One Day, One Job » data

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?

Palantir

Willy Franzen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:09:27 +0000

I have to admit that the “jobs” that I’m most concerned with today is Steve Jobs. I can’t wait to find out what Apple is announcing today, and I wish that I had some relevant jobs to bring you. I don’t, but I did come across a really cool list yesterday called 5 Butt Kicking Companies You (Probably) Never Heard Of. The list is exactly what it promises, as it features 5 later stage startups that are growing rapidly and hiring lots of people. The first company on that list is Palantir, a Palo Alto, CA based company (with another office in McLean, VA) that “is working to radically change how groups analyze information.” They were founded by former PayPal employees and Stanford computer scientists. Right now the company is focused on two verticals: Government and Finance. Both areas deal with massive amount of data and information, so it makes sense that Palantir is starting with them.

Analyze This

The cool thing about Palantir is that they still have a startup attitude and culture despite the fact that they’re focused on two industries that most people don’t associate with fun. The types of problem that Palantir is trying to solve include “national security, global finance, cyber defense, regulation & oversight, public health, and disease control.” This isn’t just some Web 2.0 startup—it’s a serious business with clients who expect perfection. That’s why culture is so important at Palantir. They only hire the best: “Less than 3% of candidates who receive a phone interview will receive an offer.” It’s a strict meritocracy, with a family feel. They have the XBOX, masseuse, and on-site gym that you come to expect from startups, but there’s also the expectation that “‘work’ and ‘life’ are not separate universes.”

Palantir appears to do a lot of on-campus recruiting with a focus on engineers from elite schools. They don’t provide any information on college recruiting on their site, but you can take a look at current job openings. The most likely fits for new grads include Business Development Associate, Audio Visual Engineer, Software Engineer, Salesforce Applications Developer, Software Developer in Test, Web Developer, Quality Assurance Engineer, BD Operations IT Analyst, BD Operations Analyst, Facilities Operations Analyst, and Operations Administrative Analyst. There are plenty of entry level opportunities at Palantir, so apply online and see if you can be one of the few that make the cut.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Palantir?

Oxfam America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:56:53 +0000

Yesterday we took a look at one of the most familiar names associated with the Haiti Relief effort—the American Red Cross. This morning I came across a couple lists that shine a light on other organizations that are also putting a focus on Haiti. One is from U.S. News & World Report that discusses 10 Ways You Can Donate to Haitian Earthquake Victims, and the other is Haiti Earthquake—Best Ways to Assist in Providing Emergency Relief from the American Institute of Philanthropy, which rates charities involved with Haiti Relief. One of the organizations on both of those lists is Oxfam America, a Boston, MA based “international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice.” They already have teams delivering aid in Haiti, and you can find out all about what they’re doing their on their Haiti Earthquake page.

Relief for Your Job Search

Oxfam America’s work includes a good mix of ongoing projects and response to disasters and conflicts. The issues that they work on range from climate change to aid reform and from US public policy to indigenous & minority rights. Their recent emergency response work has focused on disasters like a flood in El Salvador and a cyclone in Bangladesh and India. The truth is that most disasters don’t get the media attention that the Haiti earthquake has, but that doesn’t stop Oxfam America from getting on the ground and providing aid. If Oxfam America sounds like the kind of organization that you’d like to join, then check out their Job postings. Current openings include Deployable Humanitarian Logistics Coordinator (Port-au-Prince, Haiti), Constituent Data Associate (Boston, MA), Administrative Assistant – Learning, Evaluation and Accountability (Boston, MA), Canvassing Organizer (Boston, MA), New Media Specialist (Boston, MA), and a number of other positions. You can apply by sending your cover letter and résumé to jobs@oxfamamerica.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you donated to Haiti relief?

Argus Information & Advisory

Willy Franzen — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:56:20 +0000

Even though it seems that the economy is crawling its way to recovery (I’m seeing more entry level and intern opportunities than I did last year), we have a long way to go before the finance industry gets back on its feet. Yes, the stock market is doing well, but don’t let that fool you—things are still a mess. One company that should do well during this time is Argus Information & Advisory, a company based in White Plains, NY. They “assist financial institutions in making marketing and risk management decisions.” That’s going to be a big business for years to come. I’m just hoping that bad advice from Argus wasn’t part of the reason we ended up where we are. Whether that’s the case or not, I imagine that the demand for services that help “manage the tradeoffs among price, product, risk, and customer behavior along the customer lifecycle to increase profitability” will be in high demand.

