One Day, One Job » editorial

The Economist

Willy Franzen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:00:13 +0000

I’ll admit it, I don’t read The Economist regularly, but plenty of my friends do—mostly the smart ones. It’s a magazine (they call themselves a newspaper, but you’d likely identify it as a magazine) that stands apart from other periodicals in a variety of ways. It’s not the topics that they cover—they offer both news coverage and analysis and opinion on business and politics—it’s more the way that they cover those topics. The most interesting thing about The Economist is the fact that all of their articles are written anonymously. It’s about “a belief that what is written is more important than who writes it,” but you have to like the fact that anonymity allows the writers the freedom that they need to address topics in the ways that they should be addressed. The Economist is all about free trade and free markets, yet it “considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability.” The Economist is based in London, but they are very much an international business and magazine.

Put the Free Market to Work

I can’t imagine that you could take a job with The Economist without being an avid reader. If you’re already one, then I’m sure that you’re chopping at the bit to see what kind of jobs they have available, and if you aren’t, then you better go pick up a copy or start browsing their website. You’re certain to find yourself challenged in a way that you never have been before. Not only does The Economist’s approach make them stand out editorially, but it also makes them stand out as a business. While many huge names in the print media are struggling—the New York Times is a perfect example, The Economist continues to thrive and grow. This article from PaidContent.org goes into more detail about The Economist’s economic successes, which are even more impressive considering that their parent company (half owner) Financial Times is struggling. So what about those jobs? The Economist has job offerings all across the world, but we’re going to focus on their US based opportunities, which are mostly located in New York City. Potential entry level opportunities include UI Developer, Account Executive – EIU Enterprise Subscription Sales (Chicago, IL), Distribution Customer Service Analyst, Integrated Marketing Coordinator, and Drupal Developer. All of the jobs look really interesting, and you can apply by using the HR contact info on The Economist’s site. If you’re looking for a job on the editorial side, I’m sure that you have your work cut out for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Economist?

Demand Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:39:28 +0000

I’m sure that you’ve heard a lot in the news about how traditional media companies are having trouble taking their business models online. You may be under the impression that making money from web content is near impossible, but there’s a dirty little secret: it’s not. While companies like the New York Times stick to editorial integrity and chasing Pulitzers, there are companies out there that craft their content with the sole purpose of making money. A perfect example is Santa Monica, CA based Demand Media. They’ve secured more than $355 million in venture capital funding, grown annual revenue to more than $200 million annually, and reached a valuation north of $1 billion all by taking an ROI based approach to content development. How does that work? Demand Media has developed an algorithm that helps them find profitable topics. By using data from Google AdWords, they’re able to estimate the demand for a given piece of content (example: an article and video on how to tie your shoes) along with the revenue that the yet to be developed piece of content could be expected to make given a certain number of pageviews.

Demand a Job

This may sound unsavory to some of the writers out there, but I’d imagine the business students are in awe. Demand Media delivers their content through a number of web properties, and some of these include eHow, Cracked, and Livestrong.com. In addition to distributing profitable content across their web properties, Demand Media also licenses some of the social media tools that they’ve developed internally to other businesses. One of the amazing things that I learned about Demand Media while researching them is that they publish approximately 4,000 articles and videos every day. Demand Media is YouTube’s largest contributor, and the number of pageviews that they’re driving across their network is staggering. They’re able to develop so much content through an army of freelancers who work through a site called Demand Studios. If you’re a Writer, Filmmaker, or Copy Editor, that’s the first option for getting a “job” (it’s only freelance, and the rates are kind of low) through Demand Media. Your second option is to check out Demand Media’s Corporate Job offerings. They have a number of positions that seem suitable for new grads including HR Coordinator (Bellevue, WA), QA Engineer (Austin, TX), Marketing Associate (Bellevue, WA), QA Engineer (Santa Monica, CA), Algorithm Scientist (Austin, TX – PhDs only), Account Manager (Bellevue, WA), and Web Developer/Graphic Designer (Austin, TX). You can apply online for any of these positions, but before you do, take an hour to learn more about Demand Media—there’s a ton of information available about them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Demand Media’s business model?

Wagstaff Worldwide

Willy Franzen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:00:39 +0000

This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.

Interested in wine and travel? Then Wagstaff Worldwide might be the public relations agency for you! Located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City, Wagstaff specializes in media relations but does offer other services such as creating customized public relations plans, setting up and executing social media strategies, event planning, tourism marketing, and editorial and copywriting expertise. Their clients include restaurants, hotels, international travel organizations, design agencies, wine and spirits, lounges and spas—and their client list is huge!

