One Day, One Job » video

Specialized

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

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

Are Your Skills Specialized?

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What kind of bike do you own?

littleBits

Willy Franzen — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:05:13 +0000

So far our survey says that you find the job search frustrating. Tell us more so that we can help.

When I was a kid I had this really cool electronics set that allowed me to build all kinds of devices just by connecting different wires to each other. It looked kind of like this. A friend and I even built our own radio transmitter and were able to transmit music about 20 feet to my mom’s car. It totally blew our 10-year old minds. Unfortunately, neither of us had any idea how it worked. littleBits is a New York, NY based company that has more than one-upped the electronic playground. They have developed “a growing library of pre-assembled circuits that snap together with tiny magnets.” Not only do littleBits look super cool, but they should be pretty intuitive considering that each piece has a unique electronic function. I think it would be hard to play with them and not understand how they’re working.

littleJobs

When I see littleBits, I instantly see them as the perfect Christmas gift for a kid with a budding interest in science. However, littleBits aren’t necessarily even targeted towards kids. littleBits’ goal is to move “electronics from late stages of the design process to its earliest ones, and from the hands of experts, to those of artists, makers, students and designers.” They want more people to look at life through the frame of electronic hardware, and that’s definitely something that I can get behind. littleBits is still a little company, though they have a lot of people pushing for them succeed. If you love what they’re doing as much as I do, you should take a look at littleBits’ Jobs page. The only non-internship position they have posted right now is for an experienced Industrial/ Product Designer; however, they do say: “Other openings may also be available, if you have what it takes, and are excited to embark on this exciting adventure, get in touch (jobs@littlebits.cc), we’d love to meet you!” I say go for it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you play with littleBits?

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?

Lynda.com

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:01:35 +0000

When I came across Lynda.com and their awesome job opportunities, I realized that their courses in things like Excel, Photoshop, Web Development and more could be a huge help to most job seekers. That’s why I signed up for their affiliate program to get you a 7-day free trial.

The biggest mistake that job seekers make is that they focus too much on trying to land a job and too little on improving their skills. If all you do is apply to jobs every day for 6 months, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up still unemployed and you’ll be even less attractive to employers than when you started. I know it’s counterintuitive, but most of you need to spend less time looking for jobs and more time making yourself a better candidate. There are lots of ways to do that, and one is by taking skill-specific courses. Lynda.com is a company that offers exactly that–”online software training videos that really work.” They’re based in Carpinteria, CA, and they’re yet an Inc. 500 company with 250% three-year growth to $49.9 million in annual revenue. And I’d bet that the amount that they’ve increased their users’ salaries is a lot bigger than that.

Who’s Lynda?

Lynda is a real person. Her last name is Weinman, and she’s “a Web graphics and design veteran” who co-founded Lynda.com with her husband, Bruce Heavin. Together (along with a lot of team members that had joined along the way) they’ve built Lynda.com with the goal “to make everything we know available to you to help reach your creative and career goals.” What I find interesting about the company’s business model is that they don’t charge by the course. If you sign up for a subscription to access one course, you can access all of the others for as long as you stay signed up. And these courses are good. I’ve never taken any, so I’m going on the fact that Lynda.com is used by huge names like Amazon, Google, Yale University, Apple, and Microsoft. If you like what Lynda.com is doing, then the next logical step is to check out their Careers page. They offer a number of opportunities that you might find interesting including:

Project Coordinator, Creative and Marketing
Account Services Representative
Training Production Coordinator
Video Compressionist
Video Editor
Software Engineer
UI Engineer

There are a ton of other positions posted, but Lynda.com has some pretty hefty experience requirements. You’d think that a company that is all about online learning might be more open to people who may not have 5-10 years of experience. They do allow you to submit a general application, so that may be worth a shot if none of the posted positions seem like a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Lynda.com? If you want to, here’s a link for a 7-day free trial.

New America Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:01:46 +0000

There’s no question that America’s future is filled with challenges, and we’re going to be the ones who have to rise to them. It’s a huge opportunity, but it’s also a bit daunting. The New America Foundation is a non-profit organization that “emphasizes work that is responsive to the changing conditions and problems of our 21st Century information-age economy — an era shaped by transforming innovation and wealth creation, but also by shortened job tenures, longer life spans, mobile capital, financial imbalances and rising inequality.” They’re based in Washington, DC (and Sacramento, CA), and they’re working to ensure that every American generation is able to live better than the one that came before it.

Are You Part of a New America?

The New America Foundation has ideals that pretty much everyone can get behind, but how do they actually go about achieving their goals? They have a wide range of Programs and Initiatives that cover a number of areas including College Savings, National Security, Open Technology, Economic Growth, and lots more. These programs “combine ongoing research and publications with working groups, conferences and public events” to “bring innovative, cutting-edge policy solutions to the fore of the national debate.” The New America Foundation’s approach is broad, but if you think that you could help them build a better America, then take a look at their Jobs page. They have a number of positions available that look suitable for new or recent grads including A/V Multimedia Producer, Innovation Policy Research Associate, Program Associate – Global Assets Project, Research Associate – Global Assets Project, Schmidt Family Foundation Fellow, Events Associate, Field Analyst – Open Technology Initiative, and Research Associate. There are lots of options, so hopefully one of them will be a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your vision for a New America?