Manage Your Career Risk

Although Argus doesn’t name their clients, they can claim as clients all of the 20 top US credit card issuers and 9 of 10 top ten UK credit card issuers along with large insurance companies, top retail banks, and the largest payment processors. There isn’t much information about Argus available on the Internet, but it seems that they like it that way. Their web site is sparse, and Google barely turns up any meaningful results about them. You’ll probably want to push your research a little farther if you consider working at Argus, and you can start by checking out their Jobs page and their College Recruiting page. Although their College Recruiting season seems to have passed, they do have some jobs posted that appear to be suitable for new grads. These include Data Operations Analyst, Analyst, and Office Assistant (San Francisco). To apply for any of these positions, you should send your cover letter and résumé to resumes.Argus@hiredesk.net or resumes@argusinformation.com if you want to go through their College Recruiting people (be sure to include your Math and Verbal SAT scores and GPA).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you found out about Argus Information & Advisory?

Cobalt

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

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

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

Drive Your Career in the Right Direction

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When is the last time that you bought a car?

Swivel

Willy Franzen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:57:40 +0000

I love playing with data. I’m always poring over Google Analytics looking for ways to improve things on my sites. If you’re like me, then you’ll almost certainly enjoy Swivel, the “YouTube of data.” They’re a San Francisco based company that makes it extremely easy to visualize and compare data. For instance, you can take a look at cities with low temperature variance and how their highs and lows vary over the course of a year. (I can tell you that Chicago is not on that list with a high of 12 degrees today after much warmer weather just a few weeks ago.) I still haven’t figured out how to make the most out of Swivel, but I definitely see the potential for using it to identify some interesting relationships.

Visualize Yourself at Swivel

I first learned about Swivel (before they even launched) just about 3 years from the Freakonomics Blog. Since then Swivel has definitely grown, but I think they’re still a long way from making data sharing as easy as YouTube makes video sharing. It does appear that Swivel is in the process of launching a new version of their site, and it comes with an increased focus on their business services—people and companies can pay a monthly fee to use swivel with private data. I still love the idea of Swivel, but I think they have some serious challenges ahead of them if they’re going to build a serious business. Hopefully they can do it with your help. Right now they’re looking for a Web Designer, a JavaScript/Rails Developer, and a Product Marketing Manager according to their Jobs page. They also offer the option to apply for an unlisted position. Maybe you could even upload some data about yourself and mash it up with data about Swivel to find a creative way to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried using Swivel?

SeatGeek

Willy Franzen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:52:27 +0000

Last spring when sports fans on the North Side of Chicago were still hopeful, Amy and I decided that we wanted to go to a Cubs game. It was the day of the game, and we didn’t have tickets. We checked out StubHub, and saw some pretty good prices, but we decided that waiting would get us even better prices. We waited. The prices went down. We waited some more. The prices went down some more. And then disaster struck. StubHub stops selling tickets 2 hours before a game. We were shut out. We ended up heading to Wrigley and buying from some “ticket brokers” outside of the park. We got a pretty decent price, and we had a great time (I may or may not have been listening to the Yankees game on my iPhone at the same time), but we were left with the question of when is the best time to buy tickets on the secondary market. Apparently SeatGeek has the answer—they’re a New York City based web startup that predicts the price of sports and concert tickets. We’ve seen similar startups succeed in the travel market, and I think this business may make even more sense for event tickets.

Cheap Seats, Great View

With SeatGeek sitting in the cheap seats isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They’ll not only help you find the best deal on tickets right now, but they’ll also help you figure out how long to wait to buy tickets before you get shut out like I did. They claim greater than 80% accuracy, which is due to the fact that they’re using some pretty heavy statistical methods to predict prices. SeatGeek still has a ways to go before it’s a popular service (I tried a few searches that gave me no results and no suggestions of what else to try), but I think that they’ll have a pretty easy time building a profitable business. If you want to get in early, you should check out jobs at SeatGeek. Current postings include Lead Web Developer, Frontend Web Developer, Director of Statistics, and VP of Business Development. Don’t be scared off by the job titles, at least give the job descriptions a look to see if they make sense for you. To apply for any of the positions send a résumé and cover letter to jobs@seatgeek.com. And if you want more information, check out TechCrunch’s coverage of SeatGeek.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried SeatGeek?

