One Day, One Job » cars

Dealer.com

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:03:16 +0000

I know that it sounds like a place to buy illicit substances, but Dealer.com is a legal operation as far as I know. They may operate in the underworld of search engine optimization, but so do I, and I’m not a sleaze bag or spammer. Dealer.com is a Burlington, VT based company that “has become the global leader in online marketing solutions for the automotive industry.” They provide a platform for car dealers to generate leads online. I’d imagine that Dealer.com is a direct competitor with Cobalt, a company that we featured back in January. It’s no surprise that automotive online marketing is a growing industry. Most car dealerships don’t have the resources to do online marketing themselves—cheesy tv commercials don’t translate to the web. So how do they reach the masses of people who are using search engines to aid in car buying decisions? They either build an internal online marketing division, hire a local agency that doesn’t know anything about the industry, or go to Dealer.com. Which decision do you think will sell the most cars?

See What You’re Dealt

The thing that really stands out about Dealer.com is their culture. They’re aiming to be the “most sought after automotive web solutions provider in the world,” and it’s very clear that they think that treating their people well will help them get there. Their “brand-new Green Certified Corporate headquarters has a 35,000 square foot fitness facility and in-house organic cafe,” and they offer half-off ski passes at local mountains. It’s the epitome of a cool place to work, which is why they probably keep racking up awards. This attitude is also reflected in the way that Dealer.com does recruiting. I randomly came across the company’s website last night, and it turns out that they’re having a big recruiting event today at the Sheraton in Burlington. I realize that you probably won’t be able to make it, but you can watch the event live at 6 PM EST today on their Careers page. It’s a recruiting tactic that I haven’t seen before, and I really like it. You can tell that they’re serious about talent. There are plenty of job openings at Dealer.com, so if you can’t login to the event, check out the following positions: Billing Specialist, Marketing Graphic Designer, Jr. Graphic Designer, Web Developer, SEO Analyst, SEM Analyst, Product Training Evangelist, and Javascript Developer. You can apply online for any of these positions, so get to it. I’m sure the event today is going to make it very competitive for a lot of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any companies run live events for recruiting like Dealer.com?

DriveCam

Willy Franzen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:00:48 +0000

It’s every teen’s worst nightmare. You finally reach that magical age where the state says that you’re ready to drive a car. Your parents reluctantly hand over the keys to the family station wagon. You get a lecture, but you’re going to escape. You’ll finally have the freedom that you’ve been waiting for all your life. But there’s a catch. Your parents have installed a camera in the car to assess your driving and mitigate risk. It’s from a San Diego based company called DriveCam. To you it’s a terrible idea. You hate being spied on. You know you’re a good driver with your state mandated 20 hours of experience behind the wheel. What you probably don’t know is that car accidents are the leading cause of teen death. You’re too caught up in having a sense of freedom to care that this device has reduced the risk of reportable crash by 70% over the course of 2 million miles.

I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me

I’m sure that I would have resented my parents if they had put a DriveCam in my car, but I must be getting old because now I think it would be a pretty good idea. If you’re not convinced, all you need to do is look at some of the videos on DriveCam’s website to get it. The way it works is pretty cool—DriveCam is only triggered by “fairly aggressive or inattentive driving.” It is constantly recording so that it can catch the moments before a triggering event, but any data collected that is not immediately before a triggering event is deleted. By setting the goal of not triggering the camera, DriveCam forces drivers to slow down and pay more attention. It’s not just for teens, many companies use it to monitor fleet drivers as well. The way it works is that DriveCam uploads video via a cellular network to DriveCam’s servers, and then there’s a Software as a Service subscription that allows the parents or business owners to analyze the data uploaded by DriveCam. The software even provides coaching advice and risk scores. There was a lot of resistance to seat belts when they first came out, but now nearly everyone uses them. I see the potential for the same to be said about DriveCam in 10 or 20 years. That’s why they’re one of the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies. They have a ton of potential for growth, and they’d be a great place to start a career. Their Careers page doesn’t list any positions beyond an internship right now, but they do invite interested applicants send a résumé and cover letter to jobs@drivecam.com. Take a look at their company profile to see what kind of positions they might have.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did your parents install a DriveCam?

Cobalt

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:09:06 +0000

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

When I last bought a car in 2001, the best way to go about it was to stop by dealerships to see what they had in their inventory. I remember using the Internet to some extent, but it wasn’t all that helpful. Although I haven’t purchased a car since, I’m pretty sure that the web is playing a much larger role in the car buying decision process these days. That’s why Cobalt, a Seattle based company, is doing so well. They’re in the business of automotive marketing, and they made the Inc. 5000 last year with 134.0% three-year revenue growth to $168.4 million. Cobalt works with both dealers and manufacturers to “increase their retailing effectiveness and profits.” The company has been around since 1995, and it consists of three key subsidiaries: Dealix, UsedCars.com, and IntegraLink.

