are special because scientists often measure radiation in a banana equivalent doses, or the radioactive exposure that you would get from eating a banana. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t risks with nuclear energy, but they’re much smaller than most of us think—even a nuclear accident may expose an individual to less radiation than a banana. Since I had all of this on my mind, I figured that we’d take a look at AREVA, a French company that is a leader in “solutions for nuclear energy and renewable energies.”

Energizing Careers

I think that I actually became aware of AREVA from a tv commercial. Usually I can’t remember a brand that doesn’t have relevance to me now matter how good the commercial is, but for some reason AREVA stuck in my mind. They’re an absolutely huge company, so they’re not typical One Day, One Job material, but I figure that you’ve never heard of them, and they’re worth knowing about. The ability to generate carbon-free energy is only getting more important, and there aren’t many players better equipped to do it than AREVA. They have locations all across the world, and across the United States. The truth is that many jobs at AREVA will require a technical background, but at a company of 50,000 people there should be opportunities for almost anyone. AREVA has a special section of their Careers page for Recent Graduates, so check that out to get the scoop on all of the opportunities that they have across the world. Positions are separated into three categories: Technicians, Engineers, and Support Roles. I’m not going to list out the positions for you. You can explore AREVA on your own.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about nuclear energy?

Aol

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:00:24 +0000

Everybody acts like social media and social networking is a new development, but it really isn’t. Even 15 years ago there was a web service that enabled you to create profiles, connect with friends, engage with communities, and communicate instantly or asynchronously. It was called Aol, and there’s a good chance that you used it. I feel bad for Aol. They had it all. They were the behemoth of the social web before anyone knew what the social web was, but they were too big and not agile enough. They continued to act like an ISP, and their market share eroded as people transitioned to high-speed connections. Today most people think of Aol as irrelevant, but the NYC based company is doing their best to make a comeback. The good news is that they aren’t living in the past. They’re not trying to win at social networking or being an ISP—they’ve repositioned. They now describe themselves as “a leading-edge web services company, with an offering of premium and niche content sites, world-class tools and platforms.” The focus is on content, and in some ways that’s what Aol was always about—making great content easy to access for the masses. The tough thing for Aol is that they’re already a huge company, so they’re going to have to swing for the fences if they want their new business model to work.

You’ve Got Mail!

The only reason that I actually decided to feature Aol today was because they have an amazing internship contest going on right now. It’s focused on their new Lifestream service which aggregates all of your social profiles in one place (apparently Aol hasn’t completely given up on social networking, but I think that they probably should). It’s not your typical internship, so it might even be a temporary replacement for an entry level job. It’s paid, you get direct access to Aol’s CEO Tim Armstrong, and you get some serious responsibility. Oh yeah, and the most important thing is that your main duty is to live an awesome life and share it through Lifestream. The only downside is that only one person can get it. You can find all of the details here. After looking at that opportunity, I decided to hit up Aol’s Career site and look through their job openings. I was shocked to see that Aol currently has 749 vacancies! Obviously I don’t have 3 days to browse through all of those jobs and pick out the entry level jobs for you, but you should note that they have all kinds of opportunities ranging from Software/Web Development to Journalism/Editorial/Writing to Advertising to Sales. Aol is making a huge play to be relevant again, and if they’re going to do it, they need top talent. You’ll probably have to narrow down your searches to make Aol’s job listings a bit more manageable, but you should be able to find something that suits your interests—they even have opportunities all across the country.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about the new Aol?

Frontier Airlines

Willy Franzen — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:36:55 +0000

I just spent a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in Denver, CO, and now I’m sitting in the airport waiting for my flight back. I walked in to see a huge line for people checking bags, and I got a little discouraged. Luckily, I thought fast and checked in on my phone and went right to the bag drop area (with a short stop to fix a server problem that caused the site to be down earlier this morning) where there was no line. At some point during that process, I managed to get upgraded to a seat with more legroom. That also allowed me to check my bag for free and get the word “Plus” stamped on my boarding pass. I don’t know why Frontier Airlines is treating me so well since I booked the flight on a discount site, which usually means that I get stuck with a middle seat. Since Frontier is treating me so well for no good reason, I thought that I might as well see what kind of jobs they have. It’s my first time flying Frontier, probably because I usually travel east of the Mississippi (and they fly mostly west of it as they’re currently headquartered in Denver, but allegedly moving to Indianapolis, IN), but I figure that you gotta love an airline that has a different wild animal on the tail of each of its aircraft. Frontier also apparently offers in-flight television in the seat backs, so maybe I’ll get some good daytime tv watching in during my flight.