Cultivate Your Career with Top Tastemakers

Now, I realize that Wagstaff is “worldwide,” but their team isn’t really that large, and they have quite a few junior-level staff members. The company is currently seeking an Account Coordinator for its Los Angeles office. Candidates are expected to possess “excellent writing, presentation and sales skills, relevant experience in the hospitality, journalism and/or public relations industries and an outgoing personality.” Interested? Submit your cover letter, résumé and salary history to president Mary Wagstaff at mary@wagstaffworldwide.com. You might also consider following the LA office on Twitter. If you’re interested in working at one of the other offices, you should keep your eyes peeled for new job postings or use Wagstaff Worldwide’s Contact page to find the right people to reach out to.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Wagstaff Worldwide?

San Francisco Chronicle

Willy Franzen — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:12:19 +0000

Being a newspaper these days is tough. I’d imagine it’s especially tough in a place like San Francisco where people embrace new technologies so quickly. Although I’d also expect those early adopters to be just the types who are heavy users of newspapers. I’m not sure where that leaves the San Francisco Chronicle, but they do seem to have a strong history of adapting to changes in their business model. According to Wikipedia, they first went online with SFGate.com in 1994, and now they’re moving towards a focus on subscriptions instead of advertising to generate revenue. I’m not sure that’s going to work long term, but you have to like the flexibility that the San Francisco Chronicle has shown over the years. It’s no surprise that they remain one of the largest newspapers in the country.

Chronicle Your Job Search

One of the disappointing things about most newspapers and magazines is that they don’t provide much information about themselves on their websites. They publish plenty of content, but getting the inside scoop on the company is usually tough. The Chronicle follows this trend, although they do provide a very in-depth history page. One of the few other “meta” pages that the San Francisco Chronicle has is their Jobs page. They don’t have a ton of openings, but current listings include Online Client Services Coordinator (this is the most “entry level”), Inside Sales Account Executive, Account Executive – Retail Advertising, and Commission Only Account Executive. There aren’t any Editorial positions open right now, but The Chronicle does accept general résumé submissions here. They also list hr@sfchronicle.com as an e-mail address to send additional application materials to.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read the San Francisco Chronicle?

Roubini Global Economics

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:55:33 +0000

Remember that time that you predicted the walk off home run during the baseball game or the fact that your friend would get back together with his girlfriend for the 7th time? Of course you do. It was proof of your psychic abilities. Remember the time that you made a similar prediction but were wrong? Of course not. When you only count your wins and not your losses, it’s easy to have a perfect record. Politicians take advantage of this all the time. The truth is that there aren’t a lot of people out there who are good at predicting things, whether it’s weather, the economy, sports, or any number of other things. Nouriel Roubini may be an exception. He could be insanely “lucky” with the fact that his descriptions and predictions of the current financial crisis were dead on, but you have to give him credit for the amount of detail included in his predictions, like when he said “the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession.” He’s very obviously a brilliant guy, and he’s also the founder of New York City based Roubini Global Economics, a company that provides “a uniquely tailored look at the logic of the global economy” for its clients.

Working for “Dr. Doom”

Nouriel Roubini has been dubbed “Dr. Doom” by some because of his dour predictions, but you have to imagine that the demand for his company’s services is extremely high regardless of his scary nickname. Now, don’t get confused. Roubini Global Economics isn’t about looking into a crystal ball or just making predictions, it’s about taking a scientific approach to economic analysis. Here’s what the Roubini Global Economics website has to say about The RGE Approach:

Our analytical approach demands a constant probing of the important questions facing the global economy. When considered and debated, these questions lead to breakthrough economic analysis. Each question is formulated from a constellation of topic and region-specific information sources and augmented with opinion from RGE analysts and expert contributors. Together, these elements help you command the fundamentals and identify opportunities and risks throughout the world.

While heavily focused on Economics, Roubini Global Economics is also pretty focused on being a web media company. Their major website used to be RGEMonitor.com, but it appears that they’re making the move to a new site on Roubini.com over the next few weeks. Both sites have job listings (on Roubini.com and on RGEMonitor.com), and there appear to be some opportunities for new grads. All of the job postings for Economic Analysts appear to require a PhD in Econ, but positions like Editor/Web Producer (London), Web Developer (New York), and Account Manager (multiple openings in New York and London) are worth checking out depending on your background and relevant experience. None of the jobs are explicitly entry level, but Roubini Global Economics puts a heavy focus on interns, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some entry level positions that aren’t currently posted on their site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Roubini’s predictions?

EatingWell Media Group

Willy Franzen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:55:39 +0000

Although we don’t have a Veterans Day themed post for today, we hope that you’ll celebrate by thanking a Vet and possibly checking out our post from last year on jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Earlier this week we took a look at Seed Media Group, a relatively new company that is finding success in an otherwise declining industry by focusing on a specific niche. Another company that is taking a similar approach is EatingWell Media Group, which is based in Charlotte, VT (near Burlington). They are “a fast-growing, independent communications company producing an award-winning national consumer magazine, high-quality food and nutrition-related books, a content-rich website, e-mail newsletters, and serving content to strategic partners with other electronic media.” It’s all about healthy eating without sacrificing the enjoyment of food. Some people think that those two things are mutually exclusive, but EatingWell Media Group has built its business on delivering content that proves otherwise.

