One Day, One Job » television

Bluefin Labs

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:58:16 +0000

When I first learned about Google Trends, I was shocked to see how much Internet search traffic is driven by television. It’s pretty clear that browsing the web and watching the tube go hand in hand, which is great news for both marketers and tv content producers. Since its inception tv’s biggest problem has been that it is a one way medium with no real feedback loop. That’s changed, and Bluefin Labs “has accomplished a breakthrough in this field by applying cognitive science research combined with large scale computing techniques to successfully and automatically link TV to social media.” If all goes as planned, the Cambridge, MA will make traditional tv ratings obsolete. Who cares how many people are watching when you can know who’s watching and what they’re saying?

Hook a Bluefin

While there’s no doubt about what Bluefin Labs does, they don’t really emphasize their business on the website. You have to scroll down on their home page to learn that their “clients span TV networks, advertising agencies, and brand advertisers” and include AMC Networks, CBS, MTV Networks, Mars, PepsiCo, MediaCom, and lots more. The solution that they sell to these clients is called Bluefin Signals, and you can read about the science behind it here. If you want to get a very basic sense of the kind of data that Bluefin Labs offers, you can check out their sample dashboard. Last night’s hottest show was the Heat vs. Hawks game, which was closely followed up by Jersey Shore (I know which one I would have preferred to watch). I found out about Bluefin Labs from a reader who landed a job there recently. They don’t post specific positions on their Jobs page, but it mentions that they’re looking for people in the following areas:

Machine learning
Natural language processing
Computer vision
Social network analysis
Data analysis
Information visualization
Interaction design
Large scale data storage and analytics
Sales
Account management
Marketing
Product development

That covers a wide range of interests, so don’t be afraid to reach out to careers@bluefinlabs.com and apply for a position in one of those areas.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Bluefin Labs?

Boxee

Willy Franzen — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:18:29 +0000

I’m watching more and more video over the Internet. It all started when I’d (illegally) download South Park episodes in RealPlayer format. I’d set up the download before bed, and if all went as planned, I’d have my 7 megabyte file waiting for me in the morning ready to watch in all it’s low quality, grainy glory. Times have changed, and some broadbrand providers can deliver a file that size in just over a second. That means that we’re watching more and more video over the Internet, which also means that we’re watching more and more video on our laptops. That’s a waste when you have a perfectly good tv with a much bigger screen sitting in your living room. I ended up buying an AppleTV so that I can watch MLB.tv and Netflix on my flat screen, but I strongly considered a Boxee Box. Boxee is located in New York, NY, and they provide both software and hardware to make watching online video a more pleasurable experience–namely by enabling you to watch on whatever device you want to watch on.

Think Inside the Box

Boxee started out by building free software for all kinds of devices–Macs, PCs, Apple TVs, and more. You can still use that software, but now Boxee has a Box that you can get for under $200, hook up to your tv, and start watching. The cool thing about Boxee is that they provide access to an extremely wide range of content. They say that “if you can watch it on the web, you can watch it on your TV with Boxee.” I’m pretty sure that excludes Hulu (because they block devices like Boxee), but the statement is mostly true. It’s going to be interesting to see how the whole watch Internet video on your tv thing develops, but right now Boxee has a great market position. If you want to be part of the Boxee team, then check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re hiring in Technical Support, Front End UI Develoment, and iPad and iPhone App Development. They also have a higher level Marketing position and a Marketing Internship posted, so maybe there’s a chance that you can squeeze in somewhere in between.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Boxee?

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?

Avail-TVN

Willy Franzen — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:07:26 +0000

We’ve put together some information on how you can prepare yourself for the 500,000 teaching jobs that will be added in the U.S. over the next decade. You can find it here.

There’s no question that the way in which we consume video content is changing. It wasn’t that long ago that watching something meant sitting down in front of the television at a specific time. Now we have DVRs, On Demand, sites like Hulu, and a variety of other ways to consume content on our own schedules. This isn’t just a cultural shift; it comes as a result of (while also being a cause of) significant technological advances. One of the major companies behind this shift is Avail-TVN. They’re based in Reston, VA and they work “with every major studio and television network” to offer “a full content line up of MPEG-4 encoded live programming as well as video on demand content in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 to multichannel video providers throughout the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico.” I know this might be a little confusing for the non-techies out there, but the basic gist of it is that they make it possible for you to watch video over IP (internet protocol).

To Your Avail

Avail-TVN’s business is obviously complicated from a technical standpoint, but it’s also pretty complicated from a relationships standpoint. They work with over 200 content providers to secure the rights to delivering a wide range of video content, and then they have to work with a number of parties in between (ending with the cable/satellite/telco provider) to ensure that the content you want can be delivered to you in your home when you want it. I’m sure that I’m missing a lot, but that’s what I’m able to piece together from the Avail-TVN website. It seems like a fascinating business, and it appears to offer opportunities in a range of areas. Avail-TVN doesn’t have many jobs that seem like perfect fits for new or recent grads, but their Jobs page does show a couple of positions that are worth checking out like Jr. Systems Engineer (Kalispell, MT), Project Manager (Sherman Oaks, CA), and Customer Onboarding Program Manager (Sherman Oaks, CA). I also saw on LinkedIn that they recently hired a Marketing Coordinator (which is an entry level position), so you may want to reach out to them and see if there are any other positions that don’t require the type of experience that the positions I mentioned do.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you watch a lot of video on demand?

WNET New York Public Media

Willy Franzen — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:21:39 +0000

When I was a kid, I knew PBS as Channel Thirteen. I was going to tell you all about a friend I had growing up who was only allowed to watch Channel Thirteen, but apparently I already did that when I wrote about entry level jobs at PBS. Even though I had cable for most of my childhood (my Dad did cut it for a few years because he got sick of paying the bill), I still watched a decent amount of Channel Thirteen. Ghost Writer, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, and Frontier House were some of my favorites. If you grew up in the vicinity of New York City, then you probably also have fond memories of WNET New York Public Media, since they are “the premier public media provider of the New York City metropolitan area and parent company of public television stations Thirteen and WLIW21.” Thirteen is the most widely watched PBS station in the U.S., while WLIW21 is the third most widely watched.