Information is Beautiful

Willy Franzen — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:52:35 +0000

Amy, my girlfriend, loves trivia. There’s no better way to win her over than to ask her a quiz question or share a random factoid. Since she travels every week for work, I recently bought her The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most Consequential Trivia (affiliate link) to read on the plane. It’s an amazingly cool book that any information geek will love—I definitely spent some time with it before I gave it to her. It’s all about taking data, facts, and trivia and making it visual through design. The book was written by David Mccandless, who is also behind the website Information is Beautiful. There’s a good chance that you’ve seen his infographics before—here’s one called The Billion Dollar Gram and here’s another called Caffeine and Calories. I think it’s truly brilliant work.

You Provide Information, He Provides Beauty

The position that David Mccandless is offering with Information is Beautiful doesn’t fit in with most of the stuff I cover here. First of all, it’s based in the United Kingdom—South London to be exact. Second, it’s kind of an internship, and kind of a job. It toes the line of both depending on what you intend to do with the opportunity. It may not be typical of what I cover on One Day, One Job, but it’s way too awesome not to take a look at. David is looking for an Intern / Junior Research to join a small creative team to help him with new book, print, and web projects. It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it is paid. You can find all of the details in the job description including how to apply. If you’re intellectually curious, it doesn’t get any better than this, so reach out to David and see if you’re someone whom he’d like to work with.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of David’s infographics is your favorite?

SurveyMonkey

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:06:05 +0000

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.

SurveyMonkey Says…

As TechCrunch reported last month, SurveyMonkey has finally taken on some outside money and started to take growth seriously. They’ve more than doubled their staff over the last year, and they’ve revamped their management team. You won’t find a lot of information about SurveyMonkey online, but you will find a lot of people who have used their software. SurveyMonkey has never seemed to care much for flash or attention. Instead they have used the “Freemium Model” to bring in thousands of paying customers. If you’ve always wanted to work at a web startup, but were wary of the “scene,” then SurveyMonkey might be the right place for you. They have a number of job openings posted, and a few seem suitable for new grads. The most likely is Front-end Engineer, but they also have some positions in Marketing, Product Management, Technical Operations, and User Experience Design that might be work looking at. And if you don’t see anything that suits you, you can always use their online form to apply for an unlisted position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever responded to a SurveyMonkey survey?

Sony Pictures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:00:22 +0000

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.

Picture Yourself at Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures is obviously part of Sony, but there are also a number of distinct businesses within Sony Pictures. There is the Motion Picture Group, which has multiple labels including Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, and Sony Pictures Classics. Then there’s Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which brings feature films along with tv episodes right into your home. You also have Sony Pictures Television, which is actually responsible for those tv episodes and other tv programming, and Sony Pictures Digital Productions, which does visual effects and animation. If you’d like to work in any of these businesses or the Corporate arm of Sony Pictures, then you’ll need to head over to SonyPictures.com. It’s not a particularly great Careers site, but it gets the job done. From there you can check out all of their posted jobs, where you’ll see entry level opportunities like Financial Analyst, Global Ad Sales & Digital Media Coordinator, Marketing Assistant, Fitness Assistant, and Data Security Administrator. You can apply for any of the jobs with Sony Pictures online, and although nothing appears to be directly related to movie production, I’d bet that those jobs don’t just pop up on their job board all of the time (read: try networking).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite movie to come out of Sony Pictures?

Free Press

Willy Franzen — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:18:03 +0000

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.

Help Reform the Media

Maybe you enjoyed the Michael Jackson coverage. Maybe you don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the media. If that’s you, then Free Press probably won’t be the right place for you. They have a very specific idea of what they expect from the media, and until the media improves, they’re going to keep working to change the way that media is produced and consumed in our country. If that sounds like something that you want to be a part of, then you need to check out Free Press’ Jobs page. Right now they have 3 jobs posted, and two of them seem like they might be suitable for new grads. They’re looking for an Online Campaign Coordinator and an Office Coordinator—both in Florence, MA. The job postings get really in-depth, so give them a good look to determine whether the jobs will be a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your thoughts on the state of media today?

Wize

Willy Franzen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:48:09 +0000

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.