Zoosk

Willy Franzen — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:55:08 +0000

Though I’ve never had the opportunity to try an online dating site, I do have some interest in the industry. First, I think that online dating and online job search have a lot in common. Second, a lot of online marketing innovation comes out of the online dating industry. Third, I have a good friend who has a side project in the online dating space, and I enjoy learning from him and helping him build the business. I guess that’s why I’d heard of Zoosk before. Or maybe it’s those commercials with a bunch of really good-looking people huddled around a computer having fun on a dating site. Either way, I didn’t really bother to take a closer look at San Francisco, CA based Zoosk until I got an e-mail from a reader who recently landed a job there. Now I realize that Zoosk has kind of come out of nowhere to be a massive force in online dating. They have millions of users (they’re apparently bigger than Match.com) and a revenue run rate that was pushing towards $100 million annually back in February.

Social Dating?

I have two hesitations about Zoosk. The first is that they chose to include “zoo” in the name of a dating site. The second is that they use the term “social dating.” Isn’t dating inherently social? Anyway, the concept behind Zoosk is that it’s built on apps that run on top of existing social networks like Facebook. I think there’s also some element of having your friends help you pick dates (that’s what the commercials insinuate), but I couldn’t find a good description of how that works. The business model is a freemium subscription model. You get limited access for free, and you need to pay up to actually interact with people and land dates. Plenty of people are paying up, and a lot seem to be getting their money’s worth–at least if you go by Zoosk’s Success Stories. They also seem to be a good place for job search success stories, as they’re growing very quickly. Zoosk has a wonderful Careers site that provides a lot of information on what it’s like to work for them. From there you can check out their open positions which include Marketing Associate, Freelance Videographer, and a number of Software Engineer positions. The reader who e-mailed me got a position in User Operations, so that could be an option to.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Zoosk?

Samaritan’s Purse

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:13:00 +0000

This is a sponsored post for Samaritan’s Purse.

We all have a Good Samaritan story–a time where we helped someone in need or were helped by someone when we were in need. These are the moments when people are at their best, yet they don’t seem to happen often enough. Samaritan’s Purse has spent the last 40 years working to ensure that the story of the Good Samaritan lives on and continues to inspire people to “go and do likewise.” Samaritan’s Purse is a non-profit “nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.” They’re based out of Boone, NC, but they’re constantly repositioning their resources to react to world events. Samaritan’s Purse’s work can typically be separated into two categories: Emergency Relief Programs and Community Development and Vocational Programs. While these two Program groups serve very different situations, they share the goal of helping people in need wherever they may be.

Be a Good Samaritan

There’s no better way to get a feel for Samaritan’s Purse’s work (besides actually joining them and doing it) than taking a look at the In Pictures section of their website. It will give you a feel for what they do, how they do it, and whom they help. One of their major relief projects is focused on helping Japan and the Japanese people recover from the earthquake and tsunami that struck in March of 2011. Samaritan’s Purse was on the ground almost immediately (as you can see here, here, and here). The need for immediate relief supplies has obviously subsided, but now Samaritan’s Purse is leading a rebuilding effort. They are working in a number of communities to get the Japanese people back to a normal way of life before winter comes. This is a tall task when you consider that one community they’re working in “lost 70% of its physical structure” and another was hit by a wave as tall as a 12-story building, but Samaritan’s Purse has a history of excelling with this kind of work.

Right now Samaritan’s Purse is recruiting heavily for their Japan reconstruction effort. Right now their biggest need is for Japanese Interpreters and they think that recent college grads could be perfect fits (they’d also love to hear from people with more experience). This position is vital to the reconstruction effort, and it offers an amazing opportunity to get life-changing experience while doing amazing work. Christian values are an essential part of what Samaritan’s Purse does, so be sure to read their Statement of Faith and learn about their leader Franklin Graham before applying. And if you don’t speak Japanese, there are plenty of other job opportunities posted on Samaritan’s Purse’ Jobs page, and many are perfectly suited for new and recent grads. They include:

Japanese Interpreter (Japan)
Digital Video Producer (Boone, NC)
Marketing/Metrics Analyst (Boone, NC)
Network Administrator (Boone, NC)
Curriculum & Training Specialist (Boone, NC)
Bio-Med Technician (Boone, NC)
Field Accountant (Juba, South Sudan)
Social Media/Marketing Specialist / Communications (Boone, NC)

These look like amazing jobs that truly offer the opportunity to make the world a better place. Give them a look and see which positions fit you the best.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Samaritan’s Purse?

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?

YuMe

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:26:48 +0000

Who would have thought that video advertising would be the new thing? It’s only been around for more than 50 years. But as consumption of video moves from watching what is broadcasted over air/cable/satellite to watching what you want when you want to over the Internet, advertising has to change with it. People will click away from a website in an instant if they’re annoyed by the ads, while tv viewers are much slower to change the channel (even if it’s one of those commercials where the volume is twice as high). Yet, there’s so much more potential online–you can actually get someone to take an action by clicking on the ad. Television doesn’t offer that. YuMe is a Redwood City, CA based company that was founded in 2004 to encourage the growth of online video content by making it easy to monetize. The founders recognized “that the nascent broadband video sector was going to need a strong ad model and technology platform to generate revenue,” so they built it.