EatingWell, WorkingWell

EatingWell has grown to reach millions of people through a variety of channels because they are very much a trusted source for health conscious people. The reason for this is that they have been able to combine science based nutrition with the artistry that is essential to creating delicious recipes. They’re a relatively small company, but they do appear to be a growing. A quick look at their Jobs page shows that they are hiring for a number of positions. These openings include Drupal Developer and Linux Administrator positions along with Advertising Services Manager and Freelance PHP Developer. There doesn’t appear to be anything on the Editorial side at the moment, but they do offer internships that are more closely tied to the content side. You can apply for any of these jobs by sending a cover letter and résumé to jobs@eatingwell.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you eat well?

Seed Media Group

Willy Franzen — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:50:00 +0000

The magazine business is dying, right? A lot of people seem to think so, and for the most part I agree with them; however, we seem to be seeing a new breed of magazines cropping up. They’re web integrated, extremely well designed, and laser focused on a specific audience. They still sell advertising, but they offer advertisers access to a well-defined audience that general interest magazines can’t compete with. The company behind one of these magazines (Seed Magazine) is Seed Media Group. They’re based out of New York City, and they are a media and technology company built on the premise that science is culture. They’ve been offering a new take on science since 2005, and it seems to be working with them.

Seeding Your Career

Beyond Seed Magazine, Seed Media Group also runs ScienceBlogs.com. It’s a substantial web property, and it falls right in line with Seed Media Group’s belief that:

Science is transforming our global culture and conversation unlike ever before, shaping markets, informing policy, inspiring the arts and deepening our understanding of who we are, where we come from and where we’re heading.

It’s hard to say whether Seed Media Group and similar companies will be able to save the magazine industry, or if their success is just a temporary thing, but you have to like the fact that they’re more focused on a topic than the specific type of media that they deliver to their readers. If you’re intrigued by Seed Media Group, I recommend that you check out their websites listed below and pick up a copy of the magazine. That way you can get to know them and better understand if they might be somewhere you want to work. According to their company LinkedIn profile, they’re growing into a pretty sizable company. Although their Jobs page currently has just intern positions, they do encourage you to send a cover letter and résumé to careers@seedmediagroup.com for unlisted positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read Seed Magazine or ScienceBlogs.com?

College Prowler

Willy Franzen — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:00:10 +0000

Back when I was looking at colleges, I had to rely on traditional guidebooks to get relevant information like average SAT scores, whether freshmen are allowed to have cars, and what the food is like. Finding solid information online was pretty much out of the question, and none of the guidebooks that I looked at seemed to have a good read on what the campus was really like. Then along came College Prowler in 2002 (after I was already at Cornell, which turned out great). They’re a Pittsburgh, PA based company that aims “to be the most accurate, complete, and honest resource on colleges and universities across the United States.” Although those are their words, I think that a more accurate description of what they do (also in their words) is:

No university affiliations. No half-truths. No out-of-touch authors who haven’t been in school for decades. A class project turned company, College Prowler produces guidebooks that are written by actual college students and covers the things students really want to know.

College Prowler’s guides are what college guidebooks should have always been. Unfortunately, it took a long time for anyone to realize how big the need for “real” information was. Along with guidebooks, College Prowler has also built an awesome web resource to help high school students make informed college choices. The best part is that they’ve recently made all of their online content free.

Prowling for Jobs

The business side of College Prowler is an interesting story, as I recently learned in an Inc. Magazine article. The short of it is that College Prowler is doing a fantastic job of helping students make the right college decisions, but they’re not nearly as successful at monetizing the attention that they’re getting (I can sympathize completely). As publishing has become less necessary with user-generated content sites like Unigo.com delivering free content, College Prowler has had to reevaluate its strategy. They still have a great brand and a great idea, but there’s a reason that they’re an Inc. Magazine Case Study and not a member of the Inc. 5000. If you’re up for a challenge and want to help make a cool company become significantly profitable, you should check out College Prowler’s Jobs page. Although they only have specific internship positions posted, they do say that they “typically hire in sales, marketing, editing, and web development.” If you have skills in any of those areas, reach out to Mark Tressler at tressler@collegeprowler.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

CollegeProwler.com
Jobs at College Prowler
About College Prowler
CollegeJolt.com (College Prowler’s Blog)
College Prowler in the News

Did you use any College Prowler guides?

Care2

Willy Franzen — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:34:22 +0000

Social networking is a new thing, right? Not at all. Social networks have been around almost as long as the Internet. They’ve just become way more mainstream in recent years. Take Redwood City, CA based Care2 for example. They’re an online social network that aims “to help people make the world a better place,” and they’ve been doing it since 1998. That’s impressive, not only because it means that they were early to social networking, but also because it means that they survived the dot com bust of the early 2000s. “Making the world a better place” used to be strictly the territory of non-profits, but now we’re seeing more and more companies like Care2 that are choosing to be B Corporations. That means that they can do good and build a profitable businesses at the same time. That’s exactly what Care2 is doing with their “more than 50 employees, 11 million members, 400 nonprofit partners and hundreds of responsible advertisers making a difference.”

