One Day, One Job » recruiting

Spongecell

Willy Franzen — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:45:52 +0000

Ads make the Internet go ’round. Most of the content that you consume (including what you’re reading right now) wouldn’t be possible without advertising. The problem is that most ads are annoying–they interrupt you from doing what you want to do–so you start to ignore them. As you ignore more and more ads, advertisers are forced to find new ways to catch your attention. Sometimes that leads to ads that are actually interesting, and sometimes it leads to ads that are more interruptive. Spongecell is a New York, NY based company that allows advertisers to “transform standard banner ads into dynamic flash ads with rich media-like functionality.” That may sound more interruptive, but the ads that Spongecell enables are no bigger than a typical banner ad–they just come to life when you hover over them with your cursor.

Be a Sponge

I’m really impressed with the different types of functionality that Spongecell offers in a standard ad unit. There are video, maps, social feeds, coupons, carousels, lead generation, and more. These ads allow you interact with them before you leave the page that you’re on, which immediately makes them more effective. You can see what the ads look like in Spongecell’s extensive gallery. They’ve worked with all kinds of big names to develop rich media ads that target a specific behavior, whether it’s watching a video or getting you to find a bank’s nearest location. If you don’t mind ads and you’re intrigued by what Spongecell is doing, then head over to their Jobs page. Right now they have some interesting positions open including:

Recruiting and HR Coordinator
Marketing Designer
Rails or HTML5 Developer (San Francisco, CA)
Interactive Production Designer
Interactive Production Designer (London, UK)
Sales Associate
Advertising Operations Analyst (London, UK)

These look like great jobs, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you mind online ads?

Work Market

Willy Franzen — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:56:08 +0000

In college I studied Industrial and Labor Relations, which means that I spent four years focusing on the world of work. The curriculum covered everything from slavery and indentured servitude to unions and the movement of capital to find lower cost labor. The common theme was that the way that we define and think about work is constantly changing. Today’s trend is all about having a flexible workforce–people who can join on for a project form wherever they live and then move on to a new project with someone else. Work Market is a company that “give businesses access to an on-demand scalable work force along with tools to manage three categories of labor: employees, contractors and third parties.” Many businesses in this space focus on actually building the market where labor can find work, but Work Market takes it one step further and offers the software for businesses to build their own market.

Are You in the Market?

Work Market’s business is built on taking a cut of every assignment that they make happen. Their fees start at 9%, which sounds high, but is actually extremely competitive. The beauty of Work Market’s platform is that it covers everything that needs to be covered–things like background screening, tax compliance and filing, payment, competency validation, and lots more. We’re going to see more and more of this going forward–not only as a way to get work done but also as a hiring tool. Why use an interviewing process when you can have someone truly audition? If you like the approach that Work Market is taking, you can take a look at their Jobs page. Right now they have some great opportunities that could be a fit for a new or recent grad including: Client Service Professional, Visual / UX / UI Designer, Community Manager, and Operations Engineer. Check them out, or apply through the General Application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you join Work Market?

GREE

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

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

They’re Huge in Japan

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play any GREE games?

Internet Brands

Willy Franzen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:07:03 +0000

In case you missed our e-mail from last week, Kembrel loved the response from our post about them so they’re offering a free VIP card (usually 20 bucks) to all ODOJ readers and $5 in store credit. Sign up here.

On Monday we took a look at Vertive, a company that builds internet properties to help people save money. Today we’re going to look at a company with a similar model of building and buying websites, but a much broader approach. Internet Brands is based in El Segundo, CA and started as CarsDirect.com in 1998. It was a successful brand for them, but in 2005 they realized that the platform they had built could be applied to other verticals. Now Internet Brands operates more than 100 websites that reach over a billion visitors every year. Amazingly, they’ve been able to generate almost all of this traffic organically (without buying advertising). This is all because of the platform that they’ve developed and the ability to share resources across brands. Internet Brands is a case study of how economies of scale can work on the web.

Get Branded

The best way to get a better feel for Internet Brands is to explore their… brands. There are a lot of them, but they typically fit into one of nine verticals: Automotive, Careers, Health, Home, Legal, Licensing, Money, Shopping, and Travel. Chances are that most of the brands will be new to you, but I found a few that I was familiar with. Unlike Vertive, Internet Brands doesn’t shed much light on how they operate. Even the Internet Brands Careers page is filled with mostly generic stuff like “Do you have energy, drive and ambition?” and “Do you have a strong sense of where you are going and how to get there?” Would any job seeker answer no to those rhetorical questions? At least Internet Brands makes up for it with a ton of job postings. Here are the ones that look well suited for an entry level job seeker:

That’s a lot of jobs. Hopefully a few of them will catch your interest.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Internet Brands?

RaceTrac

Willy Franzen — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:58:16 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I love the smell of gasoline–at least in limited doses. Oddly enough, I absolutely hate the smell of coffee, so I’m not sure how I’d do if I had to work at a RaceTrac. They’re an Atlanta, GA based chain of more than 525 gas stations and convenience stores that stretch across twelve southeastern states. The odd thing about them is that their home page puts more emphasis on their coffee than on the gas. I guess gas is pretty much the same at every gas station, but good coffee will actually bring people through the doors. Besides the coffee RaceTrac differentiates itself with its size–their stores are typically over 5,000 square feet with more than 4,000 items and 20-24 pumps. If I owned a chain of gas stations, I’d probably use clean bathrooms as a point of differentiation. I think it would be a goldmine, but RaceTrac’s $8 billion in annual revenue makes them the third largest private company in Atlanta, so maybe coffee is the right choice.

