One Day, One Job » apparel

Know Your Meme

Willy Franzen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:00:22 +0000

Today’s post came from a reader recommendation (thanks Derek!), which is awesome because I was on the company’s site a few days ago and never would have imagined that they offer jobs (or even considered them a company as opposed to a website). The reason that I was on the site was that I was reading the story of Epic Beard Man (it is tagged NSFW), which is another one of those ridiculous things that has become popular on the Internet. The term that many use to describe these phenomena is meme. Know Your Meme is a website that organizes all of the world’s memes. Let’s say that you’re looking for the story behind Rickroll because you have no idea why people think it’s so funny. Know Your Meme, which is based in New York City, will not only explain the meme to you, but it will also detail the history of how the meme became popular and how it evolved. To some Know Your Meme may seem frivolous, but in many ways it’s the Historical Society of the Interwebs.

Know Your Job

If you’re still not sure what a meme is, then use Know Your Meme’s Random Meme Generator. Try it a few times and you should get the hang of it. You may recognize some famous memes from the Weezer Pork And Beans video, the South Park episode Meet the Internet Stars, or that Super Bowl commercial that had some Internet stars in it. My favorite meme of all time has to be Numa Numa guy. Yes, this may all seem idiotic, but Know Your Meme is building a business off of Internet celebrities. In addition to the advertising angle, they are also selling meme merchandise. It must be working, because Know Your Meme is hiring. If you check out their Jobs page, you’ll see that they’re looking for a Rails Developer and a Junior Web Developer. I know that most of you aren’t developers (so far the survey results are telling me that I cover too many technical jobs—even if that’s where the action is in this economy), so you should take note that Know Your Meme’s internships are in Community Management, Merchandise, Research, and Writing. These are all areas where Know Your Meme might be hiring in the future, and if you push them enough, they might even be hiring right now. You just need to reach out to them at forthelulz@knowyourmeme.com with “any resumes, writing samples, portfolios in the body of the email or linked to file-hosting sites.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite meme?

Elie Tahari

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:54:47 +0000

I’m probably more fashion conscious than the average guy, but not remarkably so. I have a few brands that I really like wearing—Bonobos and lululemon athletica for example—and most of the rest of the stuff that I buy I get from Gilt Groupe, which is always introducing me to new brands. I figure that it’s important for me to stay up on fashion to some extent because so many of you are interested in jobs in the fashion industry. I recently noticed that one brand that I’ve seen on Gilt Groupe before, Elie Tahari, has a number of job openings available. Elie Tahari is both the name of a designer and “a privately held global lifestyle brand with a presence in more than forty countries.” The company is headquartered in New York and serves both men and women who are “looking for fashion and value in luxury ready-to-wear.”

Jobs Are In Fashion

The story of Elie Tahari is extremely cool. According to Wikipedia he came to the United States from Israel in 1971 to work as an electrician. He spent his first years here as a transient, and eventually ended up working in a boutique clothing store. This inspired him to start designing “women’s fashion inspired by the new york city nightclub scene.” That seems to have worked out pretty well for him considering the fact that he’s built a $500 million business. To get a feel for what the line is all about, you should head over to ElieTahari.com. Getting the scoop on their jobs won’t be so simple. They do have a Careers section on their website, but it is woefully outdated. A quick Google search for “Elie Tahari jobs” is your best bet, as it turns up Monster.com results like Planning Assistant, Assistant Colorist, and a true entry level job—Assistant Technical Designer. There’s also a HotJobs posting for a Fit Model, and you can always use Elie Tahari’s Careers site to submit a résumé.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wear Elie Tahari?

Mona Lisa Style

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:56:32 +0000

I don’t know a lot about how the fashion industry works, but I do know that buyers are the people who make the decisions about which items end up in stores and on websites. Mona Lisa Style is a New York City based startup that wants to help buyers “master the art of merchandising” through technology. While most industries have moved a large portion of their business online, the fashion industry is lagging behind. According to Mona Lisa Style’s Blog the way that many major companies place orders for clothing is by writing an order on a piece of paper and faxing it. All of the organization and tracking of orders is also done over the phone and on paper. Mona Lisa Style realizes how stupid this is, and they want to change it. They want to make buying as easy as online shopping.

The Art of Merchandising

As far as I can tell, Mona Lisa Style is really early as startups come. They’re self-funded, have 3 employees, and don’t even have a Chief Technology Officer / Lead Developer yet (they’re looking for one). That is a big red flag, since software as a service business typically need really strong technical talent. Still, I’m impressed with the concept behind Mona Lisa Style. They’ll certainly have an enormous challenge pushing an industry that is dragging its feet into the digital age, but if they can do it, they stand to reap huge rewards. If you love the risk and want to work towards changing the way that the fashion industry works, then you should check out Mona Lisa Style’s job postings on Startuply. Maybe they’ll join the ranks of big name NYC fashion startups like Gilt Groupe and Bonobos. Right now they’re looking for a CTO and a Fashion Sales Representative. If you’re interested, you can reach out to them at careers@monalisastyle.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Mona Lisa Style’s chances?

Kate Spade

Willy Franzen — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:49:41 +0000

I can’t remember whether it was late in my middle school years or early in my high school years, but there were certainly a couple of years in the late 90s when Kate Spade was as hot as could be. Whether it was a wallet, calendar, or other accessories from the New York based fashion designer, the girls in my classes went crazy for them. At that point in my life, I wasn’t the most fashion conscious kid, so I probably thought Five Star binders were still cool. Despite my ignorance of fashion back then, even I knew what Kate Spade was. Since Kate Brosnahan started her line in 1993, her company has grown exceptionally. Hallmarked by “utility, wit and playful sophistication,” Kate Spade’s offering includes handbags, shoes, accesories, clothing, jewelry, baby items, fragrance, glasses, and even paper. The company now runs 46 retail shops and continues to be a huge name in the fashion industry.

Are You Playfully Sophisticated?

Despite my use of capitalization in this post, Kate Spade is a brand that seems allergic to capital letters. It’s a big part of their branding, and it’s widely recognizable. Since fashion is all about branding, it’s no surprise that most people wouldn’t notice that Kate Spade was purchased by Liz Claiborne in 2009. It appears that Kate Spade continues to run itself separately, and that becomes even more evident when you look at Kate Spade’s Jobs page. They have quite a few opportunities available, and a number of them seem perfectly suited to new grads. There are a ton of retail positions, but we’re just going to focus on the corporate positions like E-commerce Coordinator, Assistant Buyer, and International Marketing Assistant. You can apply for these positions directly from the job postings, so give them look and see if they fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Kate Spade?

