For nearly as long as humans have been around, we’ve been building shelters—places to sleep, eat, work, and play. And nearly as long as we’ve been building shelters, we’ve been doing it artistically. Function is still our primary goal—it’s the reason that we build things, but it’s amazing how development, architecture, construction and engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, and urban planning come together as an essential part of human culture. The National Building Museum in Washington, DC was started to “advance the quality of the built environment by educating the public about its impact on people’s lives.” Yes, it’s a museum filled with artifacts and objects related to the history of buildings, but it’s more than that. It’s really about “fostering lively discussion about a wide range of topics.”

Building Your Career

I’ve always had a special appreciation for buildings because they’ve fed me, clothed me, and educated me. My Dad is an architect, so artistically inspired structures pay the bills (or at least they did, now it’s helping people find jobs). If you have a passion for buildings, then a job with National Building Museum will lay the perfect foundation for your career. The National Building Museum Jobs page shows a number of opportunities that seem suitable for new grads. These include CityVision Team Leaders, Visitor Services Representative, Development Events Coordinator, and Membership Assistant. To apply for any of the jobs, send a cover letter, résumé, and salary history to recruitment@nbm.org with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NBM.org
• Jobs at the National Building Museum
• About the National Building Museum
• Management and Staff at the NBM
• NBM in the News
• Exhibitions and Collections at the NBM
• The NBM’s Annual Report

Have you ever visited the National Building Museum?

As much as I should have a great appreciation for architecture because my father is an architect, but I must admit that I’m still not quite there yet. However, as a guy who occasionally builds websites, I fully appreciate “the practical problems of human interaction in the built environment.” That’s why I think that San Francisco based Public Architecture is a pretty cool non-profit. Their logo is their mission statement, and if the font is too small for you to read (ummm can we say problems of human interaction?), then here’s what they do: they put “the resources of architecture in the service of the public interest.” How do they do that? Through a method, a model, and motivation.

Jobs for the Public

This three-pronged approach allows Public Architecture to do some pretty cool things. They are able to take the economic constraints of good architecture out of the picture by using the funds they raise to support projects that they deem important. Their method also allows them to give direction to projects that would otherwise lack guidance (and funds). Finally, through their work they set an example that motivate other architects to commit to projects for the public good. One way that they do this is the 1% Project which “challenges architecture and design firms nationwide to pledge a minimum of 1% of their time to pro bono service.” Overall it’s a very cool non-profit, and certainly one that an architecturally minded new grad might want to work for. Although budding architects would probably be better off actually working at an architectural firm, this Operations Associate sounds like a pretty cool opportunity for other recent grads. They do want someone with at least a year of prior work experience, but I’m sure a couple internships should do. If you want to apply, “send your resume, a writing sample, and a cover letter that explains your interest and fit for the position by email to info@publicarchitecture.org with ‘Operations Associate Application’ as the subject of your email.” They’d prefer if you send it all as single PDF.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• PublicArchitecture.org
• Jobs at Public Architecture (Idealist)
• About Public Architecture
• Public Architecture’s History
• What Public Architecture Doesn’t Believe
• How Public Architecture Works
• Public Architecture’s People

What do you think about Public Architecture?

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays—not only because it signifies the start of summer, but also because I love small town patriotism. My hometown always has a fantastic parade that is often accompanied by a fighter jet fly over. Now, today’s employer may not immediately make you think of Memorial Day like last year’s did (it was Weber-Stephen, the manufacturer of my favorite charcoal grills), but you’ll realize pretty quickly why the National Park Service is a great choice for today. Not only are some of the parks that they manage great places to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, but they’re also responsible for quite a few memorials including The Marine Corps War Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, and The World War II Memorial. Memorial Day is really about our fallen heroes, and the National Park Service is constantly working to honor them by maintaining and managing our memorials.

Celebrate Memorial Day All Year Long

If you love Memorial Day as much as I do, then a job with the National Park Service might be something worth thinking about. Whether you love the outdoors and want to be at Yosemite, love history and want to be at Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, or love our country and want to be at one of the memorials, you’ll have plenty of options. The NPS is constantly working to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” So, how do you land a job with them? You can start at the NPS Jobs page (it has some awesome photos from the 70s), but that will dump you into USAJobs.gov—use this link so that you only see jobs posted from the NPS. There are 163 jobs posted right now, and many of them are entry level, so we’re not going to wade through all of them for you, but you should know that the NPS typically hires in the following areas: Administration, Health and Safety, Archeology, History, Architecture, Human Resources, Biological Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Community Planning, Maintenance and Facility Management, Concessions, Natural Resources, Contracting, Park Police, Cultural Resources, Park Ranger (Protection), Engineering, Park Ranger (Interpretation), Financial Management, Park Site Interpretation, Firefighting, Physical Sciences, and Fire Management. That should help you direct your search on the USAJobs.gov site a little better. Applying for government jobs can be tricky, so be sure to pay very close attention to the details before you send in your application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NPS.gov
• Jobs at the National Park Service
• About the National Park Service
• History of the National Park Service