Start Your Engine

As I mentioned before, RaceTrac’s home page doesn’t make it very clear that they’re a gas station, but there is a huge emphasis on different forms of transportation. They’re obviously trying to sell themselves as a part of an on the go lifestyle. This makes a lot of sense considering that it’s often the convenience items that drive the profits for retail gas stations. I’m sure there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on behind the scenes at RaceTrac, which is why you should check out their Careers page. They have page for Associate and Manager positions, but my guess is that you’ll be most interested in the positions at their Store Support Centers (Corporate). Right now they have some great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Real Estate Analyst (Atlanta, GA)
Fuel Pricing Coordinator (Atlanta, GA)
Engineering Coordinator (Atlanta, GA)
Recruitment and Engagement Specialist (Atlanta, GA)
Recruitment and Engagement Specialist (Baton Rouge, LA)
HR Business Analyst (Atlanta, GA)
Software Developer (Atlanta, GA)

There are some really interesting look positions at RaceTrac, so check them out and see if any of them make sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever stopped at a RaceTrac?

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?

Crain Communications

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

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

Crain Your Neck

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of Crain’s publications?

Snagajob

Willy Franzen — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:13:22 +0000

Some of you have been receiving our e-mails hours or even days after they were originally sent. It’s a problem with our e-mail provider, and I think it’s finally fixed. I hope it hasn’t been too annoying.

I couldn’t find a job after I graduated, so I created my own job helping other grads find jobs. It’s kind of a ridiculous story, but it seems to have worked out. It feels a little weird for me to cover companies that are also in the job search space, but how can I not tell you about a company that was just named the #1 Small Business to Work For? Snagajob is based in Glen Allen, VA, and they were founded in 1999 by Shawn Boyer when he realized that there were no good websites for finding hourly jobs while trying to help a friend find an internship. Shawn started out by building a simple job board, but the business has continued to grow as they have found new ways to serve both employers and job seekers.

Snag a Job at Snagajob

Snagajob’s business still appears to be largely driven by job postings. Employers pay to post their jobs and reach Snagajob’s huge audience of millions of job seekers. However, it does appear that Snagajob branches out with other types of advertising, co-registration offers, coupons, and all kinds of other stuff. These types of revenue streams make more and more sense as Snagajob develops more content that isn’t just job postings. It seems to be working as Snagajob is growing rapidly (I hear they plan to hire 100 more people over the next year). And it’s great to see that throughout that growth, Snagajob is staying committed to having an awesome corporate culture. If you want to become a “snagged,” then head over to Snagajob’s Careers page. Right now they have a number of opportunities that seem suitable for new or recent grads including Product Specialist and Account Executive. And if those positions don’t look like a good fit for you, I’m sure more will be posted in the near future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever looked for a job on Snagajob?

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

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

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

Do You Have Geospatial Intelligence?

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

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you amazed by what the NGA does?

Citizen Schools

Willy Franzen — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:31:53 +0000

Middle school is a big turning point in the lives of students. They generally enter still looking and acting like children, but by the time they leave they’re well on their way to adulthood. Middle school is also the point at which academics become much more rigorous–you have real tests, real grades, and real responsibility. That’s why Citizen Schools was founded in 1995 to re-imagine “the learning day to bring more time, more talented adults, and more relevant learning experiences to middle-school students in low-income neighborhoods.” They’re headquartered in Boston, MA, and they’re getting citizens off the sidelines and into schools in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Texas.

Be a Good Citizen

Citizen Schools’ focus is on “expanding the learning day.” To get a sense of what they mean by that, you should take a look at Citizen Schools’ Model and Growth Strategy. The story behind Citizen Schools is pretty neat, so I strongly recommend that you watch their Citizen Schools 101 video below (e-mail readers need to click through):

If you want to be part of that story as it continues to get better, then you need to take a look at Citizen Schools’ wide range of Career Opportunities. They offer a variety of paths including Teaching Fellowships (applications open later this month), Teaching Associate positions, Campus Director positions, and a variety of other openings. Browse through everything and see what makes the most sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Citizen Schools?

Attack!

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:23:54 +0000

If you’re going to plan an effective attack, you often need boots on the ground. This is obviously true in military endeavors, but it can also be true in marketing. Believe it or not, having actual people doing face to face marketing can still be remarkably effective–I’m sure you’ve even seen it on your college’s campus. When companies need temporary staff for event based or experiential marketing, they often go to San Francisco, CA based Attack! (which also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York). They’re yet another Inc. 5000 company, and they’ve seen 180% three-year growth to $7.9 million in annual revenue. If you’re wondering how it all works, you’ll see that it’s mostly based on skydiving sumos.

Attack!

The best way to get a better feel for what Attack! does for their clients is to look through their laundry list of Services. The biggest focus is on Nationwide Event Staffing, but they also offer Experiential Services and Field Support. If you want to see what these services actually look like in practice, then you’ll want to check out the Attack! Case Studies. You can see the work that they’ve done for brands like Nickelodeon, VISA, Jamba Juice, and Canadian Club. If you like how different Attack!’s approach to marketing is from other firms, then you’ll want to take a look at their Careers page. You’ll see that they have a few job openings right now including Producer/Project Manager (Los Angeles, CA) and Account Manager (Los Angeles, CA and San Francisco, CA). Give them a look, you might like the experience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Attack!?