Bonobos

Willy Franzen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:00:28 +0000

Want to get $30 off your first Bonobos purchase? They have an awesome referral program, so if you want a Bonobos invite, just leave a comment below with your real e-mail address in the proper field (it won’t be displayed). We’ll send you a referral coupon code for $30 off.

Pants are important. Especially when you’re trying to land a job. Going to a job interview without pants is the kind of disaster that only happens in nightmares. Showing up with wrinkled pants is a more likely problem for most recent grads—it makes you look sloppy and careless. Wearing ill fitting pants is almost as bad, even if you have demonstrated to your potential employer that you know how to properly use an iron. The problem is that there aren’t a lot of non-jean pants out there that fit men well. At least that’s what Bonobos, a New York City based fashion startup, thinks. They kind of have a Web 2.0 feel to them, even though they’re in a business that is hundreds of years old. They pride themselves on making great fitting men’s pants (they do suggest a pants hack for women who want Bonobos), offering unbeatable customer service, and providing an overall wonderful shopping experience. I just bought my first pair of pants from Bonobos last night, and I’m excited to see if they live up to the hype. If they don’t, I can take advantage of their free two-way shipping and “any pant, any time, any reason” return policy.

Get in on the Monkey Business

So, the Bonobo isn’t actually a monkey—it’s a “sexually promiscuous Great Ape that possesses nearly all of modern man’s better traits” according to Bonobos’ website. I’m not sure where Bonobos got their name, since chimps don’t wear pants, but the company appears to be extremely committed to saving the Bonobo (they donate $1 for every new customer to an ape sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo). The company was started by two guys from Stanford Business school, one of whom was altering his own pants with a girlfriend’s sewing machine to improve the fit. Word spread about his great fitting pants, and now there’s a company funded with $3 million in angel investment and valued at $15 million pre-money. If that’s not enough, Bonobos is on their way to doing $4 million in sales this year, and they were featured by Forbes earlier this year and by the New York Times just a few weeks ago.

Bonobos seems to be on a hot streak right now, and they’re intent on keeping it going. That’s why it shouldn’t be a surprise to see that their Jobs page is loaded with opportunities. These positions include Junior Art Director/Stylist, Technical Designer, PR Ninja, Operations and Warehouse Ninja, Style Ninja, Field Ninja, and Front End Developer. Bonobos has a great perspective on talent in that they don’t get too hung up on experience, so you shouldn’t hesitate to apply for any of these positions as long as you can demonstrate that you’ll be the best person for the job. I think that Bonobos does exceptionally with their job postings—the only thing I don’t get is why they use the term “ninja” in many of their job titles. I guess hiring a PR Chimp and a Style Chimp might put some people off. The application instructions vary from job to job, so be sure to look at the postings closely. Also, you should note that they’re very open to applications for unlisted positions, so that’s an option too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

ideeli

Willy Franzen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:55:14 +0000

I guess it’s a little awkward when you find a company that immediately makes you think of a very similar, more successful company. In this case, when I came across ideeli, I immediately thought of Gilt Groupe (which we covered a while back). Both are New York City based startups that offer online sample sales that give shoppers the opportunity to buy luxury goods—mostly clothing and accessories—at serious discounts. According to Wikipedia a sample sale is “used by retail businesses in order to discard excess merchandise.” That’s exactly what these companies do, but they’ve moved the entire process online (which is way more efficient). Both sites require invites to get in on the deals, so if you want to try ideeli click here and if you want to try Gilt Groupe click here. Although I haven’t made any purchases on either of these sites, my girlfriend Amy loves this way of shopping. There’s the element of surprise, because you never know what you’re going to find, yet you still get to enjoy the ease of shopping online.

Your ideel Job

Although Gilt Groupe really has staked a claim to this market, it’s big enough and growing fast enough that there’s room for a lot of competition. You wouldn’t think that selling luxury goods during a recession—even at heavy discounts—would be good business, but it is. One way that ideeli has tweaked their business model to stand out is that they offer a subscription service that gives shoppers first dibs on all sales. It’s a pretty creative idea, and it gives them a steady revenue stream (with almost no additional cost) that can balance out the ebbs and flows of e-commerce. ideeli received $3.8 million in investment back in December of ‘07 and they seem to be doing pretty well. I guess that’s why they have a number of job openings. Right now they have opportunities for a Rails Developer and a Studio Coordinator, so check out their Jobs page and apply online if you’re interested.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you want an ideeli invite, click here.

Burberry

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:22:55 +0000

It’s funny how well respected brands that have been around forever will get swept up in a fad. Some, like Abercrombie & Fitch, will make it part of a new identity, while others like Burberry will enjoy the popularity but maintain their core image. Burberry is a British company that has been making quality garments since 1856, but they became especially trendy in the early 2000s, if I remember correctly. While most brands are recognized for their logo or a specific product, Burberry is known for their plaid. In fact, unless you’re a tartan freak, “Burberry Check” is probably the only plaid that you recognize by name. Over their 150 years Burberry has moved more towards luxury goods than outdoor garments, which is best evidenced by their new ad campaigns with Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.

Check Out Burberry

Although Burberry is a British based company, they happen to have a significant presence in the United States. That means that they also have quite a few job opportunities on this side of the pond. Their Careers page doesn’t offer much information about what it’s like to work for them, but you can get a listing of job openings here in the US. You should be sure to check out jobs at their New York office like Account Specialist, Allocator, Assistant Buyer, Assistant Buyer – Outlets, Planning Analyst, and Planning Analyst – Wholesale. There are also a number of retail and in-store positions in places like Chicago, Boston, Beverly Hills, Palo Alto, Scottsdale, and other cities with high end retail stores, but we’ve focused on their corporate positions. Additionally, there are positions with Burberry in the United Kingdom (obviously), elsewhere in Europe, and in Asia. You can apply for any of these jobs online directly from the job descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of when you see the “Burberry Check?”

Timbuk2

Willy Franzen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:39:43 +0000

Today we’re kicking off our Back to School, Back to Work contest where we’re giving away an HP dv6 Laptop, an HP Mini 110 Netbook, a customized Timbuk2 bag, and Syncables software to one lucky winner. Last December when we did another HP giveaway we took a look at entry level jobs with HP, so this time we’re going to check out Timbuk2 (since they were kind enough to provide a prize for one of you). They’re a San Francisco born and bred company that builds “bags and accessories for urban adventures with a simple philosophy—create good-looking, tough-as-Hell bags you can truly make your own.” I already had one that I stole from my girlfriend, and I just got another to check out for this promotion (the bag goes with me everywhere now).