A New Frontier

Despite the fact that Frontier Airlines is new to me, they happen to be the fastest growing major airline in the United States. They seem to keep adding new routes, and it looks like they take a very customer-friendly approach to flying. That seems to be the winning approach these days, as I try avoid the larger carriers if I can. My guess is that airlines that are nice to fly are also nice to work at. So far everyone that I’ve encountered with Frontier has been extremely pleasant, but that could just be a Denver thing. Anyway, if you want to consider a career with Frontier, you should check out their Jobs page. There are way too many jobs to list, but they have plenty of opportunities for new grads in a variety of locations. Browse through them and see what catches your eye.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you flown Frontier?

Student Conservation Association

Willy Franzen — Sun, 02 May 2010 15:26:51 +0000

In yesterday’s post on Civic Works, I told you all about my first summer job doing manual labor. If I had known that I’d be writing about the Student Conservation Association today, I probably would have saved the story, as they’re an organization that puts students to work protecting and restoring “national parks, marine sanctuaries, cultural landmarks and community green spaces in all 50 states.” They’re based in Charlestown, NH with regional offices in Oakland, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, DC. The SCA offers an endless variety of conservation opportunities for students, and they’ve been doing it since 1955 when a Vassar College student named Elizabeth Cushman wrote about the idea in her senior thesis. Now the SCA takes on 4,000 interns and volunteers every year, and they combine for “more than two million hours of conservation service per year.”

Conservation Is Key

As a fly fisherman, I know how important conservation is. Luckily our rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans have an army of passionate people who are always working to protect the places where they can practice their favorite sport. But what about the places that don’t have so many devoted conservationists? That’s where the SCA steps in. From cultural landmarks to grizzly bear habitat, if conservation will help, you can bet that the SCA has students working there. If you think that sounds like a fun way to spend some time, then check out The SCA’s Serve page. You have the option to take on one of their thousands of internships, serve on a Conservation Corps, or look at jobs in the SCA office. There are way too many options for me to outline them all, but the SCA site is pretty decent, so you should be able to find what you’re looking for.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What conservation project is most important to you?

Vita Coco

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:42:28 +0000

Although you probably didn’t notice since I kept churning out my regularly scheduled posts, I recently took a week long getaway to some place warm. At one of the beaches there was a man wielding a machete. Luckily, he wasn’t some psycho killer (Qu’est-ce que c’est?), just a guy selling coconut water. He’d lop off the top of a coconut, pour the water into some sort of straining device, and then pour the strained coconut water back into the empty coconut. He’d then add a straw and sell it to a thirsty person. Since having machete wielding vendors on street corners probably wouldn’t fly in most U.S. cities (have we really gotten that paranoid?), we’ve ended up with Vita Coco. It’s a branded coconut water made by a New York City based company of the same name.

Join Team Coco

Apparently quite a few celebrities have jumped on the coconut water bandwagon, and now Vita Coco is all the rage. They’ve gone from being available in a handful of stores in the Northeast to being stocked on the shelves of more than 10,000 stores across the U.S. Vita Coco has been generating tons of press, and seems to be growing at an exceptional rate. They don’t have a jobs page, but it’s evident from Craigslist searches (there’s a little job search trick hidden in that link) and their LinkedIn Company Profile that they’re doing a lot of hiring. Most of the positions seem to be for Brand Ambassador/Educator type positions that are only part-time and paid hourly (but available across the country), but I’d imagine that they might also have some Sales and Marketing positions if you reach out to them. You can do so through their Craigslist postings, or their Contact page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you like coconut water?

