by Willy Franzen on October 22, 2009
One of my goals with One Day, One Job is to get more interactive. I’d like to get more feedback from you, the readers, on what you want to see, and I’d also like to use the collective wisdom of thousands of college aged job seekers to develop better content. The best way to do that is through reader surveys, which is why I recently signed up with SurveyMonkey. They’re a Menlo Park, CA (formerly Portland, OR) based “startup” that has been helping people run online surveys for the last decade. While most Internet companies that started in 1999 have since flamed out and most companies started in the 2000s have relied on flashiness to bring in venture capital money, Survey Monkey and its outdated look have been laughing all the way to the bank. By providing a dead simple way for business owners (they’ve worked with more than 80% of the Fortune 100) to collect data, SuveyMonkey has built an insanely successful business.
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by Willy Franzen on August 19, 2009
I’ve never really understood the idea of the “Summer Blockbuster.” Why would you want to sit inside and watch a movie when it’s nice and hot outside? I guess sometimes it gets too hot, and sometimes it rains, but I’d rather be outside. If you disagree with me, then you’re probably a big fan of Culver City, CA’s Sony Pictures. They’re in the business of producing, marketing, and distributing entertainment, and you’re probably familiar with some of their recent an upcoming releases like: Julie and Julia, Angels & Demons, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. They’re also responsible for Seinfeld. Since I’m not much of a movie buff, I don’t know if anyone actually cares what production house puts out a movie, but I do know that Sony Pictures’ end products seem to pretty darn good—they even made my favorite movie (about the outdoors, obviously), A River Runs Through It.
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entry-level jobs,
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media,
movies
by Willy Franzen on July 26, 2009
I doubt many of you would disagree with the assertion that the “mainstream media” has some major issues that need to be worked out. Take the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. Yes, he was a great entertainer. Yes, the way that he lived his life was totally perplexing. Yes, people are fascinated by him. But did we really need all that coverage? It’s just one example of how our media is failing us, but I’m sure that Free Press would be willing to give you many more examples. They are a non-profit, “national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media through education, organizing and advocacy.” Free Press advocates “independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications,” and they do this through a number of campaigns: Save the Internet, Stop Big Media, No Fake News, Local Radio Now, Stamp Out Postal Rate Hikes, Save Our Spectrum, Community Internet, Public Broadcasting, Pentagon Propaganda, White Spaces, and Rate the Debates. They’re based in both Washington, DC and Florence, MA, and they’ve been working since 2002 to fix what they call a failing media system.
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by Willy Franzen on July 20, 2009
Buying a product online is easy when you know which specific brand and model you want, but finding the microwave with the largest capacity or an LCD TV that swivels isn’t always so easy. There’s so much information out there on products, that finding specific details that are important to you (but not everyone else) can be frustrating. Wize is a San Mateo, CA based startup that is trying to make online comparison shopping more intelligent. If you’re buying on price, you already have plenty of product search engines that will make your decision easy for you, but who’s going to tell you which washing machine is most water efficient? That’s what Wize is all about. They’re scouring the Internet for all of the information that is buried in reviews and making it easily searchable so that you can choose the right product for you. It’s still in its early stages, but it seems like a pretty cool approach to e-commerce.
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by Willy Franzen on May 31, 2009
For most of the jobs that we feature here, safety isn’t much of an issue. You may be concerned about job security given the current economic conditions, but not many of the jobs that we cover will put you in harms way—at least as long as you don’t tip back too far in your desk chair. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of dangerous jobs out there, and many of them are in the construction industry. It’s doubtful that the business of building things will ever be completely safe as long as humans are doing it, but CPWR is doing its best to improve safety in the construction industry. Their acronym used to stand for The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, but now it seems that their full name is The Center for Construction Research and Training. They are a Silver Spring, Maryland based non-profit organization (despite their .com web address) that was created by the AFL-CIO in 1990, and they’ve become “an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry.”
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Maryland,
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by Willy Franzen on May 21, 2009
As you may or may not know, I’m an Apple guy; in fact, I’ve been an Apple guy for close to 20 years (I’m 24). I’ve watched the Microsoft vs. Apple rivalry unfold over the years, and even though the rivalry isn’t nearly as bitter as it used to be, I still enjoy taking jabs at Microsoft whenever I get a chance. You can call it a character flaw if you want. Anyway, the reason that I bring this up is that over the years, Microsoft has enabled a cottage industry (and by cottage I mean insanely huge) for people and companies who fix their products. The antivirus industry alone is worth billions of dollars, and that’s just one example. That’s where Clearwater, FL based Sunbelt Software comes in. They’re an antivirus software company that has Microsoft to thank for much of their success. They’ve been around since 1994 and they’re a member of the Inc. 5000. Seriously, they need to send Microsoft some sort of thank you gift.