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?

Yammer

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

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

Communicate Your Skills

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used Yammer?

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?

PowerReviews

Willy Franzen — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:14:28 +0000

Yesterday we looked at a company that helps online publishers make more money from their content. Today we’re going to look at a company that helps businesses capture user-generated content and use it to drive sales of their products. It may not seem obvious, but quality content is the key to driving online product sales. Not only do you need to convince people to buy your product, but you need to show search engines that your page is the place to go for information on a given product. That’s why PowerReviews exists. They’re a San Francisco, CA based company that has “built innovative social solutions at every stage of the social commerce journey to help you connect with your customers, learn from them, and sell more.” In other words, they provide software that powers customer review sections on e-commerce websites.

You Got the Power!

There are customer reviews all over the web. Some are great, and some are pretty worthless. A lot of that has to do with how they’re collected and how they’re presented. PowerReviews must do a pretty good job considering that their clients include Staples, REI, Toys ‘R Us, Orbitz, MLB, NBA, NFL, UGG, Tumi, Filson, and tons of other huge names. When you hear some of PowerReviews’ client testimonials, you realize that “social commerce” isn’t just some made up term. PowerReviews also has a site called Buzzillions, where they aggregate the reviews of all of their clients and allow you to search for product reviews of more than 15 million products. If you like the idea of a career in social commerce, take a look at PowerReviews’ Jobs page. Right now they have a bunch of interesting opportunities for new or recent grads including Technical Support Engineer, UX/ UI Engineer, Jobvite Guru, Office Manager, and Market Development Representative. There are a bunch of options here, so head over to the PowerReviews Jobs page to check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you ever write online product reviews?

Education First

Willy Franzen — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:24:47 +0000

Though I wouldn’t call it a regret, there’s a part of me that wishes that I had taken the opportunity to study abroad during college. It would be nice to have learned a new language, experienced different cultures, and seen new geographies. Luckily, I have done a bit of traveling after college to help with the last two, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever pick up a new language. But if I do decided to pursue a more formal travel/study abroad experience, I could go through Education First. They’re an international company that offers “a range of educational programs from language training, educational travel, and academic degrees to cultural exchanges.” The company was founded in 1965 by Bertil Hult in Lund, Sweden, but they’re now headquartered in Luzern, Switzerland. They have locations all across the world (including the US), which makes sense since their business is all about breaking “down barriers in language, culture and geography” and helping “people of all ages and nationalities become citizens of the world.”

First Things First

I learned about Education First from a One Day, One Internship reader who unsubscribed because she landed an internship with them. That piqued my curiosity, so I started looking at Education First more closely. Apparently, they operate in more than 50 countries with 400 offices/schools–and that number is growing at a rate of about one new school/office every week. It looks like international education is a thriving business, and Education First is serving the market in a variety of ways. Their range of program offerings includes Language Schools, High School and University Education, Corporate Language Training, Cultural Exchange, Online Language Training, and Educational Tours. I can only graze the surface of what they do, so I strongly recommend that you take some time to read up on their history and browse their website to learn more. After that, you’ll want to check out their Careers site which has a ton of information about what it’s like to work for Education First. And if you want “to work in a dynamic, fast-paced and highly international environment,” then you can check out their current opportunities. There are a ton of positions posted across the world, but I’m just going to link to a sampling of the U.S. based entry level opportunities like Marketing Coordinator (Cambridge, MA), Tour Consultant (Cambridge, MA), Recruitment Coordinator (Los Angeles, CA), and Account Services Coordinator – Cultural Care Au Pair (Cambridge, MA). There are dozens of jobs available in a variety of locations–most in Sales, so give them all a good look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you done any Education First programs?

38 Studios

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:19:17 +0000

A few days ago I saw a retweet from Peter Gammons’ account about some job opportunities. That seemed a bit odd to me since Peter Gammons is a baseball reporter and analyst, and the jobs didn’t seem to have anything to do with baseball. I made a note of it and went back to what I was doing. Today I went to check out 38 Studios, and I realized that Gammons was retweeting Curt Schilling, the former Phillies and Diamondbacks pitcher (he may have also played for the evil Red Sox, which is probably why Gammons, the biggest Red Sox homer ever, was retweeting him). Anyway, Curt Schilling is the founder of 38 Studios, which is “an entertainment and IP creation company in development on a broad range of products, including online and console video games, toys, novels, comics, film, TV, and other forms of digital media.” I’m not sure how I’d describe the stuff that they’re putting out, but if I had to pick one word it would be fantasy. Like I said, nothing to do with baseball. 38 Studios was previously based in Boston, MA, but they’re in the process of moving to Providence, RI, and that’s where most of their jobs are now.

No Bloody Socks Here

38 Studios currently has two products: Copernicus and Kingdoms of Amalur. Both are games, but I assume that novels, comics, toys, etc. will be spun out of these games. Curt Schilling’s partners in 38 Studios are Todd McFarlane and R.A. Salvatore and the company bought out Big Huge Games, so they have a ton of creative firepower. If you want to learn more about 38 Studios, the best way to do that is to check out their products and get a feel for how they’re “combining the ages-old art of the story with 21st century interactive entertainment.” If you like what you see, then you’ll have to check out jobs at 38 Studios. Current opportunities that might be suitable for new grads include Administrative Assistant, Cinematics Illustrator, Content Designer, Front Desk Coordinator, Quality Assurance Tester (Baltimore, MD), Recruiting Coordinator, Software Engineer – Platform, Tools Software Engineer, and User Experience Designer. There’s lots of cool stuff here, so take a closer look. Also, this article mentions that they’re aiming to hire 280 people after they complete their move, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see anything that suits you. There are more jobs coming soon.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play any of 38 Studios’ games?