What’s your favorite National Park/

Having a girlfriend who is a consultant, I’m often subjected to hours of consultant-speak. It’s not really English, as it consists mostly of acronyms. One thing consultants seem to talk about a lot, even though they don’t have an acronym for it, is the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card. It’s apparently by far the best credit card for the consulting lifestyle (especially when you work for a firm that almost exclusively puts you up in Starwood hotels). Since I’ve been hearing the Starwood name a lot, and I’ve had a few people recommend their Jobs to me, I thought it was time to take a look at what kind of entry level jobs are available with one of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies. In case you’re not familiar with the Starwood brand, they’re the company behind Sheraton, Four Points, aloft, W Hotels, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Element, Westin, and St. Regis. All of them are nice places to stay, and a few of them are about as trendy as you can get when it comes to hotels – check out aloft.

Be a Star at Starwood

Starwood gets hospitality. They also get entry level recruiting. They make it dead simple for college students and new grads to figure out how to land a job with them. They have a College Recruiting page that outlines the 4 ways of getting a job with Starwood. You can go through Campus Recruiting or apply online, and you can apply for their Management Training Program or opt for Direct Placement. The Management Training Program seems to be geared towards students who are graduating from hospitality programs, but that’s not explicitly stated as far as I can tell. The program lasts 6-18 months and concludes with placement as an Assistant Manager or Manager in the hotel where the trainee trained. Applications for the Management Training Program haven’t been opened yet, but they say that you will be able to apply online in early 2009. If you go to one of the schools on this list, you’re better off talking to your Career Services office about when Starwood will be on campus than waiting for the online application to be posted.

If the Management Training Program isn’t for you, there’s another option. You can check out Starwood’s Career Paths and apply for Direct Placement. You have to go through a general job search function where you can narrow down from the 1,650 jobs posted by location, hotel, or job title. This is the one area where Starwood’s Careers site stumbles a bit. The job search function isn’t very good. Unless you enter specific criteria, you’re going to be inundated with results that are going to be hard to scan. Still, if you want a job in a posh hotel in an exotic location, that’s the best way to find one.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• StarwoodHotels.com
• Jobs at Starwood
• About Starwood
• Starwood’s Brands
• Starwood’s Investor Relations Page
• Career Paths at Starwood
• College Recruiting at Starwood
• Starwood’s History
• Philosophy at Starwood
• What a Starwood Career Has to Offer

Have you stayed at any Starwood Hotels?

It’s been a while since we’ve featured any entry level government jobs, and with today’s being Veteran’s Day, we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take a look at what kind of jobs you can get at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Before you get in to job searching mode, though, go thank a veteran. If your grandfather served in World War II, give him a call and say thank you. Or if one of your buddies has served or is serving in Iraq, shoot him or her an e-mail stating your appreciation. And if any of you job searchers out there happen to be veterans, thank you from the One Day, One Job team. Now let’s get into what the VA is all about. There are 25 million veterans currently living in the United States and 70 million people who are “potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.” The VA is responsible for providing top-flight patient care and administering veterans’ benefits. Our vets have risked their lives to earn the services offered by the VA, so it’s important that the VA has a talented staff that is committed to providing top-flight “customer” service.

Thank a Vet by Working at the VA

If you remember any of our previous posts about jobs with the Federal Government (e.g. the US Forest Service), you’ll know that finding jobs with them isn’t as easy as it should be. That’s ok, because we’ll guide you through the process. You should probably start by checking out the VA’s page on Types of Careers. It has info on every type of job that they offer, and even includes some videos that show “A Day in the Life.” In fact, this area of the site is pretty simple to navigate, so you shouldn’t find it too hard to get a sense of what types of jobs might interest you – categories include Health Care, Business / Administration, Legal, Engineering / Architecture / Technical Support, and Specialized Skilled Occupations / Trades. The hard part is actually navigating through the job listings. For most jobs with the VA, you need to use the USAJOBS site to search for openings. (The exception is if you’re looking for jobs with the Veterans’ Health Administration.) From the USAJOBS site you can search by Agency, Occupation, Keyword, or Location. If you have found some positions that interest you on the Types of Careers page, then you can search for those jobs. If you haven’t, you might want to try using the keyword “entry.” It’s worked for us in the past, but it’s not 100% at finding entry level jobs. You can also try sorting the search results by salary and start from the bottom, which is almost certain to lead to jobs that require no experience. There are hundreds of jobs in locations all across the country, so we’re not going to list specific opportunities, but we will warn you that once you find jobs that look interesting and click on the links to their descriptions, be sure to notice the second row of tabs on the page. That’s where you can find all kinds of detailed information about the jobs and how to apply.