Be Wize

Comparison shopping, product reviews, and e-commerce are some of the most mature markets online. There are sites in the space that have been around since the 90s, so it’s surprising to see an upstart like Wize taking on the market. With that said, they seem to have taken a very different approach to assisting online shoppers, and they’re building a business in a space with a very easy path to monetization (affiliate marketing). I’m relatively impressed with the search product that they have so far, and they seem to have a decent amount of traffic according to Compete.com. They don’t have any job listings on their site, but they do have a couple positions posted on Startuply. One is definitely an internship, while the other is a job/internship. They’re looking for an entry level person to help them in Data Management / Marketing. It sounds like a pretty cool gig, and you can apply online, so get after it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Wize?

STATS

Willy Franzen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:41:20 +0000

I love statistics—especially when applied to sports—so it should be no big surprise that some of my favorite blogs include The Wage of Wins Journal, Sabernomics, and FanGraphs. Surprisingly, the statistical knowledge found on the best blogs these days is often far ahead of what you will find in the front offices of many major sports teams. The reason for the recent advancement in statistical sports knowledge of laypeople has a lot to do with how easy the Internet and computers have made it to collect and analyze in-depth data. A big reason that sports data is available is because of Northbrook, IL based STATS. Their story is pretty cool. They were founded in 1981 and “began as a grass roots operation tracking baseball in a unique, esoteric fashion.” Now, they’re “the world’s leading sports information, content and statistical analysis company.” I guess that numbers worked out for them.

Do Your STATS Match Up?

If you’re a sports stats geek like me, you’re probably already dying for a job with STATS. As you look more closely at the company, I think that your excitement will grow. They couldn’t be a bigger deal when it comes to sports statistics—they cover an insane number of sports, and their clients include the NFL, the NBA, CBS Sports, Google, Yahoo!, and quite a few other impressive names. So what about jobs at STATS? There are quite a few opportunities, and plenty of them appear to be suitable for new college grads. Current entry level positions include Part-Time Paralegal, Soccer Optical Tracking Position – Major League Soccer, Database Administrator, Computer Programmer, Data Collectors (Golf, Football, Baseball, or Soccer), and STATS Reporter. All of these jobs look awesome, so apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to jobs@stats.com (a few positions require you to apply in a different way, so be sure to check out all of the Job Listings first).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

And if you ever wondered about proper sports grammar, you need to check out STATS’ Style Sheet.

CPWR

Willy Franzen — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:49:34 +0000

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.”

Work Safely

CPWR’s mission is pretty simple, they have a “common vision of a world in which workers acting collectively, their union representatives, employers, government, users of construction services, academia, and the public work together to prevent occupational fatalities, injuries, and illnesses and continuously improve working conditions throughout the construction industry.” They focus on working with all stakeholders to create win-win situations through research, since there’s still a lot that we can learn about how to make construction safer. If safety research sounds like something that you could dig into, you’re in luck. CPWR has a job/internship for you. They have the same position listed as both on Idealist, and it’s for a Research Assistant. It requires a background in “computer science, statistics, economics, mathematics, public health, or other quantitative social sciences,” and you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to sdong@cpwr.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about workplace safety?

Sunbelt Software

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:08:59 +0000

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.

Take a Trip to the Sunbelt

I know that those of you who aren’t into software are probably getting sick of hearing about all of the software related jobs are available, but that’s what the job market looks like. Software development skills are still in extremely high demand, and many of the people who are landing jobs are landing those jobs because of their software skills. Luckily, Sunbelt Software’s jobs aren’t exclusively software related, but most of their opportunities require strong programming skills. The cool thing about these jobs is that they’re different from many of the other software jobs out there. The job titles say it all: Junior Malware Researcher and Malware Removal Specialist. Those aren’t your typical software jobs. Other seemingly entry level openings include: Business Support, Software Developer, Office Administrator, Consumer Technical Support, and Data Mining Researcher (not a programming job). If working for one of Tampa Bay’s Best Places to Work sounds good to you, then you can apply by sending your resume in Microsoft Word or plain text format to hr@sunbelt-software.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think that I’m too harsh on Microsoft?

kgb

Willy Franzen — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:47:46 +0000

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.