Gerson Lehrman Group

Willy Franzen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:57:18 +0000

Sometimes I get dubbed as a career expert. I guess in some ways that’s true, but I see myself more as an entrepreneur whose business is helping students and grads find jobs and internships. In my opinion it takes way more knowledge and experience to become an expert. I’m talking about people with PhDs and 30 years of experience, and, amazingly, there are experts on nearly every topic. But how do you find them when you need them? That’s where Gerson Lehrman Group comes in. They’re professional matchmakers when it comes to experts. Since 1998 they’ve created a global marketplace for expertise and “helped the world’s leading institutions find, engage, and manage experts across a broad range of industries and disciplines.” I have friends who have actually used Gerson Lehrman Group in their jobs to find experts, and I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about the people at Gerson Lehrman Group and their experts (who are not employed by the firm).

Become an Expert on Experts

Now, you’re coming from a college campus which is likely littered with experts. You can probably walk into a random professor’s office hours and gain insight from the foremost expert on some archaic topic. Usually expertise isn’t so free and easy. Businesses, consulting firms, and non-profit organizations are constantly seeking outside expertise to help guide their decision-making processes. Gerson Lehrman Group takes the pain out of finding the right expert for the job. While they provide experts in nearly any area imaginable, Gerson Lehrman Group calls out Accounting & Financial Analysis, Consumer Goods & Services, Energy & Industrials, Financial & Business Services, Healthcare, Legal, Economic, & Regulatory Affairs, Real Estate, and Technology, Media & Telecom as their main areas of focus. There’s a ton of information on the Gerson Lehrman Group, so you should really dig in and get to know the company in a little more depth. Then you can check out their Careers page and Job listings. Some examples of their entry level opportunities include: Business Development Associate (New York, NY), Event Coordinator (Austin, TX), Survey Associate (Austin, TX), Associate Copywriter (New York, NY), Associate (Dublin, Ireland), Recruiting Associate – Fluent Portuguese (Austin, TX), Member Solutions Associate – Fluent Portuguese (Austin, TX), and Front End Web Developer (New York, NY). However, you may want to pay most attention to their Associate and Associate – 2011 positions, which are both a two-year program for new/recent grads in Austin, TX.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Gerson Lehrman Group?

Neutron Interactive

Willy Franzen — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:51:46 +0000

Believe it or not, we’ve actually covered a fair number of entry level employers in Utah, but I think today’s company might have the most personality of them so far. Neutron Interactive is a Salt Lake City based interactive agency that is taking online business to the next level. Neutron Interactive is an Inc 500 company that has grown 812% over the past three years. Their annual revenue was $9.5 million last year, so they’re quite big when compared to many of the other interactive agencies that also made the list.

What Do You Know About Neutrons?

Unfortunately, Neutron Interactive doesn’t seem to show off any of their work on their website, but they do have a list of things that they do “ridiculously well,” which include: Affiliate Marketing, Banner/Media Marketing, Social Media, Creative, Email Marketing, Recruitment Marketing, Internet Marketing, Interactive PR, Leads & Lead Scoring, PPC Management, Product Development, Proprietary Technology, Search Engine Optimization, Web Analytics, Web Design & Consultation, and Conversion Optimization. Neutron Interactive is also big on showing off their culture and their team. That means that you can get a good, inside look at what it might be like to work there just by browsing their website. If you’re excited about what you see, you’ll obviously want to check out the Neutron Interactive Jobs page. They have 7 positions posted right now, and a few seem well suited for new or recent grads. These include Junior Software Developer and The Ultimate Marketing Specialist. The other positions require a little bit more experience, but you may want to check them out too. They also offer the option to submit a general job application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Neutron Interactive?

Lucasfilm

Willy Franzen — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:00:28 +0000

Let me preface this post by saying that there is no way that I am going to do the topic justice. There’s just no way that I can properly bring to life the story of Lucasfilm when I’m just not all that into Star Wars. I’ve seen the trilogy, and I even saw the one or two of the movies from the prequel trilogy, but I’m not a fanatic. With that said, there are plenty of fanatical Star Wars fans and fans of George Lucas’ work. What he was able to do with late 70s/early 80s technology in the Star Wars movies is incredible, but what’s even more incredible is the excitement that Lucasfilm has been able to build around its franchises—mainly Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Lucasfilm is located in San Rafael, CA, while they also have a large presence in Singapore. They’re a monster name in the film and entertainment industry, and they also have businesses including Industrial Lights & Magic, Lucasarts, Lucasfilm Animation, Lucas Licensing, Lucas Online, and Skywalker Sound.

