One Day, One Job » public relations

Nasty Gal

Willy Franzen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:30:24 +0000

One of the coolest things about the time that we live in is that the barrier to starting a business is essentially nonexistent. You can test your ideas on someone else’s platform, and if it works, then you build your own. Nasty Gal is a perfect example of this. The Los Angeles, CA based company began in 2006 when Sophia Amoruso “started an eBay store selling a highly curated selection of vintage pieces.” After finding success on eBay and validating the business, she started her own site where she could control the entire customer experience (and not pay eBay’s crazy fees). A lot of Nasty Gal’s stuff is pretty far out there–their home page has a huge picture of studded platforms that look like a medieval torture device–but it’s hard to argue with a brand that has nearly a quarter million Facebook likes.

Are You Nasty?

The key to Nasty Gal’s success is curation. Even though they’re in the business of selling and not editorial, they’re seen by many customers as a guide to what to buy. If it’s on Nasty Gal, it has to be cool–and that begs the question: What is a Nasty Gal? She’s “the coolest girl in the room‚ pulling off whatever wildly unique piece that suits the mood.” I’m certainly not a Nasty Gal, but maybe you are. And if you are, you’d be a great fit for a job at Nasty Gal. Right now they have a few opportunities that seem like they could be perfect for a new or recent grad. These include Accounting Clerk, Production Coordinator, Software Engineer, PR Coordinator, and Planning Analyst. Hope you’re nasty enough.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Nasty Gal?

mcgarrybowen

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

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

A Better mcJob

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you like mcgarrybowen’s work?

Benzinga

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

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

Zing!

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you checked out Benzinga?

QuinStreet

Willy Franzen — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:03:36 +0000

In March of 2009 I got an e-mail that looked a lot like the spam you typically see when you’re a webmaster with a publicly listed e-mail address. When someone refers to my site as onedayonejob.com, it gives me the hint that the e-mail was probably automated and that I should send it to my Junk folder. But I was still intrigued by the following sentence: “I am reaching out to see if you will be interested in selling your site and would like to discuss potential acquisition opportunities with us,” so I followed up. Over the next few months I traded e-mails with a guy who works at QuinStreet about potentially selling the site, but we never even made it to the offer stage. The reason that the Foster City, CA based company was interested in One Day One Job is that they’re one of the leaders in vertical marketing and online media. They have tons of online properties, and they use them to market and generate leads for other businesses. They’ve been at it since 1999, so they’ve been around the block a time or two.

Take a Ride Down QuinStreet

QuinStreet’s main areas of focus are in Education and Financial Services (two extremely lucrative markets for lead generation), but they also work in Home Services, B2B, Medicine/Health, and Premium Brand Advertising. You won’t see QuinStreet promote their properties on their home page like some other online media companies do, and you won’t get too many details about what they actually do. Online lead generation is extremely competitive, so secrecy is really important. They do have a What We Do, but it’s extremely limited in its explanation of QuinStreet’s business (you’ll find a little more on their How We Do It page). If you really want to learn more about QuinStreet’s business, their Investor Relations site is probably the place to go. What might even give you a better sense of what they’re working is their Jobs page. By investigating the positions they’re hiring for, I’ll bet you’ll get even more insight into the business. You’ll also see some great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Employee Benefits and Compliance Assistant
Client Strategy & Development Associate
Data Services Associate (Reno, NV)
Inside Sales Rep
Inside Sales Rep – Home Services (Portland, OR)
Jr. Java Developer
Jr. Vertical Manager (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Jr. Web Producer (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Marketing Analyst
PPC Media Associate
SEM/PPC Media Associate (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Media Associate
Media Associate – Home Services
PHP Developer
Vertical Manager – Online Marketing
Web Designer

If you’re interested in online marketing, QuinStreet would be a great place to learn, so give these positions a look and see what appeals to you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about QuinStreet?

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?

New York Transit Museum

Willy Franzen — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:11:33 +0000

Transportation is essential to Thanksgiving as we know it. A large majority of our country’s population travels for the holiday, whether it’s a few miles or a few thousand miles. Sometimes it actually seems easier to travel across the country than it is to travel across town (can you say gridlock?), so it’s surprising that our country’s biggest city is actually pretty easy to get in to, out of, and around. For more than a century New York City has had an exceptional transit system, and its history is remembered and displayed at the New York Transit Museum. As far as I can tell, the museum is a non-profit that is directly tied to the MTA. It’s also “one of the city’s leading cultural institutions and the largest museum in the United States devoted to urban public transportation history.”

Making Moves

The Transit Museum is based in Brooklyn, but they also have an annex in Grand Central Station. Some of their major exhibits include Steel, Stone & Backbone: Building New York’s Subways 1900-1925, an exhibit on Fare Collection, and Moving the Millions: New York City’s Subways from its Origins to the Present. The museum has all of its info on one page, so that makes it easy to learn more about them without lots of clicking around. The only thing they don’t have is a Jobs page, which is instead hosted on Idealist. Right now they have two positions posted that seem suitable for new grads: Museum Interpreter – Education Department and Press/Media Coordinator. Both are part-time, but they could be good ways to get your foot in the door.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

New York Transit Museum’s Home Page
Jobs at New York Transit Museum (Idealist)

What’s your favorite mode of transportation?