Join the kgb

Now, if you want to get a job with kgb, you’re going to have to do some serious sleuthing (or maybe you could just spend 50 cents to ask via text what kind of jobs they have available). It’s not that they’re all secretive, being the kgb and all, they’re just kind of disorganized with their recruitment message. On the main kgb.com site, the only prominent link is for their work at home opportunities (they title it “become an agent”). These jobs basically entail answering questions for a cut of the 50 cents, so that’s probably not what you’re looking to do with that college degree that you just got. Hidden in this section is a link to kgb_USA’s Careers page. Here you’ll find some more interesting opportunities. They’re sorted by location, so you’ll have to check each location to see all the jobs. They have Customer Service Representative positions in San Antonio, TX; Lubbock, TX; and Hawaii. Additionally, they have jobs in Database Administration and Accounts Receivable in Bethlehem, PA. That’s not it, though. There are also jobs with kgb web in New York City posted on Startuply. These include positions like Developer of Data, Master Ruby Developer, and Usability Expert. As you can see, jobs with kgb are kind of all over the place. How you apply will depend on which positions you’re applying for, so show off your research skills if you want to land a job with kgb.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used kgb?

Wolfram Research

Willy Franzen — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:49:42 +0000

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.

Join a Powerhouse

From what I can tell, Wolfram is about as academic as a company can get. They use their expertise in computer science to create amazing tools that help smart people do their jobs and research better. Yet, Wolfram’s ambitions go beyond that. This Wolfram|Alpha thing seems to be a well received attempt at going mainstream, and it’s only in its early stages. You have to love a company that is constantly working to make people smarter and more effective, which is why you should consider jobs with Wolfram Research. They don’t have specific job openings listed, but they are constantly looking for people in the following areas:

Algorithm Development
Software Engineering
Financial Engineering
Image and Signal Processing
Control Systems
Geospatial Information Systems
Instrument Control
Experimental Data Analysis
Statistics
User Interface Development
Applications Development
Software Quality Assurance
Technical Support
Technical Marketing
Business Development
Project Management
International Business Development
Special Projects
Mathematica Programming
Information Technology
Customer Relations
Educational Outreach
Technical Writing
Sales
Scientific Business Development
Technology Licensing

There’s a single online application form for all of these positions, and it’s really in-depth. So, if Wolfram Research already has you fascinated and “you’re clear-thinking, pragmatic, and energetic about getting things done well,” then go ahead and apply ASAP. Additionally, Wolfram Research has some Science and Technology R&D Fellowships that you may want to check out. Beyond Wolfram’s headquarters in Champaign, IL, they also have locations in Boston, MA; Oxford, United Kingdom; Paris, France; and Tokyo, Japan.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Wolfram|Alpha’s capabilities?

simplehuman

Willy Franzen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:42:56 +0000

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.

simplejobs

Not only does simplehuman make some really cool housewares, but they also have some awesome looking jobs available for new college grads. Unfortunately, their Careers page actually doesn’t show the same attention to efficient design that their products do. You need to use a pull down menu to check each department for openings and we can’t link to the individual job postings. Right now there is a Product Marketing Analyst job (in the Marketing Department) that is a bit above entry level, but might be worth trying for if you have the right internship experience. There’s also a Customer Service Associate position (in the Customer Service Department) that is perfect for a new grad. There’s a Senior Industrial Designer job in their Design Department, but it’s not entry level. There may be some hope for some Junior Industrial Designer positions in the future though. Finally, there’s a Marketing Program Specialist – New Technologies & Social Media posted on Mashable that looks awesome. It’s worth checking out if your an Internet marketing savvy new grad. No matter which job you’re applying for, you can use their Corporate Job Application form to apply. They’re also open to applications for unlisted positions, so don’t be shy. There are also Retail jobs with simplehuman, but you can check those out on your own.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own anything from simplehuman?

MDRC

Willy Franzen — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:58:29 +0000

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.”

Researching for the Greater Good

I hate to make this post mostly quotes, but MDRC’s site does a great job of communicating what they’re all about. I think the following paragraph sums MDRC sum exceptionally well:

Too often, public policies that profoundly affect the lives of low-income families are shaped by hunches, anecdotes, and untested assumptions. Ineffective policies waste precious resources and feed public cynicism about government. Most important, such policies may hinder the very people they are designed to help. MDRC was created to learn what works in social policy — and to make sure that the evidence we produce informs the design and implementation of policies and programs.