You at YuMe

If you’re like me, you probably hate online video ads. There are ones that slow down your Hulu viewing There are ones that automatically run for 30 seconds before you watch a 15 second video of some guy getting hit in the crotch. There are even ones that cover an entire page and start playing as soon as you open a new web page. You can get as annoyed with online video ads as you want, but they’re the cost of watching free content. YuMe has built an exceptional platform for both advertisers and publishers, and that’s why they’re serving “millions of in-stream video ads per day” and working with top publishers like MSN, Hearst, and Fox News. If you’re fascinated by how advertising is fueling the growth of online video, then you should definitely check out YuMe’s Jobs page. While most of their jobs require some level of prior experience, you should still check out the following positions: Business Operations Analyst, Sales Development Account Executive (Redwood City and New York), Sales Planner (Chicago and New York), Support Engineer – Mobile, and Technical Support Engineer. You may also want to check out some of the internships they have listed, because a few seem to be tailored to grads. And if nothing looks like great fits for you, they also welcome applications for unlisted positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you feel about online video ads?

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?

Jawbone

Willy Franzen — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:35:27 +0000

When the phone was relegated to only the home and office (and phone booths), it wasn’t a big deal to hold it against your head. If you really used the phone a lot, you might get a headset or one of those rubber things that makes it easier to hold the phone between your ear and shoulder. Now that we take our phones everywhere, holding your phone becomes a big pain in the butt (or hand). It makes your hand cold in winter, and it’s a risk while driving. I’m completely happy with my iPhone headphones, but some people just can’t be tied down like that. That’s why Jawbone has been so successful. They’re a San Francisco, CA based company that creates “products and services for the mobile lifestyle unparalleled in their innovation, ease-of-use and sophistication of design.” They’re best know for their bluetooth headsets, but they also make wireless speakers/speakerphones and develop some mobile apps.

Jawing for a Job

Bluetooth headsets are an awesome way to make yourself look dorky. Most manufacturers seem to put function over form. Not Jawbone. They’ve not only developed a line of products that has an amazing set of features like noise canceling and HD audio, but they’ve also made the bluetooth headset cool. There’s a ton of attention to detail in the design of Jawbone products, and this has allowed them to stand out as a luxury product in a market that is largely commoditized. Jawbone doesn’t offer much information about themselves on their About page, but they do seem to have a ton of cool jobs on their Careers page. Here are some that seem suitable for a new or recent grad: Mobile Application Developer, Web Developer, Interaction Designer, Quantitative Consumer/Market Insights Researcher, User Interface Designer, Business Planner – Sales Support, Videographer, Receptionist, and Scheduling Assistant. There are a lot really cool sounding jobs that require more experience, so it’s probably worth doing what it takes to get your foot in the door.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use a Jawbone?

Funny or Die

Willy Franzen — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:43:05 +0000

I love the idea of April Fool’s Day, but I’m almost never impressed with the pranks that people come up with. It’s really become a day where people show off how lame their sense of humor is. Since this is my fourth April Fool’s Day doing this and I still don’t have the heart to play a trick on hopeful job seekers, we’re going to do what we’ve done for the past three years–look at companies with good senses of humor. Last year we covered Second City (and at least one reader landed a job there). The year before it was CollegeHumor. And the year before that we took a look at Motley Fool (check out this job that their recruiter sent me this morning). We’ve also covered jobs at The Onion, but that wasn’t for April Fool’s Day. This year it’s all about Funny or Die, the “rapidly growing celebrity-anchored video website” based in San Mateo, CA. I guess this is what you get when you combine “a bunch of Silicon Valley dudes and ladies” with funny guys Will Ferrell, Judd Apatow, Adam McKay, and Chris Henchy.

Don’t Die

Funny or Die has a pretty decent April Fool going on right now: Rebecca Black has taken over the entire site. I’m just glad to see that she’s finally getting the recognition that she deserves. I remember the first Funny or Die video that I ever saw. It’s “The Landlord” with Will Ferrell. I have to admit that I didn’t love it, but maybe you will (e-mail readers click through to see the video).

If this video has you in hysterics, then Funny or Die might be the right place for you to start your career. Their Jobs page is kind of a semi-permanent April Fool’s Day gag since they don’t provide any listings or a contact e-mail address, but that shouldn’t discourage you. They mention 50 employees and offices in Hollywood, Palo Alto, and New York, so there have to be some options–maybe in areas like video, production, editorial, advertising, sales, and marketing. You can browse LinkedIn to get a better feel for how their ad-supported business works.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you visit Funny or Die?

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?