Looking for Job Seekers Like You

The mission of WNET New York Public Media is “to deliver media experiences of lasting significance for New York, America and the world.” They certainly did that for me, and I’m sure that they’ve done it for millions of others. You may not realize it, but a ton of the great content that you watch on PBS comes from affiliate stations. Beyond managing Thirteen and WLIW21, WNET New York Public Media is also “a major producer of broadcast and online media for local, national and international audiences, creating award-winning content in the areas of arts and culture, news and public affairs, science and natural history, documentaries, and children’s programming.” There’s a lot of cool stuff going on at WNET New York Public Media, which is why you’ll probably want to take a look at their Careers page. Right now they have a few potentially entry level opportunities posted including Revenue Administration Associate, Editorial Producer, Member Data and Reporting Analyst, Patron Coordinator, and Video Encoder/Dubber. There are some great options here, so check out the full job postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you grow up with Channel Thirteen?

Wetpaint

Willy Franzen — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:49:53 +0000

I don’t know how many of you are data nerds like me, but I love checking out Google Trends to see what people are searching for. One of the things that I often notice is how much search traffic (especially in the evening) is driven by television. It seems as though everybody is watching tv with a laptop/iPad/iPhone within reach. That’s why Wetpaint, formerly a company that enabled people to make their own wikis, has adapted their proprietary publishing platform “to produce premium branded media destinations featuring professionally authored content” focused on television and fashion. Wetpaint, which is based in Seattle, WA, intends to move into other niches as they grow, but for now they’re extremely television focused. And they’re pretty confident that they can develop, deliver, and monetize this content much more effectively than “traditional web publishers.”

Not Like Watching Paint Dry

I knew the name Wetpaint sounded familiar, but when I landed on their homepage it didn’t feel right. I did a little investigating and learned that they made a major pivot away from their original business model. Wikis weren’t working, so they cleaned shop and leveraged the technology that they had created to take another stab at web publishing. It’s hard to say how successful the change has been, but their traffic does seem to be coming back after a pretty big dip. The best way for you to get familiar with Wetpaint is to browse their site and experience some of their content.

If you like what you see, then you’ll want to check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for Java and Ruby Software Engineers in addition to a Social Media Manager and an Editor II. The Software Engineer positions could be a good fit for a new or recent grad, but the latter two positions require a good amount of prior work experience. Why am I mentioning them? Well, the Editor II listing mentions that one of its responsibilities includes managing Associate Editors, Interns, and Writers. I think you can read between the lines. And if you’d like to write/blog for Wetpaint, they also have opportunities to do that (but I don’t think they’re full time).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you checked out Wetpaint?

Sportvision

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:03:58 +0000

It’s Opening Day of the baseball season, and I’m thrilled that I’m looking at 6+ months of meaningful games for my favorite sport. Last night was disappointing in that the Yankees blew a solid lead in a sloppy game against the Red Sox, but even that can’t drown out my excitement about the hope brought by a new season. Along with a new season comes new technology. Television and online broadcasts are constantly getting better, and not just in quality. There are all kinds of new technological innovations that are making sports more fun to watch, and a lot of them are coming from Chicago based Sportvision. It all started with the FoxTrax “glowing” hockey puck (which was pretty much a miserable failure), but now we have things like the “virtual yellow 1st and Ten line™, KZone™ virtual strike zone, and the RACEf/x system on NASCAR broadcasts.” Each of these was created by Sportvision.

Are You Watching?

Sportvision is very much a technology company, but they also understand sports. They’ve been so successful with their innovation because they have a distinct model for creating new products. They look for aspects of the game that are “hard or impossible to see; happen a lot; and/or central to the understanding of the game or sport.” Then they use their technological prowess to find a way to overcome the challenges that an average fan has with the given aspect of the game in real-time. Maybe it’s strike zone recognition or knowing whether a football team should go for it on a fourth down (or maybe it’s inserting virtual advertising), but whatever it is, Sportsvision is consistently finding new ways to add value by layering things on top of the live action. It’s really cool stuff, and you’ve almost certainly seen it if you watch sports on tv. Sportvision has offices in Milwaukee, WI; Mountain View, CA; and Paris, France in addition to their headquarters in Chicago. They only have a few jobs posted on their Careers page, and two seem suitable for new/recent grads: Software Engineer and Flash Engineer. Both are technical and located in Mountain View, so if you’re looking for something else, you may want to try reaching out to them and telling them what you bring to the table.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Sportvision technology?

VICE

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:59:25 +0000

Yesterday I spent a few hours poring over an issue of Fast Company that includes their list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.” It is loaded with companies that I’d never heard of, so I picked out the most interesting ones and checked to see what their job opportunities looked like. Luckily, I found quite a few prospects, so you’re in for some really cool stuff over the next few weeks. One of the companies that I found was VICE, a New York City magazine and media conglomerate that publishes a “superedgy hipster bible.” Their content is about as safe for work as American Apparel advertisements, which is partially because AA is one of their main advertisers. The interesting thing about VICE is that they are a huge company—they have a print circulation of nearly a million magazines and their sites get 3.5 million monthly unique visitors. This has sparked growth from $45 million in revenue in 2008 to $64 million in 2009.

What’s Your VICE?

Now, I don’t want to be too hard on hipsters, but I find it funny that a company that caters to their audience by being controversial and subversive is actually a major media company raking in the dough. Next we’ll find out that plaid and fixed gear bicycles are also being manufactured by corporate behemoths. Ok, VICE might be making lots of money, but they’re certainly keeping it real. They’ve become more journalistic over time, while maintaining their “blithe and caustic irreverence.” In addition to the magazine, VICE also has VICE Retail (clothing), VICE Recordings (Music/Record Label), VBS.tv (Film and Television), Virtue (Creative Agency), and an Events business. VICE is definitely not for everyone, but if you were offended by my poke at hipster culture (and are not offended by much else), then it’s probably for you. You can learn about jobs with VICE here. Current openings include VICE Events Assistant, Junior Digital Marketing Coordinator, Account Executive / Manager, and Online And Motion Graphics Designer. The application instructions vary, so check out VICE’s Jobs page for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read VICE?

HBO

Willy Franzen — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:42:39 +0000

It’s the ultimate premium channel. The one that separates the haves from the have nots—at least when it comes to cable packages. HBO or Home Box Office is the pinnacle of cable television. Ok, maybe I’m going a bit far, but I remember how excited I was when one day HBO was suddenly part of my family’s cable package. The cable company made a mistake, and I was now able to watch all kinds of great movies in the comfort of my own home (and without having my mom take me to Blockbuster). Of course, HBO, which is based in New York City, isn’t just about movies. Their original programming is one of the key reasons that they have more than 40 million subscribers in the US. HBO’s series past and present include Arliss, Sex and the City, Entourage, The Sopranos, Fraggle Rock, and plenty of others. Then there are their documentaries and sports coverage. It’s why people pay extra for HBO (and Cinemax, its sister station): high quality programming without commercials.