Time Out

Willy Franzen — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:15:42 +0000

We want to do even more to help you land a job. Take our survey and let us know how we can better serve you as we start our fifth year.

One of my favorite things about living in Chicago is the restaurants. There are so many great places to eat, and there are new ones opening constantly. It’s a lot of fun, but it can be overwhelming if you try to keep up with it. That’s why I rely on Time Out Chicago to keep me up to date with what’s going on in Chi-town, whether it’s restaurant openings, cultural events, or things to do. I guess I’m lucky that Time Out chose to cover Chicago, considering that the London, UK based publishing company typically focuses on major international destinations like Bangkok, Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Venice for their guides and magazines. As far as I can tell, Boston, MA; Chicago, IL, and New York, NY are the only U.S. cities to get weekly magazines, though a few other like Las Vegas and San Francisco do get their own travel guides. I must say that Time Out’s online presence is quite disjointed, so there’s a chance that there are locations in the U.S. where they might be hiring and I just missed them.

Take a Time Out from Your Job Search

It seems as though the U.S. based Time Outs operate somewhat independently from the parent company. You’ll probably want to bounce around TimeOut.com, NewYork.TimeOut.com, TimeOutChicago.com, and TimeOutBoston.com to get a sense of all of the different sub-brands. You may also want to take a look at Time Out’s Wikipedia entry to get a fuller sense of the business. But really you should focus on digging into Time Out’s content (a lot of which they publish online) and getting a feel for how they cover different locales. Then you’ll want to read up on the specific Time Out that catches your interest and take a look at their jobs (all of the Time Outs seem to hire independently from each other). In the Worldwide office based in London they have a few job openings and also offer what they call work experience. You can use the links below to find the Jobs pages for Boston, Chicago, and New York, and you’ll see that they have a number of interesting opportunities including:

SEO Master (New York, NY)
Copy Editor (New York, NY)
Ad Operations Specialist (New York, NY)
PHP Symfony Web Application Developer (New York, NY)
Account Manager (Chicago, IL)

They’re also big on internships, so if you want to get a position on the editorial side it would probably benefit you to start as an intern. (I have a friend who did exactly that at Time Out Chicago). Here’s a list of all of the internships that they offer:

Photo Intern (Boston, MA)
Editorial Intern Intern (Boston, MA)
Art & Design Intern (Chicago, IL)
Editorial Intern (Chicago, IL)
Online Photography Intern (Chicago, IL)
Online Production Intern (Chicago, IL)
Photography Intern (Chicago, IL)
Web Intern (Chicago, IL)
Admin/Human Resources Intern (New York, NY)
Advertising Intern (New York, NY)
Art – Magazine Design Intern (New York, NY)
Audience Development Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Visual Arts Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Food & Drink Intern (New York, NY)
Public Relations Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Music Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Online Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Shopping & Style Intern (New York, NY)
Marketing & Events Intern (New York, NY)
Online Production Intern (New York, NY)
Photo Intern (New York, NY)
Editorial – Film Intern (New York, NY)
Special Projects Intern (New York, NY)
TONY Kids Intern (New York, NY)
TONY Kids Photo Intern (New York, NY)

They’re all unpaid, but they could be a good way to get a foot in the door.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Time Out guides or subscribe to any of their magazines?

W3i

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:19:57 +0000

Sponsored Job: PEAK6 is a Chicago, IL based proprietary trading firm that specializes in inventory and risk management, and they’re hiring a Junior Project Manager.

I recently discovered an awesome iPhone/iPad flight simulator/shooter game called MetalStorm: Wingman. It’s free, and it’s a lot of fun, but the publisher is constantly trying to eke revenue out of the game. There are ads, upsells to buy new planes and weapons, and suggestions of other apps to download. It’s that last one that caught my attention, and it led me to a company called W3i. They’re based in Sartell, MN, and they are in the business of “intelligently connecting people to apps.” They do this with both mobile and desktop apps, and they provide an opportunity for app developers to both expand the reach of their software and make money by promoting other apps.

Put the App in Apply

Believe it or not, W3i isn’t some startup. They’ve been in the business of promoting apps for over 10 years (and they’ve been profitable for most of the time!). That means that they’ve had to constantly adapt as the landscape of software downloading has changed. Some companies would get crushed by all of the changes in technology and app store rules (depending on Apple’s whims must be tough), but it sounds like W3i has responded by doubling sales since last year. If you want to really dig into what W3i does, you can read up on their offering for both desktop apps and mobile apps. You may also want to check out what they’ve done for some of their clients. If you like what you see, you’ll want to head over to W3i’s Careers page, which is beautifully done. You can learn about Life at W3i, browse careers by department, or head straight to a list of all of their current openings. The best positions for new grads include:

There are a ton of awesome opportunities at W3i, so hopefully one of them will be just what you’re looking for. If not, you can also apply for Future Opportunities. (I’m assuming that all of these positions are in the Sartell office because nothing states otherwise, but W3i also has offices in San Francisco, Berlin and Minneapolis.)

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your favorite apps?