MDRC has 5 policy areas that are their main focuses – K – 12 Education, Higher Education, Families & Children, Workers & Communities, and Welfare & Barriers to Employment. If you’re passionate about any of these areas and stimulated by social science when it’s actually practiced scientifically, then working at MDRC might be a dream come true. Your first move should be to check out their Jobs page. You’ll see 5 job postings – a couple of which appear to be entry level friendly. Those include Research/Management Assistant – Accountability and Deployment Department (New York, NY) and Technical Research Assistant/Analyst – Welfare and Barriers to Employment (Oakland, CA), and Technical Research Assistant/Analyst – Young Adults and Postsecondary Education (New York, NY). You can apply for these positions by sending a cover letter and resume to jobs@mdrc.org , and you can find out more about working at MDRC on their website.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about taking a scientific approach to doing good?

U.S. Census Bureau

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:48:34 +0000

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.

Everyone Counts at the U.S. Census Bureau

Ok, I’d like to go on about the cool things that the Census Bureau does, but we don’t really have time. Navigating the Census Bureau’s job offerings is kind of a hassle, so I want to make sure that you can find what you’re looking for. On their main Jobs page they have links to four sections – Headquarters Opportunities, 2010 Census Taker Opportunities, Regional Office Opportunities, and Student and Research Opportunities. You may be tempted to check out the Student Opportunities, but you actually want to check out either the Headquarters or Regional Office Opportunities. If you check out the Headquarters Opportunities, you’ll find job listings like Statistician / Analyst, Mathematical Statistician, Information Technology Specialist, Geographer, and Cartographer. These links will take you to more specific listings where you’ll find a link titled “How to Apply.” If you click that, you’ll find even more information and another link to the specific job descriptions on USAJobs.gov. You can also skip ahead and just search all of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 90 current openings. If you decide to check out the Regional Office Opportunities, you’ll just have to select a region, and you’ll be shown a list of opportunities. It’s a lot simpler.

As for locations:

The U.S. Census Bureau headquarters is located in Suitland, Maryland, just outside the District of Columbia.

The National Processing Center (NPC) is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The NPC also has two call centers located in Hagerstown, Maryland and Tucson, Arizona.

The Census Bureau has 12 Regional Offices located in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Seattle.

The Census Bureau has a ton of jobs, and there are a lot more coming. Many of these offer extremely interesting entry level work, but you’re going to have to show off your data parsing abilities to find and apply for the jobs – they don’t make the process easy at all.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you excited for the 2010 Census?

Rubicon Project

Willy Franzen — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:53:40 +0000

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.

Past the Point of No Return

According to Wikipedia “‘Crossing the Rubicon’ is a popular idiom meaning to pass a point of no return.” If you take a job with Rubicon Project, you will be past the point of no return towards a successful career in the advertising industry. To get a better sense of what Rubicon Project does, you should check out this video overview and then the rest of Rubicon Project’s videos. After that you can head over to Rubicon Project’s Jobs page. They have quite a few openings, and not all of them require a technical background. Opportunities that might appeal to new grads include Quality Assurance / Technical Support Engineer, Software Engineer, GUI Designer/Developer, Database Administrator, Stats Coordinator, Associate – Ad Network Alliances, Publisher Operations Coordinator/Analyst, Publisher Strategist, and Yield Management Specialist.

Rubicon Project has some interesting application questions because they get so many resumes. They include:

1. What are your three favorite restaurants in Los Angeles?
2. What’s one product (or gadget) you couldn’t live without and why?
3. What’s your idea of a fun night out?
4. How would you describe yourself?
5. Describe an innovative and original advertising idea.
6. What are your favorite websites?
7. And why not include an interesting bit of trivia about yourself.

You can send your answers to these questions to jobs@rubiconproject.com along with a cover letter and resume.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you noticed trouble finding jobs in Advertising lately?

Gawker Media

Willy Franzen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:55:55 +0000

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.

Gawk at Gawker’s Site Visitors

Gawker offers a ton of internships, but entry level jobs are much harder to come by. Luckily, they just posted an opportunity for an entry level techno/data/marketing wiz to join Gawker Media’s ad operations team on their Lifehacker blog. It’s all about analytics, so you’ll be doing a lot of what I do every day to monitor traffic on One Day, One Job, but you’ll be doing it for one of the biggest blog networks in the world. The job posting includes all of the details, and the job is located at Gawker’s office in NYC. To apply you can send a cover letter and resume (or maybe you want to be more creative with how you apply) to jobapp@gawker.com.