Do You Get HBO?

What many people don’t realize about HBO is the role that they’ve played in the history of cable and satellite television. TV used to be free. Then people started paying for cable with packages of channels. Then HBO came along and people started paying extra for individual channels. It almost sounds like the evolution towards paid content that we’re seeing on the Internet; however, I’m not sure that anyone is constantly innovating like HBO has done in the television industry. They were the first to transmit digitally. The first to encrypt their satellite signal. The first to broadcast in HD. The first to offer premium video on demand. HBO knows what their customers want before they want it, so they’re continually able to stay ahead of other premium channels. It will be exciting to see how HBO transforms as more and more content moves online.

Now, what if you want to be a part of the future of HBO? You’ll have to head over to their Jobs page, which is hosted by Time Warner, their parent company. Right now there are 44 openings, and a few of them look well suited to new and recent grads. Unfortunately the Time Warner applicant tracking systems is a total piece of crap, so I can’t link you directly to positions. You should look out for the following job titles: Broadcast Installation Technician, HBO Sports – Production Associate, Project Coordinator, Digital Media Coordinator, CRO Assistant, HBO/DGA Television Directing Fellowship Program, On-Air Planner, and Freelance Production Designer – Off-Air Creative Services. It’s hard to say which of these positions are truly entry level and which require a couple years of experience, but all of them should be worth looking at. You can apply online, by finding the specific job listings on HBO’s Jobs page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you get HBO growing up?

Engadget

Willy Franzen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:49:21 +0000

I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep for the next five nights. I’m too excited for Apple’s January 27th event to announce their “latest creation.” Everybody is assuming that Apple (see Apple’s entry level jobs) is going to announce some sort of tablet computing device, but it’s hard to say whether anyone in the media actually has legitimate inside information on what this event is going to be about. Still, I love speculation, which is why I’ve been glued to Engadget for the past few weeks in hope of learning every little nugget information related to this tablet that I can. If you don’t already know, Engadget is “an online magazine (blog) focused on tech / gadget news and happenings in the world of consumer electronics.” They get millions of visitors to their site every month, and they’re actually owned by Aol. Their biggest competitor is probably Gizmodo (which is run by Gawker Media and was founded by Peter Rojas, the same guy who later founded Engadget), and the two sites appear to have very similar sized audiences. There’s also gdgt competing in the space, but they’re much smaller.

Calling All Gadget Geeks

If you love gadgets and are a great writer, there couldn’t be a better place for you to work than Engadget. The site covers everything from mobile phones to televisions and from cameras to mystery devices that are likely to be tablets. They even cover high-tech weapons. If it’s hardware (or really cool software), and it’s cool, Engadget will be all over it. Although I don’t subscribe vias RSS (they update way too often), I do visit the site often, and I recommend that you do to. It really is a great blog. Just yesterday Engadget published a blog post that said that they are hiring. They’re looking for:

Mobile editor – Part or full-time (freelance), must be based in New York City (or nearby).
HD editor – Part or full-time (freelance), must be based in New York City (or nearby).
Weekend editor – Part or full-time (freelance), must be based in New York City or the San Francisco area.
Cameras editor – Part or full-time (freelance), preferably based in New York City (or nearby).
West coast editor – Part time (freelance), based in San Francisco (or nearby).

They have a very specific application process, which makes sense since they are going to get bombarded with applications for these positions. Make sure that you follow the details closely, otherwise they’ll probably just ignore your application. These are some amazing opportunities, so act fast.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think Apple will be releasing?

Sportsman Channel

Willy Franzen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:54:49 +0000

Check out this week’s sponsor, New York City Teaching Fellows. They’re seeking new grads with no prior teaching experience or background in education to help make a difference in NYC’s public schools.

Much to my girlfriend’s chagrin, I love watching fishing shows. I’d rather be out on the water, but when I’m trapped on the 30th floor in the middle of downtown Chicago and it’s -15 outside, there aren’t many other options. Unfortunately, ESPN has cut back on their fishing programming, and that doesn’t leave me with any other options on my cable package. If only we got Sportsman Channel, then I’d be much happier. They are “the only television network providing 100 percent hunting, shooting and fishing programming.” Unlike some other outdoor focused networks, they’re staying true to what they are instead of watering down their programming in hopes of better ratings. I haven’t had a chance to watch any of their programming, but I’m sure I’d like it. Sportsman Channel is based in New Berlin, WI, and they also have locations in New York, Denver, and Atlanta.

Tune In and Get Hooked

Sportsman Channel was launched in 2003, and they appear to be growing (they were purchased by a private equity firm that focuses on outdoor media in 2006). They have a huge market considering there are 82 million sportsmen in the United States, so you have to like their ability to grow a business based on targeted advertising. If you love the outdoors and want to work in tv or media, then it’d be hard to find a better place to work than Sportsman Channel. Their location in Wisconsin is prime for the outdoors lifestyle, and I’m sure that they promote such a lifestyle for their employees too. If you’re interested, you can check out Sportsman Channel’s Jobs page, although it doesn’t include any postings—just a Résumé Submission form. The company seems pretty small, so using LinkedIn to reach out to some people might be a worthwhile strategy.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you like to watch fishing shows?

NESN

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:50:18 +0000

As a Yankees fan I am obliged to hate anything and everything related to the Red Sox—and even Boston sports in general. That’s why it pains me to cover NESN (New England Sports Network) today. They’re one of the most successful regional sports networks (RSNs) in the country ratings-wise (#1 for 6 straight years), and they do it in the 7th biggest media market. NESN is jointly owned by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, whom they cover along with the Celtics, Patriots, and plenty of local college teams. They were launched in 1984, which makes Watertown, MA based NESN one of the oldest RSNs in the country, and they now reach more than 4 million homes. I still don’t understand why anyone would want to watch Boston sports on tv.

Monster Opportunities

Obviously I think that jobs at the Yes Network are way cooler, but I do have to admit that working at NESN would be pretty sweet. There probably couldn’t be a better place for a Boston sports fan (must… hold… back… joke…) with an interest in television than NESN. They have a “40,000 square foot state-of–the art facility” and they do a ton of broadcasting in HD. The only thing they were short on this year was October programming. If you’re interested in NESN, you should check out their Jobs page. Current opportunities include Tape Room Technician – Operations and Graphics Operator – Programming & Production, while they also accept applications for future opportunities. I hope that you’ll check out NESN, so that you can help broadcast another Red Sox collapse next fall.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you watch NESN?