Ketchum

Willy Franzen — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:16:15 +0000

While we’ve featured a couple of companies located in Ketchum, ID (Smith Optics and SCOTTEVEST) and a company with a subsidiary called Ketchum (The Pursuant Group), we’ve never actually looked at Ketchum. They’re a global public relations agency that is headquartered in New York, NY and has more than 100 offices and affiliates in 65 countries. In other words, they’re pretty huge. Ketchum has five globe practices, which include Brand Marketing, Corporate, Healthcare, Food & Nutrition, and Technology, and 25 specialties, so they seem to cover almost everything. Some of their biggest clients are IKEA, Häägen-Dazs, and Diet Dr. Pepper, so that gives you an idea of the scale that they operate on. If you want the full rundown, Ketchum’s Quick Facts page is extremely helpful.

Ketchum If You Can

Some of the most interesting stuff I found about Ketchum isn’t on their website. That’s because they’ve been involved in a few scandals and slip-ups, and you can read up on them on the Ketchum Wikipedia page. PR is an industry where you often have to take risks, so I don’t think any of these issues reflect too poorly on the firm. Ketchum has won PRWeek’s “Campaign of the Year” award for the past three years, so some of that risk taking is certainly paying off. To see the work that Ketchum actually wants you to see, you should check out their Case Studies. There’s a lot more to see on Ketchum’s website, so you’ll probably want to do a little more exploring. If you like what you see, then take a look at Ketchum’s Careers section (which has a ton of content) and their current opportunities. Right now they’re looking for an Account Associate (New York, NY) and a Junior Project Manager (San Francisco, CA). Additionally, they have links where you can apply to future positions in New York, NY; Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; and Washington, DC.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Ketchum?

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?

Ludus Tours

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

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

Take a Tour

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Phenomenon

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:35:14 +0000

When I look at creative, marketing, or design agencies, I usually like to check out their client lists and their work. I’m no expert, but it gives me a much better feel for the company. That’s why I was a bit surprised when I came across Phenomenon on the Inc. 5000–they don’t disclose their work or their clients. In fact, they promise anonymity to their sixteen clients (one of which is a country), and they mostly take on new clients who are referred to them by current or past clients. Phenomenon is based in Los Angeles, CA, and their approach is definitely different, but it does seem to be working. They’re growing like crazy with 1,274% three-year revenue growth to $15 million.

Are You a Phenomenon?

Phenomenon focuses on four key areas: Marketing Innovation, UX Innovation, Digital Innovation, and Cultural Innovation. I haven’t seen their work, but their model of anonymity is innovative, so I’ll trust that their work is too. If you do want to learn more about Phenomenon, you’ll probably want to read their Who We Are and What We Do pages, but it’s more important to read their Hiring Us page. It explains how they’re different and why they’re different. If you’re digging it, then you can just e-mail BecomeA@phenomenon.com and apply for a job (love that e-mail address). Or if you’re looking to apply for an actual position, you can check out Phenomenon’s Careers on LinkedIn. They’re looking for an Events Marketing Specialist and a Freelance Copywriter/Proofreader (Chicago, IL). I have no idea why they don’t also post these jobs on their site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Phenomenon?

Author Solutions

Willy Franzen — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:55:10 +0000

It amazes me how many people dream of writing a book. I never had that dream, yet when a publisher came to me and pitched a book idea on career development, I jumped at the opportunity. I had no idea how hard it would be, and I ended up backing out because it was sucking up time that I should have been spending on my business. Most people aren’t anywhere near as lucky as I was. Getting a publisher to work with you on a first project is nearly impossible–though I watched a good friend of mine totally hack the process and get a deal for his book. Luckily, you don’t need a book deal to publish a book these days. If you’re willing to take all of the risk, self-publishing can be a great alternative. Author Solutions is the parent to a number of companies that serve this market. They’re located in Bloomington, IN, and they own both the largest and second-largets print on demand companies in the U.S.

A Solution for Your Job Search

When I started doing research on Author Solutions, I came across a lot of negative blog posts and comments. It seems that the self-publishing industry can be extremely controversial, and Author Solutions is a big target because of their size. The term vanity press gets thrown around a lot, as it seems that some people don’t think it’s fair to charge an author to publish his or her book. Others are more direct with their criticism of Author Solutions’ services. It’s hard to say how much of this is accurate and how much is sour grapes from authors who paid a lot of money to publish a book that would never sell no matter who published it. I still think that Author Solutions has built a business that is worth at least taking a look at.

Author Solutions has published more than 140,000 titles, and I’m sure that number will continue to grow. They operate a bunch of businesses, and those include AuthorHouse, AuthorHouse UK, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris, AuthorHive, WordClay, lnkubook, Palibrio, and Author Learning Center. Through these different businesses Author Solutions is able to offer a wide range of author services including Editorial Services, Illustrations, Book & Cover Design, Publicity, Promotion, Distribution, Online Sales, and Bookstore Sales. If working in any of these areas sounds interesting to you, then you should take a look at Jobs at Author Solutions. Right now they have a ton of openings that might interest new or recent grads including:

Lots of options here, so give them all a good look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you ever self-publish a book?

Atlantic Council

Willy Franzen — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:45:49 +0000

Our country’s relationship with Europe started off pretty rocky. There were all kinds of conflicts including the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, and plenty of others. It wasn’t really until after World Wars I and II that U.S-Europe relations really began to stabilize. That’s why in 1961 The Atlantic Council was founded. They are a Washington, DC based think tank that “promotes constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the central role of the Atlantic community in meeting the international challenges of the 21st century.” Over the organization’s 50 years its mission and programs have evolved, but they remain focused on maintaining a constructive trans-Atlantic dialogue.