Care2 Work at Care2?

If you’ve ever read Seth Godin, you know how important it is to build a “tribe” of loyal fans. Bringing together people with similar interests is a great way to build a business, and that’s exactly what Care2 has done. The community that they’ve built not only encourages people to do good, but it also provides a fantastic platform for the right companies to market the right products. It’s hard to call a site with 11 million members niche, but its Care2’s focus on bringing together “do gooders” that has enabled them to build a social network that actually makes money. If Care2 sounds like something that you want to be a part of, then you should check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a PHP Developer and a Web Editor/Producer. Neither job is explicitly entry level, but they seem like they could be great fits for new grads with the right background.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you participate on any sites like Care2?

The Daily Beast

Willy Franzen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:51:28 +0000

Once you start interviewing for jobs, you realize how important it is to stay well informed. Whether it’s staying up on the industry that you want to work in or just keeping up with current events, you need to be able to speak (somewhat) intelligently about a wide range of topics. Chit chat and small talk play a big part in the impression that you make, so don’t try to use the fact that you “live in a bubble” at college to explain away your ignorance. Instead, you should subscribe to the The Daily Beast. It’s a cheat sheet for current events that covers a wide array of topics. Some would call it a news aggregator, but they like calling what they do “curating.” The site was created by Tina Brown, who was formerly the editor at Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. The Daily Beast, which is based out of New York City, launched just over a year ago, and has been able to garner a huge amount of traffic pretty quickly. I guess it might have something to do with their IAC backing.

Beast on These Jobs

The way we consume news is changing, and The Daily Beast is a perfect example of how smart startups can create growth in what many people deem to be a dying industry. I could go into more detail about what The Daily Beast covers, but you’re better off just checking it out for yourself. After you give it a look, be sure to read their About page, which is really a Q & A with Tina Brown, the company’s founder. It will give you a lot of insight into what the company is all about. It’s an extremely entertaining Q&A, so I’m sure that you’ll like what you see. If that’s the case, then you’ll probably want to check out jobs at The Daily Beast. Their job listings are mixed in with the job postings from other IAC companies, but it’s a pretty easy list to scan through. (It’s pretty obvious that The Daily Beast is growing well judging by how much hiring they’re doing.) You’ll see a number of intriguing entry level positions including Business Analytics Manager, Graphic Designer, Assistant Video News Editor (West Hollywood, CA), Editorial Assistant, Social Media Associate, Sales Partnership Associate, Traffic Coordinator, and Web Developer. You can apply online for any of these positions, and be sure to read The Daily Beast before your interview.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Daily Beast?

The Huffington Post

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:40:01 +0000

We all know that news is changing, and jobs in journalism aren’t what they used to be. We’re in the middle of a major transitional stage that is going to determine how news is delivered for years to come. Blogs are becoming more and more reputable, and one of the companies that best exemplifies that trend is The Huffington Post. They’re a New York City based news website and blog network with an admittedly liberal slant (traditional newspapers would never position themselves in that way—even if they have the same biases). The site was launched in 2005, and since then it has grown to a $100 million valuation. While newspapers are dropping like flies, new fortunes are being made by blogging moguls. This is an exciting time to be involved in media, and it presents a ton of really exciting opportunities for new grads to grab a place in journalism’s future.

Join “The Internet Newspaper”

Who knows if blog networks and news sites like the Huffington Post will be the dominant players in 5 years? Maybe sites like Twitter will find a way to dominate the news. Or maybe traditional media companies like The New York Times and Condé Naste will get their acts together and make a resurgence. Nobody knows how this will all play out, but it will be exciting to be a part of. If you’re a big fan of The Huffington Post, and already have a background in politics, media, or journalism, then you need to check out their Jobs page. The only full time position that they have posted (all of the others are internships) is Overnight Associate News Editor. It’s certainly not an entry level job by definition, but I could see a new grad who has been doing all the right things up to graduation being a perfect fit. You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to pitney@huffingtonpost.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Huffington Post?

Sterling Publishing

Willy Franzen — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:47:50 +0000

Who knew that Barnes & Noble owned a publisher? I certainly didn’t, but it makes a lot of sense. If you own the sales channel, you might as well start creating your own product too. That’s why Barnes & Noble acquired New York City’s Sterling Publishing a few years back. It’s allowed them to squeeze more profit out of their dominance in retail book sales. It seems to me that the scope of the types of books that Sterling publishes is expanding, but their main focuses are in puzzles, photograpy, crafts, gardening, and do-it-yourself. If you really want to take a close look at what types of books Sterling Publishing puts out, you can see a list of their imprints with descriptions on the Sterling Publishing About page.