Join the Force

The truth is that Lucasfilm has a ton of fanatics. There are people dressing up for movie premieres and devoting big portions of their lives to their fandom. This means that Lucasfilm is a dream employer for many, and if you’re not insanely fanatical, you’re probably not going to be a great fit (unless you’re just really good). If you are fanatical, then I probably don’t need to tell you anything more about Lucasfilm. There is an expansive list of jobs posted on Lucasfilm’s Jobs sites—90 of them right now. The job titles are a bit misleading, since Coordinator and Assistant type positions may require 6 years of experience, but here are some positions that seem best suited for new or recent college grads: 2nd Assistant Editor, Assistant Technical Director, Associate Editor, Accounts Payable Clerk, CG Department Coordinator / Administrative Assistant, Creature ATD, Concept Designer (Feature), Junior Production Engineer, Junior Software Engineer, Layout / Matchmove Artist, Production Coordinator, PROJECT Recruiting Coordinator, Resource Assistant, Technical Assistant, and Technical Assistant – Animation Tools. A lot of the jobs obviously require a high level of technical experience, so you’re really better off browsing through all of the postings yourself.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your famous Lucasfilm production?

Indeed

Willy Franzen — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:47:51 +0000

It’s story time today! Let’s go back three years to when I was still job searching. I was getting extremely frustrated with the recruitment process, and I was starting to think about how I could make online job search better. Beyond my typical job searching, I was reading everything that I could about the online recruitment industry. I was generating new ideas, and trying to find a way in so that other job searchers wouldn’t have to go through what I went through. I took an especially strong interest in Indeed, not only because they provide an excellent job search engine, but also because they were an innovative and successful startup located in Stamford, CT—just 20 minutes from where I was living at the time (they also have an office in Austin, TX). They were still small, and they didn’t really have any job postings that were suitable for me, so I e-mailed the CEO. I told him why I wanted to work for him and what I thought that I could bring to the table. It worked, and I got an interview (going straight to the top is an underrated job search method). After clearing the phone screen, I got invited to the office to meet with some people on the team, and, to my surprise, that included the CEO whom I had e-mailed my initial “cover letter” to. The interview was kind of a disaster. It went well at first, but I had already started working on One Day, One Job, and telling a potential employer that you’re starting a company in the same space isn’t typically a good idea. I didn’t get offered the job (nor did they ever formally reject me), but I think it all ended up for the better.

Yes, Indeed

Indeed’s business model looks a lot like Google’s. Scour the Internet for information, organize that information in a coherent fashion, and spit it back to users in a relevant way with ads mixed in with the content. While Google does it for everything, Indeed only focuses on jobs. You probably already know all about Indeed, because if you’re job searching and not coming across Indeed at least occasionally, you’re either not searching very hard or using an ultra targeted, networking approach (which I approve of highly). If you don’t have a problem with getting meta about your job search by looking for a job at a job search company, then take a look at jobs at Indeed. They have a bunch of opportunities, and a number of them seem suitable for new or recent grads. These include opportunities at their Stamford, CT office like: Account Executive – Staffing and Sales Account Executive. And opportunities in their Austin, TX office like: Software Development Engineer, User Interface Developer, Web Front End Developer, Country Marketing Associate – Native Australian, Country Marketing Associate – Native Canadian, Country Marketing Associate – Native Spanish, Marketing Associate, and Online Marketing Analyst. I’m still a fan of Indeed, even if they didn’t offer me a job, so go get the job that I couldn’t.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Indeed?

ZocDoc

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:24:33 +0000

Yesterday we talked about how regenerative medicine is making it more and more likely that you’ll be able to heal from a stupid Fourth of July injury. Today we’re going to talk about a company that makes it super simple to make an appointment for a doctor (or dentist) to check out that injury that you’re embarrassed to tell anyone about. The company is called ZocDoc, and they’re based in New York City. They’ll not only help you find a doctor or dentist who specializes in what you need, but they’ll also allow you to make an appointment with just a few clicks. You can even check up on reviews of the doctor before you book him or her, and once you’ve had your appointment, you can add a review. ZocDoc has only rolled out in a few areas so far, so you can’t find any kind of doctor in any city or town, but I’m sure that’s in the plans once the business model gets rolling.

Say Ahhhh

ZocDoc hasn’t fixed the fact that you have to wait in a waiting room before you can wait in an individual waiting room with most doctors, but I bet that their review system will bring down wait times over time. The best thing about ZocDoc is that they put a big emphasis on being able to schedule an appointment today. You get your problem taken care of immediately, and the Doctor is able to fill his or her schedule on days when there aren’t enough advance appointments. It’s brilliant, and surprising that nobody else has already conquered online booking for doctors. I also find it surprising that ZocDoc doesn’t charge Doctors a per-patient fee. New patients are key to growing a practice, so you’d think it would make sense to work with a focus on lead generation. Instead ZocDoc charges a few hundred bucks a month for the service.

We’ve seen a huge boom in businesses that help local customers find local businesses, so it seems logical that the model applies to the medical fields. If you’re interested in ZocDoc, you should check out their Jobs page. Right now they have a ton of jobs posted (must be growing) including a number of positions that seem suitable for a new or recent grad like Software Engineer, Coding Wizard/Ninja, Copywriter/Creative Writer, Finance and Operations Analyst, Recruitment Sourcing Specialist, Marketing Analyst, Operations Associate, and Sales Executive (New York/San Francisco/Washington, DC/Chicago). All of the jobs look awesome, so check them out and see what fits your interests.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Will you use ZocDoc?

Groupon

Willy Franzen — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:46:22 +0000

If you’re not already a Groupon member, here’s an invitation link.

