One Day, One Job » consulting

Rosetta

Willy Franzen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:31:08 +0000

I got a tip on this one from a fellow Cornellian (which is cool because a few of my friends from Cornell work at Rosetta). If you ever find a company that you think that we should feature, e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com. We feature a lot of interactive marketing agencies because they’re usually pretty big on hiring young talent whether it be at the intern or entry level. Rosetta stands out because of their size and sophistication—they almost seem more like a consulting firm than a marketing agency, at least in the way that they present themselves. For instance, they recently become a “top ten interactive agency” by means of an acquisition. That seems so different from the image that most agencies try to portray, but it’s working. Through “dedication to client work within Consumer Products & Retail, Healthcare, Financial Services, Consumer Technology & Media, B2B, and Travel & Hospitality industries” Rosetta “has created enduring partnerships with [their] clients including Scholastic, Coach, Borders, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Nationwide, Marriott and Microsoft.” Those are huge names, so you know Rosetta, which is headquartered in Princeton with offices in New York, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, and Denver, is capable of delivering results.

Relationships Matter

One of Rosetta’s key offerings is their suite of Relationship Marketing Services, which are focused on helping clients segment customers and offer “intelligent, personalized interactions across all online and offline channels.” This is just one part of the story, though. To get the full story on Rosetta’s offerings, you should take a look at this diagram. It shows how Rosetta walks clients through the marketing process—from creating the top-level strategy to using analytics to measure results. This means it’s not surprising that Rosetta’s job offerings are as varied as their service offerings—their Careers page is titled “Graphic Design Careers, SEO Jobs, and Financial Services Consulting Opportunities at Rosetta.”

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, Rosetta seems to have a strong connection with Cornell (and probably quite a few other colleges) based on campus recruiting. Interestingly enough, Rosetta doesn’t really have a campus recruiting page—just a profile of a new grad who went to work for them. From there you can find their job search function, which is pretty terrible. It does appear to let you search for specifically entry level positions; however, there are at least 3 different queries that you can use, and they all seem to deliver different results. Your best bet is to look at their full list of job openings, or to look for positions like Recent Graduate Business Associate, Recent Graduate Technology Associate, Associate Consultant, Account Executive, Technology Associate, User Interface/Rich Media Developer, Recent Graduate Business Analyst, and quite a few others. The way that Rosetta lists their jobs is really a mess, so you need to take note that different jobs with the same title may be in different practice areas. Additionally, single job postings may be for multiple locations. They do have some nice pages on their Careers site like Meet Our People and Fun at Rosetta, but the whole thing is disorganized. I expect a lot better from a top ten agency. You can apply online for any of these positions, so forgive Rosetta for the lack of usability on their Careers site and see if you can help them move further up the top ten.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Were you looking Rosetta Stone’s jobs?

Ceteris

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:19:06 +0000

The way that large corporations operate often boggles my mind. Take for example my friend who worked in the internal consulting division of a massive, well-known company. Despite being owned and operated by the company, his division had to bid against outside consulting firms for projects. There was a good reason for this (it forced the internal consulting division to watch its back), but it still seems a bit ridiculous. Another example of this kind of thinking is transfer pricing (don’t worry, I had to look it up too). It’s the “pricing of contributions (assets, tangible and intangible, services, and funds) transferred within an organization.” At first it may seem that since all of the money is going to the same place pricing things that are transferred within an organization doesn’t really matter. Unfortunately, that would cause all of the accountants in an organization (and the IRS too) to have a fit. So how do companies price these transfers? There’s no external market to set the price, and trying to do it internally can get really messy. That’s when companies bring in Ceteris a “global independent consulting firm specializing in transfer pricing, intellectual property and valuation services” that is headquartered in Chicago.

Transfer Yourself to Ceteris

For most new grads, grasping exactly what Ceteris does is pretty hard. The best way to get a feel for the kinds of projects that they work on is to take a look at examples of their work. It turns out that this stuff is pretty fascinating—at least to me. If you agree, you’ll want to check out Ceteris’ Jobs page along with their Campus Recruiting page. Although they don’t explicitly post job opportunities and they don’t have any campus events coming up, they say that they’re looking to hear from outstanding undergraduates with a background in Economics, Business, Accounting, Finance, Statistics, or Mathematics. They provide a decent amount of information about what it’s like at Ceteris including employee profiles, and they invite interested applicants to send a résumé and cover letter to careers@ceterisgroup.com. The company has only been around since 2003, but they’ve already expanded to 13 locations: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Calgary, AB; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Libertyville, IL; Los Angeles, CA; Mexico City, Mexico; New York, NY; Salt Lake City, UT; Toronto, ON; Washington, DC; and Auckland, New Zealand. It’s not clear which offices have entry level opportunities, but their Locations page does allow you to contact the head of each office if you’re so inclined.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Ceteris?

ExactTarget

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:53:54 +0000

I think that e-mail is still the king of social media. We have all of these fancy social networking accounts, but they all send their notifications to our inboxes. If you want someone’s attention, e-mail is the way to go (assuming your message doesn’t look like spam). Heck, you’re probably reading this in your e-mail. That’s why e-mail marketing continues to be a rapidly growing industry. We’ve already taken a look at jobs with Constant Contact, Aweber, and e-Dialog, and now we’re going to look at an industrial strength e-mail marketing company, ExactTarget. They’re based in Indianapolis, and since 2000 they’ve been focused on “providing the most powerful on-demand software for email communications and finding the best and brightest marketers on the planet to revolutionize the way people think about email.”

Target Your Job Search Exactly

ExactTarget offers a wide array of e-mail Products, Services, and Solutions that are used by clients like CarMax, Expedia, The Home Depot, and other huge brands. If you’d like to join ExactTarget at the forefront of e-mail marketing, then you should check out their entry level Catapult Rotational Program. Here’s an introductory video on the program (e-mail readers click through to watch):

If you like what you just saw, then there are two tracks that you can take. The ExactTarget Business Track will allow you to gain experience across departments like Marketing, Accounting, Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Account Management, Deliverability Services, Strategic Services, Training, SMB/Renewals, Partnerships, Human Resources, and Sales, while the ExactTarget Technical Track will have you working in Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Customer Support, Integration, Product, Quality Assurance, Deliverability Services, Training, Implementation, Design and Deployment. You may be able to meet up with ExactTarget recruiters on your campus, but if they’re not recruiting at your school you can get the run down on how to apply for the program here. ExactTarget has done a fantastic job with their entry level recruiting program, and I bet that reflects how much they value young talent.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of the Catapult Rotational Program?

Altman Vilandrie & Company

Willy Franzen — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:38:57 +0000

We’re just getting into the thick of campus recruiting season now, and that means that the most ambitious college seniors should be in full job search mode (so get to that career fair ASAP!). I know that it seems kind of ridiculous, but there are a lot of companies that are done with their hiring for next year by early January. These are usually some of the most selective companies out there, so if you’re looking or a prestigious job, you better get moving. Altman Vilandrie & Company is one of those companies that is already recruiting. They’re a Boston based boutique consulting firm that “focuses exclusively on the communications, media, and related technology and investor sectors.” As they put it, they’re “a unique, pure play communications and media strategy consulting group.” They won’t have the broad range of clients of a larger firm, but the projects that they work on are still going to be quite variable.

Get Your Consult On

Getting a job in consulting isn’t easy. If you haven’t already made the decision to aim for a career in consulting, then you have a lot of catching up to do. You should spend some serious time investigating the industry and getting familiar with all of the major players. It wouldn’t hurt to practice your case interview skills either. Landing an entry level jobs job in consulting is a seriously intense process, and I’d imagine that holds true at Altman Vilandrie too. Considering that they only do campus recruiting at Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, and Wellesley, you can see the kind of talent they’re looking for. With that said, they are open to hearing from students at other schools. You’re probably going to have to blow them away to even get looked at, but it’s worth reaching out to them in hopes of an Analyst position.