A Sterling Start

Sterling Publishing’s mission is “to publish high-quality books that educate, entertain, and enrich the lives of [their] readers.” I’m not sure that differs much from any other publisher, yet they say that they stand out because they “have the reach of the major publishers yet the passion & creativity of an independent press.” You’ll have to take a closer look at Sterling and the books that they publish to get a feel for whether they’ll be the right place for you. If you do think that you’ll be a good fit, then you should head over to Sterling’s Careers page. They don’t have specific job listings, but they mention that their “learning and development programs begin at the entry level and continue through to senior management.” They also have a quote from Meaghan F. in the Publicity Department about how easy it is to get a good start at Sterling Publishing:

I started at Sterling as an Intern during my senior year of college. I ended up getting a full-time job out of that experience and years later I still learn something every day as a Children’s Publicist. The opportunity for growth at Sterling is tremendous.

It’s hard to say what specific entry level positions Sterling may be hiring for, but I would guess that they are similar to the jobs that you’d find at other publishers. The easiest way to find out is to submit salary requirements, cover letter, and resume to hr@sterlingpublishing.com. I know that they are located in New York City, but I think that they might also have a location in Asheville, NC with job opportunities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite book published by Sterling Publishing?

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Willy Franzen — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:12:07 +0000

Once you get your undergraduate degree, you have a choice. You can continue with higher education, or you can get a job. You can start making money, or you can keep spending money. If you’re having trouble deciding between those two options, don’t worry. There’s a way to get a job without leaving the world of higher ed. That’s because The Chronicle of Higher Education, which is based in Washington, D.C., is hiring. As they put it, they are “the No. 1 source of news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators.” Apparently 80,000 academics and 350,000 people in total subscribe to The Chronicle of Higher Education, while their website gets 12 million monthly pageviews. They were even “ranked in the top 10 of most credible news sources by Erdos & Morgan.” Clearly, The Chronicle is the place to go for information about higher education.

Chronicle Your Success

If you love the world of higher ed, but you’re not quite ready to invest in another degree to hang on your wall, then you might want to look into writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education. If you start browsing The Chronicle’s website looking for jobs, don’t be confused by the link to their Careers section on the left hand sidebar—it’s not what you’re looking for. A big part of The Chronicle’s business is posting ads for jobs in higher education, so that’s why that link is so prominent. To find jobs with the Chronicle, you need to use their Help page, or you could just use the following link to go directly to their Jobs page. They have 3 openings right now, but only one seems suitable for new or recent grads. It’s for a Community Colleges Reporter, and it does require “at least 2 years of writing/editing experience.” It may not be explicitly entry level, but I’m sure that some of you have built up a journalistic resume that will put you into consideration for this job. To apply, send a resume, cover letter, and 5 clips to ccsearch@chronicle.com and use “Job Applicant” as the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Chronicle of Higher Education?

Graywolf Press

Willy Franzen — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:13:14 +0000

Although the book publishing industry isn’t struggling like the newspaper publishing industry is, I still wonder what the future holds for publishing. Maybe Graywolf Press has it right—they’re a non-profit publishing house based in Saint Paul, MN. (I hear that the New York Times is now non profit too. badum-CHING!.) Now, I can’t find a mission statement for Graywolf Press, but I’m going to guess that it has something to do with advancing the art of the written word. Unlike Island Press, a non-profit publisher and “provider of the best new ideas in environmentalism” whose internships we featured on One Day, One Internship, Graywolf Press doesn’t seem to have a common theme that ties together the books that they publish. The most that I could find was that Graywolf Press focuses on “introducing and promoting the most exciting and creative writers of our times.”

Howl to Get a Job

To get an idea of the kind of stuff that Graywolf Press does publish, you should check out their website and browse through all of their books. Graywolf started by “working out of a space provided by Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Washington” and moved on to a “print shack” in their founders backyard. They’ve expanded quite a bit in the 35 years since they were founded, and that means you won’t be working in a shack if you land a job with them. Right now there’s only one job posted on their Jobs page, but it’s perfect for new grads. They’re looking for an Editorial Assistant to join their 9 person office. If you’re intrigued by this position, “send a cover letter, resume, and a one-page report on a contemporary novel to jobs@graywolfpress.org.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you read any books published by Graywolf Press?

Aplia

Willy Franzen — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:45:32 +0000

Part of my daily routine is reading Greg Mankiw’s Economics Blog. When I saw his post announcing that the text book that he wrote will now be accompanied by an interactive learning tool, I was intrigued. I quickly read the Washington Post article that Dr. Mankiw linked to in the announcement to learn more about Aplia, the company that developed this educational tool. It turns out that Aplia, which is based in Belmont, CA, was developed by a Stanford economist named Paul Romer who was very successful in developing a theory to explain why different economies grow at different rates, but not so successful at engaging students. Since Dr. Romer is clearly a problem solver at heart, he developed a product (and company) called Applia that “offers high-quality, auto-graded assignments” and is “dedicated to improving learning by increasing student effort and engagement.”