Khan Academy

Willy Franzen — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:59:32 +0000

I went to Cornell, you ever heard of it? Maybe you have, but I bet you didn’t know that the university’s motto is ranked #1 across all American colleges and universities. The motto is “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” I guess that explains why I was able to take a course in Meat Science. Anyway, the motto is great, but it’s not really true. A Cornell education isn’t really accessible to anyone, but a Khan Academy education is one. It’s a non-profit organization based in Mountain View, CA “with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere.” They do this by providing online video lessons in a wide range of topics including Algebra, Banking and Money, Brain Teasers, Chemistry, Finance, Statistics, Venture Capital and Capital Market, and lots more.

You Khan Do It

Khan Academy was founded by Salman Khan, who “started the Khan Academy as a way to tutor his cousins remotely–while he was a hedge fund analyst in Boston, and they were students in New Orleans.” It’s grown to be a lot more than that. Because Khan Academy is so focused on video, their About page relies mostly on video. You should put aside a bunch of time to watch at least a few of these videos, because they’re long and packed with important information about what Khan Academy is all about. Once you’ve done that, then you can decide whether you’d be interested in a job with them. They don’t have a Jobs page, but I did come across a posting on Hacker News that says they’re looking for Software/Web Developers. You can also check out Khan Academy’s Get Involved page if you’re not a software type—maybe you can do some volunteering that will eventually lead to a job.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried any Khan Academy lessons?

Organic Motion

Willy Franzen — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:48:41 +0000

Last week I came across a pretty cool picture from the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean (I have no idea which of the movies). It shows what the actors looked like when the movie was being filmed, and then what they actually look like in the movie with all of the CGI and special effects. How do actors take themselves seriously with little balls stuck all over their body? Fortunately, they won’t have to much longer if Organic Motion has anything to say about it. They’re a New York, NY based company that “a leading innovator of computer vision and highly advanced motion capture systems.” They’ve developed a combined software/hardware solution that enables computers to capture the motion of humans and other organisms—no little balls necessary. It’s a huge breakthrough that can be used in all kinds of different applications.

Get Moving!

Motion tracking used to require a ton of setup, with Organic Motion’s equipment, you can track motion instantaneously. It’s been used in a wide array of industries including Education, Animation & Entertainment, Life Sciences, Military, and Public Venues. I also have to imagine that it can be amazing useful in Athletics. Instead of having to pretend to play a sport while you wear cumbersome equipment, you can actually play the sport and leave the rest to the computers. Organic Motion offers three specific solutions that are tailored to different use cases: Stage, BioStage, and OpenStage. You can read about Organic Motion’s Success Stories to learn about exactly how innovative companies are using these solutions. The technology behind Organic Motion is pretty complex, so you should probably read up on it before considering a job with them. After you do that, you can head over to their Careers page. Right now they’re looking for a variety of more experienced Software Engineers, but they also have a posting for a Stage Installation Operations Associate that looks well suited to a new grad. Check it out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Organic Motion?

SpeakerText

Willy Franzen — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:53:37 +0000

Sponsored Job: Have a passion for helping people and an excellent understanding of online community dynamics? Boston, MA based PatientsLikeMe is looking for you. One of their Community Moderator jobs was featured here in March and, voila!, they hired reader, Liz Morgan. Are you their next Liz? (Don’t worry they’ll call you by your real name.) Find out more and apply here.

I’m always amazed by how lame job postings are (why do you think I started doing this?). If a Marketing department tried to sell products the way HR departments sell jobs, they’d have been fired a long time ago. Even the job postings that I consider to be good are pretty mediocre in the grand scheme of things—and they look a lot like other “good” job postings. Yesterday I came across a job posting that really stood out from any others that I’ve seen lately—maybe it’s because the “Entry Level Hustler” position is pretty unique on its own. But first let’s talk about the company offering the position. They’re called SpeakerText, and they’re a San Francisco, CA based startup that offers “a premium service for video publishers that turns video into text so that it can be searched, shared and accessed by everyone.” We’ve all become accustomed to being able to search text (I know I get aggravated at not being able to search a hard copy book). But now that video is so popular, we have this new mass of online information that can’t be searched. SpeakerText is trying to solve this problem through crowdsourcing.

You Can’t Transcribe the Hustle

By combining human intelligence with artificial intelligence, SpeakerText is able to offer “low-cost, high-quality video transcription.” This has the potential to be huge not only for users, but also for publishers. Many websites (like this one) rely on Google for a lot of traffic. Google relies on text to determine if content is relevant to a search query. Videos have been left out of the party to some extent. SpeakerText makes video content indexable by Google, while also offering users an experience that makes finding relevant parts of the video simple. Here’s how it works. If I ever start developing more video content, I’ll definitely look to SpeakerText to help me make the most of it. Now, an awesome job posting shouldn’t be enough to sell you on a company. Back in my days as a job seeker, I applied for a “Best Available Athlete” position that sounded amazing. After a few rounds of interviews, I realized that it wasn’t. However, take a look at SpeakerText, their Jobs page, and the Entry Level Hustler position, and see if SpeakerText really is as awesome as they seem. If you want to get into the startup world and don’t have technical skills, this is the perfect opportunity. And if you do have tech skills, they’re also looking for ML Hackers, Web Developers, and UX Designers (all of which oddly don’t have job descriptions).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of this job posting?