They do a great job of describing what life at Altman Vilandrie is like on their Culture page, so be sure to give that a good look before applying. Despite Altman Vilandrie’s focus on Media and Communications, I’d imagine that they worry more about talent than industry knowledge when it comes to entry level recruiting. If you think that you have what it takes and Altman VIlandrie isn’t visiting your campus (or you missed them), reach out to them at recruiting@altvil.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Altman Vilandrie & Company?

Revel Consulting

Willy Franzen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:51:40 +0000

When I was a freshman at Cornell, a bunch of my friends decided to form a group called the Red Revelers. We would go to sporting events and act rowdy. We had t-shirts and everything. I guess that’s why Revel Consulting caught my eye when I was browsing through the Inc. 5000 (expect to be hearing a lot about that list in the next few weeks—it’s my favorite resource for finding cool companies). They’re a Kirkland, WA based consulting firm that has expertise in Product Management, Program & Project Management, Change Management, Process Engineering, Sales and Marketing Management, Strategy Development & Measurement, and Cloud Computing. They’re also the 34th fastest growing private company in the United States. Beyond an awesome growth rate, they were also “named to the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For by Seattle Business magazine based on job satisfaction, work environment, and professional growth opportunities.”

Revel in Consulting

The problem with consulting companies is that most people don’t know what they do. Sometimes even the consultants can’t tell you exactly what they do. Part of the reason for that is that consulting is a very flexible field—at least in terms of subject matter. It’s often more about the process than the specifics of the project. Revel Consulting seems to have a good mix of specific areas of expertise—Cloud Computing for example—and more general practice areas such as Program & Project Management. You can’t even take a look at Revel Consulting’s portfolio or client list, because consulting firms usually try to keep that stuff under wraps. What you can look at is the fact that they went from less than $400k in revenue to $13.2 million in revenue in just three years. That tells you that Revel is a place that you want to be. Revel’s Careers page has information on Culture, Consultant Experiences, and Campus Recruiting. The latter focuses mostly on internships, but that’s ok because Revel has one application form for all jobs. They’ll take a look at you and figure out where you’ll fit in best—no need to apply for a specific position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Revel Consulting?

TechnoServe

Willy Franzen — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:00:09 +0000

As an entrepreneur I am a strong believer that businesses are often the best way to solve problems. Don’t get me wrong—I love non-profits, but the ruthlessness of the business world breeds efficiency and effectiveness. We’ve seen plenty of non-profits try to cure poverty, yet poverty remains one of the world’s biggest problems. Lately we’ve seen more and more business based solutions aimed at eradicating poverty. TechnoServe, is a non-profit (the irony!) that is doing just that. They help “entrepreneurial men and women in poor areas of the developing world to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth for their families, their communities and their countries.” What they’re doing may sound like some new social entrepreneurship startup, but they have a 40 year track record of successfully transforming the lives of the world’s poor. I guess business based solutions to poverty aren’t a new idea at all.

TechnoServing Up Some Exciting Jobs

When I first heard the name TechnoServe, I imagined some sort of technology related non-profit; however, that’s not what they are at all. In fact, what TechnoServe does could be considered quite basic. They’re helping people do what other people have been doing for thousands of years—building sustainable businesses. Last year they helped 1,350 businesses generate $149 million in total sales, while in the process touching the lives of 1.2 million people. TechnoServe does this through three key practices: Developing Entrepreneurs, Building Businesses and Industries, and Improving the Business Environment. Over the years they’ve expanded to more and more countries, so they now cover: Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and India. Their U.S. based offices are in Norwalk, CT and Washington, DC; and you can find information on their jobs here. Most of their job openings don’t profile for new college grads and they don’t accept applications for unlisted positions; however, with the right background (they really like consulting experience) you may find a few of their job listings to be a good fit. Additionally, they have a three to twelve month Volunteer Program that can groom you for a job with TechnoServe. Check it all out and see what works for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you heard anything about TechnoServe?

Eduventures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:02:37 +0000

When I came across Eduventures during my daily search for exciting employers to tell you about, I knew that I had heard of them before. It took me a second to figure out where, but a search through past e-mails showed me that someone I knew who used to work in Career Services at a major university had moved on to a new position with Eduventures, which is located in Boston, MA. That makes perfect sense because Eduventures is “the industry leader in research and consulting for higher education institutions.” People who are familiar with the inner workings of different university functions are essential to Eduventures’ being able to do their job. And what is that exactly? They help higher education institutions develop and adopt best practices through membership research programs and consulting services.

Getting a Job Doesn’t Mean Leaving Higher Ed

As you have probably experienced, most colleges and universities have a proprietary way to do everything. There’s a tendency to develop a new solution instead of looking outside to see what others are doing. Eduventures helps their clients (all 300+ of them) take a look outside of their own ivory tower and get a feel for how they can improve in the areas of Academic Leadership, Continuing and Professional Education, Development, Enrollment Management, Online Higher Education, and Schools of Education. If you love the world of higher education or you get frustrated by it and want to make it better, a job with Eduventures might be worth considering. If you head over to their Careers page you can check out testimonials from employees and see what it’s like working at Eduventures. Obviously, you can also check out their job opportunities. They don’t make it explicit how much experience is needed for the jobs that they have posted, but it seems possible that recent grads with the right background and experience could be a good fit for their Sales Executive, Research Analyst, and Contract Business Research Consultant positions. The application method varies by positions, so be sure to check out the specific job descriptions for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think higher ed has a lot to gain from consulting services?

Taproot Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:04:30 +0000

As I tell you every weekend, the non-profit world can never get enough top notch talent. Part of the reason is that the careers aren’t nearly as lucrative as private sector careers, but another part of it is that there are a seemingly unlimited number of non-profit organizations out there. Taproot Foundation solves this problem in an interesting way. They act as a project management consulting service while linking top notch business professionals up with non-profit organizations in a volunteer capacity. They typically work with organizations in the areas of Arts, Education, Social Services, Environment, and Health on engagements in the areas of marketing, HR, IT, and strategy management. I’m always impressed by non-profit consulting services, and this appears to be a pretty cool twist on that model.

Tap into a New Career

The way that the Taproot Foundation works is that they recruit a team of 3-6 volunteers to work on an engagement. The teams are typically virtual, and they commit to 100 hours of time over 6 months. Each team member has a specific role, and a clear idea of the scope, deliverables, project plan, timeline, and tools & additional resources that will be relevant to the project. The team will also have the support of the Taproot staff and other volunteers at higher levels. It’s a really cool approach, and the volunteer opportunities sound truly exciting; however, the Taproot Foundation also happens to be hiring. Current job openings that might be suitable for new grads include VISTA Program Development Fellow – Pro Bono Action Tank (San Francisco, CA), VISTA Corporate Sponsorship Fellow (Chicago, IL), and VISTA Eastern – Central Region Program Fellow (Washington, DC). They also have a location in New York, but there’s nothing suitable there right now. Each of the job descriptions goes into great detail, so check them out to get the full scoop on the careers that the Taproot Foundation offers.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

campusCATALYST

Willy Franzen — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:59:38 +0000

I’ve mentioned before that I’m on the board of advisors for a startup non-profit called National Coaching Fellows. During my time on the board, I’ve learned how challenging the non-profit world can be. Luckily, NCF has had the support of a “student-driven consulting corps for non-profits” to get through some of its growing pains. That consulting group is Chicago’s campusCATALYST, an organization that “seeks to direct the innovation, ingenuity, and problem solving skills of America’s future leaders towards community development by cultivating a rich academic and social entrepreneurship experience for college students and tangible solutions for nonprofits.” In other words, they take students from the University of Chicago and Northwestern and put them on consulting teams that help non-profits achieve their missions.

A CATALYST for Your Career

Although I haven’t interacted directly with campusCATALYST, I have heard nothing but good things about them. They’ve certainly helped National Coaching Fellows, and they’ve also had a significant impact on other local non-profits. campusCATALYST is only starting its second year, but the level of quality that they appear to have built into their program already is outstanding. They’ve created an amazing opportunity for current college students who have an interest in non-profit work and consulting, but they’re also growing into something more. That’s why they’re hiring. Right now they have a Program Director position posted on Idealist. It’s not necessarily an entry level job, but considering the fact that campusCATALYST was started by an ‘07 Northwester graduate named Molly Day, I doubt that your graduation year will be their main concern. The job looks awesome, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to cC@campuscatalyst.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your thoughts on campusCATALYST?