Since Gawker doesn’t seem to have a central repository for their job postings, they seem to randomly post them on some of their blogs. If you’re looking for future job postings, you might want to try a google search for “jobapp@gawker.com” or search the specific blogs (here are some tips on how to do that).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Gawker.com
About Gawker Media
Gawker Media Powerpoint (download 8.4 MB)

Which Gawker blogs do you read?

Adchemy

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:44:17 +0000

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.

Turning Ads into Gold

I wish that I could tell you more about what Adchemy does, but it seems that most of what they’re doing is high tech and highly secret. What I can tell you is that they’ve focused on building a flagship product called “Adchemy Actions™” which is currently focused on the career education and mortgage industries. There’s a lot of science and analytics behind what they do, so they’re looking for really smart people to join their team. Most of their jobs require an extremely strong technical background with advanced degrees, but there are a couple of positions that might be suitable for new grads. These include Marketing Campaign Analyst, Java Engineer, Software Engineer, and Research Analyst. It looks like there’s a lot of analysis going on at Alchemy. If any of the jobs at Adchemy interest you, send a cover letter and resume to careers@adchemy.com with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What can you turn into gold?

Plaxo

Willy Franzen — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:38:30 +0000

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.

Get Connected at Plaxo

Plaxo is based out of Mountainview, CA and they’ve already reached the startup pinnacle of being bought out – they were acquired by Comcast for $150 million. They still seem to be acting independently though, and they’re currently looking to add to their team. Plaxo’s Jobs page shows a number of opportunities, and a couple of them look perfect for entry level candidates. Both of them require strong technical skills, but only one is a software development position (Web Engineer). The other job opportunity is Data Analyst, which looks absolutely fascinating, as the focus of the job is “analyzing web site and application data to advance our understanding of the behavior of visitors and customers on Plaxo’s web sites and how to optimize site design, flows, and content.” If either of these jobs sounds interesting to you, you can send your cover letter and resume to jobs@plaxo.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Tiny Prints

Willy Franzen — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:22:36 +0000

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.

What’s So Tiny About Them?

Tiny Prints is an interesting name for a Stationery 2.0 company that makes normal sized stationery. The reasoning behind the name, I think, is that they started out by targeting the birth announcement market. That’s why they’ve hired designers who “have created birth announcements and related baby stationery for many celebrity parents, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Gwen Stefani, Jaime Pressly, Reese Witherspoon, Debra Messing, Maria Shriver, Adam Sandler, Al Roker, Charles Schwab and Harry Connick Jr.” As a company based in Silicon Valley, Tiny Prints has been influenced significantly by technology, which is why we’re excited about them. Although the cards that they produce are top notch, it’s not what makes Tiny Prints stand out. It’s their simple web-based interface for creating custom stationery that is game changing. Seriously. Go try it out.

Once you take a look at Tiny Prints’ Jobs page, you’ll really start to appreciate how much technology is behind what they do. They don’t seem to have a lot to say about what it’s like working for them – all they offer is a list of their job openings with links to descriptions. The job descriptions aren’t as clear as we’d like them to be, so it’s hard to determine which jobs can be considered entry level, but we’ve done our best to identify them for you. The most likely fits for new grads include Office Manager, Web Application Developer, Data Production Specialist, and Production QA, while jobs like Merchandising Account Manager, Product Manager, Website Programmer, User Interaction Designer, and Customer Order Processor should be considered stretches. All of the jobs appear to be located in Mountain View, CA, and how you apply will vary depending on the position, so look at the descriptions carefully.

Beyond the jobs that we’ve mentioned, we’ve also noticed that Tiny Prints has mentioned that they hire very young designers. We haven’t found any mention of how designers can score their jobs, but you might want to contact Tiny Prints directly if you dream of being a stationery designer.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you send out holiday cards?

Pew Research Center

Willy Franzen — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:00:09 +0000

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.

Fact Over Think

If you love data, then a job at Pew Research Center in Washington, DC might be a wise career choice for you. The Pew Research Center’s Careers page is relatively sparse, but it does show that they are currently hiring for four positions. None of them are explicitly entry level, but after looking at the job descriptions more closely we were able to recognize three jobs that might be worth considering for new college grads – Web Analyst/Administrator, Pew Research Center Core Administration, Infographic Designer, Social and Demographic Trends, and Special Assistant, Pew Research Center. All of these jobs can be considered major stretches, but they require skill sets that you may have developed in college or internships, so we’re going to push you to apply for them if you think that you can cut it. The job descriptions are obscenely long, so make sure that you read them before you apply. To apply, you should send your resume and cover letter to careers@pewresearch.org. Don’t just send the same resume and cover letter that you’ve sent to other employers, though. To get one of these jobs as a new grad, you’re going to need to stand out, so you need to sell the Pew Research Center on why you have the experience (even though it hasn’t come from a full-time job) to excel in one of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Pew Research Center’s projects do you find most interesting?