Aplia for a Job

Paul Romer took $10 million in venture capital to spur the growth of the company, and he eventually sold out in 2007 to Cengage, a textbook publisher. Aplia is now “used by more than 1,000,000 students at over 950 institutions,” so I’ll wager that Cengage is pretty happy to have a successful interactive tool to bring some life to their slowly dying textbook business. Now, the real reason that I got so excited when I first heard about Aplia isn’t my interest in interactive educational tools (although I clearly have an interest there), it’s the fact that I thought they might have jobs. And they do. They still seem to operate separately from Cengage, so they have their own Jobs page (although it’s branded like it’s just for Cengage).

On that Jobs page, you’ll find quite a few jobs that appear to be suitable for new grads. We can’t link to the specific openings because of their crappy Applicant Tracking System, but you should be able to find their jobs easily. They have Content Writer positions in Accounting, US History, Psychology, Biology, and Economics that can be located in Belmont, CA; Boston, MA; or Cincinnati, OH. Additionally there are jobs for an Editorial Assistant, Flash Expert, and Customer Support Representative. The jobs look awesome, so give them a look and apply online if you’re interested.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did any of your courses use Aplia?

POLITICO

Willy Franzen — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:31:10 +0000

I think that I’ve said it before here – I don’t like politics. I’m not talking about interpersonal politics, I mean government politics. I quickly get frustrated by the ineptitude of our elected officials (and often the media that covers them) and start yelling at the tv. I used to be what people call a “politics junkie,” but I just got sick of it. That was before political blogging took off (I’m not old!), but if I hadn’t tired of politics at a young age, I’m sure that I’d be an avid reader of POLITICO. Wikipedia says that POLITICO is “a political journalism organization based in Washington, D.C., that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio.” They apparently have a newspaper that is circulated on Capitol Hill and a number of partnerships with major media outlets, but their website seems to have the widest reach.

Be a POLITICO

I wish that I could tell you more about POLITICO, but their About page consists of a list of names with links to bios. Much like a newspaper (which I guess is what they are), there’s very little meta-information and a whole bunch of content. That makes finding detailed information about what it’s like to work for POLITICO kind of difficult. All you can go by is their Jobs page, which has quite a few positions posted. It’s hard to discern which are most appropriate for new college grads, but we think that you might want to give the following positions a look: Designer, Web Producer, White House Reporter, Life Reporter, Photographer, Video Producer, and Media and Special Projects Assistant. The job descriptions are really sparse, so you may end up applying for a position that you’re not qualified for, but what do you have to lose? Also, make note of the dates that many of these jobs were posted – they’re all over the place. Some postings are 7 months old, and others are much more recent. I can’t say for sure that POLITICO is still hiring for these positions, but you should definitely give applying a shot by sending a resume and cover letter to employment@politico.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read POLITICO?

Howcast

Willy Franzen — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:46:23 +0000

When you don’t know how to do something (like find a job), what do you do? You probably head straight to Google and look for an online resource to tell you how to do what you want to do. It didn’t used to be that easy. You’d either have to ask someone, or buy a book (if you could figure out which book to buy), or figure it out yourself. Answering “how to” questions wasn’t easy, but now it is because of websites like New York City’s Howcast. Whether you head straight to Howcast or you find their answer to your question through Google, you’ll be delighted to find what they call “the best how to videos on the web.” Howcast covers nearly every topic you can imagine – from How to Adopt a Child to How to Psyche Out the Competition and – more relevant for our purposes – from How to Deal with a Smelly Coworker to How to Dress for a Job Interview. Each topic has both a video and a Wiki with written instructions, and the content is either user submitted or Howcast produced (it’s generally very high quality content). Oh yeah, and Howcast was named one of Time’s 50 Best Websites of 2008. That’s pretty cool.

How Do I Get an Entry Level Job?

Howcast answers a lot of important questions, but they completely missed the boat on one. Why the heck don’t they have a howcast on how to get a job at Howcast? It would be an awesome employment branding move, and it would really liven up their Jobs page. Unfortunately, it looks like you’re going to have to figure out how to get a job with them the old fashioned way – by showing initiative. That means you should check out their job postings, and see what you like. You’ll probably be most interested in their Writer positions. They sound like awesome jobs, and although they’ll start out as full-time freelance positions, there’s potential to make the jobs permanent. The position sounds perfect for a new grad except for the “At least 5 years of experience editing” part at the end of the job description. The reason we’re still telling you about these jobs is that we saw them posted on an entry level job board, and there was no mention of the experience requirement there. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume with a subject line of “Writer” to jobs+writer@howcast.com. Also, it appears that these positions are available in San Francisco as well as New York City. Additionally, there is a Manager of Search Engine Optimization & Research Analytics position that probably isn’t suitable for new grads, but it could be a good fit for the right recent grad. You can apply for this one by sending a resume with cover letter to jobs+seo@howcast.com. And if you do end up landing one of these jobs, your first order of business should be that How to Get a Job at Howcast video.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Howcast?