In February of 2009, when I had only been in Chicago a few months, I got invited to an event for Chicago tech startups hosted by a local incubator named midVentures. I felt awkward when I walked in because I didn’t know a single person, but I quickly got to meeting people. One of the people I talked to was named Andrew Mason. He started a collective action site called The Point that allows you to put up money for big ideas with the qualification that you only have to pay if a certain threshold is met. That way you can put up money to build a collapsible dome over Chicago for the winter, but not have to worry about shelling out the cash unless the project is actually going to happen. At that point Andrew was working on an offshoot of The Point called Groupon. In some ways it was much like One Day, One Job. Instead of offering its readers a new job every day, it offered a deal. It was growing really fast, and he and I both knew that he was on to something pretty neat, but I don’t think either of us appreciated how big it could be at the time. Now, a year later, Groupon is valued at over $1 billion dollars. That would be nine zeroes if you ignored the fact that their actual valuation is around $1,350,000,000 (only 7 zeroes, ha!). The company is growing at an insane rate, and they always seem to be hiring. I’ve pinged Andrew and one of his recruiters a couple of times to let me know when they have positions to feature, but I get so many requests on Groupon that I’m just going to pull the trigger.

Get Your Groupon

For those of you who don’t know what Groupon is, it’s pretty simple. Every day they offer a new deal from a local business—it’s essentially a heavily discounted gift certificate. The business gets new customers, you save money, and Groupon gets a big cut of the sale. That’s what is so impressive about Groupon. Their growth is based on real revenue. Most startups as early as Groupon are losing money, while Groupon would probably be less profitable if they had a money printing machine. They’re not hiring people on a hope and a dream. They’re hiring people because they’re leaving money on the table otherwise. This may make them sound like they’re all serious, but Groupon also happens to be one of the goofiest startups out there. Humor is a key part of the company, and that clearly comes from the top, as Andrew is a pretty goofy guy.

Another key to the company is sales. Groupon is all about helping local businesses reach customers, and that means that their sales force has to kick butt. That’s why you’ll notice that most of Groupon’s postings on their Jobs page are Account Executive positions. They have Inside Sales positions in Chicago, and Outside Sales positions all across the country including cities like Birmingham, AL; Boston, MA; Cincinnati, OH; Denver, CO; Honolulu, HI; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, KS; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Nashville, TN; New Orlenas, LA; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; Raleigh, NC; Sacramento, CA; San Diego, CA; San Franisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; and St. Louis, MO. The Inside Sales positions seem better suited to new grads that the Outside Sales positions, but I bet that they’ll happy to talk to you if you’ve proved that you can sell. Groupon also has a variety of other positions that might interest new or recent grads like Copywriter, Factchecker, Reviews Researcher, Customer Service Representative, Recruiter, Loyalty Marketing Coordinator, SEM Specialist, Affiliate Manager, Front-end Developer, QA Engineer, Software Developer, User Experience Designer, and Visual/Graphic Designer. There are a ton of jobs, and I’m sure there will be plenty more in the near future. It may seem like you’re too late, but remember that Groupon hasn’t even been around for two years.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a Groupon member?

The Advisory Board Company

Willy Franzen — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:54:31 +0000

Consultants are typically seen as hired mercenaries. Sometimes they get a bad rap, but at least they’re compensated well for it. I have to think that those who work at The Advisory Board Company have at least a somewhat better reputation since their company’s clients are all mission driven. What does mission driven mean? Well, most of The Advisory Board Company’s clients are in the healthcare industry (think hospitals and health systems, not insurance providers), but they’ve recently moved into working with universities too. I hadn’t heard of The Advisory Board Company until a One Day, One Job reader e-mailed me (you can reach me at willy@onedayonejob.com if you want to share a tip or success story) to tell me that he recently received a job offer from them. Apparently they do a ton of entry level hiring, and they’re continuing to grow well beyond the 5 employees that they started with in 1979. Since then they’ve grown to more than 1,000 employes, and they’ve served “more than 2,800 leading healthcare and higher education organizations.” Additionally, they’ve grown beyond their corporate headquarters in Washington, DC to having offices in Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Austin, TX; Portland, OR; Nashville, TN; London, UK; and Chennai, India.

Join The Board

Introducing The Advisory Board Company as a consulting firm wasn’t fully accurate. They actually operate quite differently from most consulting practices. Instead of serving clients on an engagement basis, they do most of their work as a membership organization. Hospitals or universities can become The Advisory Board Company members and gain access to the company’s different offerings, which include things like Strategy Research, Clinical Research, Leadership Development, Business Intelligence Analytics, and more. They also provide Management and Consulting services, but it seems that those aren’t the main focus. Still, if you’d consider a career in consulting, The Advisory Board Company could be a nice alternative. Their Careers page goes into a lot of detail about the company’s culture and benefits, and obviously it also has the job listings. Right now there are just over 40 jobs posted, and I’ve picked out the following as being ideal for new grads: Account Management Associate, Syndicated Research Analyst, Business Intelligence Marketing Coordinator, Marketing Associate, Paralegal, Partner Services Associate, Recruiting Coordinator, Higher Education Research Associate, and User Support Specialist. From what I can tell, all of these positions are located in DC, but the company does seem to offer some location flexibility and opportunities to work from home. The Advisory Board Company does a really nice job with job descriptions, so you shouldn’t have trouble deciding whether these jobs are a good fit for you or not.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about The Advisory Board Company?