All the Way to Timbuk2

Timbuk2 does one thing—make bags—and they do it really well. They stand behind their products with an awesome guarantee, and they offer a recycling program (you get a coupon code in return) for people who beat the living snot out of their bags. If you take a look at those two pages, you’ll learn a lot about Timbuk2’s culture. They seem pretty loose, but they’re also deadly serious about being the best at what they do and doing it the right way (check their manufacturing policy). Beyond that, Timbuk2 takes a fun approach with their Jobs page. Although there’s not a lot of content, you’ll get the idea of what working at Timbuk2 is like pretty quickly. Right now they only have one opening for a Graphic Designer (not really entry level), but they are always looking for top new talent. You can reach out to Timbuk2 by sending a cover letter and résumé to jobs@timbuk2.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Dont’ forget to enter our Back to School, Back to Work contest to win prizes from HP, Timbuk2, and Microsoft.

New Era

Willy Franzen — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:46:49 +0000

In my younger days hats were a big deal. I wasn’t particularly image conscious, but when it came to hats, I was. I remember one summer college hats were in. You know—the simple white hats with horizontal lines and the college’s name. Getting them just dirty enough with the just the right bend was essential (heaven forbid if someone “doritoed” your favorite hat), and, of course, you had to pop off the button on top. The next summer they were out. It was all about fitted caps—just like major leaguers wear. I was suddenly aware of how big my head really was, as I had to buy a properly sized hat. Then it was different color hats or hats with Japanese lettering. At some point I stopped obsessing over my hats, but Buffalo, NY based New Era has continued to be THE hat manufacturer of choice for all of the cool kids.

Enter a New Era

New Era entered the cap making business in 1920 as the E. Koch Cap Co. By the 1950s they were the “only independent cap maker supplying big league teams.” In 1954 they redesigned their pro cap and named it the 5950, which has been the iconic cap that you are probably familiar with. In 1993 New Era became the exclusive manufacturer of caps for all Major League Baseball teams, and then things got exciting. When Spike Lee personally requested a red Yankees hat in 1996, it changed everything. New Era caps became more than just a fan item—they became a fashion item. Now, finding all of this information about New Era isn’t easy, because their home page doesn’t seem to link to their About page. The good news for the hat junkies out there is that their Jobs page is easy to find. We can’t list to specific positions because of the Applicant Tracking System that they use, but you should definitely look for the following positions: Logistics Coordinator and Project Coordinator. There’s also an opportunity to send an unsolicited résumé for consideration. You can apply online for any of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any New Era capos?

Lucky Brand

Willy Franzen — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:49:56 +0000

Next March I’m going to regret not saving this one for my St. Patrick’s Day holiday themed post, but today we’re going to take a look at Lucky Brand. They’re a clothing manufacturer and retailer that is “rooted in rock ‘n ‘roll with a signature sense of humor.” Their About page will tell you that they stand for “independent thinking, individual style and a feeling as authentic as love” and that they’re known for “great-fitting, vintage-inspired jeans;” however, I think it’s much simpler than that. One of their founders came up with the idea to put the phrase “Lucky You” behind the flies of every pair of pants that they made. It was an instant point of differentiation, and I think that it has a lot to do with why Lucky Brand is going strong 19 years after they started. It really is pure, politically incorrect genius. Lucky you…

Get Lucky

The best way to get a feel for Lucky Brand is to check out their clothes online or visit one of their retail stores. If you don’t get what the brand is about, you’re not going to get a job with them. I think that’s true of any brand, but it’s especially pertinent in industries like apparel where brand is everything. So, what about jobs at Lucky Brand? They have a ton of Store Management opportunities at their retail stores. This may not be exactly what you had in mind post-graduation (or maybe it is), but it kind of offers the opportunity to run your own business—at least that’s what the job description makes it sound like. They have openings for Retail Management in Ala Moana, HI; Miami, FL; Monterey, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Tampa, FL; San Jose, CA; San Francisco, CA; Austin, TX; Waikiki, HI; Westlake, OH; Los Angeles, CA; Manhattan, NY; Las Vegas, NV; El Paso, TX; Aurora, IL; Chicago, IL; Pleasant Prairie; WI; Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; Bridgewater, NJ; Elizabeth, NJ; Seattle, WA; Wrentham, MA; Peabody, MA; Boston, MA; Houston, TX; Studio City, CA; St. Louis, MO; and quite a few more locations (although those jobs were posted in March and earlier). You can find all of those job postings on Lucky Brand’s Jobs site.

You also have the option of submitting a résumé for general consideration for corporate jobs in Vernon, CA. I think that this might be worthwhile because of what Lucky Brand has to say about their Internship Program:

The Lucky Brand Fall 2009 Internship Program is intended to help acclimate Junior and Senior level university/college students to our company culture, build on their creativity, and allow them the best opportunity to get to know Lucky Brand. This program is designed to identify, develop and potentially hire top entry level talent.

If they’re looking to hire top entry level talent, then why don’t they have any entry level jobs posted outside of retail? Maybe it’s just a season thing, or maybe they mostly like hiring past interns, but it’s worth investigating. Lucky Brand offers internships in Design, Human Resources, Wholesale Sales & Planning, Accessory Jewelry Design, Accessory Design, eCommerce, and Marketing, so those are areas where they might also have entry level jobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you consider yourself lucky?

Vans

Willy Franzen — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:40:08 +0000

Yeserday we talked about jobs at Vann’s, which made me think that we should talk about with jobs at Vans today. The two companies don’t have much in common beyond being homophones of each other, so let’s start talking about shoes. Cypress, CA based Vans was founded in 1966 as the Van Doren Rubber Company. They started out by producing shoes for sports like baseball, basketball, and wrestling, but that didn’t end up working out too well for them; in fact, it led to bankruptcy. They eventually came out of bankruptcy, and then Sean Penn’s character wore a pair of Vans checkerboard slip-ons in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. That changed everything.

Jobs with Sole

Since then Vans has really embraced the skater culture that first embraced them. It’s pretty much become an essential part of their brand. They don’t offer a ton of information about their company (there isn’t even an about page), but I do know that they are part of a larger company called VF Corporation. Since there’s no quick and easy way to “get to know” Vans, you’ll have to do some browsing around their website to get a better feel for what they’re all about. You might also want to check out their LinkedIn Company Profile. Once you feel like you have a good idea of what Vans is all about, you can check out their Jobs page. They give you the option of checking out jobs at Corporate, Retail, or their Distribution Center. For our purposes we’re going to focus on Corporate, where they have a Corporate Trainee Program. It is “a one-year cross-functional developmental program for a recent college graduate with a business or art degree who seeks a broad experience in key areas of Vans.” It sounds awesome, and you can apply online. It seems like nearly any career path at Vans should start with this program.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wear Vans?