Triage Consulting Group

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:16:16 +0000

Jason Seiden and I often refer to the work that we’re doing with Found Your Career and other courses that we’re developing as career triage. It’s a practical, informal, and just-in-time approach that gives you what you need when you need it. I’m sure that Triage Consulting Group (which is based in both San Francisco and Atlanta) chose their name for a similar reason, although it might also have something to do with the fact that they’re “financial consultants to the healthcare industry.” The company was started to serve the needs of hospitals, and they do this through 10 services that drive 98% of their revenue: Payment Review, Workers’ Compensation Review, Contract Analyses and Negotiations, Litigation Support, Clinical Denials, Medicare Review, Revenue Cycle Consulting, Silent PPO Review, Capitation Risk Pool Audits, and Government Compliance Audits, including Medicaid and TRICARE.

Get Yourself in Triage

Ok, that stuff doesn’t sound all that much fun to me, but if you have a mind for numbers and an interest in the healthcare industry, it would be absolutely fascinating work—especially given all the talk about healthcare reform right now. Triage Consulting Group is a relatively small company with somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 employees; however, they’ve been named one of the “Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America” by the SHRM and the Great Place to Work Institute for the last five years. Triage’s Careers site definitely reflects this, as it’s loaded with in-depth information about what it’s like to work for the company. It’s definitely one of the most in-depth Careers sites that I’ve seen. They seem to do most of their recruiting on campus for their entry level Associate position, but they do have a page that allows you to apply online. Unfortunately, it says, “At this time, we are no longer accepting applications. Please check back with us in the summer.”

Well, it’s summer now. Time to pounce. While other candidates are getting discouraged by this notice and waiting around until they’re told to apply, you should jump on this opportunity and see if you can network your way into a job with Triage Consulting Group. That’s the kind of stuff we teach in our “career triage” course, Found Your Career. We’ll leave it up to you how to make the first contact, but I’ll recommend that you start with their company LinkedIn Profile or their team page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Triage Consulting Group?

Root Cause

Willy Franzen — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:51:30 +0000

If there’s one criticism that I often hear about the non-profit world, it’s that they’re plagued by inefficiency. It’s certainly not true across the board, but taking the profit motives out of an organization can certainly create efficiency issues. Additionally, things like organizational structure, egos, and political agendas can disrupt for-profits and non-profits alike. Root Cause is a Cambridge, MA based non-profit strategy consulting service that “envisions a world in which the public, private, and nonprofit sectors work together to invest and re-invest in the most efficient, effective, and sustainable solutions to social problems.” In other words, they want to find the absolute best way to solve the world’s social problems, and then work with social innovators and social impact investors to make things happen.

The Root to Success

Beyond consulting, Root Cause has 5 other initiatives: Knowledge Sharing, Social Impact Research, InnerCity Entrepreneurs, Social Innovation Forum, and Public Innovators. Each of these initiatives is focused on achieving Root Cause’s values:

Focus above all else on the social problem being addressed, regardless of organizational structure (government, for-profit, nonprofit), ego, or political agenda.

Take a rigorous, thoughtful, and creative approach to work that integrates a broad range of perspectives.
Strive to integrate practice, applied research, and public policy.

Take an entrepreneurial, goal-oriented approach to work, with a commitment to integrity, diversity in all forms, and learning by listening, acting, and on-going self improvement.

Collaborate to support new and existing systems, institutions, and infrastructures in order to provide all types of organizations with access to the information, capital, and tools they need to develop enduring solutions to social problems.

It’s a refreshing approach that sounds like it has the potential to truly change the way non-profit work is done. If you agree, you’ll probably want to check out Root Cause’s Jobs page as well as their job postings on Idealist. Right now they have an opening posted on Idealist (but not on their Jobs page) for for a Consulting Research Associate. It looks like a fantastic opportunity for a new or recent college grad. If you’re interested, send a cover letter and resume to Abby Fung at afung@rootcause.org by June 19, 2009.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Root Cause’s philosophy?

kasina

George Tarakhovski — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:48:57 +0000

This is a guest post by George Tarakhovski.

In my experience, consulting has always been one of the top career choices for graduates at my alma mater (Duke). Although the work frequently involves countless hours of engineering multilayered pie charts and histograms in Excel, there are lots of things to like about the profession – great pay, stimulating assignments and lots of client interaction.

For a consulting firm that represents over $8 trillion in assets, kasina’s claim to fame is its expertise in introducing “revolutionary business ideas” to the asset management and insurance industries. kasina, which is based in New York City, is all about practical innovation through unique, trend-defying solutions that keep companies from going stale and losing profitability. Despite sporting an impressive client list, kasina does more than just help corporations stay in business. The team preaches community involvement and is actively involved in non-profit initiatives, including its own youth foundation. To maintain its “culture of learning,” kasina has its team members partake in a book club and post interesting and relevant entries on their blog. Overall, the team culture is fun, communal and non-intimidating. That’s pretty impressive (and unexpected) for a firm that pioneered solutions in hybrid wholesaling, profit-based compensation systems, and behavior-based segmentation.

Ready, Steady, Consult!

So, kasina seems like a pretty cool place full of smart, interesting and well-balanced individuals. Now, how about a job? First, the bad news – there are currently no employment opportunities listed on the website. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply if you feel that the company is a perfect match. (I’ve heard of people who have landed entry level jobs there in the past.) The good news is that kasina has an opening for an internship position. Although the job description is lacking in detail, the recurring theme is that you must be someone who is “obsessed with excellence” and “is ready to think differently and make an immediate impact.” While energy and leadership skills are natural prerequisites, the ideal candidate must also be pursuing a degree from a top-tier college, demonstrate an interest in finance, and be fully proficient in Microsoft Office. Successful interns frequently transition into successful employees, so go brush up on your case studies and get your creative juices flowing.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a consulting superstar?

?What If!

Willy Franzen — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:41:54 +0000

We’ve seen some companies with funky names. Weird made up words. All upper case or lower case. Odd punctuation. And then there’s ?What If!. It kind of looks like someone’s software project gone wrong. It’s definitely not a software project, and I’d say ?What If! is more like a consulting firm gone right. Their business is built on 5 key values: freshness, passion, action, love, and bravery, which sounds a bit different from the values of most companies. The reason that ?What If! deviates from the norms both in name and values is that they’re an innovation company. It’s all about developing new ideas and putting them into action, whether the ideas be products or customer experiences. ?What If! has a long and impressive list of clients, so they’re not just some off the wall company that is all ideas and no action. They’re based in the UK, but they also have offices in New York and Shanghai.

Don’t Leave Yourself Asking ?What If!

Whether it’s innovating to increase the value of research or to help a high-tech business enter the hospitality industry, ?What If! is constantly working on cool projects, and this is obviously reflected in their jobs. ?What If! offers jobs in the UK, Asia, and the US, but we’re only going to focus on their job opportunities in the US today. They have a nice interactive map on their recruitment page, so it’s really easy to view all of their jobs if you’re interested in working abroad. In New York, open positions include Capability Consultant, Innovation Consultant, Creative Coordinators, and Training Consultant. The job descriptions aren’t like most job openings, so it’s hard to get a read on how much experience is really required for each position, but the way that I read the descriptions tells me that the the Creative Coordinator job is most suitable for new grads. Just as the job descriptions are a little different, so is the application process for jobs at ?What If! You can apply from the specific job descriptions, and you’ll get an online application form with questions like “What is the best idea that you’ve ever made happen?” and “If I was on a 12 hour flight with you what would I love about you? And what would irritate me?” You can also apply for an unlisted position, so if you think that you have the talents for innovation consulting but don’t know where you’d fit in, that’s probably the best way to go.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

?What If!