Join the Council

I realize that it’s kind of hard to grasp what think tanks actually do–especially when their mission is something as nebulous as promoting “constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs.” Here are some things that the Atlantic Council is working on that will give you a better idea of what they actually do:

identifying and shaping responses to major issues facing the Atlantic Alliance and transatlantic relations;
building consensus on U.S. policy towards Russia, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan;
promoting balanced responses to growing energy needs and environmental protection;
drafting roadmaps for U.S. policy towards the Balkans, Africa, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, and Libya;
engaging students from across the Euro-Atlantic area in the processes of NATO transformation and enlargement

To really get to know more about the Atlantic Council, you can take a look at the Atlantic Council’s Programs and Publications. If you’re interested in getting involved, then head over to The Atlantic Council’s Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for an Outreach and Public Events Assistant – Office of Development and External Relations. Give it a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the Atlantic Council?

The Conference Board

Willy Franzen — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:00:14 +0000

Pretty much every non-profit organization exists to make the world a better place in one way or another. Most do it by helping specific groups of people. The Conference Board in New York, NY is a bit different. They’re still working in the public interest, but they’re doing it by serving businesses. The Conference Board “provides the world’s leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society.” Strong businesses build strong communities (can you say jobs?), so it’s essential that businesses are able to “understand and deal with the most critical issues of our time.” It’s still doing good, even if it’s a bit removed from the kind of work that typical non-profit organizations do.

Join The Conference

The Conference Board was founded in 1916 and has been serving businesses ever since (I heard about them from a reader who took a Fellowship with them). They are a membership organization, so they rely on member organizations for funding, and in return they provide a range of products and services. The Conference Board maintain five core values (Relevance, Openness, Collaboration, Innovation, and Integrity) and focuses on four key topic areas (Corporate Leadership; Economies, Markets & Value Creation; High-Performing Organizations; and Human Capital). If you’re fascinated by the more academic side of business, then you should definitely check out The Conference Board’s Jobs. Right now they have a number of positions available for new and recent grads including Member Services Coordinator (and a 2nd posting), Webcast and Multi-Media Production Specialist, Experiential Programs Coordinator, Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Researcher, and Public & Media Relations Manager. There are quite a few options, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about The Conference Board?

beRecruited

Willy Franzen — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:48:53 +0000

Interested in international relief and development? Take a look at Samaritan’s Purse’s jobs. They’re our sponsor this week, and they have some amazing opportunities for new and recent grads including Japanese Interpreter, Marketing/Metrics Analyst, and Social Media/Marketing Specialist.

There’s a VHS tape that I’ve been trying to get my hands on for a while. It’s my girlfriend’s recruiting video that she sent to colleges when she was in high school (she ended up playing volleyball for Cornell and winning three Ivy League Championships!). It’s the ultimate blackmail material. College athletic recruiting has come a long way since then. Much of the communication between coaches and prospective athletes happens over the Internet, but managing those communications can be a tall task for parents and students that haven’t been through the process before. beRecruited is a site that has been connecting high school athletes with college coaches since 2000. The site has over 1 million registered members, and apparently 68% of college coaches have signed up for the site. beRecruited appears to be located in both Atlanta, GA and San Francisco, CA.

Be Recruited by beRecruited

beRecruited has a pretty sweet infographic on their About page that gives you a broad look at the size and reach of their network. After you check that out, you’ll want to take their Product Tour. You’ll see how beRecruited allows you to build a profile, upload multimedia, find schools, and “send customized and personalized letters of interest to almost any coach in the country.” The site also allows coaches to find student athletes, so it really can be a game changer for kids who aren’t able to get exposure in other ways. If you’re excited about what beRecruited is doing, check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Systems Administrator in San Francisco, CA and a Marketing & Customer Service Intern in Atlanta, GA. The Internship is more like a part-time job, so don’t look past it because it’s called an internship. They also say, “Don’t see a position for you? Email us at jobs AT beRecruited DOT com and tell us why you’d be a fit.” You know what that means!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Were you a college athlete?

Schwartz Communications

Willy Franzen — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:43:42 +0000

When you land a job, let me know by e-mailing me at willy@onedayonejob.com. If you found it through our daily e-mails or site, we want to add you to our success stories. If you didn’t, we may want to feature your new employer and let the rest of our readers know about them. If they hired you, there’s a good chance that they’ll be hiring other recent grads in the future. A reader e-mail is how I found out about Schwartz Communications, a Waltham, MA based public relations firm that “has been helping technology and healthcare companies articulate compelling stories” for over 20 years. It’s all about taking a development that may sound super scientific and turning it into something that appeals to a wide audience.

Is Your Story Compelling?

There’s no better way to get a feel for a PR firm than to check out their client list and read through their case studies. Obviously big names are nice to see, but only firms that serve certain industries are going to have clients with familiar names. In tech and healthcare, big names aren’t necessarily familiar names. However, some Schwartz Communications clients that I recognize include Simply Hired, RetailMeNot, and Versant. Luckily, Schwartz Communications has a ton of case studies posted, so you can really dig into learning about the kind of work that they do. You can also check out their client coverage to take a look at the kinds of results that they deliver. If you like what you see, then head over to Schwartz Communications’ Jobs page. While the only current opening that they have for a recent grad is an Account Executive position in Twickenham, United Kingdom, don’t let that stop you from reaching out to them about positions in their Waltham and San Francisco offices

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Schwartz Communications?