Deckers Outdoor Corporation

Willy Franzen — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:55:06 +0000

At some point during my Junior year in college (by the way I’m back at Cornell for the weekend), I got the bright idea that I could wear slippers as shoes. These weren’t flimsy slippers, these were sturdy leather ones with shearling lining. They were made by Orvis (where I interned and had an awesome 50% employee discount), and they were great. I loved sitting in class knowing that my feet were more comfortable than everybody else’s. Then I came back from Thanksgiving break. I was admiring the Christmas lights that my roommates had adorned our otherwise aesthetically unpleasing house with, and I slipped. See, my slippers had flat rubber soles. My feet came out from under me as I fell down a muddy slope. My right hand came down hard on the sidewalk, and I had a broken wrist. I gave up wearing slippers for a while, but when my Mom bought me a pair of UGG slippers with proper soles, I reverted. Now UGG slippers are my go to shoes during the winter, and I’m a huge fan of Deckers Outdoor Corporation. They’re the company behind UGG, Simple, Teva (is it Tee-va or Tevv-a?), Tsubo, and Deckers, and they’re headquartered in Goleta, CA with a location in Flagstaff, AZ as well.

Hit the Deckers

I had no idea until today that Outside Magazine has a Best Places to Work list. Now I know about it, and I know that Deckers Outdoor Corporation is on the list (ranked 7th). While Deckers’ Careers page doesn’t say much more than generic stuff like “We are looking for energetic, hard working, success oriented individuals to join our dynamic team” and “All candidates must be team players, have high energy, good organization and excellent communication skills,” it’s pretty obvious that Deckers has a unique employment brand that is well aligned with their product brands. If Deckers sounds like the kind of place that you’d want to work, you should check out their current job openings. Their job descriptions don’t have a ton of detail, so it’s hard to tell which jobs are best suited for new and recent college grads. My guess is that your best bet is to take a look at the following positions: Administrative Assistant – UGG, Collections Analyst, Product Coordinator – UGG, and Programmer at their Goleta, CA headquarters and Search Engine (SEO/SEM) Marketing Coordinator and Web Developer at their Flagstaff, AZ location. You can apply for any of these jobs by sending a cover letter and résumé to hr@deckers.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wear UGGs?

Juicy Couture

Willy Franzen — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:52:40 +0000

I don’t know when wearing sweats started counting as “dressing up,” but I’m pretty sure that it coincided with when Arleta, CA based Juicy Couture became popular. I guess if you’re going to pay a bunch of money for a tracksuit, you’ve got to show it off. Ok, so I can’t say that I love what Juicy Couture has done to popular fashion, but I have to respect it. They completely changed what it means to wear sweats, and they created a new market for high priced, super casual clothing. There’s obviously more to the Juicy brand than just tracksuits, but when I hear the name Juicy, that’s what I think of.

Juicy Jobs

I guess Juicy Couture’s slogan doesn’t pop in to my mind when I hear their name, because according to Wikipedia, they can’t settle on just one. Slogans that they’ve used include: “For Nice Girls Who Like Stuff”, “Eat Candy”, “Smells Like Couture”, “Be Juicy”, “Cupid Couture”, “Viva la Juicy”, “Juicy is Forever”, “Her Royal Juicyness”, “Wake Up And Smell the Couture”, “Go Couture Yourself”, “Cupcake Couture”, “Bundle Up, Wear Juicy”, “The Joy Only Bling Can Bring”, “Peace, Love, and Juicy”, “Let Them Eat Couture”, “Have a Juicy Day”, “Some Girls Have All the Juicy”, “Dude, Where’s My Couture?”, “Choose Juicy”, “Queen Couture”, “Prep It Up Juicy Couture”, “Couture is Here”, “Kiss My Couture”, “I just want Couture”, “Crimes of Couture” and “It’s Exhausting Being This Juicy”. I also can’t tell you much more about Juicy than the fact that they were founded in 1994 by Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy to sell maternity pants because all their About page says is:

Once upon a time in a land far, far away called Pacoima there were two nice girls who liked stuff Juicy Couture swept the land & they lived happily ever after

Since that’s the whole story, let’s get to the jobs. Juicy Couture offers a ton of retail positions, but they also happen to have some corporate positions. If you’re interested in retail, you can browse through Juicy’s Job postings; however, if you’re looking to put that shiny, new college education to use, there are some more options. These include Assistant Designer – Handbags and SLG (New York, NY), Assistant Designer – Intimates, Sleep and Yoga (New York, NY), Associate Technical Designer: Girls (Arleta, CA), Associate Technical Designer: Wovens (Arleta, CA), Assistant CAD Designer (Arleta, CA), and Jr. Merchandiser: Extra Juicy & Maternity (Arleta, CA). You can apply for all of these jobs online, so check out the job descriptions and see if they’re juicy enough for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you have to say about Juicy Couture?

Rawlings

Willy Franzen — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:29:08 +0000

It’s Opening Day! Although it may not be a real holiday to you, to those of us who who are die hard baseball fans it’s quite possibly the best day of the year (especially fans of perennial losers whose best record all season is 0-0). I already had my baseball fix this weekend, since I flew out to NYC to see the opening of the new Yankee Stadium in an exhibition game between the Yanks and the Cubs, but I am beyond excited to watch some games that actually count. With that in mind, we’re going to run with the baseball theme today. We’ve already covered jobs with Major League Baseball and its teams, so we’re going to look at St. Louis based Rawlings today. They were the manufacturer of my first ever baseball glove (which had a Jose Canseco facsimile signature on the palm), so I inevitably think of Rawlings when I think of baseball. Their posted job offerings are a bit sparse, but hopefully you’ll use the good vibes from Opening Day to inspire your job search. (Remember: These posts aren’t just about the companies that we feature. They’re also about bringing creativity to your job search.)