The VA does work in cities big and small, so there’s a strong likelihood that they have jobs near where you live. The application processes for all of these jobs are pretty intense, because that’s how the government likes to do things, so be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• VA.gov
• Jobs at the VA
• About the VA
• The VA In Depth
• The VA’s Hiring Programs
• The VA’s Hiring Process

Have you thanked a veteran today?

My house in college was not energy efficient, unless you consider the heating system’s not working half the time a feature of design. The doors and windows all leaked cold air in the winter, and it was impossible to cool the house down below about 95 degrees in the summer. We even tried covering the windows in the winter for added insulation, but it didn’t help much. Our monthly heating bills were outrageous despite the fact that my roommates were cheap and insisted on turning the thermostat down below the point at which our landlord warned us that the pipes would freeze. Energy efficiency was clearly not a priority for whoever built our house, but if it had been they could have hired someone like Rumsey Engineers to design it.

An Environmentally Minded Company in the Bay Area? No Way!

If you were to start a company that offered green engineering services, where would you locate it? Probably in an area with a lot of smug somewhere that people are relatively well off and generally environmentally conscious. Well there’s no place that better fits that description that the San Francisco Bay Area, and that’s why Rumsey Engineers has located themselves in Oakland, CA. They are a company with a “passion for high performance, environmentally sustainable and energy efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning system designs.” So that’s what they design. It’s smart to follow your passions. Not only are energy efficient designs something that customers can feel good about, but they’re also a great response to rising energy costs. I’d certainly be considerably richer if my college living quarters hadn’t sucked up energy like a 3 hour lecture right after lunch.

They’re Hiring… Wait for It… Engineers

A quick look at Rumsey Engineers’ Careers page shows that all of their job listings require 2+ years experience. So why are we posting about them? Because companies often say things like “2 years experience” but really don’t mean them. This isn’t just some speculation on our part, for we’ve found these same jobs advertised on a college job board as entry-level. Rumsey is hiring new engineering graduates for jobs such as Energy Modeler, Energy Analyst, HVAC Design Engineer, and Plumbing Engineer. Rumsey Engineers prides itself on having a relaxed environment, but a high performance workplace. That sounds just right for a new grad from a top engineering program.

Resumes and cover letters can be sent to cbonner@rumseyengineers.com. Even if the positions listed don’t appeal to you, but you have an interest in green engineering or energy issues, they’d love to hear from you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• The Rumsey Engineers Home Page
• Jobs at Rumsey Engineers
• About Rumsey Engineers
• Working at Rumsey Engineers
• Designs by Rumsey Engineers
• Rumsey’s Engineers

How energy efficient are your living quarters? Has your college provided energy efficient housing, or are you stuck with a landlord who couldn’t care less? Leave a comment.

On many college campuses there’s a constant battle between the old and the new. We’re not talking about Senior-Freshmen rivalries – that’s so high school. We’re talking about the state of constant construction that is as much a part of going to college as wearing flip flops in the shower. Administrators and trustees are left to decide whether it is better to make do with the quirky inadequacies of a building from a century ago, or to knock it down and build a new monstrosity in the latest architectural fashion. There is a fine balance that needs to be achieved between architectural and historic integrity and function. Unfortunately, it seems more and more common that campus decision-makers are deciding in favor of state of the art facilities built atop the graves of their obsolete predecessors (I guess you know what One Day, One Job’s stand on this issue is).

Although they don’t focus on college campuses, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit organization that is saving America’s diverse historic places through leadership, education, and advocacy. Just what many of our college campuses need! If you love history, architecture, and good taste, you might truly enjoy working for the National Trust. Their jobs are all over the place; you can be an interpreter at President Lincoln’s Cottage or an Accountant in their Community Investment Subsidiary. An Assistant Business Manager in the Center for Preservation Leadership or an IT Training & Staff Support Coordinator (the links to these jobs are now dead, for current opportunities visit the National Trust’s Careers page). The jobs get even more interesting as the experience level goes up. There are some really cool opportunities that require 3-5 years experience, which means you can either try to really impress them with your cover letter and resume or work your way up through the ranks.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has an excellent website with simple navigation and very clear job descriptions. Applying for a job is as easy as sending a cover letter and resume to a position-specific e-mail address. This is definitely an organization to keep a constant watch on. You never know what kind of opportunity will show up next on their jobs page.