Drive Your Career in the Right Direction

The big reason that Cobalt has been so successful is that they were ready for the transition to digital marketing from the start. A lot of people in the automotive industry weren’t ready for a change in their business model, but luckily they have Cobalt to rely on for marketing. More than two thirds of auto manufacturers and one half of dealers in the US use Cobalt’s services in some capacity. Cobalt is a lot like a fully-integrated marketing agency in terms of the areas in which they work, but their business doesn’t appear to be quite as client focused (for instance they run a UsedCars.com—a destination site). If you’re intrigued by what Cobalt does, then you’ll want to take a look at their Careers page. It goes into a lot of detail about what it’s like to work at Cobalt, and then it will direct you to take a look at their job postings. There are lots of opportunities for new or recent grads including: Data Normalization Clerk (Columbus, OH), Technical Customer Support (Columbus, OH), Website Technical Support (Lynnwood, WA), Online Marketing Specialist (Lynnwood, WA), Technical Inside Sales (Redwood City, CA), Operations Analyst – Inventory (Seattle, WA), UI Web Developer (Seattle, WA), Build and Release Engineer (Seattle, WA), and Sales Operations Specialist (Seattle, WA).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When is the last time that you bought a car?

Zipcar

Willy Franzen — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:47:23 +0000

The great thing about living in downtown Chicago is that I’m constantly bombarded with new ideas for companies to feature here. In suburban Connecticut most of what I saw when I was driving around was trees. Here in Chicago there are few trees in sight, but plenty of businesses, billboards, and buses (with advertising on the side, of course). There are also plenty of taxes. Sales tax is 10.25% and the parking tax is 28%, but likely soon to be 33%. This is on top of already outrageous monthly parking fees, so it’s no wonder that there’s a Zipcar location just a hundred yards down the street from my building. Zipcars are kind of like rental cars, but better. They’re more affordable (I think, but I haven’t done the math), they’re intended for residents instead of travelers, they’re green, and you don’t need to be 25 to take them for a ride. It’s kind of like having a friend with a car except you have to pay that friend whenever you use his car.

Zipjobs

It’s probably no surprise to you that Zipcar is a growing business. They’ve located themselves in urban centers, college campuses, and other places where it’s a hassle (or absurd expense) to own a car. Although the marginal expense of driving a Zipcar is greater than owning a car, most people who live in cities don’t use their cars enough to justify the fixed costs of parking, insurance, and car payments. Zipcar’s business model is ingenious because it feels like a luxury, but it saves people money every month. That’s why we won’t be surprised to see Zipcar thrive even in a declining economy; in fact, they must be pretty confident about their future considering that their Jobs page shows more than 20 job openings.

Most of the jobs aren’t exactly what new college grads are typically looking for (they either require too much experience or are intended for people without college degrees), but there are still a few jobs that we think that you might want to consider. The most interesting job is the Business Development Manager (Universities) position, which looks like a perfect entry level opportunity for a new grad with some selling experience. There are also a number of software development positions with Zipcar. These include Database Administrator / Software Engineer, Software Engineer – Embedded Systems, Software Engineer – Web Applications. These jobs all require some previous software development experience (including internships), but they may still be worth looking at. They’re located in Cambridge, MA along with the Business Development position, and you can apply by e-mailing the addresses included at the bottom of the job descriptions (they vary depending on the positions). Zipcar also has some positions that are “entry level,” but not geared towards new college grads such as Fleet Associate, Campus Fleet Coordinator, Street Team Member / Promotional Rep, and Street Team Marketing Representative. These jobs vary by location, so head over to the Zipcar Jobs page to get more information.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used a Zipcar?

CarMax

Willy Franzen — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:00:16 +0000

Buying your first car and getting your first job have a lot in common. They’re both relatively uncomfortable and unfamiliar processes that are filled with false formality and lots of back and forth. To be successful at either, you need to put yourself in the driver’s seat (ugh, sorry for the pun) and take control of the situation by ensuring that you’ve done your research and that you know exactly what you want. If only recruiters and HR representatives would work as hard as a car salesman to sell you on why you should work for their company. CarMax, being in the auto sales business, has figured this out. Just like they make car buying easier and less stressful with “No-Haggle Pricing,” CarMax also makes finding your first job easy with an exceptional entry-level hiring program.

CarMax is the biggest used car dealer in the United States, and they’ve reached this point in only 15 years of operations. CarMax was started as a side project by Circuit City’s then-CEO Richard L. Sharp, but grew so rapidly that it was spun off from Circuit City in 2002. There are 80 CarMax used-car superstores across the country, and they all do business in a way that you might not expect from a used car dealer. Like we said before, there’s no haggling on price, and there’s also no negotiation on trade-in valuation. CarMax kind of kills the stereotype of the sleazy used car salesman.