Gravity Tank

Willy Franzen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:14:25 +0000

If you Google “gravity tank,” one result tells you that “A simple, inexpensive gravity tank in a swine manure liquid-solid separation process will help producers control hog odors.” Another says that in a rooftop water gravity tank the gravity pressure is .434 times the height of the bottom of the tank from the fixture in feet. The Gravity Tank that we’re looking for is very different. It’s a Chicago based innovation consulting firm that combines research, strategy, and design to push their clients in new directions. Their staff consists of “anthropologists, former architects, filmmakers, engineers, graphic designers, industrail designers, MBAs, quant researchers, professors, brand strategists, and more.” They’re small, with only 35 employees, but they’ve already some very cool work with some very big names.

Get Pulled In by the Gravity Tank

As Gravity Tank puts it: “Companies call us when they want to enter new markets, reinvigorate existing brands or redefine their customer experience. They don’t want business as usual. They want meaningfully different.” If you have the same feeling about your job searching – wanting “meaningfully different” – then you need to check out Gravity Tank. I’m always fascinated by innovation consulting firms, as they look like some of the coolest places to work in the world. I wish that I could scatter links to Gravity Tank’s site throughout this post to show how cool they are, but their site is entirely Flash based, which means no links. Actually, we can link to some of their job descriptions because they’ve posted them in PDF (and they’re some of the best designed job descriptions that I’ve ever seen). Gravity Tank is currently looking for a Motion Designer and a Receptionist / Event Planner. Both positions have some work experience requirements, but they still look they might be of interest to new and recent grads. Additionally, Gravity Tank is always looking to hear from talented people, so you can reach out to them at career@gravitytank.com. They have a “Meet the Team” link on their About page, which will show you all of the positions that they currently have staffed, so you can use that to be a little more informed if you decide to cold call.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Gravity Tank?

SEOmoz

Willy Franzen — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:46:47 +0000

While I find most of the entry level jobs and companies that I feature here to be interesting, occasionally I come across one that almost makes me want to quit what I’m doing and go work for someone else. There are just some companies and jobs that stand out from the rest. SEOmoz is one of them. They’re a Seattle based search engine optimization company, but they’re more than that. Instead of just taking on consulting work like most SEO companies, they’ve made their name by becoming the place to go for search engine optimization education and tools. I’ve been an on and off member of SEOmoz’s Pro service, and I love it. I’ve learned most of my SEO knowledge from SEOmoz, and SEO has been one of the driving forces behind the growth of One Day, One Job and One Day, One Internship. I’ve even adopted SEOmoz’s business model of offering premium educational content (in the form of a job search training course).

Putting the Search in Job Search

If you don’t know much about SEO, SEOmoz is the place to learn. Their Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization is a great place to start. SEO is a growing field that isn’t being hit nearly as hard by the economic downturn. That’s because SEO is a relatively cheap way (compared to most other forms of marketing) to get people to your website. In fact, there are quite a few people who are making millions of dollars a year just based on their knowledge of SEO. If you don’t know anything about SEO, a job at SEOmoz probably isn’t in the cards for you right now, but I still recommend that you spend a couple of hours checking them out. Knowing a thing or two about how the search engines work can be really useful in nearly any job – or for personal branding during your job search.

If you do have some SEO expertise, then this job at SEOmoz is probably a dream come true. You can find the full description on their SEO Expert Wanted post. The requirements are pretty steep, but there should be quite a few of you who can fit the bill. The vibe that I get from SEOmoz is that they’re an awesome place to work and that they have a lot of fun. I also get a sense that their people develop very rapidly – mostly because working at SEOmoz is full of educational opportunities. I have nothing but good things to say about my experiences with SEOmoz, so check out the full job description and make sure that you read the application instructions carefully. Also, this is the kind of job where there’s a lot of room to make yourself stand out in the application process, so do it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you familiar with SEO? Or is it a completely foreign subject to you?

Epic Systems

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:17:17 +0000

My Dad is an architect, and he often likes to send me suggestions on which companies I should feature next. Sometimes he finds some pretty cool stuff, and a month or so ago he sent me a link to the Winter 2009 online issue of HQ Magazine, which features an article called “Top 20 Places to Work.” Usually such lists focus on a range of reasons for a place’s being great to work at, but HQ is an architectural publication, so this list is all about office space (not the movie). The section of the article on Epic Systems says: “Epic’s campus fits into idyllic pastures and farmland, providing serene, relaxing views from within. Outside are hiking trails, playing fields, a treehouse. Meeting rooms have working fireplaces to further the sense of calmness.” It sounds amazing. Epic systems is a Wisconsin based, privately held, employee owned healthcare software provider.

Epicly Helpful

Epic Systems only has 170 clients, but “they are some of the most respected organizations in healthcare.” Epic’s software apparently makes the patient experience a lot better, but until it makes waiting rooms obsolete, I’m not quite sold. Basically, what Epic’s software does is that it records every touch that a patient has with a healthcare provider. The information is kept securely, but in a way that allows patients to access it when they need it. Epic Systems provides a product that keeps doctors, nurses, and patients fully informed about what’s going on. We all know that the healthcare industry is a mess, but it’s also growing rapidly. Epic Systems seems to be taking advantage of this environment by making a product that makes healthcare better for all parties involved.

Here’s a sample situation from Epic’s website:

Imagine this: you’re from Dallas, but you’re on vacation in Seattle. Shortly after trying some of the free samples at the fish market, you come down with something nasty and end up in the Emergency Room. You can’t remember the names of the medications you’re taking at home, but you mention to the doctor that you’re normally seen at Black Springs Clinic in the Dallas area. The doctor in the ER is able to access your chart from the clinic without the need to place a call or retrieve a fax. Your ER doctor sees not only the specific medications and doses you were last prescribed at home, but also that you’re allergic to Iodine, preventing a potentially severe reaction during your care.

You get back on your feet after a few hours in the ER and are given a couple medications and a recommendation to see your doctor at home once you’re back from vacation. While still in Seattle, you pull out your laptop and are able to send a secure message to your physician in Dallas, letting him know briefly what happened. You also sign up for a follow-up appointment for when you return. When you arrive, your doctor has access to your clinic chart, as well as the information documented during your visit to the ER in Seattle.

Sounds pretty great.

Do Something Epic

Epic may have only made the list of Top Places to Work because of their building, but they look like they belong on any general list of the best places to work. Their Careers site is loaded with information – especially the Life and Work section. We could go on and on about how cool it looks to work at Epic, but you’re better off checking it out on your own (start by taking a tour of their campus). Epic allows you to browse their jobs by both Career Type and Educational Background; however, I prefer to look at their listing of all available positions. The jobs are insanely easy to scan for entry level positions, so there’s no need for me to list them here, and you can apply online. Although they are a software company, they have job openings in areas that include Accounting, Biotechnology, Botany, Consulting, HR, IT, Project Management, Writing, and, of course, Software Development.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Epic’s Campus.

Omniture

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:53:47 +0000

Maybe it’ll sound sad to you, but web analytics are a big part of my life. When your job is running websites, it’s often the best feed back that you can get. I have to admit that it makes me feel better about myself when I get more visitors, more subscribers, and more comments. And I really like it when people sign up to learn more about a job search training course that I’m releasing in the next few days. I’d imagine that employees at large corporations aren’t nearly as emotionally tied to web analytics as I am, but maybe they are – they often hold titles like Web Analytics Manager. While I’m happy with the information that Google Analytics provides me, many companies have much greater needs when it comes to tracking users on their websites. That’s why the big boys like Apple, Adobe, NBC, Chevrolet, Gap, Neiman Marcus, The New York Times, PayPal and Target use Omniture, a Utah based web analytics company. If those names trust Omniture for analytics, then you can be pretty sure that Omniture is the best out there.