Note: On April 27th we revisited entry-level jobs at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• The National Trust for Historic Preservation Home Page
• Jobs at the National Trust for Historic Preservation
• About the National Trust for Historic Preservation
• The PreservationNation Blog
• Historic Preservation in the News

What’s your favorite historic building on your college’s campus? Leave a comment and tell us about it!

Today we have our first One Day, One Job exclusive job posting. You won’t find this job anywhere else.

J.P. Franzen Associates Architects is a 10-person architectural design firm in Southport, CT. Jack Franzen, principal of J.P. Franzen Associates Architects, has built a strong local reputation by taking on a mix of residential, commercial, and institutional projects. Franzen is especially well known for his high-end, upscale home designs and his commitment to historic preservation projects. He is also a a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Franzen Architects is looking to hire an Intern Architect (intern has a different meaning in architecture) who is driven to become a licensed architect in the near future. This is not by definition an entry-level position, but for a skilled candidate exceptions will be made. At the very least, applicants should have graduated from an undergraduate or graduate architecture program and had summer experience at an architecture firm. To be considered for the position, it also essential that you are a CAD biathlete (fast and accurate). Working at Franzen Architects will provide a young architect with the opportunity to get hands-on experience with a variety of exciting projects, while at the same time offering mentorship from the firm’s experienced professionals. If you are serious about your passion for architecture and willing to push yourself for fast advancement, this is a great opportunity to become a key contributor in a small firm.

Franzen Architects offers exceptional benefits and compensation. Their office has a panoramic view of Southport Harbor and the multi-million dollar homes (some of which were designed by the firm) that line the shores. Southport, CT is a one-hour train ride from New York City, so a reverse commute is a definite possibility.

All interested applicants can send a cover letter and a resume to skirby@franzenarchitects.com.

Don’t bother trying to search for more info on J.P. Franzen Associates Architects, they don’t even have a website. Do read this article which quotes Jack Franzen on the Future of Architecture as a Profession.

UPDATE: There is now a website for J.P. Franzen Associates Architects.

Note: On April 21st we revisited entry-level jobs at J.P. Franzen Associates Architects.

As Derek Zoolander once said, “Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty.” That should mean that WET Design employees work with beauty every day. Wet Design, located in Sun Valley, CA, specializes in the development and design of water features for architecture, landscape, and urban design. Water is a pretty versatile medium. Nature has done a hell of a job with it. Niagara Falls, Old Faithful, and the Pacific Ocean are all awe inspiring. WET Design hasn’t done too bad itself with the Bellagio, the Wynn Macau, and apparently the fountain scene from Blank Check.

WET Design is the industry leader in creating water-based environments and experiences, and they are looking for top performers to join their team. Unfortunately, WET Design’s website is a little hard to navigate and is lacking significant information about jobs at WET Design; however, we know they are recruiting at the entry-level because we spoke with one of their recruiters at the Cornell University Career Fair. Beyond jobs with WET Design, it appears that they are also hiring at WET Labs (an R&D facility to support their design projects) and WET Care (which maintains their installations). A list of current opportunities at WET Design can be found on their Careers Page or below:

Architect
Purchasing Director
Project Coordinator
Field Technician
Project Engineer
Computer Technician
Project Manager
Network Administrator
CAD for Archictecture
Consumer Product Engineer
CAD for Mechanical Engineering
Product Designer
Piping Designer
Mechanical Designer
Business Development
Product Engineer
PR Manager
R&D Technician
Film Designer
WET Care Technician
3D Animator
Graphic Designer Machinist
Electrical Technician

We’re not quite sure which of these are appropriate for a new graduate, but Wet Design accepts applications for unlisted positions as well. If you have a background in engineering or design, you should be just what they’re looking for. Start researching, and see what else you can find out about careers at WET Design or bite the bullet and send your resume to careers@wetdesign.com.

Note: On April 21st we revisited entry-level jobs at Wet Design.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• The Wet Design Home Page
• The Wet Design Careers Page
• Wet Design Employment Application (for candidates who have an interview scheduled)
• Wet Design’s Portfolio
• Photos of Wet Design Employees
• Questions & Answers About Wet Design
• Wet Design’s Philosophy

If you’ve got the scoop on WET Design, leave a comment. We’re especially interested in what their bathrooms look like.