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Florida,
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by Willy Franzen on May 20, 2009
Have you always wanted to be a secret agent? Well here’s a mission, if you choose to accept it: try to land a job with New York City based kgb. No, I’m not talking about Russia’s version of the CIA. I’m talking about “the world’s largest independent provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services.” Formerly known as INFONXX, kgb is in the business of making information easily available. If you’ve seen their commercials, then you’re probably most familiar with their “Ask Us Anything” service. I personally think it’s for lazy people, but that’s because I’m a huge advocate for developing your own research skills. If getting the answer to your question is worth 50 cents, then that’s cool, but I’m gonna Google it myself. The good news is that kgb’s business goes well beyond charging lazy people who need their stupid questions answered.
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Texas,
user experience,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 19, 2009
If you’re an Internet geek like me, then you’ve probably noticed all of the buzz around Wolfram|Alpha. Some have dubbed it a “Google killer,” but as far as I can tell, they’re way off the mark. They’re wrong because Wolfram|Alpha isn’t a search engine – it’s a knowledge engine. The goal is “to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone.” The concept is kind of hard to grasp until you try it, but once you see how it works, I think that you’ll be impressed. So, who is behind Wolfram|Alpha? Wolfram, of course! They’re based in Champaign, IL, and they’re “one of the world’s most respected software companies–as well as a powerhouse of scientific and technical innovation.” They’re the company behind Mathematica – a software package that excels in ” computation, modeling, simulation, visualization, development, documentation, and deployment.” I’ve never had the pleasure of using it, but I know math teachers who think it’s pretty awesome.
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Japan,
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math,
project management,
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quality engineer,
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sales,
science,
software development,
statistics,
United Kingdom,
user experience,
writing
by Willy Franzen on April 23, 2009
I hate to do this to you, but today is going to be the third California based company in a row (this one’s in Torrance). There seem to be a lot of jobs out there, so if you want to live efficiently, maybe you should move out there… or you could just furnish your home with things from simplehuman. They “design housewares to make you more efficient at home — from a spoon rest on a utensil holder to a pedal that’ll outlast 50,000 steps, or a paper towel holder that won’t unravel and a dishrack that drains in different directions.” It’s all about wowing people with the mundane. Do you know anyone who loves his or her garbage can? Probably not, but simplehuman aims to change that. (In my college days the most efficient garbage can was the biggest one for two reasons, it had to be emptied the fewest times and you could toss things in from extremely far away.) Now, “efficient living” may have a different meaning to a college student, but simplehuman brings some class to that sense of efficiency. You’ll appreciate it once you get you’re out on your own and begin your journey towards yuppie-hood.
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by Willy Franzen on March 21, 2009
No matter what you’re doing, finding out what works and what doesn’t is the key to success. It may sound overly simple, but it’s amazing how many people, companies, and organizations keep doing things that don’t work based on thoughts and feelings. Hard, scientific research is often the only real way to figure out what works. Unfortunately, science and non-profits often don’t mix (remember how much trouble I had finding a math-related non-profit last week). One exception is MDRC, an organization that “is best known for mounting large-scale evaluations of real-world policies and programs targeted to low-income people.” They’re at the forefront of the science of doing good, and “over the years, MDRC has brought its unique approach to an ever-growing range of policy areas and target populations.”
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by Willy Franzen on March 20, 2009
Every 10 years our country does a census to collect demographic data about our populous to drive public policy decisions. It’s an extremely big deal, and it temporarily creates 1.4 million jobs (according to government figures). But those aren’t typically the types of jobs that we talk about here, at least not the ones that send you door to door asking how many people live at a given residence. Luckily, the U.S. Census Bureau does a lot more than its once every ten years nationwide census. They are “the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and economy,” so you’d be amazed by all of the things that they track. For instance, much of the economic data that you have been hearing about in the news lately – as in “Stocks plunge on weakened Monthly Retail Sales” – comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. If you’re fascinated by data or just love counting things, there aren’t many places that offer a more interesting work experience that the Census Bureau.
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by Willy Franzen on February 24, 2009
As far as I can tell, now is not a good time to be in Advertising. When the economy slows down, ad sales usually take a hit. I know that first hand, which is why we’ve moved towards offering useful products – like job seeker training – instead of selling ads to employers (remember: all of our daily posts are editorial). With that said, online advertising is still the future, and with the struggles that many publishers are facing, now is a perfect time for innovation. That’s what Rubicon Project is all about. They’re a Los Angeles, CA based startup that is “on a mission to automate the $65 billion global online advertising industry.” This means optimizing unfilled ad space through software. With 300+ ad networks to choose from, publishers just can’t possibly evaluate every ad network’s offers on their own. Rubicon Project can – in a matter of seconds – and then server the most profitable ad immediately.