The Visionaire Group

Willy Franzen — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:00:31 +0000

So, yesterday we looked at a creative/interactive agency called Modea. Apparently interactive media is a good place to be, because The Visionaire Group, which is based in Los Angeles, CA, also made the Inc. 500. They reached $5 million in annual revenue last year, and they’re doing it with “websites, banner advertising, and application development.” The Visionaire Group seems less focused on offering a full-range of services, and more focused on doing a few things well. Their website consists of only a home page, but it will give you an idea of what kind of work they do.

Are You a Visionaire?

It’s hard to explain how The Visionaire Group and Modea are different in what they offer, but you just have to see it and get a feel for it. They certainly take different approaches. Since The Visionaire Group only has a home page, I don’t have a lot of background info on them, but they do proclaim that they are hiring and that you should reach out to them at jobs@tvgla.com. I did some looking on LinkedIn, and it looks like they have jobs on both the creative and the account side. You’ll have to figure out where you fit in and pitch it to them. It may not be comfortable, but it could be really rewarding.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

TheVisionaireGroup.com

What do you think of The Visionaire Group?

Contour

Willy Franzen — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:40:04 +0000

If you haven’t already check out our sponsor Nestle Purina, do it now. They have a ton of entry level opportunities in a variety of fields and locations.

It’s the epitome of action. You’re watching a video from the HD camera strapped to blogger Willy Franzen’s head as he sits in a desk chair and writes about another interesting company. Ok, nobody is going to want to watch that, but I can think of plenty of other activities where a helmet camera could provide some amazing footage—mountain biking, sky diving, skateboarding, and rock climbing are just a few. If you love extreme sports, then you’ll love Seattle based Contour. They’re an Inc. 500 company that has grown at a 1,556% rate over three years to $7 million revenue. And it’s all from making cameras that you can strap to your helmet/handlebars/surfboard when you’re doing something crazy. I want some of my friends to get Contours so that my feed gets filled with awesome videos instead of Farmville updates. Even if I’m never going to jump off of a cliff in a squirrel suit, I want my friends to be able to share it with me when they do. Contour certainly makes niche products, but they’ve nailed their niche, and that’s why they’re growing so quickly.

A Contour For Your Career

Contour currently offers two models, the ContourHD and the ContourGPS. I love the idea of the GPS model, because it means that you not only can show people what you’re doing, but you can also show them where you’re doing it. The Contour cameras are obviously super durable and water-resistant, but they’re also extremely light. The products are well thought out, which makes sense since the company was started by some University of Washington undergrads who wanted to share videos of their latest ski runs. They won third place in a business plan competition, and that gave them enough money to get the company off the ground. Now they’re growing at a crazy pace. Contour doesn’t have a traditional Jobs page, just an e-mail address on their Contact page. If you’re interested in finding out what kind of positions they have available, send an e-mail to jobs@contour.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What would you film with a ContourHD?

Public Notice

Willy Franzen — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:23:05 +0000

Your pet would love you even more if you worked for Nestle Purina. Take a look at their entry level opportunities so that you can take the first step towards making that happen.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “fiscal responsibility?” It’s probably some old guy droning on like Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Oddly enough, Ben Stein actually has been writing on such a topic lately. But rarely do you hear young people getting worked up about deficits and national debt. Though if you think about it, Ben Stein probably won’t be around anymore when the time comes to pay the bill. You will. I’m extremely worried about how the economic policies of today are going to affect our generation’s career choices over the next 20 to 30 years. That’s why some recent television advertisements for a website called BankruptingAmerica.org have caught my attention. The site is run by a Virginia based non-profit organization called Public Notice, which identifies itself as “dedicated to providing facts and insight on the economy and how government policy affects Americans’ financial well-being.”

Start Working So You Can Someone Else’s Debt

Public Notice is quite obviously a politically motivated organization, and it’s unclear where they get their backing from. I wasn’t able to find much background information on the organization, but here are the executive director’s Twitter and LinkedIn profiles. You’ll probably want to do some more research on your own, and it will likely you lead you to some excellent viral content that they’ve developed. There’s the television ad that caught my attention:

And there’s also a video called “REAL or FAKE: Can you tell which of these government spending projects are real or fake?”:

The organization certainly seems to be using social media in an effective way, which is good because they are an awareness focused organization. If you care about our nation’s debt as much as I do, and you are all about new media, then you should check out Public Notice’s Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Managing Editor of Online Media which doesn’t sound like an entry level position, but I think a new or recent grad could do very well in it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your thoughts on fiscal responsibility?

Fitness Anywhere

Willy Franzen — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:13:06 +0000

As the beach volleyball season winds down, I’m starting to spend more time in the gym. Last Wednesday I did a leg workout that was heavy on box jumps, and today is the first day that I’m not feeling sore from it. That’s the sign of a good workout, but it’s also a sign that I need to spend even more time in the gym. I might even want to try some of the TRX Suspension Training products from San Francisco, CA based Fitness Anywhere. The company was founded in 2004 by Randy Hetrick, a former Navy SEAL who had developed some product ideas out of the necessity for training methods that could be used while on a mission without access to gym equipment—stuff you can do anywhere. As the company has evolved, they have grown to “deliver world-class training products and exercise programs for the serious athletes, fitness professionals, first responders and the US military.” You might recognize the names of some of the athletes who use Fitness Anywhere’s products—they include Drew Brees, Jamie Moyer (the dude is 47 and playing Major League Baseball), Carmelo Anthony, and Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser.