Banyan Branch

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:14:40 +0000

I guess today’s post is going to be a case study on how social media can influence the decisions people make. Yesterday I was browsing Facebook and saw an ad for “The Ultimate Social Media Internship.” I’m not sure how that ad got targeted to me (since I’m not a current college student), but it did, and I clicked on it (who knew that people actually click on Facebook ads?). Anyway, I ended up here. I was intrigued by the fact that a social media agency successfully used social media to get my attention, so I decided to take a closer look at Banyan Branch. They’re based in Seattle, WA, and they are “pioneering the way brands, companies, and movements can harness the power of social media for their benefit.” It worked on me, so I guess they have to be good, right?

Branching Out

The first thing that you should do to learn more about Banyan Branch is check out their portfolio. You can see the work that they’ve done for Glee, Disney (Snow White), Univision, Microsoft, Parallels (I love this one), and more. Their work is really impressive, and it stands out from a lot of the other garbage that you see social media firms trying. Banyan Branch segments their offerings into five product areas: Social Strategy, Reputation, Banyan Interactive, Proactive Outreach, and Brand Champions. It’s all about understanding a client’s “business objectives across functions, including marketing, sales, communications, product, customer service, events, analyst relations and more” and then defining “the social media strategy that accomplishes those business objectives, the measurements of success in accomplishing those objectives, and the appropriate benchmarks.” If you like the sound of this, then you should take a look at jobs at Banyan Branch. They have a number of opportunities that look exciting including Social Media Analyst, Business Development, and Account Manager. Check out the jobs, and be sure to take a look inside their office and at Life at Banyan Branch.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Banyan Branch?

OpenDNS

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:54:10 +0000

The average Internet user probably knows next to nothing about the Domain Name System or DNS. It’s a system that is mostly behind the scenes, even though it is absolutely essential to how the Internet works. When you type in www.onedayonejob.com, your host checks its records (which are constantly updated) for an entry corresponding to the domain name. If it’s up to date and working properly, it will resolve the domain name to the Internet Protocol address 98.158.181.7 (every device connected to the Internet has an IP address). From there the request will get passed on to my name server, and you will be directed to the proper site (since www.onedayoneinternship.com is hosted on the same server). Not many people realize how important a good DNS server is. If your ISP doesn’t update their DNS list often, you may not be able to access a site that moves to a new server. You might also get redirected to an annoying page filled with ads when you type in an invalid domain name. Or you might be using a slow DNS server that takes forever to connect you to the right server. OpenDNS is a company that solves all of these problems and more. They are based in San Francisco, CA, and they are “the leading provider of free security and infrastructure services that make the Internet safer through integrated Web content filtering, anti-phishing and DNS.”

Open Opportunities

You can opt out of using your ISP’s DNS server and use OpenDNS instead. There are a few advantages to doing this. First, their DNS servers are fast and updated constantly. Second, they identify phishing (fraudulent) websites and warn you against accessing them before you accidentally enter your private information. Third, they can give you data on your Internet usage or block you (or a group of users) from accessing a certain group of sites. By doing all of this through DNS, OpenDNS has developed a super affordable way to offer extremely valuable services–services that might be extremely expensive if done with other hardware or software solutions. The service is free for individual users, but they offer premium options at the family, small business, and enterprise levels. I’m a big fan of OpenDNS because it’s saved me a lot of headaches, so I think you should check out their Jobs page. OpenDNS’s current opportunities include Technical Customer Support Representative, User Experience Lead, PR Manager, Inside Sales Representative, Renewals Manager, Web Applications Engineer, Windows Software Engineer, and Distributed Systems Engineer. And make sure you sign up for OpenDNS and give it a try before you apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use OpenDNS?

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Willy Franzen — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:41:43 +0000

Ever consider a career in teaching? Here’s some info on how to get started.

There’s a long history of poking fun at Martha Stewart, and it started well before she went to prison. There’s just something funny about someone who takes perfection in domesticity as seriously as she does. My family even played an integral role in the satire of Martha with my little sister’s appearance in the parody magazine Martha Stuart’s Better Than You at Entertaining, which was a follow up to Is Martha Stuart Living? (here’s a picture my sister as young Martha Stewart in the parody). We can keep laughing at Martha Stewart, but she’ll always get the last laugh. She has an amazing track record of reaching the top in nearly everything that she has done–from babysitting for Mickey Mantle’s kids to starting a successful catering company in her basement to building a New York, NY based media empire in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart is apparently now worth well over half a billion dollars, and has used her personal brand to build amazing print, television, online, and merchandise properties.

Are You Living?

Whether or not you’re a Martha Stewart fan, you have to be impressed by what she’s done throughout her career. She’s had an amazing ability to stay relevant, and a lot of that has to do with her media strategy. She easily could have settled with a successful catering business, or a popular magazine, or having her own television show, but she didn’t. It seems that she is obsessed with using every channel possible to reach people with her “unique lifestyle content.” That’s what Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is all about. If you enjoy the Martha Stewart brand and want to work on the media or merchandise side, then you definitely need to take a look at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Careers page. There are some great opportunities posted in their job listings, and a few seem suitable for new or recent grads including: Assistant Food Editor, PHP Application Developer – Internet Content Management Systems, Front-End Web Developer, Decorative Pillow and Bedding Accessory Designer, Executive Assistant, Freelance Recipe Taster, Retail Merchandising Assistant, Apparel Designer – Martha Stewart Pets and Quilt Designer. You can also apply for an unlisted position if you don’t see something that suits you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a Martha Stewart fan?