ALDI

Willy Franzen — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:58:50 +0000

Sweet 16! And if I’m going to find a way to get to the game, I’m going to need to start shopping at ALDI, because flights to Syracuse aren’t cheap. Luckily, the groceries at ALDI are. I’ve never stepped foot in an ALDI store, but I’ve heard plenty about them from friends and articles. They are unlike all other grocery stores. They almost never stock name brands—they have their own private labels. They don’t have shelves—they use pallets. They charge for reusable bags, and taking a shopping cart requires a 25 cent deposit. ALDI also doesn’t take credit cards, and they stock far fewer items than your typical supermarket. ALDI may not offer a luxurious shopping experience like Wegmans does, but they make up for it by offering insane value. If you’re pinching pennies, you have no excuse not to shop at ALDI. Even with their limited selection of products, they’ve found that most of their customers “can do as much as 90% of their weekly shopping at ALDI.”

Find Value at ALDI

ALDI isn’t only different in the customer experience that they offer, they also run their business in a unique way. They’re a German company, and they have a huge presence in Europe. Their U.S. headquarters is in Batavia, IL, but that’s not where most of their entry level jobs are. That’s because another interesting thing about ALDI is the fact that they hire their District Managers straight out of college, and they pay them exceedingly well ($70k per year well). They offer these opportunities across a large portion of the country, and they’re growing at a rate of 100 stores per year. You can find all of the details on ALDI’s Careers site, and you should be sure to check out their employee profiles and the details of their training program (they wouldn’t throw a new grad into a management role without a ton of training). Another cool thing is that after 2 years as a District Manager, ALDI offers the opportunity to work abroad for another 2 years through their International Expatriate Program. It’s pretty obvious that ALDI’s cheap philosophy does not apply to how they treat talent. If you’re interested in working for them, you can find out all of the information on how to apply here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you shop at ALDI?

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?

NetJets

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:36:24 +0000

If I ever make a ridiculous amount of money, the first thing that I’m going to do is buy a private jet—or at least a share in one. It seems like the ultimate way to travel. I’ve been on private planes before, but they had propellers and I was sitting next to or right behind the pilot (not nearly as classy). NetJets is a company that allows wealthy individuals and businesses to buy shares in private jets (since who really needs an entire jet to himself or herself?). They also have a subscription service called MarquisJet that lets you get a guaranteed number of hours of private jet use. It may not make private air travel affordable or cost effective, but it certainly puts it within reach for a lot more people. NetJets is by far the market leader, and they’re also a Berkshire Hathaway company. You know if Warren Buffett is investing in it, it has to be pretty good. NetJets is based in Columbus, OH, but quite obviously they operate all over the world.

Be a NetJetter

Even Warren Buffett thinks that private jet travel is a ridiculous luxury, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a customer and then buying the company when the time was right. The truth is that commercial airline travel is a pain in the butt, and many people will pay exorbitant costs to avoid it. Even if energy costs get continue to grow, you have to like the future of NetJets. Assuming that you aren’t morally opposed to private air travel, you should check out NetJets’s Jobs page. It’s split in to three sections: Pilots, Flight Attendants, and Corporate Positions. We’ll look at the latter since that’s most likely to have good fits for new grads. There are 15 jobs posted right now, and a few appear to be suitable for new grads. These include IT Business Analyst, Prospect Development Specialist (Teetorboro, NJ), and Technical Marketing Analyst. You can apply online, but we can’t link you directly to the job descriptions because NetJets uses a crappy applicant tracking system.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever flown on a NetJet?

Feeding America

Willy Franzen — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:35:12 +0000

Some of the most effective non-profits are the ones that work at a local level; however, the non-profits that operate at the national level usually have a much easier time raising money. Feeding America is a non-profit that is able to take advantage of both these facts by using a network model. Based in Chicago, they are “the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.” They’re able to do this by operating “a nationwide network of member food banks.” This network of more than 200 food banks across every state distributes “more than 2.5 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually.” Those are numbers that are hard to get your mind around.