Big Ten Network

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:46:03 +0000

I love Ivy League sports. I really do. Although I think the league gets less respect than it deserves, I know that they’ll never be the Big Ten—even if a powerhouse like Cornell (hey, I’m biased) continues to excel at the national level in sports like Hockey, Lacrosse, Wrestling, and even Basketball. I didn’t realize how big Big Ten sports were until I walked around Chicago on a Saturday afternoon in the fall. The Ohio State bar is packed with Ohio State fans, and the Michigan bar is packed with Michigan fans. Everyone is dressed in their school’s colors—and these are people hundreds of miles away from their schools and many years away from graduation. I guess that’s why there’s the Chicago based Big Ten Network, a television station devoted to everything Big Ten. While I’m watching grainy online streaming video of Cornell Hockey with my laptop hooked up to my tv, Big Ten fans can watch their favorite team—often in HD.

Network Yourself in the Big Ten

The Big Ten Network was launched just over 2 years ago as “a joint venture between subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks,” and it’s allowed the Big Ten to gain significant control and leverage in terms of media distribution. Not only do they now have more control over their advertising revenue (they prohibit alcohol and gambling ads), but they also get to bring more attention to Women’s sports and sports other than basketball and football. As they put it:

Eleven schools, 252 varsity teams, one great network to cover it all. Welcome to the Big Ten Network, your ultimate source for Big Ten sports, featuring the games, passion and tradition of the nation’s foremost athletic conference.

Obviously the Big Ten is the first to make a move like this, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more athletic conferences take more control over the moneymaker that is televised college sports. If you’d like to get on board and be part of the Big Ten Network, you need to check out their Careers page—or you can just skip ahead to the Fox job search function where the Big Ten Network’s jobs are listed. If you select Big Ten Network as the company, you’ll see all of the job openings that they have available. Right now there’s only one non-internship position, but it’s perfect for a new grad—Integrated Sales Associate (Advertising and Marketing). You can apply online for the job, and you should keep your eye out for more job postings from the Big Ten Network.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your team?

Scripps Networks

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:39:04 +0000

If you haven’t checked out our post on Personal Finance and the Job Search, do that now. We’ve just added a special one day offer to get our job search training course Found Your Career for free.

Exactly a month ago we featured Charm City Cakes of Food Network fame, even though they’re not hiring. It was my birthday (so today is my 1/12 birthday!), and I wanted to talk about what to do when a company has zero interest in hiring anyone. If that post didn’t work for you, we have another way to get closer to the Ace of Cakes—working for Scripps Networks. They’re the parent company behind tv networks that include HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living, and GAC. Unlike Charm City Cakes, Scripps Networks is openly hiring, and a number of their positions seem perfect for new college grads. If your tv is often tuned into one of those stations, then you need to see what Scripps Networks has to offer.

Get a Job in Lifestyle Media

Scripps Networks is all about lifestyle media. You probably could have gathered that yourself from their logo, or from the list of their TV networks. They are a part of the much larger E.W. Scripps Company, which operates in all types of media—newspapers, television, licensing, and spelling bees. Additionally, Scripps Networks is investing a lot in expanding into online media, which obviously makes a lot of sense. While I’ve heard a lot about declining ad sales on television, it seems that Scripps Networks must be doing well. They have a ton of jobs posted, and although their job search function is a bit messed up, you can just click search without entering anything and browse through the openings. You’ll find positions like Ad Sales Assistant (3 positions all in New York City), Ad Sales Marketing Coordinator (NYC), Ad Sales Planner (NYC), SEO/SEM Analyst (Los Angeles), International Business Analyst (NYC), Closed Caption Formatter (Knoxville, TN), Office Coordinator (NYC), Online Marketing Specialist (London, UK), Program Planning Assistant (NYC), Public Relations Coordinator (NYC), Quality Assurance Analyst (Knoxville, TN), and Sales Coordinator (NYC). Lots of jobs, so head over to Scripps Networks’ job search page and start browsing—you can apply online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which is your favorite of Scripps Networks’ channels?

Delivery Agent

Willy Franzen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:28:05 +0000

Product placement started out as a secret. Companies realized that they could pay to get their products featured in books, television shows, and movies, so they did. And we, the viewers, assumed that these products were included for editorial reasons. At some point we got smart and realized what was going on. It didn’t really change much, but we became a little more skeptical. Now product placement is assumed. If someone is promoting something, you take for granted that they’re getting paid for it. Delivery Agent is a San Franciso based company that realized this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They’re taking product placement to the next level with a level of integration that we’ve never seen before. They call this “shopping-enabled entertainment.” When you see Dwight Schrute wearing a great looking shirt on The Office—ok, bad example—when you see a beautiful necklace on Gossip Girl, you can go to the show’s website and check out the “Seen On” section for more information how to buy the necklace. There’s also SeenON.com, which aggregates the information from all of Delivery Agent’s clients and makes it easy to “shop by show” or “shop by celeb.”

Become an Agent of Delivery

Delivery Agent is killing it right now. They currently monetize 90% of the Nielsen Primetime Top 50 Shows, and they just closed a $25 million round of financing. Their “Seen On” service is what has been driving most of the attention publicly, but they’re also doing some pretty cool stuff behind the scenes—they’re pushing to convince companies whose products are featured on tv to buy supporting advertising during the show. It’s a brilliant idea. The best part is that they’re already working with the most impressive names in entertainment, which is the biggest challenge a company like this has to overcome. When you can list ABC, CBS, NBC, MTV, FOX, and many more as partners, you’re in a great place to grow your business.

Even cooler is the fact that Delivery Agent has taken product placement and made it more results based than it has ever been before. They’ve also made everyone better off. Viewers can find the products they want. Media companies can more easily monetize their content. And companies with products increase their sales. I’m extremely high on Delivery Agent, and I strongly recommend that you check out their Jobs page. Right now they have quite a few jobs posted, but only a couple are suitable for new grads. These include E-mail Marketing Coordinator and M-Comm Site & Smart Phone App Developer (Contract). You can apply online, so get to it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you buy anything through Delivery Agent’s “Seen On” service?

Blue Entertainment Sports Television

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

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

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

Are You the BEST?

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about BEST?

Tennis Channel

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:07:02 +0000

Judging by what people are watching on the televisions on the cardio machines at my health club, there’s a lot of excitement about the US open right now—and we haven’t even reached the exciting part yet. There’s a decent amount of television coverage of the Open on ESPN2 (check out ESPN’s entry level jobs), but if you really want to watch a lot of tennis you need to watch the Tennis Channel. They’re a tv network that is based in Santa Monica, CA (with locations in Atlanta and New York City), and they’re “the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to the professional sport and passionate lifestyle of tennis.” Tennis Channel obviously isn’t for everyone, but that’s what niche media is all about. They own the tennis market.