Analyze This

If you don’t know a lot about web analytics, then maybe you should. Not only is it going to be essential for many jobs in the future, but it’s also good to know how much websites actually know about you (it’s kind of scary). A company that uses web analytics properly can significantly improve their bottom-line by constantly adjusting to the continuous flow of feedback that they’re getting. Companies can now adjust their marketing and advertising campaigns within the course of a day and know what’s working and what isn’t. In the days before the Internet, adjustments were often made over the course of months or even years. I find web analytics absolutely fascinating, and if you do too, then a career with Omniture might be something worth considering. Job (unless otherwise noted, jobs are located in Orem, UT) at Omniture that appear to be suitable for new college grads include: Search Engine Optimization Consultant, Administrative Assistant, Web Analytics Consultant (Dulles, VA), Business Consultant/Analyst, Software Engineer, Financial Analyst (San Francisco, CA), Accountant, Network Operations Center Technician/Linux Administrator, Optimization Specialist – Client Services, Professional Services Engineer, and Technical Support Consultant. Some of these jobs are listed at multiple levels, so even though the description may look more tailored to a Senior level person, there may be a corresponding Junior position. You can apply for all of these jobs directly from the job descriptions, and you may also want to check out Omniture’s Open Positions to see all of their jobs including International positions. Omniture has a great website (big surprise there), so it shouldn’t be hard for you to find all of the information that you need to make an informed decision about working for them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you fascinated by web analytics?

Agricultural Consulting Services

Willy Franzen — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:52:54 +0000

The economy may suck, but you still need to eat. No matter what you’re eating (unless it’s dirt), it probably came from a farm. That means that farms won’t be going out of business anytime soon. I haven’t deeply investigated how a recession affects the agriculture industry, but it might be an area worth looking into even if you’re not an Aggie. One company that is hiring new grads in the agricultural sector is Rochester, NY based Agricultural Consulting Services. They seem like a relatively small company, and it’s hard to get a lot of details about who they are, but they’re a perfect example of a company that the large majority of job seekers would overlook. They offer a wide range of consulting services to farmers that include farm mapping, soil and plant analysis, fertilizer recommendations, integrated pest management, weed scouting and control, tillage recommendations, manure management, crop residue and cover crop management, laboratory services, environmental services and recommendations, and custom farm management software. I’m sure some of you are BS artists who specialize in “fertilizer recommendations” and “manure management,” but for the most part ACS is looking for new grads who have a background in Agriculture or Engineering.

Down on the Farm

Before I go any further, I have to say that despite the fact that Agricultural Consulting Services’ website has been updated in 2009, it looks like it’s from 1999. The site is pretty ugly, and it doesn’t even have a decent About page to tell the company’s story. We’d love to get a little more background, but we’re not going to hold it against them. Their business is helping farmers grow their businesses, so a flashy website probably isn’t a priority. Still, since there’s not a lot of information available about ACS, you’ll want to do your due diligence and really check them out if you’re interested in either of their two job openings. Their Careers page has postings for Agricultural Engineers and Agricultural Consultants. Both jobs look very interesting, although they both have some pretty specific requirements. If you’re interested in either job, you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to careers@acsoffice.com. They’re located in Rochester, NY, but they apparently work all over the East Coast. That means that there might be some travel involved with these jobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Should we feature more companies like Agricultural Consulting Services?

Jump Associates

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:23:42 +0000

Imagine if you were expected to have your GPA increase 10% every semester. That’s like going from a C average to an A average over the course of 4 years in college. It’s been done, but it’s a rare feat. It’s also an impossible feat to show such continued improvement if you’re starting with a good GPA to begin with. These are the kinds of expectations that businesses constantly face. Not only do they need to deliver stellar performance, but they need to improve upon that performance every quarter. If a business isn’t delivering double (or triple) digit growth, they’re not even worth looking at for most investors. Creating such growth is a huge challenge, whether a business is an early stage startup or a mature firm that has been doing the same thing for decades. Jump Associates is a growth strategy firm that helps business overcome the challenge of constant improvement. That means that they “help courageous leaders create new businesses and reinvent existing ones through a hybrid approach integrating empathy, creativity and strategy.”

Give Your Career a Jump(start)

We first heard about Jump Associates on The Wall Street Journal’s List of Top Small Workplaces for 2008. The article noted that at Jump “every morning, all employees meet for a ’scrum’ — a short get-together where they’re briefed on company news, do yogalike exercises and then play a quick brain-rousing game that forces them to think on their feet.” Jump Associates also has a “no zinger” policy that prohibits saying nasty things about other employees. It sounds like an unbelievably unique workplace, and Jump Associates’ website definitely backs that up. All this positive energy goes towards helping clients accomplish growth by developing 6 channels – New Offerings, New Customers, New Markets, New Ventures, New Directions, and New Capabilities.

Ok, you’re sold. So how do you land a gig at Jump Associates? You have to go through their “Externship Program.” Although the term externship has a lot of meanings, this specific program is for people who have already graduated college and are looking for a permanent, full-time job. The program lasts 4 months, and the intent is that all participants will be taken on permanently. The reason that Jump Associates hires this way is because their culture is so unique, they need to go through a serious feeling out period so that both parties can determine whether the fit is right. Jump Associates goes into great detail about the program on their Careers page, so check that out if you’re interested. This isn’t by definition an entry level hiring program, but it certainly seems entry level friendly. Their major focuses are Social Research, Product Design and Business Strategy, so they want you to have a lot of depth in one of these areas and a strong interest in all three. They’re accepting applications for externships in their San Mateo, CA office now, so you can apply by sending a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and a portfolio/work sample (10 pages or less) to jumpjobs@jumpassociates.com with the subject line “JOB INQUIRY.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you heard anything about Jump Associates?

Ferrazzi Greenlight

Willy Franzen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:46:01 +0000

Over the past month I’ve had at least three people ask me whether I’ve read Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time. Usually that would be enough of a push to get me to order the book from Amazon and give it a quick read, but I haven’t had time to because I’ve been so focused on developing a curriculum that will teach you how to find and land a job. The last person who asked me if I had read Never Eat Alone also suggested that I take a look at Ferrazzi Greenlight, the company started by the book’s author, Keith Ferrazzi. The company focuses on strategic relationship management through consulting, speaking, and professional development services – or as they say it, they share their “passion for infusing relationships with intimacy, accountability, and generosity to achieve the greatest of success.”

Redlight, Greenlight

First of all, if you’re going to consider a job with Ferrazzi Greenlight, you better go read Keith’s book. Applying without having read it would be asking for rejection. Then you should get familiar with what the company does. In terms of Consulting, they focus on Executive Communities, Partnership Roadmaps, Thought Leadership
Sales, High Touch Marketing, Development, and Pinging Response Systems. As for professional development, they specialize in Cultural Alignment Strategies, Peer-to-Peer Accountability Groups, Relationship Management for Sales, ERM for Executives, Silo Busting Strategies, and Team Coaching. Beyond these two main focus areas, they also help companies with Vendor Alignment Strategies, Loyalty Marketing, Ambassador Dinners, Internal Communication Strategy, Brand Strategy, Channel Strategy, Brand Relationship Management, and Product Strategy. That’s a lot of buzzwords, but it all comes down to relationships. Communication and relationships are a key theme throughout what Ferrazzi Greenlight does – it’s also the main theme of their home page.

Basically, Ferrazzi Greenlight does for companies what we hope to do with you when it comes to your job search. We want to enable and empower you to build relationships that will lead to results (getting a job). Ferrazzi Greenlight’s Jobs page doesn’t appear to list specific job openings, but they welcome cold calling. I did a little research and saw that over the past few months they’ve had openings for positions like Webmaster/Social Networking Specialist and Strategy/Marketing Consultant at their office in Los Angeles. I couldn’t find full descriptions for these now filled jobs, but they seemed like they had entry level potential. If Ferrazzi Greenlight sounds like a “professional fit” for you, then send your resume and cover letter to jobs@ferrazzigreenlight.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you read Never Eat Alone?