We really like CarMax, not only because they’ve been named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For 4 years in a row (most recently ranked #46), but also because they make their entry-level hiring program as clear as can be. Their college recruiting page is easily visible, and gets right down to business. CarMax has three career paths for new college graduates – a Finance and Accounting career development/rotation program, a Strategy Analyst position, and an Information Technology position. CarMax explains each of these positions in detail. We don’t need to elaborate much, because CarMax nails it on their Career site (yes, that’s 3 companies in a row with phenomenal careers sites). Now that hiring and car buying are out of the way, what awkward process can CarMax make easier next?

CarMax does a lot of on-campus recruiting, so check out their schedules (Finance and Accounting, IT, and Strategy) to see when they’re visiting your campus. If they’re not coming to your campus, you can apply by sending a resume and cover letter to college_recruiting@carmax.com. On the other hand, if you would prefer to get directly into auto sales and aren’t interested in corporate type jobs, you can take a look at the CarMax’s store positions. We wouldn’t recommend it though (kidding!). We just think that the corporate jobs sound way cooler, considering that the corporate office has a full basketball court, two racquet ball courts, a baseball field, and work out facilities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What makes you more uncomfortable? Buying a car or trying to find a job? Tell us in the comments.

Honda R&D

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:00:08 +0000

We mentioned a couple weeks back that Facebook now has a valuation on par with that of the Ford Motor Company. In our post about Facebook, we focused on how impressive the growth has been of “Web 2.0″ companies, but didn’t mention the equally impressive decline of American auto manufacturers. It’s sad to say, but the reason for the decline has a lot to do with foreign auto companies making better products, and doing it with American talent! Honda is one of those companies that has been kicking the Big Three’s butts by putting out great cars, and a big part of it has been because of their research and development.

Honda R&D starts their recruiting of American talent with a strong co-op/internship program and goes from there. Considering they compensate interns well, it’s obvious that they value talent as the key driver of innovation and success in R&D. Honda follows up by offering a litany of what appear to be entry-level jobs. There are jobs in a number of disciplines, but all current openings are engineering related.

The reason we said that the jobs appear to be entry-level is that they all say that they require 1+ years of experience. Considering Honda’s excellent co-op program and the fact that there are no jobs with a requirement of 0 years of experience, we think that they intend these jobs to be entry-level. Another reason we think that the jobs are entry-level is that the job requirements say that equivalent education can replace the need for experience. One final confusing detail is that Honda’s jobs have the same title regardless of required experience. An Automotive Exterior Engineer is an Automative Exterior Enginer, whether he or she has no experience or 4 years’ experience. So, pay attention to which job you apply for!

Here’s a rundown of the jobs that look to be entry-level. Some job titles are posted multiple times with slightly different descriptions, but we only listed the first occurrence, so look at the full job listings for more jobs.

For all you car buffs who happen to be near completing your degree in engineering, it doesn’t get any better than this. Honda will treat you well and allow you to jump into some really exciting work. Now get researching so you can build us a sweet car that gets 90 MPG!

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at Honda R&D.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We blogged about internships and co-ops at Honda R&D over on One Day, One Internship. If you’re not ready for a full time job, check it out.

Tesla Motors

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:00:16 +0000

So, we’re still on vacation here at One Day, One Job. We didn’t tell you, but for the past week our daily posts have been coming from a tropical island with poor wireless Internet coverage. We thought there’d be at least one rainy day where we could finish off our posts and act like no vacation ever happened, but, unfortunately for you, the weather has been beautiful. On that note, today’s post is going to be a quick run down of what Tesla Motors does and why they look like a cool company for college seniors to research for career opportunities.

Tesla Motors is a company that designs and builds electric cars. Not a company that is going to. One day. They’ve already done it. Their Tesla Roadster does zero to sixty in four seconds and will go 220 miles on a single charge. Not only are these cars solving the problem of dependence on foreign oil, they’re also fun to drive (no, we haven’t actually driven one, we could be wrong). What better way to introduce electric cars to the masses than build high performance sports cars that are entirely gas free?

Because of the nature of what they do, many of the jobs at Tesla Motors are extremely technical. Even non-engineering jobs require a firm understanding of how electric cars work. There are a ton of job posted, many of which seem to be pretty advanced. Many of the job descriptions use words and acronyms that we don’t even recognize, but the people Tesla Motors wants will know exactly what they’re talking about. A few examples of positions that might be appropriate for new college grads include Battery Test Engineer, Electro-Mechanical Technician and Desktop Technician.

Tesla Motors is offering jobs working around fascinating technology. If you have a background in engineering or just love cars, do some research using the links below and search for an opening that will put your skills, knowledge, and passion to use. If you can’t find a opening that fits, Tesla’s employment page has a list of e-mail addresses for you to send applications for unlisted positions.

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at Tesla Motors.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

There’s a 30% chance of thunderstorms here tomorrow, but unless the wireless network goes down again, we promise we’ll have our first non-profit job of the New Year. Even if it means leaving the beach a little early.