Catch an Entry Level Job with Rawlings

In case you’ve never heard of Rawlings before, they make equipment for Baseball, Softball, Basketball, Soccer, and Volleyball. At their heart, though, they’re a baseball company. They produce all kinds of fun stuff – gloves, bats, balls, batting gloves, uniforms, apparel, protective gear, batting gloves, and much more. Unfortunately, their website is entirely in Flash (is this getting more common?), so we can’t link to all of the specifics. If you’re a baseball player like me, you’ll probably get lost looking at all of the cool stuff that they make. I remember poring over baseball catalogs for hours to decide which new bat I was going to get when I was in high school. Anyway, Rawlings is mostly a manufacturer, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have interesting jobs for new college grads. Take a look at Rawlings’ Company Profile on LinkedIn, and you’ll see what kind of careers they typically offer. Right now, the only jobs they have posted are on Jarden’s Careers site (Jarden is Rawlings’ parent company), and they’re on the manufacturing side. If you don’t want to work on the line tanning gloves and dealing with chemicals, then do a little more research and see if you can find an in with Rawlings in another area of their business. You should also check out some of the links under the About Rawlings section on Rawlings’ home page – they have info on benefits and company kickball teams. Also, watch out for the blaring music that starts playing when you hit the home page. It’s pretty annoying.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Rawlings.com
Jarden.com (Rawlings’ Parent Company)
Jobs at Rawlings (Jarden’s Corporate Careers Site)
Rawlings’ Company Profile on LinkedIn

What other baseball related jobs have you come across? Whose signature was on your first baseball glove?

lululemon athletica

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:57:32 +0000

When I graduated from college a semester early and started thinking about looking for a job (thinking about doing something and doing something are very different, by the way), I quickly became overwhelmed by my lack of time commitments and lack of a plan. I was suffering from too much freedom, so my first response to join a gym and to commit to keeping my body strong while I figured out what I was going to do with my brain. It was a great idea, and I strongly recommend a gym membership for all job seekers. (I also strongly recommend that all first-time job seekers take our online job search training course). Anyway, I always try to join a relatively expensive gym, but not for the obvious reason. I don’t care about all of the frivolities. I just know that if I’m paying $10 a month for a gym, I’m a lot less likely to go – I need to feel invested. With expensive gyms come lots of people in expensive, designer workout outfits. That’s where I learned about lululemon athletica, a Vancouver, British Columbia based manufacturer and retailer of “yoga-inspired athletic apparel.” Everyone at my gym is wearing lululemon, and the retail stores around here are packed, so it’s no big surprise that they’re hiring.

Find a Job That Fits Like Yoga Pants

I didn’t realize how big lululemon athletica is until I started doing some research. They’re publicly traded on NASDAQ (although their stock has tumbled big time over the past year), and they have 260 jobs (many with multiple openings) posted on their Careers site right now. Most of the jobs are based out of lululemon athletica’s retail stores and fall under three titles – Educator, Community Leader, and Key Leader. Beyond these titles other jobs include Video/Motion Designer, Seamstress, Quality Assurance Technician, and Distribution Industrial Engineer. You can find all of lululemon athletica’s job postings here, and you can apply online for any of the positions. The retail positions are located all across North America and beyond, while the corporate positions are all in Vancouver, BC. lululemon athletica has a great website that is filled with information, so the links below will give you a ton of insight into what it’s like to work for lululemon.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any lululemon?

Patagonia

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:46:45 +0000

You have to love it when a small company grows into something big. It’s hard to believe that some of today’s major corporations were started with a couple of people in a garage. What’s even more extraordinary is when a small company that gets big never loses sight of who they are. That’s the story of Patagonia, a company that started out making tools for climbers. They are now a “worldwide business that makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running.” You’ve probably heard of Patagonia, and there’s a good chance that you own something made by them, whether it’s a polar fleece, a windbreaker, or long underwear. With a winter like this one, Patagonia gear is especially necessary for avoiding frostbite. Despite advances in technology and amazing business growth, Patagonia continues to take the same approach to their business – their “product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility” and their “values reflect those of a business started by a band of climbers and surfers, and the minimalist style they promoted.” Patagonia makes exceedingly cool products, and they are the definition of a cool place to work.

Take a Trip to Patagonia

Unlike most athletic apparel companies, Patagonia focuses on “the silent sports.” That tells you a lot about who they are. There is a company-wide “love of wild and beautiful places” that “demands participation in the fight to save them.” That’s why Patagonia donates time, services and at least 1% of sales to grassroots environmental organizations all across the world. Patagonia apparel is as much an identity as it is a functional piece of equipment. If you want to learn more about Patgonia’s values, you should check out their page on Corporate Social Responsibility and their Employee Internship Program, which allows employees to “leave their jobs for up to two months to work full-time for the environmental group of their choice” while still getting paid and retaining benefits.

So what about jobs? We wish that Patagonia had some cool entry level field testing or product design jobs, but there’s nothing like that available right now. What they do have are jobs like Graphic Production Artist, Java Developer / Solutions Architect, and X++ Programmer/Analyst at their headquarters in Ventura, CA. You can keep an eye on Patagonia’s Jobs RSS Feed to see if they post your dream job, and you can apply for their corporate jobs by sending a cover letter and resume to venturajobs@patagonia.com. Additionally, Patagonia has Sales Associate positions in San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Westport, CT; SoHo, NY; Denver, CO; Upper West Side, NY; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Palo Alto, CA; and Chicago, IL.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Patagonia.com
Jobs at Patagonia
About Patagonia
Patagonia’s History
Field Reports from Patagonia
Patagonia on Corporate Social Responsibility
TheCleanestLine.com (Patagonia’s Blog)

Do you wear Patagonia?

TOMS Shoes

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

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

Try These Jobs on for Size

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

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

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

Hope it helps!

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a pair of TOMS Shoes?

Stetson

Willy Franzen — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:06:32 +0000

Happy Labor Day! We’re certainly enjoying the holiday weekend, and we hope that you are too. It’s ok to take a break from your job search, but if you won’t allow yourself to take some time off, we’ve got some homework for you today. We’ll get to that in a second. Now, you probably know that it’s frowned upon to wear white after Labor Day, but did you know that cowboys and other lovers of Country/Western culture are expected to switch from straw hats to felt hats after Labor Day? Although fashion tenets such as no white after Labor Day seem to be fading away to some extent, we’ll bet that the cowboys still abide. Stetson is the company when it comes to cowboys hats; in fact, just as the Kleenex trademark is used to describe for all tissues, the Stetson brand name is often used to describe all cowboys hats.

Do Stetson Hats Make Themselves?

When it comes to jobs at Stetson, we can’t find a sliver of information. It begs the question, do Stetson hats make themselves? We believe that Stetson is located in St. Joseph, Missouri, but they also seem to have an address in Texas. Their website also says that they have a showroom in New York City, but we also found an article from 1992 that says that the showroom was shut down. Finally, we also found a lead that Stetson may have been purchased at some point by R.H.E., Inc., which is the manufacturer of the famous Resistol hat. We can’t find anything on their jobs either, but we hope that we’ve provided enough clues to get you intrigued and start searching. If you can find something on jobs with Stetson, please share with us in the comments. Remember, you can always cold call an employer and ask about working for them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you know to switch from straw hat to felt hat after Labor Day?