Octagon

Willy Franzen — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:19:11 +0000

Usually when readers recommend companies, I put them on my list and cover them soon after if they look interesting and have relevant opportunities. Lately I’ve had two readers mention that they applied to Octagon, but I somehow overlooked the company. My only excuse is that I’m often skeptical of sports and entertainment marketing companies because there are so many sports marketing hiring scams. But that’s very clearly not the case with Octagon, they’ve been around since 1983 and they have offices all across the world. As they put it, they’re “the recognized, global thought leader in passion-based, sports & entertainment marketing.” Some of people they represent are Chris Paul, Michael Phelps, Randy Johnson, John Elway, Elena Dementieva, Landry Fields, Michael Johnson, Anna Kournikova, Apolo Anton Ohno, and many more huge names.

Can You Compete Inside the Octagon?

From what I can tell, Octagon separates their business into four divisions. On their Octagon’s What We Do page, you’ll see links to: Marketing, Marketing North America, Athletes & Personalities, and Events. Within the Athletes & Personalities section you’ll find links to specific verticals like OctagoOly.com, OctagonHockey.com, OctagonBasketball.com. Additionally, there are separate sites for Octagon’s international businesses like OctagonBrazil.com, and Octagon-UK.com. It’s all a bit overwhelming, but it’s indicative of how big Octagon’s presence is in the field of sports and entertainment marketing. In fact, the best overview of what Octagon’s businesses actually do is on their Careers page. Once you read through that, then you can take a look at their current job postings. Right now they have a few positions that seem right for a new or recent grad including Account Executive – Telecom (Kansas City, KS), Non-Profit & Media Relations Coordinator (Portland, ME), Account Executive – Sales Assistant (Norwalk, CT), Associate Producer – Digital (Norwalk, CT), and Account Executive – Multicultural – Home Improvement (Atlanta, GA).

Octagon has offices in the following locations, so you may want to watch out for new postings in any of these places:

Atlanta, GA
Cary, NC
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Los Angels, CA
McLean, VA
Minneapolis, MN
Naples, FL
New York, NY
Norwalk, CT
Ormond Beach, FL
Portland, ME
Richmond, VA
Rogers, AR
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ottawa, Ontario
Waterlool, Ontario
Adelaide, South Australia
Hobart, Tasmania
Melbourne, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Beijing, China
Mumbai, India
Tokyo Japan
Singapore, Malaysia
Paris, France
Frankfurt, Germany
Doha, Qatar
Moscow, Russia
Cape Town, South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Barcelona, Spain
Sevilla, Spain
Stockholm, Sweden
Istanbul, Turkey
London, United Kingdom

That’s a lot of locations, so keep an eye on Octagon’s job postings for opportunities closer to home (or further away if that’s what you’re looking for).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Octagon?

Transportation Alternatives

Willy Franzen — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:09:59 +0000

I must admit that I probably use my car more than I should to get around in Chicago. It’s often just so easy. I still walk and take public transportation when it makes the most sense, but I could definitely be convinced to do both of those things more often. That’s the job of Transportation Alternatives, although they do it in New York, NY. They’re a non-profit organization with a mission to “reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives.” There are a ton of negative externalities with cars (pollution, danger to pedestrians, noise, etc.), and plenty of positive externalities (less congestion, healthier citizens, etc.) with alternative forms of transportation, so it makes sense for an organization like Transportation Alternatives to be so adamant about their position.

Transport Yourself

New York City has already made a ton of progress on the transportation front. Since 1973 there are five times more cyclists on the streets and there are half as many pedestrian fatalities, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Transportation Alternatives is all about the idea of “the livable street,” so they’re constantly “pushing city agencies and elected officials to introduce this innovation into the urban landscape.” To get a better sense for how Transportation Alternatives is approaching their mission, you should check out their Advocacy Campaigns and their Action Center. If you like what you see, then you’ll want to head over to the Transportation Alternatives Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a New York City Bicycling Ambassador Program – Lead Organizer, New York City Bicycling Ambassadors, and a Press Secretary. All of the positions look great, so if you’re all about alternative transportation, then check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite mode of transportation?

Uber

Willy Franzen — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:34:02 +0000

In Chicago getting a cab is easy. If you stand on the street looking even somewhat confused, taxi drivers will start honking at you to see if you need a ride. If you have luggage with you, they’ll nearly run you over trying to ensure that another cab doesn’t get the $42 fare to O’Hare. Apparently it’s not so easy in other cities. I’ve heard that it can be especially tough in San Francisco, CA, which is why Uber (formerly UberCab) is making so much noise. They offer a simple, relatively affordable black car service that harnesses the power of the mobile Internet. With a simple text message or touch of a button in an iPhone or Android app, you can have Uber schedule a car to come pick you up. You’ll get an estimated arrival time (usually within 5-10 minutes), and when they get there, you just hop in. Once you’re at your destination, you hop out and say thank you. They already have your credit card from when you signed up, so payment is covered and tip is included. It’s certainly a luxury, but it’s a luxury done right.