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by Willy Franzen on February 5, 2009
Since we’ve already covered Gawker Media on One Day, One Internship, we’re going to recycle some of that post for today’s post. Unfortunately, some of the information has changed because Gawker’s owner, Nick Denton, is full of doom and gloom and has made some serious changes to his company. In case you’re not familiar with Gawker, it’s a network of 12 10 blogs that consists of Defamer (L.A. Gossip), io9 (Science Fiction), Valleywag (Silicon Valley Gossip), Deadspin (Sports), Jezebel (Celebrity, Sex, Fashion), The Consumerist (Consumer’s Rights) (sold off to Consumer Reports), Jalopnik (Cars), Gawker (Manhattan Gossip), Kotaku (Video Games), Lifehacker (Productivity), Gizmodo (Gadgets), Fleshbot (Adult, no link – you can find that one on your own) (also sold off). It’s an impressive network of sites, some trashy, and some insanely useful. Gawker Media’s network has been identified as being the most valuable blog with some estimates of a $150 million valuation. Still Denton has been so concerned with the economy that he has been cutting blogs that aren’t profitable and laying off staff. Maybe his tune has finally changed, because it looks like Gawker is hiring again.
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by Willy Franzen on January 9, 2009
Although we now know that the premise behind alchemy (turning common metals into precious metals like gold or silver) is impossible, the scientific endeavors of alchemists from centuries past are responsible for much of our understanding of inorganic chemistry today. Adchemy is a Redwood City, CA based startup that has taken a page out of the alchemists’ books. They think that with a lot of scientific research, they can turn online advertising into gold. Some may say that Google has already done that, but Adchemy wants to do it better. They say that they’re “the first company to truly combine data on the Web with advanced scientific algorithms to give marketers powerful products designed to increase qualified users and reduce acquisition costs.” It’s hard to say whether their research has generated any gold yet, but their potential certainly has – they’ve raised $27 million in venture capital funding. Hopefully there’s more to Adchemy than that, which is why we think that you might want to check out their jobs.
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by Willy Franzen on December 18, 2008
I’m not quite overloaded yet, but I’m getting to the point where I have too many ways that people can communicate with me. Everything important flows through e-mail, but with notifications from LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and many more, it’s a lot to manage. I haven’t bitten the bullet and joined Plaxo yet, but it looks like a pretty cool way to manage contacts and centralize all of my online social accounts. Not only can you link accounts from all over and access them all through Plaxo Pulse, but you can also integrate all of this information with your address book and calendar. It’s a pretty cool implementation of technology, which is why Plaxo might be a startup that you want to consider working for. Even if you don’t consider working for Plaxo, you may want to consider signing up to use their (free) product to manage your contacts for networking purposes.
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by Willy Franzen on November 24, 2008
I don’t recall having any friends in college who sent out their own holiday cards, but if you’re planning on sending out cards, you better get on it. Christmas is 31 days away. My family always tried to send out Christmas cards, but it usually resulted in a fight between my sister and me over which picture to use – if we could even get along long enough for a picture to be taken (yes, we were both in college at this point). With my sister’s and my being difficult and my mom’s procrastinating ability, Christmas cards almost inevitably became New Year’s cards, which typically arrived well after New Year’s. I’m not sure that Mountain View, CA based Tiny Prints could have helped with conflict resolution between my sister and me, but they can make it ridiculously easy to produce a beautiful holiday card.
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web development
by Willy Franzen on November 8, 2008
When you hear “pew,” you usually expect something to stink. That’s not the case with the Pew Research Center, which is a non-profit “fact tank” (not thinktank) that provides nonpartisan “information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.” If you know anything about thinktanks, you may be rolling your eyes at the word nonpartisan, but it’s true. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Still skeptical? Read their Code of Ethics. They’re all about the numbers, and they don’t care so much about making sure the numbers say what they want them to. The Pew Research Center has seven ongoing projects that focus on some fascinating subject matter. They are: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, Project for Excellence in Journalism, Pew Internet & American Life Project, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Pew Hispanic Center, Pew Global Attitudes Project, and Social & Demographic Trends. If you’re still not straight on what Pew Research Center is all about, take a look at their home page – PewResearch.org – it’s full of the kind of information that the Center compiles.
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by Willy Franzen on August 31, 2008
I bet that you have some friends whom you can listen to for hours – friends who can straight up tell a story. Whenever they speak, people listen. I bet that you also have friends (or quite possibly had professors) who can make any story boring, no matter how good the facts of the story actually are. Storytelling is an art, but it’s also a skill that can be learned. It’s essential to making friends, getting jobs, and persuading people. Everybody loves a good storyteller, and that’s why StoryCorps, an independent non-profit, is focused on honoring and celebrating people’s lives through listening. Here’s the story on StoryCorps and their entry-level job opportunities.
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by Willy Franzen on February 10, 2008
Statistics in college is painful. It’s dry. It’s long. It pretty much sucks. Because of our high sample size, we can say that, with a high p-value, about most college stats courses. It’s really a shame, because statistical literacy is one of the most useful things you can pick up in your undergraduate years. It’ll change the way you think about politics and sports. It’ll change the way you read a newspaper. It will even make you question whether the prescription that your campus health clinic gave you is worth filling. By the way, when will they learn their statistics and stop asking guys whether they might be pregnant? If someone could figure out a way to bring statistics to life – to present even the driest data in an entertaining way – they’d be a millionaire. Or they’d start a non-profit organization called Gapminder.
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