Market Force Information

Willy Franzen — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:17:26 +0000

If there’s ever a time for retail stores to be firing on all cylinders, it’s right now. Consumers are often very sensitive when it comes to making purchases, so it’s no surprise that a substandard retail experience can cost companies money. It may be an employee with a rotten attitude or a poorly laid out store. It could be that the employees are uninformed about the products that they’re selling or they may not be offering the promotions that they should be. Whatever it is, Louisville, CO based Market Force Information will find out. They’re “the leading customer experience information and insights partner for multi-location businesses.” Through their “integrated suite of mystery shopping, direct customer feedback, on-site merchandising and analytics services,” they can tell a company why one of their stores is underperforming or identify ways that all stores can improve.

Stay Informed

From what I’ve gathered, there are a number of companies that give the mystery shopping business a bad name by running scams—some have even used Market Force Information’s name illegally. As far as I can tell, Market Force Information is one of the most sophisticated companies in the industry (and they appear to be totally legit). They have developed a methodology for identifying key triggers that improve customer experience and drive sales. It’s not based on voodoo science but real research and statistical methods. While running a mystery shopping business is relatively simple, it’s all of the behind the scenes stuff that makes what Market Force Information does so interesting. If you’re intrigued by customer experience analytics, you should check out jobs at Market Force Information. I’m sure they offer mystery shopping positions, but that’s not really what we’re interested in here. I’m more interested in the Panel Programs Marketing Coordinator that Market Force Information has listed. The job description goes into great detail about what they’re looking for, but never do they mention experience. The position definitely looks challenging, but it sounds like the kind of job where a really bright new grad could excel (I’m also going on the hint that Coordinator positions are typically lower level). You can apply online, so go ahead and give Market Force Information a closer look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Market Force Information?

Rosetta Stone

Willy Franzen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:39:19 +0000

While the Inc. 5000 is filled with exciting companies that you’ve probably never heard of, there are also some familiar names on the list. Rosetta Stone is a popular brand with job seekers, not because of their jobs, but because many new grads decide that they should put their free time to good use and learn a new language. (I think they’d be smarter to invest in a job search prep course, but I’m biased.) Rosetta Stone is far and away the biggest brand name when it comes to learning new languages, so it’s no big surprise that the Arlington, VA based company has grown from $48.4 million in revenue to $209.4 million over the past three years. In fact, the growth has been so strong that they recently held an IPO that was considered very successful.

A New Tongue, A New Job

While many companies in the business of selling content are struggling these days, Rosetta Stone continues to thrive because of their unique approach. They created a system for effectively teaching people languages on the computer, and then they modified the process for 30 different languages. Even though it costs them very little to administer their content to a new customer, they’re able to charge a significant amount of money because of how well their software works. If you love languages, then it’d be hard to find a company as interesting to work at as Rosetta Stone. They have a really nice looking Careers page, but they blow it by listing their jobs on CareerBuilder.

It’s actually relatively easy to browse Rosetta Stone’s 100+ job listings, I’m just averse to anything related to the big three job boards. In fact, you can even narrow down Rosetta Stone’s job listings to just entry level positions. Right now you’ll see listings for Customer Security Representative, Talent Acquisition Coordinator, Customer Care Representative, Associate Product Manager – Consumer Learning Products, and Consumer Product Support Specialist. There’s a good chance that some of Rosetta Stone’s other jobs are also suitable for new grads, but you’ll have to browse through the job postings yourself to find them. Since all of the positions are on CareerBuilder, you’ll have to apply through their website. You might also want to check our Rosetta Stone’s Facebook Recruiting page, where they talk about their campus recruiting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used Rosetta Stone to learn a language?

Job Alchemist

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:44:55 +0000

Since I’m spending the weekend in San Francisco, I thought it would only be fitting to feature a San Francisco based startup today (as if we haven’t already featured enough). I decided to cover one in my industry (job search and online recruiting), because I really like what they’re doing (and they’re probably the best source for San Francisco based startup jobs too). Their name is Job Alchemist, and they’re the creators of one of the few job boards that I actually think is worth using—Startuply. They’ve also developed a number of other niche job boards like HomeBy3 (flexible jobs for moms) and Reddit’s job board. Beyond that, they’re working on a project called JobSyndicate, which is an affiliate network for jobs. I’ve seen a lot of entrants to this industry in the past couple years, and Job Alchemist is one of only a handful that have impressed me. When a company creates a job board that I actually use, that’s saying something.

Turning Unemployment into Gold

Although alchemy (according to Wikipedia) is “both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality,” it’s best known goal was “the transmutation of common metals into gold.” As a Y Combinator funded startup, Job Alchemist obviously has plans for turning something into gold. Whether they’re chasing ultimate wisdom and immortality is unclear. Here’s what they have to say about themselves:

A few guys working on online recruiting tools. Online recruiting is a giant ($10B), extremely lucrative market that is seriously f’d at the moment. We know our business, our market and our customers very well, and we’ve already built product that is pretty well-loved. We’re laid back but ambitious, and we absolutely love getting great software into people’s hands. The office is a sweet SoMa loft with a bunch of other startup folks.

If you like what you hear, you can check out Job Alchemist’s jobs on—you guessed it—Startuply. Right now the only non-internship that they have posted is for a Lead ASP.NET/C# Hacker. If you have the coding skills and are interested in the online recruiting industry, check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use any of Job Alchemist’s job boards?