Interweave Press

Willy Franzen — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:42:09 +0000

I’m about as far away from the world of crocheting, beading, knitting, jewelry making, quilting, spinning, and needle working as you can possibly be. The closest that I’ve come to the world of crafts is having my Mom knit me a scarf and meeting someone who may or may not (she was very secretive) be a part of a group of Chicago Crochet Graffiti Artists. Still, I know that this world of crafts exists – and it’s huge. That’s why it’s no surprise that Interweave Press, a craft media company with “businesses in magazine and book publishing, interactive media, broadcast programming, and events for craft enthusiasts,” still seems to be thriving after almost 35 years in the business. Although I don’t know for sure, I’d imagine that Interweave Press, which is headquartered in Loveland, Colorado and has other offices in Malvern, Pennsylvania and Stow, Massachusetts, is somewhat insulated from all of the trouble that most other media companies are seeing because of the niche that they work in.

Weave Yourself into a Job

Since I’m obviously not the one to tell you about the craft media industry, you should probably check out Interweave Press’ website to get all of the details on them. If you’re big on crafting, you’ve probably already heard of them, and if you’re not, a job with Interweave Press probably isn’t the right direction for you anyway. According to Interweave Press’ LinkedIn profile, they’re a moderately small company with an average age of 39 and a 4:1 female to male ratio. Their Jobs page shows three open positions, which unfortunately require a bit more experience that most new college grads have; however, we still think there might be some opportunities for you with Interweave. They do offer internships, so we know they’re interested in young talent, and the jobs that they do have – Online Production Administrator, Book Designer, and Sales and Promotion Manager – are only a few years away from entry level. You could try applying for one of the jobs, or you may just want to reach out to Interweave Press’ HR team at jobs@interweave.com to see if there might be mutual interest.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a crafter?

CollegeHumor

Willy Franzen — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:00:03 +0000

I really wanted to play a gag on you this year. I wanted to post a ridiculous sounding job with a ridiculous application process, but I couldn’t bring myself to have fun at your cost. The job search is stressful enough. You don’t need someone messing with you even if you should know better than to believe anything that you read on April 1st. It’s going to be hard to top last year’s April Fools’ Day jobs with Motley Fool, and unfortunately I wasn’t smart enough to save jobs with The Onion for today, so we’re going to go with CollegeHumor, which “was founded in 1999 by two high school friends from Baltimore, Maryland who went to different colleges as a way to share all of the pictures, videos, and links their friends would IM and e-mail each other.” Somehow, a completely childish and immature website turned into a real media company over the past 10 years; in fact, IAC recently bought a majority share in CollegeHumor’s parent company. College, just like April Fools’ Day, is a time to have fun – often at the expense of others. I guess it makes sense that CollegeHumor, now based in New York City, has become a real business, with real employees.

CollegeHumor Isn’t a Joke

CollegeHumor isn’t for everyone (back in the day they had a disclaimer saying that anyone over 32 shouldn’t be on the website), but if you are amused by what others deem offensive, then a job with CollegeHumor might be your jam – especially if you want to work for a company that has a corporate beer pong team. Ok, so it’s not all fun and games. According to CollegeHumor’s Jobs page, they’re only hiring interns right now. That’s ok though, because if you let a lack of job postings stop you from landing your dream job, then you seriously need some job search help. I recommend that you head over to their About page, where they list all of their employees and job titles, and pick a job that you want. Then contact CollegeHumor and try to steal the person’s job. You can say, “April Fools’! I took your job. Happy unemployment!” It’ll help if you offer to take payment solely in Busted Tees (one of CollegeHumor’s sister companies). Your other option is to check out the Jobs from Connected Ventures, CollegeHumor’s parent company. They’re looking for a PHP/MySQL Developer and an IT Technician. If you want to land a job with CollegeHumor, you’re going to have to show some creativity and a serious sense of humor, so step away from the cover letter and resume, and find a better way to get their attention.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

CollegeHumor.com
ConnectedVentures.com (CollegeHumor’s Parent Company)
Jobs at CollegeHumor
About CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor’s FAQ

What’s your favorite prank on CollegeHumor?

New York Magazine

Willy Franzen — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:05:35 +0000

These days a magazine’s website is absolutely essential to its success. Many are saying that there’s a day not too far off when most of the magazines that we know and love won’t be published in hard (soft?) copy and will only be found online. Things are changing, but some magazines seem better suited to weather the changes than others. New York Magazine is one of those that seems to be keeping up with where the industry is going. NYMag.com gets well over a million unique visitors per month, and that’s excluding the month that they published nude photos of Lindsey Lohan when their traffic increased by 2,000%. (No, we’re not going to link to them. You can find them yourself). New York Magazine “covers, analyzes, comments on and defines the news, culture, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion and personalities that drive New York City” on a weekly basis. Basically it’s everything New York.

Do You Love New York… Magazine?