Game, Set, Job

While niche networks usually don’t get coverage rights to the biggest events, in tennis there are so many matches during the course of a tournament that there’s no way that major networks could show all of the tennis. That’s why Tennis Channel has telecast rights to the Grand Slam Tournaments US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open) and the Australian Open. Beyond tournaments their content consists of “one-on-one interviews, game analysis and skills instruction” with personalities like “John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, James Blake, Andy Roddick, and Serena and Venus Williams.” If you’re interested in television and love tennis, there couldn’t be a better place to be. If you want to make that happen, check out Tennis Channel’s Jobs page. Right now they have a Traffic/Ad Sales Coordinator position in Santa Monica, CA available that looks pretty well suited to new grads. You can apply by sending a cover letter, résumé, salary history and salary requirements to HRrecruiter@tennischannel.com with “Ad Sales Coordinator” in the subject line. That’s all they have no, but keep your eyes peeled for new postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to watch the US Open?

WWE (formerly WWF)

Willy Franzen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:28:55 +0000

Yesterday I was amused by a friend’s Facebook status that said: “just had a revelation: Obama sounds like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.” I instantly imagined Barack Obama shirtless, yelling into a microphone, “Do you smellllllllllll what Barack is cooking?” Apparently SNL had a similar idea. That got me thinking about WWE (formerly the WWF), where The Rock first became famous. I was never a huge fan of professional wrestling, but I must admit to having watched on occasion. My little sister, on the other hand, was a huge fan. At about six years old she decided to be Hulk Hogan for Halloween. It was priceless. Back then they were the WWF, but a spate with World Wide Fund for Nature in 2000 resulted in a lawsuit and eventually a name change. WWE is located in Stamford, CT, just 20 minutes or so from my home town, and is a billion dollar business. Unfortunately, they haven’t been immune to layoffs, but they seem to have some great job opportunities right now.

Body Slam Your Way into a New Job

One thing that surprised me when I started doing research on World Wrestling Entertainment was the fact that they aim for a PG rating with all of their content. They put a huge emphasis on being family friendly because kids are such a huge part of their fan base. This philosophy runs throughout WWE’s five business units: Live and Televised Entertainment, Consumer Products, Digital Media, WWE Studios, and Sales & Sponsorships. If you’ve always loved professional wrestling and think that a career with WWE would be action packed, then you need to check out WWE’s Careers site. There are a bunch of job openings that can be considered entry level including Business Analyst (Stamford, CT), Live Event Marketing Rep (based anywhere in the U.S.), Motion Graphic Designer (Stamford, CT), On-Air Talent (Stamford, CT), and Writer Assistant (Stamford, CT). You can apply for all of these jobs online, so start practicing your body slams and elbow drops.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Who is/was your favorite wrestler?

The Harmony Institute

Willy Franzen — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:39:26 +0000

Have you ever realized that you were being marketed to? I don’t mean watching tv and seeing an ad that makes you want to buy something. I mean getting a creepy feeling like somebody is watching you, but instead they’re getting inside your head to sell you on something. The beauty of marketing is that you usually don’t realize it’s happening, but when you do, it’s scary. You wouldn’t normally associate this kind of thing with a non-profit, but when I came across The Harmony Institute, I was both intrigued and freaked out. They’re a New York City based organization that uses “cutting-edge scientific research with film, television and new media experiences to help [their] clients deliver narratives that modify behavior and influence change.” Is it just me, or does that sound a little weird?

The Harmony Institute Will Change You

At first glance The Harmony Institute sounds like some creepy conspiracy theory gone non-profit, but when you think about it, it makes sense. The non-profit world is full of great causes that people don’t really believe in. Using science-based marketing techniques to influence the way people think is the only way to get buy in from the general public on big ideas like environmentalism, ending poverty, and improving education. By using entertainment to deliver well-crafted messages, The Harmony Institute can help other organizations achieve their causes. This is mainly based on using “unique methodology in researching and testing the impact of behavioral science on consumers of mass media storytelling.” If you’re intrigued by this, then you should check out Jobs at The Harmony Institute. They don’t have any full-time openings posted right now, but they say that they’re looking “for motivated, multi-disciplinary individuals who believe that social change can occur through new and engaging venues.” You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to info@harmony-institute.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about The Harmony Institute?

SNY

Willy Franzen — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:03:12 +0000

Last week we took a look at jobs with the YES Network, which was fun for me because I’m a huge Yankees fan. On the day that post went up, I got a direct message on Twitter from Charlie O’Donnell that said, “No SNY?” Since my buddy Charlie is a big Mets fan and the CEO of a very cool career related startup called Path 101, I had to give SNY a look—even if Interleague play, a Subway World Series, and Mets fans’ jumping on the Red Sox bandwagon has soured me on the team from Flushing. Still, the Mets are a big deal, they have a beautiful brand new stadium, and they even have their own TV network. SNY is “a 24/7 regional sports and entertainment television network that features up to 125 regular season New York Mets telecasts.” It’s available “in New York, Connecticut, most of New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania,” and it’s also “the official year-round television home of the New York Jets.”

Say Yes to SNY

Whether you’re a Mets fan, a Jets fan, or a Yankees fan who just wants to get into the world of sports broadcast journalism, SNY might be a great place to get your start. They’re relatively new to the scene (2006), but as long as they have the rights to broadcast the Mets games, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in New York sports. To get an idea of what kind of job offerings SNY has you can head over to their Jobs page. The first think you’ll notice is that most of the jobs are freelance. If you’re not familiar with the television industry, that may sound scary, but it’s often how things work with tv networks. The available positions that appear to be most suitable for a new grad are Freelance Production Assistant and Multimedia Part-Time Avid Editor—all of the other job postings seem to be severely outdated. The online application process seems to be really confusing, so you may want to try networking your way into the job if you can.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a Mets fan?

YES Network

Willy Franzen — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:44:56 +0000

July 31st is always a holiday for me. Not only is it my Dad’s birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!), but it’s also the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline. It’s a day packed with excitement as winning teams trade away their future for a shot at winning it all this year. I usually spend the day glued to ESPN and MLB Trade Rumors, but this year I don’t think my Yankees are going to make any big moves (mostly because they’re only 1 game behind the best record in baseball). That means that I can sit back, relax, and watch the YES Network since I’m in Connecticut this weekend (which means I left Chicago where the Yankees are actually playing… ugh). The YES Network is pretty much all Yankees, all the time, except for when they show New Jersey Nets games, and because of that, they also happen to be “the most-watched regional sports network in the country.”