StoryCorps

Willy Franzen — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:47:21 +0000

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.

A Story About Stories

Listening is an act of love. Think about that for a second. It’s a thought that has probably never entered your mind before, but it’s also the title of a book by Dave Isay, the founder of StoryCorps. Everybody wants to be listened to, and StoryCorps is trying to make that happen by traveling across the country and recording the stories of everyday people. They take a storyteller and a listener, put them together in a recording booth, and let the words flow. StoryCorps records the stories to CD for the participants, archives the CDs at the Library of Congress, and broadcasts the stories online and on public radio. It’s amazing how fascinating the stories of everyday people can be – just give a few a listen. StoryCorps is doing a remarkable job of documenting our country’s oral tradition and history.

Make StoryCorps Part of Your Story

If you love being told stories, there couldn’t be a better place to work than StoryCorps. They have a number of opportunities for new college graduates listed on their Jobs page that look like a lot of fun. If you want to get an inside look at what it’s like to work and participate in the StoryCorps project, there’s no better place that the StoryCorps Blog. Reading it will give you a better sense of what you might be doing as a Data Analysis Assistant – Community Outreach, Facilitator, Alaska Initiative, or Participant Relations Assistant, Marketing & Communications at StoryCorps. Each of these jobs looks remarkably interesting, and perfectly suited for a new grad. Take a look at the specific job stories (descriptions) for all of the details including how to apply to each job. The deadlines are soon, so act quickly. StoryCorps is based in Brooklyn, NY, so it seems that the jobs other than the Alaska Initiative Facilitator (which is in Alaska) are located there.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have a story to tell? Feel free to share it in the comments.

Gapminder

Willy Franzen — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:00:12 +0000

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.

Before we go any further and get your hopes up, Gapminder doesn’t have job listings of any sort; however, we’re so in awe of what they do that we’re going to talk about them anyway. Whatever! We do what we want. At this point you’re thinking that either we are huge nerds, or Gapminder must be the second coming of Facebook. Both are probably true. So what are we so excited about? This presentation by Hans Rosling at TED (Technology, Entertainment Design) – you have to watch this! This guy not only combines humor with the amazing features of Gapminder created software Trendalyzer to put together a truly entertaining presentation, but he also breaks down misconceptions about world demographic data faster than Chuck Norris would with a roundhouse kick.

Now, Gapminder doesn’t own Trendalyzer anymore (they sold it and the developers that worked on it to Google), but they are continuing their mission to promote a fact-based world view. There’s no political agenda behind what they do, just a desire to align perceptions with the data.

Gapminder work serves a purpose of filling a gap. There has been a market failure in distributing global data. A lot of people are interested in the data, but don’t get access to it (and if they manage to access the data, they need to be advanced skilled statisticians to analyze it). Gapminder wants to make data more accessible and easier to use for instant visual analysis. We believe decision makers, politicians as well as education at almost all levels lack adequate tools.

To really full enjoy what Gapminder is doing, watch that presentation and then play around with Gapminder World. You can also watch more presentations on their site or watch Gapcasts on their YouTube channel. Like we said before, Gapminder doesn’t have entry-level career opportunities. They don’t even have any jobs listed, but we really wish they did. Maybe if we wish hard enough (or you try cold calling), they’ll see the need to hire one of our talented readers. They’ve got the money from the Google purchase of Trendalyzer and grants they’ve received, why wouldn’t they want to invest it in entry-level talent? If you can get new college grads interested in stats, you can get anyone interested – and that’s the goal, isn’t it?

You should also take note that Gapminder’s FAQ says that they are looking for people to contribute. You can apply by sending along an e-mail detailing what you would like to do for Gapminder through their contact form. It’s not a job listing, but it might be a way to build a relationship towards future employment.

Note: On April 27th we revisited entry-level jobs at Gapminder.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Please leave a comment and tell us that you think Gapminder is as cool as we do, otherwise we’re going to feel like major geeks.