Uber Jobs

A lot of people hate “middle men,” but Uber is kind of making the middle man awesome again. They don’t own the cars or employ the drivers, they just act as an intermediary between drivers and customers. Rarely will a driver of a black car be busy all day–there will often be downtime. Uber fills in the downtime by offering these drivers jobs through a mobile app. Only drivers who maintain a certain level of customer satisfaction (Uber has a rating system) can continue to be part of Uber’s network. The pricing seems to be about double what I’d pay for a cab here in Chicago, but their flat rates to and from SFO and OAK look pretty decent. Uber only operates in San Francisco right now, but they’re expanding to New York City very soon. I love companies like Uber because they’re half web startup and half old school business. (Bonobos is another company that fits that profile.) If you’re excited about what Uber is doing, then you should head over to their Jobs page. Right now they have two entry level positions: Customer Support Associate and Engineer/Developer. There may be more jobs on the way as Uber expands, so keep an eye on them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used Uber?

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?

Global Inheritance

Willy Franzen — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:03:21 +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.

On Friday we took a look at Voxiva, a company that uses mobile technology to help people make simple behavioral changes to improve their health. They’re a for-profit company that is using creative ways to encourage behavioral change to better the world. Global Inheritance is a non-profit that is taking a similar approach, but doing so in a very different way. The Los Angeles, CA based organization develops “unique initiatives [that] focus on the power of creativity to communicate issues with audiences that need a kick in the butt.” The audiences that they’re talking about seem to be largely those at concerts and festivals, but it could be anywhere where young people congregate (and that includes online communities).

What World Are You Inheriting?

Global Inheritance is extremely program focused. They claim to devote 98% of their time designing and executing programs (and not fundraising). These programs are typically focused on using “technology, the arts and interactivity” to reinvent “activism by inspiring people to act responsibly and make the right small every-day choices, which are the ones that matter and create change.” Global Inheritance’s programs include Energy Playground, Energy FACTory, TRASHed :: Recycling Store, TRASHed :: Art of Recycling, Tour Rider, Environmentaland, and more. Some of the programs seem a little goofy (like having Spin and Shake classes where “bike-powered blenders to generate delicious protein shakes for all participants”), but they’re certainly thought-provoking. If you’d like to get involved with Global Inheritance, then you should check out their Idealist page. Right now they’re looking to hire a Special Project Coordinator. The position starts as an unpaid internships but will turn into a paid, full-time position after a month of excellent performance.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Global Inheritance?

Alliance to Save Energy

Willy Franzen — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:51:24 +0000

When we talk about energy efficiency, we often think about the environment. If we use less energy, we do less harm to the environment—but that’s only half the story. Energy efficiency is also essential to keeping our world’s economy growing. Nearly all economic activity requires some sort of energy input, and energy is quite obviously a limited resource. If we can find ways to use the energy that we have more efficiently, we can stimulate more economic growth. The Alliance to Save Energy is a non-profit organization that was started in response to the oil embargo of the 1970s. They saw how reliant our economy was on foreign oil, and they wanted to take action to decrease that reliance through conservation. The Washington, DC based organization obviously still has a long way to go, but they have a great track record of helping businesses and the environment at the same time.

Join the Alliance

Beyond looking at the Alliance to Save Energy’s Topic Areas and Programs, the best way to get a feel for what the Alliance to Save Energy does is to watch the video below (e-mail readers click through):

As you can see the Alliance to Save Energy is doing everything they can to promote “energy efficiency worldwide to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment and energy security.” If you’d like to be a part of that mission, then you should check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Public & Corporate Relations Administrative Associate. They also have a few more advanced positions posted.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you save energy?

Simon & Schuster

Willy Franzen — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:46:23 +0000

It’s hard to think of an industry that hasn’t been affected by the Internet in some way, but when you think about those that have seen the most change, publishing has to be at the top of the list. Not only has technology changed the way that we read, but it’s also changed what we read. In fact, I bought a Kindle to force myself to read more books, and half of the reading that I do on it is stuff that I sent to it from the web. However, books are still huge business, and the major brands in the book publishing business still seem to be surviving, if not thriving, in a forever changed book selling environment. Simon & Schuster is a great example (and if you’re looking for other entry level jobs in publishing, you may also want to check out Hachette, Sterling, Penguin Group, and Random House). The New York, NY publisher was able to hit their profit targets last year even though they fell short of revenue targets. This article on a letter from Simon & Schuster’s CEO will give you insight into how the company is embracing digital publishing while also expanding its focus on high growth areas like Children’s publishing. The Internet may just be what keeps the big name publishers alive.