Make Them Say YES

As you may have noticed from the links in the opening paragraph, we’ve covered a lot of baseball related jobs. I have actually wanted to write a post on the YES Network for a long time, but they’ve never had anything remotely entry level posted on their Jobs page. That hasn’t changed, but I’ve realized that waiting around for a job postings is a good way not to get a job. If you want to get a job at YES, you’re going to need to be proactive. That means reaching out to them at jobs@yesnetwork.com with a résumé and cover letter in WORD format, and using LinkedIn to do some networking. If you check out the YES Network company profile, you’ll find all kinds of great information on what types of jobs they have and who works there. One of their more common job titles is Production Assistant, which looks to me to be geared towards the entry level. Landing a job at YES won’t be easy, but if you’re a Yankees fan like me (or you really want to get into the field of sports journalism/broadcasting), then it’s worth a shot.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think the Yankees will win the World Series?

Sling Media

Willy Franzen — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:07:23 +0000

We’re at a transitional point right now when it comes to television. In some ways it’s easy to watch the shows that we want to see by heading over to Hulu or some other Internet destination, but in many situations we’re still at the mercy of the television networks. We are not yet able to watch what we want to watch when we want to watch it no matter where we are, but that’s quickly changing. San Francisco’s Sling Media is one of the companies that is pushing that change. They’re behind a device, called a Slingbox, that you can hook up to your tv and cable box to watch and control your television from any Internet connected computer or smartphone.

Sling Your Career Forward

The opportunities for use are endless, but here’s one example. I love the Yankees, but in Chicago they’re rarely televised. I can set up a Slingbox in my parents’ house in Connecticut, that will let me watch all of the Yankees games (and whatever other local channels that I want) right on my computer at no cost beyond the hardware investment. It’s a pretty sweet technology, and I can even control a DVR to record the game if I’m not going to be near a computer to watch it. (The other option is to watch it on my iPhone under the table at dinner.) Most of what Sling Media is about right now is the Slingbox, but the company’s main focus is letting you control how you consume media. If that sounds like something that you’d like to be a part of, then you should check out their Jobs page. Current openings that may be suitable for new or recent grads include Sling Retail Sales Associate (San Francisco/Los Angeles), Ad Operations Trafficker/Coordinator (New York City), and Video and Photo Associate (New York City). They also have a bunch of Software Development jobs, but they all appear to have pretty hefty experience requirements. To apply for any of the jobs with Sling Media, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@slingmedia.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use a Slingbox.

America’s Test Kitchen

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:34:44 +0000

I love cooking, but I didn’t always. I went into college barely knowing how to make myself a bowl of pasta, but when I lived off campus Sophomore year, I was left with little choice but to learn how to cook. I’ve never been one to follow recipes strictly, though. I always like trying something new and getting creative with my cooking. That’s exactly the philosophy behind America’s Test Kitchen. It’s a real kitchen (all 2,500 square feet of it) in Brookline, MA that is used to “to develop the absolute best recipes for all of your favorite foods.” They do this by testing recipes anywhere from 30-70 times until they not only get it right, but get it right to the point that it’s dead simple for the people who are consuming the products that America’s Test Kitchen puts out – magazines, cookbooks, DVDs, tv shows, and websites. To me it sounds like one of the coolest places in the world, so if there’s no post tomorrow, it’s because I quit in hopes of a career at America’s Test Kitchen (just kidding!).

Cooking Up Some Great Jobs

Although I’ve been familiar with the America’s Test Kitchen tv show and their Cook’s Illustrated magazine for a while, I never thought to look at their jobs. Luckily, a loyal reader pointed out that they have a ton of openings in a variety of areas. Of those jobs, we’ve picked a few that seem best suited for new or recent college grads. They include Assistant Test Cook, Junior Software Developer, eCommerce Marketing Coordinator, Production and Traffic Coordinator, Web Production Assistant, and Graphic Designer. Some of the jobs require a couple years of experience, but if you’ve been interning and participating in activities that give you real world experience, landing these jobs shouldn’t be a problem. The applications instructions vary a little bit depending on the position that you’re applying for, so head over to the America’s Test Kitchen Jobs page to get all of the details on these delicious jobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Hungry yet?

The Knot

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:49:01 +0000

As a new or upcoming college grad who is looking for a job, you’re entering a new lifestage. Unfortunately, it’s not a lifestage that The Knot can help you with. They’re a “lifestage media company,” but they focus on major life events related to growing your family – engagements, weddings, and births of first children. These things may seem far off to you, but within a couple years of graduating (if not sooner) you’ll have friends who are getting married and having kids. Eventually you’ll probably do the same, and when you do, there’s a good chance that you’ll come across one or many of The Knot’s media properties. They have a flagship website at TheKnot.com in addition to books, magazines, and tv programs (see all of their brands). People can get pretty crazed when they’re about to enter a new lifestage, which is why The Knot has been so successful in providing media that makes it all a little easier. Too bad they don’t have anything for the job search, but at least we do.

Enter a New Lifestage with The Knot

Whatever lifestage you’re entering, The Knot has something for you. We’re going to focus on the getting a job lifestage. The Knot is based out of New York City with a number of other work locations. They’ve done a really nice job with their Jobs page, and they’ve managed to keep it simple and straightforward. You can browse jobs, read employee testimonials, and check out the benefits without getting confused (or at least you should be able to). They have quite a few jobs listed that appear to be suitable for new grads (the company must be growing pretty well), and they include Accounting Specialist (Omaha, NE), Front End Web Developer (New York, NY), MS SQL Developer (New York, NY), and Software Engineer – Sitecore CMS (New York, NY). There are a number of less techie jobs available, but they require a bit more experience than most new grads have. You can apply for any job at The Knot or even an unlisted position by sending a cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to jobs@theknot.com. Be sure to indicate the title of the job in the subject line or put “general candidacy” to be considered for future positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you familiar with any of The Knot’s brands?

Hulu

Willy Franzen — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:24:39 +0000

When NBC Universal and News Corp. announced a new online video venture, I rolled my eyes along with nearly everyone else who had an interest in online video. Large corporations had consistently proven that they just didn’t get it. They were too busy removing videos from YouTube and suing college kids for file sharing. That’s why I was really surprised when I started using – and loving – Hulu. The fact that I can watch new episodes of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, reruns of Doogie Howser, M.D., and Speed 2: Cruise Control (ok, their movie selection is still a little week) all for free with limited commercial interruption is pretty awesome; in fact, I now watch Hulu more than I watch tv. It’s no wonder that Hulu, which is based out of Los Angeles, CA, is winning all kinds of awards now.