Zappos.com

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:21:35 +0000

Most people like shoes. They protect your feet, offer support, and keep you warm. Some people love shoes – love them to the point that their loved ones (not the shoes) are likely worried about them. Oddly enough, the people who deeply love shoes often seem most interested in shoes that barely protect their feet, offer little support, and provide little or no warmth. We don’t really get that. Zappos.com puts these people to shame. As a company they have a shoe obsession that is far worse than that of the most Sex and the City addicted, Daily Candy reading, New York City fashionista. Why do we say that? Because Zappos.com is obsessed with everything shoes, not just the shoes of some designer whose name you’re supposed to know.

A Shoe-in for Best Customer Service

If you asked someone at Zappos what they love more, shoes or customer service, they’d probably have a hard time coming up with an answer. That’s because the Zappos equation is something like Amazing Selection of Shoes + Unparalleled Customer Service = Profit. It seems to be working, as they’re on their way to selling $1 billion in shoes this year. That’s only 2.5% of the US shoe market, but they’ve done it in 9 years. Their growth rate is excellent, and that’s why they’re doing a ton of hiring, as you’ll soon see.

The fact that customers have a year to return any shoes that they purchased from Zappos (and get the shipping paid for) is impressive, but what really knocks our socks off is the way that Zappos trains their employees. Every new hire, no matter what they were hired for, spends 4 weeks in intense Customer Loyalty training answering phones in the Zappos call center. About a week into the training period Zappos offers their new hires an incentive – a $1,000 incentive – to quit. Yes, they bribe their newly recruited people to take their first week’s salary plus a cool $1,000 and run (hat tip to What Would Dad Say although it seems like he got a few things wrong judging from the Harvard Business Review article on Zappos’ HR practices that he linked to as the original source). Zappos figures that if someone values $1,000 now more than a future career at Zappos, they’re not the right type of person for the job. It may sound like an expensive proposition, but it’s a lot less expensive than hiring someone who is not fully committed to the company’s customer service principles.

Working at Zappos: Deal or No Deal?

Considering many people choose not to take the deal and stay with Zappos after the first week, it’s obvious that the company is offering a unique and exciting work experience. If you still need more convincing, you can read employee perspectives in the Inside Zappos Blog, look at photos and videos from Zappos’ Halloween 2007, watch Zappos YouTube videos, keep up with Zappos Employee Tweets on Twitter, follow the Zappos CEO’s Twitter account, or just look at cute pictures of the pets of Zappos customers.

Now that you’re totally convinced (if you’re not, the links at the end of the post will give you even more opportunities to research Zappos), here are the jobs at Zappos that we think might be considered entry-level or appropriate for a new college grad. In Henderson, NV you could get offered $1,000 to quit being a Financial Analytics Manager, Editing Assistant (labeled as Intern, but looks to be an entry-level job from the description), Front-End Developer, User Interface Designer, Web Content Strategist, Web Designer, Recruiting Assistant, Merchandise Planning Analyst, Merchandise Planning Coordinator, Merchandising Assistant – Clothing and Toys, Merchandising Assistant – Performance Bags, Merchandising Assistant – Private Label, Merchandising Assistant, Designer Footwear, Project Manager, Performance QA Engineer, QA Engineer, or a Software Engineer. In Shepherdsville, KY they’ll offer you $1,000 to quit being a Recruiting Assistant, Photographer Assistant, or Software Engineer. You can find more detailed information about each of these positions on Zappos’ Jobs page. Although their site is a bit cluttered looking, they do a great job of getting across information about each job. Our only complaint is that some of the items in the descriptions are a bit redundant, which can be confusing – especially in terms of what experience is required for each job.

Now go get researching so that you can say, “I turned down $1,000 to quit my new job after a week.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Zappos.com
Jobs at Zappos
About Zappos
Zappos Blogs
Zappos on Twitter
Zappos’ Core Values
Zappos on YouTube

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Crocs

Willy Franzen — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:40:07 +0000

There are some things in life that you can’t understand until you try them. Whether it’s a food that looks particularly unappetizing (but tastes really good) or a pair of shoes that are quite ugly (but extremely comfortable), the major hurdle in marketing and selling the product is getting people to give them a shot. This must be the case with Crocs, because those shoes sure are ugly. We were going to mind our manners and hold back our true feeling, but if CNN can call them ugly and still write a positive article, then so can we. Despite making ugly shoes, Crocs has been so successful that they have gone from a niche company started by 3 college students to an IPO and a near billion dollar valuation in just a few years. Crocs’ stock has been struggling since last Fall, but they are hiring, so let’s take a look.

Function Over Fashion

We’re sure some people think (thought?) that Crocs look really cool, but the driving forces in the sale of the shoes have been comfort and lack of smell. That’s right, apparently Crocs don’t smell. We think that those are two great principles to build a shoe business on. Even though Crocs’ stock is at approximately 1/7th of its high from last fall, we think there’s hope for the business. They got caught up in having a fad product, and now they have to face the challenges of making their competitive advantage sustainable. We’re not sure that Collegiate Model Crocs with school colors and logos are the answer, but the flip flops actually look pretty decent. With all the varieties of Crocs that are offered (MLB, NHL, NFL teams, PGA, AVP, Disney, Thomas the Tank Engine, etc.), they’re certainly hitting the long-tail of footwear fashion.

Jobs at Crocs

The first thing that we noticed about the Crocs website is that it’s hard to figure out the navigation. The elements at the top of the page appear as you move your mouse over them, so that’s why a Careers page isn’t apparent at first look. Once you get there, you’ll find a weird picture of a peacock (we’re not sure what the relevance is) and a listings of jobs available at Crocs’ headquarters in Niwot, Colorado. We found three positions that require little or no previous work experience and might be right for a new college grad. They are Retail Reporting Analyst, Business Analyst Distribution, and Knowledge Manager. Most of the other jobs at Crocs require 5+ years of experience, but you still may want to look through them to make sure we didn’t miss anything (or to find new postings).

The way that Crocs has built their Careers site doesn’t allow us to link directly to job postings, so you’ll have to browse through their listings to find the job descriptions. We’d expect a company with an image like Crocs to have a little more fun with their job postings, but they appear to be all about business. Crocs’ job descriptions are as dry and informational as job descriptions get. The good news is that applying directly from the job postings on Crocs’ website appears to be extremely easy. Now use the links below to start researching entry-level jobs at Crocs so that you won’t have to buy dress shoes for your first job (we’re assuming that wearing Crocs to work is part of working at Crocs).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a pair of Crocs? Are you mad at us for calling your Crocs ugly? Leave a comment and let us know.