TOMS Shoes

Willy Franzen — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:47:20 +0000

I hate shoes. Ok, that’s not really true, but after spending a week in Aruba over the holidays, it was a sad realization for me when I had to put my sneakers back on for the trip home to Chicago. I appreciate that I have boots that keep my feet warm and dry, slippers that are extremely comfortable, and basketball shoes that give me enough ankle support to prevent a sprain, but I still prefer the feeling of sand between my toes. I’m lucky. It’s a luxury to be able to enjoy the feeling of being shoeless. There are a lot of children who don’t know what it’s like to have a good pair of shoes to protect their feet. TOMS Shoes is a Santa Monica, CA based company that is trying to change that. They’re a shoe company, but they’re more than that. For every pair of shoes that TOMS Shoes sells, they give a pair of shoes to a child in need. So far, they’ve given over 200,000 pairs of shoes to children in places like Argentina, Ethiopia, and South Africa via “Shoe Drops.” They say that “changing life begins with a single step…” and we have to agree.

Try These Jobs on for Size

Getting a job also begins with a single step, which is why we’re going to take a look at entry level jobs with TOMS Shoes. I first heard about TOMS Shoes from a reader who is currently interning with them. Here’s the note that she sent us:

Hey guys, great website! I’m about to start interning for this company called
TOMS Shoes (tomsshoes.com), they have a great internship program (a friend
interned for them last summer) and are ALWAYS hiring.

Internships aren’t paid, but they provide intern housing 2 blocks from Venice
Beach, compensation for gas, AND a $100 biweekly stipend. Internships are
available in pretty much all departments, I’m working in their finance
department.

Hope it helps!

That definitely caught my attention, as did the feature in Inc. Magazine’s List of America’s Coolest Internships. A cool internship program usually means that an employer is a great place for new grads to look for an entry level job, so I started looking. Despite the fact that TOMS Shoes offers internships in Marketing/Events, Special Projects, Copy Writing, Graphic Design, Web/IT, and Film (and apparently Finance too), they don’t seem to be nearly aggressive when it comes to making full-time hires. That’s probably because they have something like 25 full-time employees and 16 interns. What TOMS Shoes does offer is a little bit confusing. Most of their Jobs page is devoted to internships; however, there is one section called Paid In-Store Sales Part & Full-time (we can’t link to it because they’re using frames). It sounds like these are Merchandising/Sales jobs, since the e-mail address that you should send a cover letter and resume to is merchandisingjobs@tomsshoes.com. There’s no additional information, and there’s nothing on how to get a corporate job at TOMS Shoes. Maybe you have to go through the internship program? There was a Campus Programs Recruiter position posted a while back, but we can’t find the posting now. Let us know if you have the scoop on how to land an entry level job with TOMS Shoes.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a pair of TOMS Shoes?

KIPP

Willy Franzen — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:05:19 +0000

Did you know that only 1 out 5 low-income children make it to college? That’s a frightening statistic, but KIPP is a network of (mostly) charter schools that have combined to have a 95% college matriculation rate for the low-income students whom they serve. “KIPP began in 1994 when two teachers, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, launched a fifth-grade public school program in inner-city Houston, TX, after completing their commitment to Teach For America.” The success of the initial program has led to the creation of 66 schools, all of which follow a unique approach to education. Apparently the schools are run independently, but the KIPP Foundation provides support across the network of schools – that’s why they have quite a few job opportunities outside of teaching.

KIPP It Up

KIPP does have teaching jobs, although it wasn’t our initial intent to look at those. It’s unclear whether they require prior teaching experience, but if you’d like to consider teaching at a KIPP school, you can find out more information here. As for jobs at KIPP, there are quite a few options. Job openings include School Sustainability Associate, Alumni Services Project Manager, Innovation Project Manager, Database and Reporting Analyst, and Recruitment & Selection Coordinator. None of these jobs are explicitly entry level, and most of them actually say that 3-5 years of work experience preferred, but they look fascinating. If you have an interest in education, you should definitely check out KIPP. Most of their jobs are available in Chicago, San Francisco, or New York. You can apply online for each of these jobs directly from the descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about KIPP?

Melissa & Doug

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:30:24 +0000

Now that we’ve finished out end of ’08 recap (See: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 1 of non-profits, Part 2 of non-profits, Part 3 of non-profits, and Part 4 of non-profits), we’re ready to to start off the new year by bringing you profiles of all new companies with exciting entry level jobs. We’re also very close to opening enrollment for our job search training course, but you’ll hear a lot more about that soon enough. Today we’re going to focus on Melissa & Doug, a toy company based in Wilton, CT. From what I can tell by looking at their product offerings, Melissa & Doug’s toys are targeted towards very young children, so they don’t have much stuff for big kids like WowWee does. That’s ok though – if they made toys that you actually wanted to play with, you’d never get anything done at work.

Melissa & Doug & You

Judging from Melissa & Doug’s website, they’ve created an extremely fun place to work. The whole company started in Doug’s garage when he asked Melissa to start a business with him because he was too nervous to ask her to marry him. That was 20 years ago, and since then they’ve seen double digit growth every year. There’s no word on their website about whether they ever got married, but judging by the success of their business partnership, they clearly work well together. If you’d like to work at a place where formal attire is only required on Halloween, then you should check out Melissa & Doug’s Careers page. Their job listings are unclear about how much work experience is required for each, but they have positions in Inside Sales, Recruiting, Administrative Assistance, Office Services, and Order Processing that might interest new grads. They don’t go into a lot of detail about the jobs, but you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to Jobs@MelissaAndDoug.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever played with toys made by Melissa & Doug.