Jobs Anywhere?

Most of Fitness Anywhere’s product offerings are centered around the TRX Suspension Training brand. I imagine that it has been the key driver of Fitness Anywhere’s 2,297.2% three-year growth to $14.7 million in annual revenue and the #108 spot on the Inc. 500. Along with the suspension training system, Fitness Anywhere also offers a number of instructional DVDs to help people make the most of the equipment. To fully understand how the products work, you’ll have to check out the Fitness Anywhere site; however, the basic idea behind the TRX Suspension Training system is using leveraged body weight exercises to build strength. If you’re big on physical fitness, but you’re also seeking career fitness, then you’ll want to consider careers at Fitness Anywhere. They’re both a San Francisco Business Times Best Place to Work in the Bay Area and an Outside Magazine Best Place to Work, and they have potential entry level opportunities that include Web Developer, Associate Video Editor, TRX Training Center – Fitness Instructor, and a number of Field Marketing Representative positions in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles. Take a look, and see if your résumé is strong enough.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use any Fitness Anywhere products?

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?

Ustream

Willy Franzen — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:00:49 +0000

I’ve never done a live video event for job seekers, though I’ve seen a lot of others in the career space do them. I figure that the video content that Jason Seiden and I put together for Found Your Career is way better than anything that I can do on the spot. However, if you think that a live Q&A or something would be valuable, you should definitely let me know via e-mail at willy@onedayonejob.com. Since you’re probably going to bombard me with e-mails, I’ll probably have to sign up for Ustream, “the leading live interactive broadcast platform.” Ustream, which is based in San Francisco, was founded to enable soldiers stationed abroad to connect more efficiently with their families. The technology required for doing that has plenty of other capabilities, which is why Ustream can be used to broadcast nearly anything—from political debates to sporting events and from move premieres to interactive games. Shoot, Chad Ochocinco says, “Ustream is big for me. It allows me to have a voice.” And

Uhired

Ustream gets over 50 million monthly unique viewers, so they must be doing something right. I haven’t quite nailed down how their business model works, but it seems to be a freemium model. Anyone can use Ustream for free, but if you want extra features you have to pay. There’s also advertising embedded in video streams. Ustream has a huge amount of investment, so they do have some flexibility when it comes to getting to profitability. Remember, delivering online video still isn’t a simple task, so it can be pretty expensive. If you want to add to Ustream’s expenses by joining their payroll, then you’ll need to check out their Jobs page. They have a number of positions available, and I recommend that you check out the following as they’re the most likely to be suitable for a new or recent grad: Content Monitoring Representative, VIP Technical Support Specialist, Office Manager/Administrative Assistant, and Data Analyst. Some of those positions require a few years of experience, but they’re still worth checking out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Usteam?

ScanScout

Willy Franzen — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:00:15 +0000

Sometimes I get annoyed when I go to YouTube to watch a video and get forced to watch an ad or when a video overlay pops up on a site I want to visit. Then I remind myself how awesome it is that I get access to so much free content. As a content producer, I’m especially aware of how hard it is to make a profit off of quality content. I’m never going to bombard you with stuff that you’re not interested in, which is why we only take on sponsors who have awesome entry level jobs to offer or at least make sense for job seekers. I guess that means that we’re editorializing in our acceptance of advertising. ScanScout, which has offices in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago, targets ads a bit differently. They’re a “technology-driven video ad network that delivers precise audience targeting and superior brand results by capturing and synthesizing billions of content and user interaction data points to match the right ad to the right video, at the right time.” That doesn’t mean that their video ads won’t annoy you, but at least they’ll be way less likely to annoy you—and might even interest you. The whole targeting process is automated, which is really impressive considering these aren’t contextually targeted text ads.

Scout’s Honor

ScanScout already has a lot of major advertisers working on their platform. They have brands like Bing, JC Penney, Jaguar, Oreo, and Axe. You can take a look at some of the ads on the ScanScout home page or you can take a look at their ad gallery. To learn more about ScanScout, you’ll probably want to take a look at how they convey their brand message to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, you’ll want to know whom they’re partnered with and what kind of technology they’re using. Once you have a feel for ScanScout’s business, you’ll want to check out their Careers page. They have a number of postings, and although none of them scream entry level, you’ll want to check out the job postings anyway. There are certainly some interesting opportunities in areas like Business Development, Account Management/Ad Sales, and Web Development/User Experience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you noticed any ScanScout ads on the web?