Book It

The most recent data that I can find (mid-2008) had Simon & Schuster as the fourth largest trade publisher in the United States. Back then they represented just under 10% of the market share, and there’s a good chance that they’ve grown it since they’ve really started to embrace digital formats and social media marketing. Now, 10% of the trade books in the United States aren’t labeled as being published by Simon & Schuster—they have a wide range of divisions and imprints that specialize in specific interest areas and markets. Each of these acts as “its own publisher with separate editorial and publicity departments,” but they do share “common sales and business departments.” If you’re intrigued by what Simon & Schuster is doing to maintain (or improve) their position in the trade publishing industry, then you should check out their Jobs page—specifically the section on their Associates Program, which is aimed at providing “opportunities for entry-level candidates to gain hands-on experience in different functional areas in order to broaden knowledge of publishing and fast forward careers.” It’s a rotational program that offers focuses in Adult, Children’s Publishing (including but not limited to Editorial, Publicity, Marketing, Subsidiary Rights, and Managing Editorial), Digital, or Corporate Communications. It looks great, and they expect candidates on a rolling basis, so you don’t have to worry about deadlines or being from a target campus. There also some other positions posted on Simon & Schuster’s Jobs site like Human Resources Coordinator, Editorial Assistant (Gallery Books) – Adult Trade, Inventory Analyst (NYC and Riverside, NJ), Logistics Coordinator (Riverside, NJ), and Business Intelligence Analyst, so the Associates Program isn’t the only option.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which books from Simon & Schuster have you read lately?

Mindspark

Willy Franzen — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:59:37 +0000

There’s been a big uproar in the startup community because I Can Has Cheezburger just took on $30 million in venture capital funding. Now, I’m not qualified to determine whether that’s a smart investment, but I’m wary of people who are too quick to judge it. A lot of people have trouble differentiating between serious businesses and businesses that sell serious products. There’s a lot of room for fun on the Internet, and there are lots of companies that are profiting by providing fun. One of them is Mindspark, which is an IAC company. Mindspark is based in White Plains, NY with additional offices in New York City and Ra’anana, Israel. They manage a number of social and entertainment web properties including Zwinky, and Zwinky Cuties, IWON, Retrogamer, MyWebFace, and GirlSense. Mindspark also offers interactive communication products like Webfetti, My Fun Cards, SmileyCentral, Smiley Creator, Cursor Mania, Popular Screensavers and Kazulah. Additionally, Mindspark also runs Excite and DailyBurn. As you can tell by the names, this isn’t the most serious collection of sites.

A Spark for Your Job Search

Now, I know that you never thought that visiting Zwinky Cuties would be part of your job search, but if you want to land a job at Mindspark, you’re going to have to check out all of their sites. You should be able to run through each of their sites and identify the target audience, the ways in which the sites engage their audiences, and how Mindspark is monetizing the attention from those audiences. That’s the kind of analysis that you should be doing on any company that you want to work for—it’s just going to be a little more fun for Mindspark. Once you have a handle on that, you should check out Mindspark’s Careers page and Job postings. They have a ton of jobs posted (so you have to think that they’re doing well), and a number of them seem appropriate for new or recent grads. Unfortunately, the system that they use to post the jobs, Jobvite, won’t let me link directly to the job descriptions. The positions that you’ll want to look out for include Business Development Coordinator (Ask Partner Network – Oakland, CA), Product Support Specialist/Tester (White Plains, NY), Technical Customer Support Specialist (DailyBurn – New York, NY), Online Fitness Trainer (DailyBurn – New York, NY), Flash Game Developer (Virtual Worlds – Los Angeles, CA and White Plains, NY), Web Developer (Ask Partner Network – Oakland, CA), Web Developer (IWON – New York, NY), and Web Developer (Webfetti – White Plains, NY). You can also find DailyBurn’s technical positions posted here. There’s a lot of variety here, so hopefully something will catch your eye.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you visited any of Mindspark’s properties?

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?

Golin Harris

Willy Franzen — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:51:38 +0000

It’s been a while since we took a look at a full-fledge PR firm (we’ve covered a ton in the past, check our public relations and communications tags). It’s not that they don’t offer great entry level opportunities, it’s just that they’re kind of boring to write about. As an outsider it’s hard for me to tell what makes one PR firm better than the other—I usually focus on clients lists, but even that’s not enough. You really need to dig deep and do some serious research to get a read on a PR firm. You’re probably wondering what about Chicago, IL (with offices across the world) based Golin Harris made them stand out to me. Well, someone I follow tweeted about the company’s jobs, and then I saw that they were named 2010 “Large PR Agency of the Year” by PRWeek. They were also a 2009 Holmes Report “Best Agency to Work For,” and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to honors and awards.

Golin or Go Home

Oddly enough, Golin Harris doesn’t seem to list their clients on their website; however, the company’s Wikipedia page mentions that they do work for Bristol-Myers Squibb, McDonald’s, Nintendo of America, Dow Chemical, Orange, Texas Instruments, and Toyota. Those are monster names, which makes sense for a company that was recently named Large PR Agency of the Year. The Golin Harris website is a bit lacking when it comes to providing information that can really give you a feel for a company, but their Capabilities section does give some insight into the kind of work they do and how they go about it. If you’re impressed with what you see at Golin Harris, then you’ll want to check out their Careers page. They have a number of entry level opportunities including Assistant Account Executive – Interactive Entertainment (Los Angeles, CA), Staff Writer – Interactive Entertainment (Los Angeles, CA), Assistant Account Executive – Healthcare (Chicago, IL), and Assistant Account Executive (Dallas, TX). Golin Harris’ locations U.S offices in Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Miami, FL; New York, NY; Orange County, CA; Richmond, VA; San Francisco, CA; San Juan, PR; and Washington, DC; along with plenty of international offices. So you may want to look out for opportunities in those offices too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Golin Harris?