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Willy Franzen — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:48:43 +0000

We’ll be announcing the winner of the HP Magic Giveaway later today on the blog, so be sure to come back to see who won. Now that the contest is over, I’m digging out from under the the 1,000+ e-mails that I’ve received relating to this contest. I’ve come across a number of requests for me to feature certain companies, so I’m going to oblige our fans and start by focusing on PricewaterhouseCoopers and their entry level jobs today. In case you’re not familiar with PwC, you should know that they “provide industry-focused assurance, tax, and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for clients and their stakeholders.” In other words they work with the biggest companies (seriously) in the world to keep things running smoothly on the back end. In fact, PricewaterhouseCoopers is the third largest privately owned organization in the US, so it makes sense that other large companies trust them. PwC is one of the Big Four (auditors), which means that they’re doing a lot better than the Big Three (auto manufacturers). That doesn’t mean that they’re not feeling the recession, but they still seem to have a very active recruiting presence. For more info on how they’re doing as a company, check out their Global Annual Review for 2008.

PwC Knows How to Tell a Story

One of the cool things about PwC is how important their people are to their bottom line. They have more than 155,000 employees, but it’s not the numbers that makes their people so important. PwC is in the business of offering services, and that means that almost all of their revenue comes directly from labor – not from selling products. This means that instead of investing significant resources into product development, PricewaterhouseCoopers puts it into recruiting. This becomes quite obvious when you take a look at PwC.tv – PwC’s Campus Recruiting Site. PwC doesn’t have the most fascinating story, but they sure know how to tell it.

PwC.tv is unlike any recruiting site that I’ve seen before. It relies almost entirely on video to present PwC’s recruiting message. It might be too much (especially the music when you land on the site), but you have to love the effort. PwC.tv is broken up into 4 channels – Stories, features, and profiles; Surveillance cam: A look inside; Learning annex: Covering current business issues; and Corporate Responsibility. It flows well, but I’d love to see them offer a much more basic introduction. Most students who end up working for PwC are probably already familiar with them (it’s the nature of recruiting in the industry), but I still think that an intro video would be a nice segue into these high information videos.

Much of the information that would be appropriate for an intro can be found in PwC 411, which is a glorified About page for Campus Recruiting. It lays out everything that you could ever want to know about working at PwC, and it’s exactly what we think every Corporate Careers site should have. So what about the jobs? You’re not going to get specific job listings like you do on most sites, because that’s now how PwC recruits. Unlike Ernst & Young, who doesn’t allow online applications, PwC does take online applications. PwC’s entry level jobs are in Assurance, Tax, or Advisory, so you pick your area of interest and go through their web based application process. The other option is to go through campus recruiting, which is probably easily accessible because they visit so many campuses. PwC has locations all over the world, so they’ll find the right job and location for you in their selection process.

There’s a ton more info about PwC on their site, but we have limited space, so we’re going to leave the rest of the research up to you. Since PwC is so huge, we’ve only focused on their US based campus recruiting site, but if you want to check out other types of opportunities in other locations, you can start at their main Careers site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about entry level jobs at PwC?

The Lucas Group

Willy Franzen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:43:09 +0000

A couple of days ago a friend from high school e-mailed me to tell me that he loved the direction that the site is going and that I should consider featuring his employer, The Lucas Group. I did a quick Google search, found a recruiting firm that didn’t look all that interesting for the entry level crowd, and kind of ignored it. I didn’t think that I remembered my friend’s going into recruiting, but I shrugged it off. Then he replied to my reply to his e-mail and noted that I shouldn’t confuse his employer with the recruiting firm, so I took another look. The Lucas Group is a Boston based boutique strategy consulting firm that works primarily with private equity investors, corporate executives and their teams, and public sector agencies. That certainly caught my interest, because I know that consulting and private equity are two words that give Business majors (and others) butterflies in their stomachs.

Consulting Not Recruiting

The Lucas Group’s website doesn’t have a whole lot going on, but it does go into some detail about what they do in each area of expertise – Private Equity Services, Corporate Strategy Consulting, and Government Solutions. It’s hard to get a sense of the actual details of what The Lucas Group does on a day to day basis, but that’s typical for consulting firms. They can’t brag about their projects and client lists like PR firms and ad agencies can. They can only use generalities to say why they stand out from other consulting firms. It makes it hard for you as a job seeker to research them, but their potential clients are well aware of who they are and what they are capable of doing.

Jobs in consulting and private equity not only are in high demand, but candidates for these jobs are also in high supply. With so many investment banks going out of business, cutting jobs, and reducing hiring, many soon to be grads who were looking for jobs on Wall Street are now looking towards consulting. The Lucas Group still appears to be hiring, as they’ve posted that they’re actively recruiting undergraduates for their Associate Consultant position. They have a detailed description of what the job entails, and it looks like a great opportunity for students who want to go into consulting. They say that they are looking for both BAs and BSs, so don’t be afraid to apply just because your major isn’t Business or Finance, although that would probably help your case. You can apply for a job with The Lucas Group in Boston through their online application form or by sending a cover letter, resume, and transcript to careers@lucasgroupinc.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about The Lucas Group? (Not the recruiting firm!)

HubSpot

Willy Franzen — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:59:38 +0000

Beyond writing about a new company and its entry level jobs every day, there’s a lot of behind the scenes work that I have to do to continue One Day, One Job’s growth. A huge portion of that work falls under the categories of internet marketing and search engine optimization. Maybe I’m biased because I’m doing the stuff every day, but I think that being able to understand and implement internet marketing concepts will be essential in many of the career paths that today’s new college grads take. If you want to set yourself up with the internet marketing skills that aren’t being taught in most undergraduate curriculums, you should consider a first job at a place like HubSpot, a Cambridge, MA based internet marketing startup.

What’s a HubSpot

HubSpot is all about helping businesses with inbound marketing to generate sales. Let’s use One Day, One Job as an example, even though HubSpot is a bit out of our price range at the time (we almost won a free membership in a contest, but it fell through at the last minute). HubSpot offers web based applications in addition to consulting services that could help us bring more job seekers to our site. Beyond that, they’d also help us specifically target employers who are seeking out recruitment advertising opportunities or entry level and online recruitment consulting services. They’d use tools that they’ve created to analyze what we’re doing, how well it’s working, and what we can do better. It’s a pretty cool concept, and they seem to be having a lot of success with it. Put simply, HubSpot uses their internet marketing expertise to make small businesses “hubs” for incoming sales leads.

A Hub for Your Career

HubSpot recently landed an additional $12 million in VC funding to bring their total funding to $17 million. What do companies do with huge investments like that? They usually hire people, and that’s what HubSpot is doing. Their Jobs page currently has a number of great looking opportunities that seem like they might be good fits for new college grads. Each of the positions that they’re hiring for requires a certain level of experience and familiarity with relevant subject matter, but for the most part we don’t see it as something that you couldn’t have learned from school, internships, or spending many hours (productively) online. If you don’t quite have the skills to land a job at HubSpot yet, there’s still time to learn. A great place to start is HubSpot’s blog.

The jobs that we think are most likely to be suited to new grads are Support Engineer, Account Executive, Developer/Hacker, Marketing Maven, and Internet Marketing Consultant. Some of these jobs are probably reaches for even the brightest new grads, but it’s worth trying. HubSpot is a rapidly growing company that looks like a lot of fun. To apply for a job send a cover letter and resume to careers@hubspot.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about HubSpot? Leave a comment.

AnswerLab

Willy Franzen — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:00:33 +0000

What happens when you cross a traditional consulting firm with the feel of a web startup? You get AnswerLab. Studying consumer behavior is essential to increasing profitability when you’re in the business of selling products. For years there have been consultancies that have focused on how shoppers act in supermarkets or department stores, but analyzing online behavior is a completely different ball game. AnswerLab is a company of experts who “develop customized research studies that uncover key findings about our clients’ web presence through several methods including online user experience evaluations, in-person usability sessions, surveys and traffic analysis.” Their knowledge base is completely different from what you’ll find at most consulting firms, and that must be why they have such an impressive client list. When a user experience consulting firm can boast having been hired by Yahoo!, eBay, and LinkedIn, you know that they’re good. When you can add Pizza Hut, FedEx, and Honda to that list, you know that they’re one of the best.

Do You Have the Answers?