CustomInk

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:07:05 +0000

Today’s post is coming live (ok, not quite so live) from Cornell University, where it’s Slope Day! For those who aren’t familiar with Slope Day, it’s Cornell’s version of Spring Weekend. In other words, it’s the last day of classes, when college students do all those stupid things (and often take photographs of themselves doing them) that they’ll have to hide from employers on Facebook. It’s a really big, campus-wide party. If today is your Spring Weekend, we urge you to behave yourselves well enough that your actions today don’t ruin any chance of future employment. Still, we want you to enjoy the day and have some fun. You’ve worked hard and earned it. Instead of writing about a company that reinforces bad behavior, we’ve chosen to feature a company that supports one of our favorite Slope Day traditions – funny group t-shirts. CustomInk is an online provider of custom t-shirts.

Getting a Job… is Gorges

Here at Cornell, one of the most common t-shirt themes is to play on the “Ithaca is Gorges” design. You get such gems as “Your Mom is Gorges,” “Ithaca is Cold,” “Ithaca is Gangsta,” and my personal favorite – “I am Gorges.” One year an entire sorority here did “(Sorority name) is Gorges,” only to be outdone by a fraternity that didn’t like them so much and responded with “(Sorority name) is Ugly.” It’s an ever-escalating arms race to have the funniest Slope Day t-shirt, and there’s no better company to help you than CustomInk. They allow you to submit a design online, and within a week you can have your custom designed t-shirt at your doorstep. Their online T-Shirt Lab makes it really easy, and CustomInk guarantees customer satisfaction. Not only do they offer a money back guarantee, but they also have uncensored customer reviews on their home page as they come in – that takes confidence.

Wear T-Shirts to Work

We always like writing about companies that offer great customer service, because we know that they’ll be great places to work. CustomInk is no exception – they’ve been named One of Washington’s Great Places to Work by Washingtonian magazine. They’re also an employer that is especially friendly to new grads. Maybe it’s because the company was started in 1999 by a few recent graduates, or maybe it’s because college students are an important customer base. Either way, CustomInk has some great entry-level jobs listed at their office in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia. These include Desktop Support Technician, Production Artist, Web Developer, and Service / Sales Representative. The descriptions are quite detailed, so they should give you a good idea of whether or not you’d be right for the job.

Save your research for another time and go have fun today. Just be safe.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s the best custom Spring Weekend t-shirt that you’ve seen? Tell us in the comments.

Vineyard Vines

Willy Franzen — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:28:22 +0000

Where do you summer? If you’re not familiar with the use of the word summer as a verb, then you probably aren’t familiar with Vineyard Vines either. They’re a company that is all about living the good life – going on vacation to preppy paradises like Martha’s Vineyard.

Tie One On

Vineyard Vines started with two brothers selling ties out of their backpacks in bars, on boats, and on the beach. Before they knew it, Vineyard Vines ties were adopted as an essential part of the prepster dress code. What they do is pretty simple. They make great clothes for people who like to have fun – they are their own target market. Vineyard Vines even has a College Collection, so check to see if your alma mater has been included.

Summering All Year

We’ve been watching Vineyard Vines’ Jobs page for months, hoping that they’d post something for the new grads. Judging from their website and their employee photos, we think that Vineyard Vines looks like a really fun place for young people to work. For some reason, though, they seem to be light on the entry-level opportunities. The only openings that they currently have are for Graphic Artists. They say that their ideal candidates have some experience in a similar role, but we think a new grad with a killer portfolio probably has a pretty good shot. As long as you have great design skills and a solid understanding of the Vineyard Vines brand, you should at least get an interview.

We also think that sending a resume and a cover letter to Vineyard Vines for an unlisted position might be worth a try. They make clothes and they sell clothes, so think about ways that you could be valuable to them. You can apply to careers@vineyardvines.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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Gilt Groupe

Willy Franzen — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:00:32 +0000

Looking for a Gilt Groupe invitation? Here’s our Gilt invite link.

If you just looked at the tags on our posts, you would think that today’s company has a lot in common with Moosejaw, whom we talked about yesterday. That couldn’t be much further from the truth. The fact that both sell clothing online by creating a unique brand identity is about the only similarity. While Moosejaw relies on irreverent humor to sell products, the Gilt Groupe uses viral exclusivity to woo customers. It’s interesting to see more and more integration between typical web startup ideas and traditional business models. Gilt Groupe is a perfect example of a company that has secured funding by adding a dash of Web 2.0 flavor to a tried and true brick and mortar business model.

Gilt Groupe is an invitation-only, high-end retailer. They offer online sample sales that are exclusive, designer-specific, and for one day only. In a way they’re like One Day, One Job, except they sell stuff, they are invite only, and their offers are only good for one day. Our model sounds a lot friendlier, doesn’t it? That’s ok, friendly and high fashion don’t really go together anyway. The Gilt Groupe site is pretty sparse, since all the real content is in the Members Only section. You’ll need to join if you want to do your due diligence in researching career opportunities at Gilt Groupe. Luckily we managed to snag an invite. If you want a Gilt Groupe invite, leave a comment on this post, and we’ll send you one. Be sure to use your real e-mail address, otherwise we won’t know whom to send the invite to.

It seems that whenever we find a company that is doing something new and exciting, there are two things that bother us. First, the companies usually aren’t actively looking to hire at the entry-level. Second, the jobs that they do have open are in areas that are far removed from the core of the business. Unfortunately, both cases apply to jobs at Gilt Groupe. We’re often torn about whether we should write about such companies, or pass them up for less interesting companies with more robust and relevant entry-level recruiting needs. We figure that you can find those jobs on your own and that you’re here to learn about companies that you’re unfamiliar with (if you disagree, tell us in the comments section).

Gilt Groupe has a number of jobs that could be appropriate for a new college graduate, but they seem more focused on hiring experienced professionals. It’s easy to get discourage by these types of job listings, but you can also see it as an opportunity to take a risk and see if a company will consider hiring you for a position that is a bit above your experience level. Current openings at Gilt Groupe include IT Manager, QA Manager, Web / Graphic Designer, Motion Designer / Videographer, and Public Relations / Marketing Manager. Like we said, they’re not purely entry-level, but we know plenty of new grads who have backgrounds that make them completely capable of stepping into these jobs. Be sure to look at the job descriptions carefully and make sure you’re not totally out of your league before sending a cover letter and resume to careers@gilt.com. And don’t forget to tell them that we sent you, since they’re offering a $1,000 referral bonus. Help them reward us for our hard work!