What’s a Hulu?

The story of how the name Hulu came about is relatively interesting, but not too far off from many other naming stories. What is remarkable about Hulu is that they’ve combined a startup mentality with old media connections. It may be a little more top-down than YouTube, but it’s stuff that you can actually watch for a prolonged period of time without feeling considerably dumber (ok, not all of it is). The coolest thing about Hulu is a business is that they’re old media meets new media, which is also reflected in their jobs. They are always on the lookout for top-flight Engineering talent for positions like SQL Database Developer, Software Developer, and Technical Project Manager. If these jobs interest you, then you’ll probably want to check out the About Hulu Engineering Page. If you’re interested in the other side of the business, you might want to take a look at jobs like Traffic Coordinator or Campaign Manager. And if you’re really in for an adventure, you might want to check out their jobs located in Beijing. To apply for a job with Hulu, you should send a cover letter and resume to jobs@hulu.com, but before that you should definitely read What Defines Hulu.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite thing to watch on Hulu?

WGBH

Willy Franzen — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:08:58 +0000

We’ve catered to the PBS junkies before when we’ve covered entry level jobs at PBS here and WTTW11′s internships on One Day, One Internship, and we’re going to do it again today. WGBH is a non-profit PBS affiliate based out of Boston that also happens to be the “single largest producer of PBS prime-time and online programming.” They started out by broadcasting the Boston Symphony Orchestra over the radio in 1951, but they’ve expanded to television and the web since. It’s really amazing how much of PBS’s programing comes out of WGBH. One of my all-time favorites was ZOOM, which is a little embarrassing to admit, since I was a bit old to be watching it at the time. Another interesting thing about WGBH that I picked up from Wikipedia is that they’re “considered a leader in services for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, or visually impaired.” WGBH actually “invented television closed captioning, audio description (Descriptive Video Service), and created the Rear Window Captioning System for films.” As you can see, WGBH is an innovator not just in public television, but in all media, and probably a great place to work.

Working at WGBH

If you’re looking to get a start in television, public television is the perfect place to begin. And if you’re going to go into public television, you might as well work with the best at WGBH. Their Jobs page shows quite a few openings, which we, unfortunately, can’t link to because of the way that they’ve set up their website. That’s ok because their Jobs page is easy enough to navigate. You can look through all of the jobs yourself, but we think that the most appropriate positions for new college grads are probably limited to: Account Coordinator, Board Relations Coordinator, Compensation and Benefits Specialist, NOVA Web Developer, Production Coordinator (New York), Production Secretary (Antiques Road Show), Production Secretary (TV Direct Response & Marketing), Radio Producer/Announcer, Secretary/Office Coordinator (Masterpiece Theater), and Stenocaptioner. You can apply for the jobs online directly from the job descriptions. They don’t accept unsolicited materials in job applications, so make sure that you stick to what’s asked for. All of the jobs are located in Boston, MA unless otherwise noted.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite programming from WGBH?

Sesame Workshop

Willy Franzen — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:03:41 +0000

Sunny day… Sweepin’ the clouds away… On my way to where the air is sweet… Can you tell me how to get… How to get a job at Sesame Street? Sesame Workshop is “a nonprofit educational organization making a meaningful difference in the lives of children worldwide by addressing their critical developmental needs.” How do they do that? By producing Sesame Street, of course. You may not realize how much work and research has gone into making Sesame Street the educational powerhouse that it is. They have a well defined process that is the key to consistently addressing educational needs.

Work with Elmo and Big Bird

Although you probably know all about Sesame Street (don’t act like you don’t), you may have never know that Sesame Workshop existed. It all started in 1968 with an experiment in using television as an educational tool, and look where it’s landed 40 years later. To get a full sense of where Sesame Workshop stands now, you should read their most recent letter from the President. It’s amazing how far reaching Sesame Street has become and how many topics they are able to address through the same medium that they started with. If you’re fascinated by education, childhood development, and television production, there’s no better place for you to work than Sesame Workshop. It’s where all the brains behind one of tv’s longest running shows reside.

Sesame Workshop only has one job opening right now, and it’s not by definition entry level. Still, we’ve read over the job requirements carefully, and there’s nothing to make us think that there aren’t plenty of new college grads who have skills and experience to land the job. The position is as a Production Coordinator – Digital Media, so it does require quite a bit of technical knowhow. The job appears to be located in New York City, where Sesame Workshop is based out of, and you can apply directly from the job description. If you’re wondering what it’s like to work at Sesame Workshop, you can check out this recount of a Barnard student’s experiences with their internship program. We wish that Sesame Workshop had more job opportunities for new grads posted, but we’d imagine that their jobs get snapped up pretty quickly. Since they don’t have an RSS feed, you’ll have to check back diligently to see if/when they post new jobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you still watch Sesame Street in your dorm room?

MediaVest

Willy Franzen — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:00:11 +0000

Who builds brands? If you asked 10 people in marketing that question, you’d probably get 10 different answers. If you asked someone from MediaVest, he or she would say, “We do!” MediaVest is a marketing and communications firm that works with some of the world’s biggest brands – Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart, Continental Airlines, and many more. MediaVest certainly can’t take all of the credit for building those brands, but they can take some of it. MediaVest has seven core competencies, and they are Research, Insights, and Analytics; Strategic Communications Planning; Investment and Activation; Brand-in Entertainment; Digital Connections, Print Investment; and Out of Home. These areas of expertise are all part of MediaVest’s unique process that delivers value to clients.

Vest Yourself in MediaVest

Ok, that all sounds good, but what does it really mean? What does MediaVest really do? They work with the big dogs. Everyone is trying to build a brand, but the game changes when you reach a certain size. I spend every day trying to brand myself and One Day, One Job. I never have a shortage of things to do or areas to invest in because my general brand awareness is pretty low. I have a lot to gain. Companies like Coca-Cola and Procter and Gamble don’t have a lot to gain. They are already at the top of the branding world, but not only do they want to do better, but they must continue to work hard to maintain their brand positions. MediaVest helps the big dogs manage how they appear in different forms of media.