Fahrenheit 212

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:50:02 +0000

I was flipping through the June issue of Fast Company to take a look at their list of The 100 Most Creative People in Business (Lady Gaga is #1) because I figured it would probably lead me towards some new companies to feature. Oddly enough, the profile in magazine that caught my attention first wasn’t even from the list. It was a short profile of Geoff Vuleta, the CEO of New York City based Fahrenheit 212. He’s building a new type of consulting firm—one where IDEO meets McKinsey. He thinks that most innovation firms ignore the fact that the products and ideas that they create need to make money, and he thinks that traditional consulting firms rarely have ideas good enough to serve the markets that they so easily identify. Fahrenheit 212 focuses on helping major companies find new areas for growth—areas that will provide in excess of $100 million in new revenue. But what might be the most unique thing about Fahrenheit 212 is their business model. They only get paid if their ideas work, as they “put up to two thirds of [their] fees at risk, subject to hitting agreed commercial milestones on the initiative.”

Get These Jobs Before They Boil Over

I usually look skeptically at people who say things like “I’m an idea person.” It’s very rare for someone to succeed on an idea alone. Geoff Vuleta is very much an idea man. He came from the advertising industry, and that’s one place where you can get by on ideas (after spending many years executing your way up the ladder). However, it isn’t Geoff’s ideas that scored Fahrenheit 212 clients like LG, Goldman Sachs, Starbucks, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and NBC Universal. It’s the fact that Geoff’s ideas are only executed on when there’s a real market opportunity. There are plenty of innovation firms churning out new ideas every day, and there are plenty of consulting firms getting paid big bucks to try to help corporations do what they’re already doing better. Fahrenheit 212 is combining those two approaches with the thought that 1 + 1 = 11 (here are some case studies). If you like the way that math looks, then you need to check out jobs at Fahrenheit 212. I’d imagine that most of Fahrenheit 212′s hiring is done above the entry level; however, their job postings seem to be more focused on talent than experience. Right now they’re looking to fill positions like Graphic Designer, Video Designer, Innovation Associate – Idea Development, and Innovation Associate – Commercial Strategy. You can reach out to them about any of the positions at careers@fahrenheit-212.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Fahrenheit 212′s approach?

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?

Internet Consulting Services

Willy Franzen — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:13 +0000

Today is possibly the biggest day in Cornell sports history (GO BIG RED!), and as an alum I am extremely excited. Our Men’s Basketball Team is facing off against Temple early this afternoon in the first round of the NCAA tourney, and our Men’s Hockey Team will take on Brown in the ECAC semifinals later this afternoon. We also have our wrestling team competing in the NCAA Championships and our Women’s Hockey taking on Mercyhurst in the Frozen Four semi-final this evening. I’m especially excited about this because I’ve been a good fan all year (do I sound like Andy Bernard yet?). I even plunked down $69.95 to be able to watch crappy quality Internet video of all of my favorite teams. I may have to strain my eyes to see the puck or to make out the numbers on the back of a basketball jersey, but it’s been worth watching all season. The company behind this crappy quality video is Syracuse, NY based Internet Consulting Services. They may have the most boring name ever, but they actually have a pretty cool business.

Throw In a Résumé SIDEARM

ICS itself seems mostly focused on web development for corporate, non-profit, and education clients; however, there’s another part of the company called SIDEARM Sports that focuses on building out the web presences for college athletic departments. They have a huge list of clients, so there’s a good chance that they’re serving your alma mater too. SIDEARM is a content management system with a load of features that are geared specifically towards athletic departments. This includes a Live/On Demand Audio/Video component. I imagine that this market will continue to grow as more and more alumni like me reengage with their alma maters’ athletic teams, but the implementation needs to be better. The real reason that I’m featuring ICS/SIDEARM Sports today is that I want smart people to go work for them and make them better. My only experience has been with Cornell’s website and video offerings, which hasn’t been great. As long as Cornell is contracted with SIDEARM, I’m going to be demanding a better experience. Not only do SIDEARM’s product offerings need to be refined, but they also need to improve their handling of customer service issues (the guys over here would agree with me). And the word is that RPI (a hockey rival) has a free, student-run video offering that blows Cornell’s out of the water.

I want ICS/SIDEARM to step up and give me something that I can actually bear to watch (since the Cornell sports teams are finally doing their part). If you think that you have what it takes to make that happen, then check out the ICS/SIDEARM Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for ASP.NET Lead Programmer, a Part-time Graphic Designer, and Part-time Support Staff. If you think that you’d be a good fit for one of these positions, or you just know that you could help improve the SIDEARM product, then reach out to the folks at ICS by e-mailing a cover letter and résumé to jobs@sidearmsports.com. I’ll be busy enjoying the fact that I get to watch today’s games on CBS and the NHL Network instead of through Cornell Redcast.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

GO BIG RED!

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?

Zinch

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:46:38 +0000

If you’ve been in the job search for very long, you’d probably do anything to go back to Senior year of high school when you were applying to college. It’s not that the admissions process is particularly fun, but at least it has a set timeline and a fixed set of options. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement. That’s why there are quite a few young entrepreneurs who have built companies that aim to make the college process better, just like I’m doing with the entry level job and internship searches. One of these companies is San Francisco based Zinch, which was founded by Mick Hagen, a Princeton dropout. They’ve created a social network that allows high school students to connect with the colleges that they want to attend. There are more than 700 colleges and universities that invest in Zinch, which is why more than 1.5 million students have created Zinch profiles to show off to admissions counselors and to apply for scholarships and financial aid packages.