Feeding Your Job Search

Feeding America used to be known as America’s Second Harvest. They changed their name in 2008 to better convey their mission and generate awareness—I think that they made a good choice. Feeding people isn’t complicated; it’s one of oldest charity ideas around. Doing it on the scale that Feeding America does is different. It’s not necessarily complicated, but it’s extremely impressive. What I find amazing is that Feeding America is able to provide 7 people with meals for every dollar donated. That is an outstanding return on investment. If you’re as impressed by Feeding America as I am, you should check out their Careers page and browse their Job openings. Right now they have a few positions that seem like they might be good fits for new grads. These include Programs Specialist (Washington, DC) and Programs Coordinator. The job descriptions do say that they’re looking for people with 3 years of experience, but I think that new grads should still give these positions a shot. They have application instructions at the end of each job description. Additionally, Feeding America posts jobs from their network, so you may want to check those out too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Feeding America?

American Red Cross

Willy Franzen — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:07:32 +0000

By now I’m sure that you’ve all heard about the earthquake in Haiti. It’s the kind of tragedy that most of us will never be able to understand no matter how much we see about it on television or read about it in the newspaper. It is a worst case scenario for millions of people. The one positive thing to come out of this disaster is the response from the rest of the world—it shows that compassion is an overwhelmingly human trait. One of the organizations that is most associated with disaster response is the American Red Cross; in fact, “compassionate services” is what they do. In addition to disaster relief, they also work on: “community services that help the needy; support and comfort for military members and their families; the collection, processing and distribution of lifesaving blood and blood products; educational programs that promote health and safety; and international relief and development programs.” While headquartered in Washington, DC, the American Red Cross has hundreds of local chapters across the country—it’s almost a certainty that there is one near you.

Compassionate Careers

If you look hard enough, you can find opportunity in nearly every situation. The earthquake in Haiti provides a tremendous opportunity to make a difference. There is so much that needs to be done, and, thankfully, the outpouring of donations from concerned people around the world will help to fund the work. The world of non-profit work has changed over the past week as projects directed towards helping Haiti have taken priority over other work. If you’ve been motivated by the earthquake in Haiti to look towards a non-profit career, then the American Red Cross might be the place to look. They have numerous opportunities at the local level (way too many for me to list here), along with opportunities at their headquarters in DC. If you’re interested in working at a local chapter, then check out this page to help you find the chapter closest to your desired location. You can also use the Red Cross’ job search function to sort through the 322 positions that they currently have listed. There are plenty of jobs for new college grads all across the country, so use this terrible situation to motivate yourself to make a difference.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you made a donation for Haiti earthquake victims?

Caribou Coffee

Willy Franzen — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:55:49 +0000

It’s Christmas Eve—the day… err… night… that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer made a name for himself. We give Santa Claus all of the credit for delivering presents all across the world, but it’s those reindeer that are doing the hard part. Here in North America, we have reindeer just like the ones that pull Santa’s sleigh, but they’re known as caribou. Since I can’t think of any companies using reindeer in their brand name, that led me to Caribou Coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I don’t typically patronize Caribou Coffee, but I figured that a company with 6,000 employees would have to have some interesting entry level opportunities. The company is based in Minneapolis, MN, and has 500 retail locations in 16 states along with the District of Columbia. Caribou Coffee’s mission “is to provide a total experience that makes the day better,” and they’re able to do that for a lot of people by serving great coffee.

Then One Cloudy Christmas Eve…

Whether you’re in the Christmas Spirit or you’re being a total scrooge, there’s a decent chance that a job at Caribou Coffee might be the perfect way for you to start off the new year. The company does a really nice job with their Careers page, as it lays out all of the options that you have: Team Member (Store Level), Shift Supervisor (Store Level), Corporate Support Center Positions, Store Manager, District Manager, and Corporate Positions. They give a nice rundown of what the jobs entail along with a list of benefits. I’d imagine that most of you are more interested in the Corporate stuff than the Store level stuff; however, there isn’t anything that screams entry level to me on their corporate postings. That means that you have three options if you want to work at Caribou Coffee: start at a store, wait for something more suitable to be posted, or hope for a Christmas miracle (try cold calling!). Good luck.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you drink Caribou Coffee?