If you’re a computer geek whose wardrobe goes beyond t-shirts and jeans, the Gilt Groupe’s current job opening could be an especially attractive to you. If you love fashion, but don’t have the technical skills for the jobs that are currently listed, you can watch and wait, or you can send your resume and a cover letter telling the Gilt Groupe why they need you to be a part of their team. Maybe they’ll create a job for you – you never know. And don’t forget that at Gilt Groupe there’s a future with 6 figures in it, according to this interview with CEO, Alexis Maybank.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Gilt Groupe
About Gilt Groupe (Most company information, including Careers is on this page)
Gilt Groupe in the Press
Interview with Gilt Group CEO Alexis Maybank

Don’t forget to leave a comment with your e-mail address if you want a Gilt Groupe invite.

Moosejaw

Willy Franzen — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:00:39 +0000

We love companies that take something ordinary and create a unique value proposition for customers by creating a meaningful brand identity (uh, are we getting too jargon-y?). Moosejaw is a retailer of outdoor gear. You can buy what they sell at a lot of stores, through a lot of catalogs, or from a lot of online retailers, but Moosejaw still has an insanely loyal customer following. Every day they get rave reviews and customer photo submissions. Maybe it’s because Moosejaw has really good looking models, or maybe it’s the fact that Moosejaw offers homework help and dating advice to their customers. We’re not really sure what it is, but they’ve got their niche figured out.

We’ve been watching Moosejaw for a while, hoping that they’d eventually post some entry-level jobs on their website, since a search for “Moosejaw jobs” typically turns up opportunities in the the town of the same name in Saskatchewan. Moosejaw has finally listed a couple jobs that sound about right for a new college grad, so we thought it was time to let you know about them. The Moosejaw Jobs page says they’re currently looking to hire Assistant Managers for their Chicago store and an IT Assistant in their Madison Hills, MI headquarters. If you’re applying for the Assistant Manger position, you should probably have 2+ years of retail experience, which is the kind of experience that a lot of new college grads probably already have. The job descriptions are short, but entertaining and honest at the same time. The owner of Moosejaw’s mom even says that Moosejaw is a great place to work!

We hope Moosejaw will list more entry-level jobs in the future, so keep visiting their Jobs page for updates. We’d be especially excited to see jobs more closely tied to their marketing and online retailing, since that is what Moosejaw appears to be so good at. We think that the best way to get to know Moosejaw and how they do business is to take a look around their website. Since career related information beyond simple job listings is hard to find, the links below are focused on getting you familiar with the irreverency that has made Moosejaw so popular. We can’t promise it, but we get the feeling that Moosejaw is a really fun place to work.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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American Apparel

Willy Franzen — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:00:04 +0000

They’ve invaded your Facebook with pics of half naked emo-hipster models (by the way, we’re dorks and had to look up the definitions of emo and hipster on Wikipedia, kind of like when Peter, Samir, and Michael Bolton look up money laundering in the dictionary in Office Space). A certain Ivy League campus in New York City has also been overrun with people dressed straight off this company’s website. Even when you win a t-shirt, it’s not Hanes or Fruit of the Loom anymore. American Apparel is attacking on all fronts. And before we go any farther, we should warn you that their site is filled with near-nudity, so don’t go browsing it in a public place or whatever.

American Apparel is a company whose defining advantage is the way they treat their workers. Yes, their clothes are trendy. Yes, American Apparel has provocative advertising. But without their made in America by fairly paid workers philosophy, they’d have no identity. And think about this: if they treat their sewers (people who sew, not where things go when you flush the toilet) well, they’re going to treat you well too. It’s definitely working for American Apparel, they’re growing rapidly and have been featured in Businessweek and more recently the Inc. 500.

American Apparel has a ton of entry-level jobs available in many different areas of work (almost all of which are located in Los Angeles, CA). There are more than we’re going to list, so if you want to see them all, head over to American Apparel’s jobs page. In Customer Service there are jobs such as: CSR & Reports, Retail Operations for Japan and Korea, Sales Coordinator, Showroom Sales Representative, and Wholesale Customer Returns Agent. In Production jobs include: Fabric Planning Assistant, Field Fabric Quality Control Assistant, and Technical Package Specialist. There are also a number of IT related jobs that might be good for new grads, but we feel we’ve listed a lot of tech jobs recently, so you can find them yourself. If you’re not quite ready for that desk job, you can always work at one of their retail stores.

Beyond paying above market wages, American Apparel also offers significant training for entry-level hires. So if you’re nervous about some of the skills needed for that position you really want, they might be able to help you get where you need to be. Beyond a willingness to train, they also offer free fitness and English as a second language classes, on-site masseurs, and company-subsidized lunches. From what we can tell, American Apparel also offers a very different work environment, so if their ads make you uncomfortable, working there might not be for you.

Don’t want a day job just yet? Want to just get by on your pretty face? Try modeling for American Apparel instead.

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at American Apparel.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you like American Apparel’s ads? Or do you find them offensive? Leave a comment.

Under Armour

Willy Franzen — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:00:43 +0000

You know the feeling – it’s hot, wet, sticky and feels like it weighs about 6 lbs. So you change shirts during practice. Twice. That’s three shirts in one practice. You practice 5 days a week. That’s a lot of laundry. How would you like to work for a company founded out of a strong disdain for wet t-shirts (no, not the kind you might find on Spring Break)? Kevin Plank started Under Armour in 1995 with the idea of making better t-shirts to wear under his uniform while he played for the University of Maryland Football Team. With a great product and a little luck, Under Armour has become an essential piece of an athlete’s wardrobe in what was seemingly a saturated market.

Under Armour is known for their tagline “We must protect this house!” As the fastest growing sports brand in the world, their house is getting bigger and harder to protect every day (they keep adding new product lines and entering new markets). That’s why Under Armour is constantly working to build a stronger team. Under Armour’s job postings put a strong emphasis on making history and finding new ways to do things. If you love sports and you love apparel, take a look at these positions that might be right for a recent college graduate.

Some job listings on Under Armour’s site, such as those for Product Line Management, don’t mention required experience, but we’re going to guess that they aren’t going to put kids who are fresh out of college in charge of entire product lines. The listings are certainly a little unclear, so if anybody from Under Armour reads this, can you leave a comment and confirm that these positions require significant experience?

Also, Under Armour has a separate web page for their “Rookie Program,” which is another name for their internship offerings. They really should extend this idea to entry-level hiring so that is easier for applicants to determine which jobs are appropriate to apply for.

If you hate wet t-shirts as much as Kevin Plank does, give Under Armour’s career opportunities a look.

Note: On April 21st we revisited entry-level jobs at Under Armour.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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