Getting a Job Is a Zinch

Zinch’s motto is simple: “I am more than a test score.” They’re all about helping students make their case for why they’re a great fit at a given institution of higher learning. It’s the anti-common app. But what about Zinch’s business model? How does it work? Well, Zinch is free for students, but colleges must pay an annual fee to connect with students. This may seem strange to you, but you have to remember that colleges are essentially businesses, and they need a constant flow of customer. While schools like Harvard and Princeton constantly have way more qualified applicants than spots in their Freshman classes, most colleges aren’t so lucky. They need to market themselves to students. Traditionally they’ve done this by inundating the mailboxes of high school juniors and seniors based on data from standardized test scores. (Side story: My mom forced me to check the “do not mail me” box on all of my testing stuff, so I felt left out when all of my friends were getting recruited and nobody was sending me anything.) Zinch thinks that’s a poor model, so they’ve stepped it up a bit. They’ve created a new marketing platform for colleges, and it seems to be working out pretty well.

This means that Zinch is growing and hiring. If you check out their Jobs page, you’ll see that they are looking for people in Engineering/Software Development, Sales/Marketing, Internet/Search Marketing, Graphic Design, Public Relations, and Videography/Cinematography. To apply for any of these positions, you need to e-mail work@zinch.com with the following:

1) An attachment of your resumé/CV
2) Answers to the following questions:
+ If you could change/add one thing about Zinch, what would it be and why?
+ How would you move Mount Fuji?
+ What are three things you want to accomplish before you die?
+ What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done (crazy can be defined as, for example, dangerous, silly, stupid, etc)?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wish that you had Zinch when you were in high school?

Demand Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:39:28 +0000

I’m sure that you’ve heard a lot in the news about how traditional media companies are having trouble taking their business models online. You may be under the impression that making money from web content is near impossible, but there’s a dirty little secret: it’s not. While companies like the New York Times stick to editorial integrity and chasing Pulitzers, there are companies out there that craft their content with the sole purpose of making money. A perfect example is Santa Monica, CA based Demand Media. They’ve secured more than $355 million in venture capital funding, grown annual revenue to more than $200 million annually, and reached a valuation north of $1 billion all by taking an ROI based approach to content development. How does that work? Demand Media has developed an algorithm that helps them find profitable topics. By using data from Google AdWords, they’re able to estimate the demand for a given piece of content (example: an article and video on how to tie your shoes) along with the revenue that the yet to be developed piece of content could be expected to make given a certain number of pageviews.

Demand a Job

This may sound unsavory to some of the writers out there, but I’d imagine the business students are in awe. Demand Media delivers their content through a number of web properties, and some of these include eHow, Cracked, and Livestrong.com. In addition to distributing profitable content across their web properties, Demand Media also licenses some of the social media tools that they’ve developed internally to other businesses. One of the amazing things that I learned about Demand Media while researching them is that they publish approximately 4,000 articles and videos every day. Demand Media is YouTube’s largest contributor, and the number of pageviews that they’re driving across their network is staggering. They’re able to develop so much content through an army of freelancers who work through a site called Demand Studios. If you’re a Writer, Filmmaker, or Copy Editor, that’s the first option for getting a “job” (it’s only freelance, and the rates are kind of low) through Demand Media. Your second option is to check out Demand Media’s Corporate Job offerings. They have a number of positions that seem suitable for new grads including HR Coordinator (Bellevue, WA), QA Engineer (Austin, TX), Marketing Associate (Bellevue, WA), QA Engineer (Santa Monica, CA), Algorithm Scientist (Austin, TX – PhDs only), Account Manager (Bellevue, WA), and Web Developer/Graphic Designer (Austin, TX). You can apply online for any of these positions, but before you do, take an hour to learn more about Demand Media—there’s a ton of information available about them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Demand Media’s business model?

Invodo

Willy Franzen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:53:59 +0000

Video is an amazing sales tool. It’s able to show you exactly what you’re buying and how it works. The only thing better is an in-person demonstration, and those are far too expensive for most products. Now that online video capabilities are pretty much ubiquitous, we’re seeing more and more companies adopt video as part of their sales process. More and more product pages have an embedded video along with all of the stuff you normally expect to find on an e-commerce site. Invodo is the company that is often behind these videos. They’re a three year old company based in Austin, TX, and they offer “a full-service eCommerce video solution that drives conversion for retailers, consideration for manufacturers, and satisfaction for consumers.” They work with more than 2,500 manufacturers and retailers including Sony, New Balance, Toys “R” Us, and plenty more major brands.

Video That Sells

If you want to take a look at the type of video that Invodo offers, all you have to do is check out their home page. It’s loaded with samples of work that they’ve done. Invodo offers a full solution for their clients. This includes content production, a platform for delivery, and a network for distribution. Surprisingly they don’t seem to have a video about themselves—you’d think that would be a key part of their sales process. They also don’t have a video about their Careers, but they’re a small company so that’s understandable. Their Jobs page only shows one position right now, and it’s for an Enterprise Salesperson. The position seems perfectly suited to a new grad, and it seems to be more Sales & Marketing than just Sales. To apply send your cover letter and résumé to careers@invodo.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Has video influenced your purchasing decisions?