It’s hard to explain exactly the kind of work that AnswerLab does without getting into a lot of user experience terminology, so we’re going to refer you to AnswerLab’s Case Studies for a more in-depth look at what their work is all about. One thing that AnswerLab seems to have in common with traditional consultancies is their entry level recruiting philosophy. They know that they have great methods, so they’re looking for the most talented people that they can find. This becomes pretty obvious when you read the job description for their entry level position, Associate Consultant (Quantitative), Online Customer Experience and Market Research. They want to hire someone with amazing quantitative skills and the ability to learn quickly – they don’t need someone with experience in user experience research (although it’s certainly desirable). AnswerLab is based in San Francisco, CA, and boasts a fun and relaxed atmosphere akin to those that you might find at a more mature web startup. You can apply for a job at AnswerLab by sending a cover letter and resume to careers@answerlab.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

The Bridgespan Group

Willy Franzen — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:39:13 +0000

There certainly is a lively discussion going in the comments section of our post about jobs at Bridgewater Associates, but today we’re talking about the The Bridgespan Group. They may have similar names, but they are very different organizations. Bridgewater Associates is a hedge fund, while the Bridgespan Group is a non-profit organization that helps other non-profits by “bringing leading-edge strategies and tools to the challenges and opportunities facing” them. In other words, they’re consultants. Bridgespan was an outgrowth of Bain & Company, one of those consulting firms that seems to persist despite the fact that nobody ever seems to get jobs there. Bain and Bridgespan continue to have a strong financial and working relationship; in fact, 15% of Bridgespan’s staff are Bain employees on six to twelve month assignments. Beyond sharing people, Bain also shares its vast consulting resources with Bridgespan’s consultants.

A Non-Profit to Help Non-Profits

The Bridgespan Group has three main areas of business: strategy consulting, knowledge sharing, and Bridgestar (which focuses on helping non-profits attract top-level managers and leaders). The list of non-profit clients that they’ve worked with is both lengthy and impressive. They seem to be held in the same regard as the firm from which they were born, Bain. That reputation doesn’t just extend to their clients, it’s also acknowledged by people who want to work for Bridgespan. From what we hear, the recruiting process is extremely competitive because the jobs are considered to be on the same level as those at a prestigious for-profit consulting firm. All entry level hires at the Bridgespan Group come in as Associate Consultants. These jobs are intended specifically for new college graduates, so keep an eye on campus recruiting events to see if Bridgespan is making a stop on your campus. The resume deadline is October 10, and you can apply online through Bridgespan’s Online Application system. Before you do that, you should probably check out Bridgespan’s Sample Case Study and their Recruiting FAQ. You should also freel free to contact recruiting@bridgespan.org if you have any questions. They have offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Any experiences with The Bridgespan Group? Leave a comment.

Fuse Marketing

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:55 +0000

Hopefully college hasn’t drained you of your youth, because its going to be one of your strongest assets if you want to apply for an entry level jobs with today’s company. Fuse Marketing is a youth marketing agency that focuses on offering Consulting, Event Marketing, Communications, and Creative services. They work to “connect brands with youth through sports, music, fashion and other relevant youth cultural interests.” They’ve worked with Eastern Mountain Sports to build a more youthful customer base and with the Association of Surfing Professionals to increase awareness of its World Championship Tour. These are just a couple of examples of how major brands trust Fuse Marketing to reach young people.

Light Your Fuse

If you want to work for a company where your lack of experience is an asset and your youthful ignorance is worth something, then Fuse Marketing is a company that you need to look at. Their general focus is on youth marketing, but they get more specific than that. Fuse helps companies with sports, music, fashion, buzz, viral, lifestyle, entertainment, ethnic, and college marketing. Within each of these categories they have expertise on targeting tweens, teens, Gen Y, and Gen X. Their site is loaded with case studies based on their Consulting, Event Marketing, Communications, and Creative practices. A quick look at those will give you a more detailed look of exactly what kind of work Fuse does.

Fuse Marketing doesn’t currently have any job listings that are specifically suited to new college grads, but you have to think that they love hiring at the entry level. There is a Brand Consulting Group Account Manager that requires 2 years of experience that might be within reach, but even that’s a stretch. There are 60 Brand Ambassador jobs for students on specific campuses, but these are contract jobs, not full-time. They are paid, and they might be a great way to build up a relationship with Fuse Marketing during your Senior year to make way for a full-time job after graduation.

The good news is that Fuse Marketing accepts applications for unlisted positions. That means that you can send them your resume, and they’ll let you know if they have something that will be a good fit for you. You might even be able to convince them to create a new position for you if you’re impressive enough. Fuse Marketing is headquartered in Burlington, VT, but they also have an office in New York City. You’re not going to find a better company to cold call, so get to it and show them why you’re going to be a youth marketing superstar.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Fuse Marketing’s case studies do you find most interesting?

Kurt Salmon Associates

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:25:03 +0000

Consulting jobs are hot for new college grads, even though a lot of people ask, “What could a new grad possibly consult on?” The truth is that consulting firms love fresh talent. They pick the best and the brightest and put them to work on teams with experienced pros to solve problems that other companies are struggling with. If you’re thinking about a job in consulting, you might as well aim for the one of the best. Kurt Salmon Associates is a consulting firm that focuses on Consumer Products and Retail (Supply Chain and Growth and Profitability) and Health Care consulting. They’ve been named a Top 10 Best Firm to Work For by Consulting Magazine for six years in a row, so you know that they’ll take good care of you – if you can land a job with them.

The Myth of the Two-Headed Salmon

Kurt Salmon Associates seems to keep their two businesses separate, which can be a bit confusing for college students who are considering working for them. They have parallel websites for their Consumer Products & Retail Consulting and Health Care Consulting; however, they do have a main Careers site which is shared by both. The shared Careers site mentions the typical career path at Kurt Salmon (Consultant –> Senior Consultant –> Manager –> Senior Manager –> Principal) and how “KSA is Keen on Green,” and then it directs visitors to the parallel Careers sections for their two businesses. Although the two separate businesses have many similarities, you want to make sure that you’re reading the site when you’re researching KSA’s job opportunities.

The Retail and Consumer Products side of Kurt Salmon Associates seems to be bigger than the Health Care side. The former has locations in Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Princeton, NJ; San Francisco, CA; Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan; Altrincham, UK; Amsterdam, NL ; Düsseldorf, Germany; London, UK; and Paris, France; whereas, the Health Care business only has locations in Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; and San Bruno, CA. If you want to learn more specifics about each of the businesses, you should check out their individual sites – Consumer Products & Retail Consulting and Health Care Consulting.

Landing an Entry Level Job with Kurt Salmon Associates

Kurt Salmon Associates provides much more information about Retail and Consumer Products Consulting Careers than they do about their Health Care Consulting Careers. There isn’t much mention of college recruiting on the Health Care site, so if that’s what you’re interested, you should look at their specific job opportunities and consider applying. If you’re interested in a Retail and Consumer Products job, then you’ll have a lot more to look at. They actively recruit at target schools which include Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Geogia Tech, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Emory, Stanford, Penn State, and New York University (you can find this on their Campus Recruiting page), but they also accept applicants from other schools. To learn more, you may want to look at their brochure, their sample Case Interview, and their consultant profiles. If you’ve already graduated, you can look at KSA’s current opportunities, otherwise you can use KSA’s general application form.

As you can tell, navigating KSA’s web site can be a little bit confusing. If you follow our lead, you should be able to find all the information that you need about getting a job as an entry level consultant with Kurt Salmon Associates.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Mzinga

Willy Franzen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:00:36 +0000

Last week we told you about Converseon’s entry-level jobs as we discussed how important conversations are to online marketing. Today we’re going to talk about a company called Mzinga that focuses on the social media and Web 2.0 communities where online conversations are happening. They realize that the Internet is becoming the primary place where businesses interact with employees, customers, and partner, and that’s why Mzinga tailors their solutions to these communications. Their client list includes names like ABC, AOL, ESPN, CBS.com, iVillage, Chevron Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, Inc., Mercer, Prudential Financial, Deutsche Post World Net, the United Nations Development Programme, and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, so they must know what they’re talking about. The name Mzinga comes from the Swahili word for “beehive,” which has long been used as a symbol of industry, teamwork, perseverance, and community. Sounds like a good choice of a name.