We got a tip from a MediaVest employee that they’re still doing a lot of entry level hiring despite the economic fears, and MediaVest’s Jobs page backs that up. If you’re looking to start a career in media or marketing, MediaVest is a great place to look. It appears that most of their entry level hires are for the
Junior Associate position. There are six types of Junior Associate jobs that they are currently hiring for – Connections, Digital, Activation – National Broadcast, Activation – Local Broadcast, Activation – Print Investment, and Connections Research. There are descriptions for each on the link above, and all of the jobs are located in New York City. Beyond the Junior Associate positions, there are also a few other jobs that aren’t explicitly identified as entry level but that are probably good fits for new college grads. These include Administrative Assistant, Media Planner, Broadcast Negotiator, and Coordinator, Media Research and Analytics. These jobs are also located New York City, and you can apply for any of MediaVest’s open jobs through their online application form.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s the word on MediaVest? Let us know in the comments.

MindShare

Willy Franzen — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:56:34 +0000

When we’re researching companies and looking for great entry-level jobs, we love to look over client lists. You may never have heard of a company, but if brands that you respect are hiring the company, then you know they must be worth considering. For instance, if you saw that a company’s clients included Nike, American Express (we respect them even if their Careers site is horrendous), Volvo, Rolex, Ford, and Playstation, you’d probably be pretty interested in learning about the company’s employment opportunities, right? Well that’s just a small sampling of the companies that entrust their brand and media presence to MindShare.

Understanding Brands, Markets, Media… and Other People

Despite our being hugely impressed with MindShares website and client list, we’re still a little lost on what exactly they do. Maybe that’s because they do a lot as “the global media network.” They say that their “specialist services have been created to respond to market changes and, in some cases, to change the market.” Those offerings include “econometric modelling, research and insights, digital solutions, sports and entertainment sponsorship consultancy, and brand-driven creative campaigns.” These apparently go along with MindShare’s core services, but we can’t seem to figure out what those are. Our best guess at a short description is that MindShare is a marketing consultancy; however, they do a lot of things and have over 6,000 employees so that’s probably a bit narrow (look at all the tags we used for them).

The good news is that MindShare realized that they have a problem. In April they announced a restructuring that will draw together their services offerings “in a simplified framework to deliver a new, comprehensive marketing services offering.” Many companies ignore identity issues because they can coast on reputation. Their customers know who they are, and people in the industry know who they are. It doesn’t present much of a problem, unless you’re trying to hire entry-level talent. A new grad who hits MindShare’s website might be intimidated and inundated with all the information. The content on the site is fantastic, but it’s also a bit overwhelming. We’re glad to see that MindShare is working to present a clearer, more unified message about who they are. What it comes down to is that MindShare is a company that is all about understanding brands, markets, media, and other people, which is really cool, but those of us who aren’t familiar with MindShare need to be able to understand them too.

Share Your Mind

MindShare truly is a global media network, which means that they offer entry-level jobs all across the world. We’re only going to focus specifically on their opportunities in North America, but new college grads who want to see the world should look at MindShare’s career offerings in Europe / Middle East / Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

MindShare does a great job of listing what experience is needed for jobs, and whether or not a position is well suited to a new college grad. Positions that are listed as entry-level include Assistant Media Planner, Assistant, National TV, Assistant Media Planner – MindShare Interaction, and Financial Associate. There is also an Emerging Media Specialist job that doesn’t say it’s entry-level, but doesn’t say it requires experience either. We’d imagine that a new grad who is a social media guru would be perfect for the job. All of these positions are available in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City except the Financial Associate position which is NYC only. To apply send a cover letter and resume to hr.chicago@mindshareworld.com for Chicago, la.careers@mindshareworld.com for Los Angeles, and mindshare.recruitment@mindshareworld.com for New York and all other locations. MindShare looks like a really cool company to work for, so they’re definitely worth a little more research.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Know anything about working at MindShare? Leave a comment.

PostWorks

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:26:07 +0000

Finally, we’re talking about entry-level jobs in show business. Bright lights. Movie and television stars. Glitz and glamour. Not so fast! PostWorks (and Orbit Digital, their sister company) may be in the entertainment industry, but everything that they do is behind the scenes. Since they specialize in post production work, they’re not even on the wrong end of the camera, they’re nowhere near it (until the film needs to be unloaded and processed, that is). In the end, though, it’s all worth it, right? You get to be that guy or girl who sits in the movie theater until the bitter end, just to see your name in the credits.

We Have No Idea What We’re Talking About

First of all, we’re totally out of depth when it comes to what PostWorks does. We’re going to do our best to get the point across, but we’re not movie people, so feel free to correct anything that needs to be corrected by leaving a comment. PostWorks is a full service post production company, so once the film has been shot, they are fully equipped to take a project all the way through to final delivery. They offer a full range of services, the most impressive of which has to be 24/7/365 Technical Support and Engineering. Apparently, PostWorks never stops working, but don’t let that scare you off.

At One Day, One Job we’re not really movie buffs or tv junkies, we’re just job searching couch potatoes. That means we’re not very good judges of what makes an impressive post production company. We’ll leave that determination up to you; however, we have found a few things that you should look at when evaluating PostWorks as a potential employer. There’s their reels and credits on their own website. There’s also PostWorks’ credits on IMDB and Orbit Digital’s credits on IMDB

How Entry-Level Do You Want to Get?

At the very least PostWorks has a cool office, so we think it’s definitely worth taking a look at their job listings. Since we’re not familiar with industry terminology or hiring patterns, we had some trouble determining which jobs were best suited to new college grads. We picked out the ones with the most entry-level descriptions, but we might have missed something that is perfect for you, so be sure to look at all of the listings. We’re going to work our way up through the ranks, so if you have no relevant education or experience and are just trying to get your foot in the door, you might want to consider a position as a Runner / Shipping Assistant or a Scheduler. Both of these listings state no need for industry knowledge, but might give you the exposure that you need to move towards a role in post production.

For Those Who Have Seen a Movie Before

There are then Production Assistant / Client Services jobs, which are perfect for someone who is aiming for a job as an assistant editor, digital media coordinator, coordinating producers, or AVID Tech. Finally, there are jobs as a Junior Producer / Coordinator. We can’t really tell if these are actually entry-level, but the job listing talks about how this position allows for significant growth, while failing to mention any need for previous work experience. All of the jobs that we’ve mentioned are in the New York, NY office; however, PostWorks does have a Los Angeles, CA office that also hires occasionally.

What e-mail address you should apply to changes depending on the position, so take note of which e-mail address goes with which job if you’re looking at multiple listings. PostWorks also offers the opportunity to send in a resume for general consideration so send a resume and cover letter to job@postworks.com for jobs in their New York facilities and jobs@postworksla.com for jobs in their Los Angeles facilities if none of the listed positions speak to you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Looking for an internship in post production? PostWorks has those too!