Join the Beehive

If you’re still not fully grasping what Mzinga is all about, watch this video from Harvard Business Publishing with Rusty Williams, a Senior Vice President at Mzinga.

Now that you understand the power of community and how Mzinga is helping major businesses manage their communities, let’s take a look at what kind of entry-level job opportunities are available at Mzinga. There are currently 6 jobs listed on Mzinga’s Jobs page, and 5 of them look like they may be good fits for new college grads depending on experience. They are Community Manager, Community Consultant, Solutions Architect, Software Developer, and Java Software Engineer. Each job has a detailed description, so you should get a good idea of what Mzinga is looking for when hiring. We’d imagine that a company that is all about community is a fun place to work, and they’re located in Burlington, MA which is convenient from Boston – certainly an area that is friendly to new college grads. If you’re interested in applying for a job at Mzinga, send a cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to Careers@mzinga.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We’d love to build a stronger community here on One Day, One Job. How could we do that in a way that would be valuable to you as a job searcher? Please share your thoughts in the comments, and after you do, check out Alcoa’s entry-level jobs.

Exponent

Willy Franzen — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:00:28 +0000

Imagine getting a job as a MythBuster, except instead of debunking urban legend, you’re investigating real life problems that plague businesses and sometimes hurt people. That’s what you could be doing at Exponent. Founded in 1967 by five Ph.D.-level researchers, Exponent was originally known as Failure Analysis Associates. They started out in the energy industry studying stress and fracture mechanics, but very quickly they were “investigating and analyzing accidents and failures of all kinds.” They eventually became The Failure Group, and were listed on the NASDAQ with the ticker FAIL. In 1998 they realized that they had outgrown their name, and changed again to Exponent, because it means “one who expounds or interprets.” We don’t usually get so deep into how a company chooses it’s name, but with the popularity of the FAIL meme (see also: FAIL Blog), we thought that you might be amused.

Failures Need Not Apply

Despite their fascination with failure, Exponent has a staff of nearly 800 people with backgrounds in over 90 scientific and engineering disciplines. In other words, people who work at Exponent deal with failure often, but they try to keep it at an arm’s length. Are you still not sure what we mean by failure? Here are some examples of projects that Exponent has worked on: investigating defects in automatic revolving doors; determining the path and altitude of Delta flight 191 which crashed and killed 134 people; recreation of the accident that killed James Dean for an NBC series, and testing the Suzuki Samurai for rollover vulnerabilities. There are many more projects that Exponent has worked on, and you can view multimedia presentations on many of them in the Exponent Multimedia Archive. We could keep writing about Exponent’s work for hours – it’s that interesting – but they have a plethora of entry-level job opportunities that we need to talk about.

Entry-Level Jobs to the Xth Power

Exponent’s web site is about as entry-level friendly as we’ve seen, although they could do a better job of making sure that new college grads can navigate to the right jobs. When you visit Exponent’s Careers Page, you’ll notice that they’ve prominently linked to their University Recruiting page. Their approach to University Recruiting on the web is really cool, but it’s not intuitive. There’s a text box that allows you to enter in your school name to search for current alumni from your school and to learn about upcoming recruiting events on your campus. There’s also a list of the 20 schools from which they employ the most alums. For instance, take a look at Cornell’s page (I’m not biased or anything – GO BIG RED!). It’s a really cool way to engage students, but it only works if the students go to a school that Exponent has a page for. A lot of students probably end up on the University Recruiting page and don’t know what to do next.

This is where a little searching helps. If you visit Exponent’s How to Apply page, you’ll see information for entry-level candidates. Here they direct you to contact their College Recruiter, Jenny Irwin, at jirwin@exponent.com or to take a look at their entry-level job listings (these are opportunities specifically for new grads). Here you’ll find a ton of fascinating jobs in a variety of locations. We will warn you, however, that seemingly all of the entry-level jobs currently listed with Exponent require some sort of advanced degree (MS or PhD). Since so many Engineers seem to stick around and get a Masters, we thought it would still be appropriate to feature Exponent’s jobs today.

Some of the most recent listings on Exponent’s site include Engineers, Vehicle Engineering (Menlo Park, CA and Natick, MA); Scientists, Public Health & Industrial (Menlo Park, CA; Bellevue, WA; Wood Dale, IL; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Oakland, CA; Irvine, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Alexandria, VA; and Washington, DC); and Engineers, Technology Development (Menlo Park, CA; San Diego, CA; and Washington, DC). There are many more opportunities listed on their site, and you can apply online through their applicant tracking system. If you want to work for Exponent but are just finishing up undergrad, then you better start thinking about graduate school.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you feel like your entry-level job search is a failure of such grand proportion that Exponent may have to investigate what happened? Subscribe to One Day, One Job (it’s free), and make sure that doesn’t happen.

Laserfiche

Willy Franzen — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:33:24 +0000

Imagine that instead of graduating in 2008, you graduated in 1978. You’re a paralegal, and you’re working on a major litigation for a Japanese auto manufacturer. You are responsible for organizing thousands of pages of documents by keyword so that the lawyers will be able to quickly find relevant depositions. Doesn’t sound like very much fun, does it? Not too long ago this was a reality, and although we’re now mostly blind to the wonders of search, Laserfiche offered a revolutionary product in 1987 when they offered the first DOS-based document imaging system. Now paralegals could just scan these documents, and software would automatically index every single word. This may have been bad for paralegals (software replacing humans), but it was good for anyone who might consider working for Laserfiche. Although it may seem that companies could easily manage their documents now that most things have gone digital, they can’t. That’s why Laserfiche is still kicking around, helping organization manage information.

Microfiche + Lasers = Laserfiche

It’s hard to believe that paper documents still exist, but they are all over the place; in fact, some companies are still adding to their paper files. That means Laserfiche has plenty of opportunities to keep growing, but just in case it ever happens that every important file is finally in an electronic database, Laserfiche has broadened its capabilities. They provide services and software to help companies manage information. It may be hard to understand how difficult it is for a large organization to manage all of its information when you can do so easily on your own computer, but it becomes a major problem. We don’t fully understand how Laserfiche solves the problems (that’s why we’re not in the information management business), but we can see why they need to hire so many new people. It’s important stuff! Their clients include “local, state, and federal agencies; financial services firms; healthcare organizations; educational institutions; and other public and private sector organizations.” Next time you got to Town Hall and fill out a paper application for some permit, it might be Laserfiche’s software that ensures that your permit can be brought up on a computer in a different office.

Laserfiche Isn’t Just About Software

Despite the fact that what Laserfiche does is kind of techie, they offer a number of jobs that are suitable for people with a non-Engineering background (although Engineers will have plenty of options too). Here’s a quote from Laserfiche’s Campus Recruiting page:

Laserfiche is a great place to start your career. Don’t know what your interests are yet? Interested in everything? We allow you to easily move between project groups to work with a variety of new technologies, collaborate in small groups with your co-workers, and gain experience quickly. After a few years, engineers often will have worked on multiple product lines, exposing them to a variety of tools and emerging technologies

Almost all of Laserfiche’s Available Jobs appear to be geared towards new college grads. It is rare that you see entry-level jobs dominating a companies openings, but we can only see it as a good thing. You’ll see that the first 2 jobs are located in Shanghai, but the rest are out of Laserfiche’s headquarters in Long Beach, CA.

The job descriptions on most of these jobs are solid. They’re very clear about what kind of skills you’ll need to succeed in the job and what you’ll be doing once you’re in the job.

Judging from its website, Laserfiche looks like a fun place to work for new college grads. Be sure to take a look at profiles of new grads who are working at Laserfiche, Laserfiche’s benefits and culture, and the video and pictures on Laserfiche’s About page to get a better sense of what the work experience should be like.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Aren’t you glad that you can work for Laserfiche instead of poring over paper documents for weeks at a time?