If you want to work for New York Magazine, you should probably start reading. I can’t think of a better way to prepare for a job with a content publisher than knowing the content that they publish. You might also want to check out Wikipedia’s page on New York Magazine since New York Magazine, like most magazines, doesn’t provide much information about themselves on their website. One thing that seems to be unique about New York Magazine is that they’re not part of a huge media conglomerate (as far as I can tell). There are so many magazines that are owned by companies that publish dozens and dozens of magazines, but New York Magazine doesn’t appear to be one of them.

Once you’re familiar with what New York Magazine is all about, you can check out their Jobs page. Their listings are kind of sparse right now, but they do have freelance opportunities for Web/Interaction Designers and Copy Editors. These job postings may be a bit outdated, but they’re still posted, so it’s worth inquiring about them. At the very least it’s a chance to learn about other jobs that they might have available right now. The application details depend on which position you’re applying for, so head over to New York Magazine’s Jobs page for al of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read New York Magazine?

Mashable

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:20:27 +0000

Our HP Magic Giveaway Contest has ended, and we will announce the winner some time tomorrow. That’s not the end of the excitement though, we have a fun 4 question quiz for you all to take to evaluate how you’re approaching your job search. And of course, we have another exciting entry level job for you today. If you love social networking and social media, then you probably already follow Mashable. It’s the “world’s largest blog focused exclusively on social networks.” They get 5 million pageviews a month, and they’re constantly breaking news on “all that’s new on the web.” They’ve even had a lot to add to the online job search. They’ve published articles like 70+ Tools for Job Hunting 2.0 and 9 Sites for Successful Job Interviews. They have seem to have missed one important site on both of those lists, but we’ll forgive them.

This Job Mashes

Journalism is changing before our eyes, and Mashable is a perfect example of how’ that’s happening. If you wanted in-depth information about a niche topic like social media, you used to have to subscribe to a magazine that would come out monthly, quarterly, or even semi-annually. Newspapers might occasionally give you something to chew on, but for the most part you’d be out of luck when it comes to getting the latest info on social networks. Now, you just subscribe to Mashable’s RSS feed, and that’s it.

So, Mashable is looking for a Day Time Social Media Blogger. They want someone who can write, meet deadlines, and is passionate about the web and social media – not necessarily in that order. If you’re going to apply, you better have a serious footprint on the web – participation in lots of social media sites and lots of Google results for your name. This job is full-time or part-time and can be located in New York City or virtually. To apply for this job with Mashable, send an e-mail to jobs@mashable.com with your “E-mail Address, Location/Time Zone, Links to 6 recent (past 4 months) writing samples, Resume or List of proof of about Criteria, and Social Media Links (Twitter, Facebook, etc).” I’m sure that the competition for this job will be fierce, so make sure that your application shows why you know more about social media than everyone else.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a Mashable reader?

Rodale

Willy Franzen — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:04:23 +0000

Considering that college is a time when you’re supposed to be working towards having a productive adulthood, a whole lot of self-destruction seems to be going on. It must be hard for the health nuts to fit in. If you prefer 8 glasses of water a day to keg stands, celery sticks to buffalo wings, and the Nintendo Wii to the Xbox, then you’ll be a lot more comfortable in an entry level job at Rodale than you will be at a frat party. Rodale is a “global media company with a heritage, mission, and authority dedicated to the health and wellness of the individual, community, and planet.” They publish magazines such as Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Organic Gardening, Prevention, and Runner’s World. They’re also the largest independent book publisher in the U.S.

Healthy in Mind, Body, and Career

Although traditional publishing isn’t the healthiest industry, health and wellness is an area that continues to do well. Rodale is in the right niche, and they’re not resting on their laurels – they’re building out a strong portfolio of branded web properties to ensure that they stay at the forefront of health and wellness media. They’re also keen on developing young talent, as you can see with their Internship program and the entry level jobs that they offer. Rodale currently has a number of job openings that appear to be well suited to new college grads. Although most of the jobs include some sort of previous work experience requirement, we think that most of you probably have done enough in college and internships to be ready for the jobs. Take a look at the job descriptions, and if you think that you have what it takes, don’t be afraid to apply even if you don’t fit their “requirements” exactly.

Right now, Rodale is looking for an Assistant Customer Marketing Manager (Emmaus, PA), an Assistant Market Editor for Women’s Health, (Emmaus, PA), an Online Marketing / Sales Development Manager for Runner’s World (New York, NY), an Online Video Producer (Emmaus, PA), and a Web Producer (Emmaus, PA). You can apply for all of these jobs online directly from their descriptions, or you can browse Rodale’s Job postings for more opportunities, if none of these get you excited.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of Rodale’s magazines? Which ones?

Carnegie Hall

Willy Franzen — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:42:06 +0000

We’ve written about Andrew Carnegie’s generosity before – we discussed entry level jobs with the Carnegie Corporation of New York back in May. It’s just one of many non-profit organizations that bears Carnegie’s name. Another is Carnegie Hall, which Andrew Carnegie built because of his interest in music. It’s an architecturally beautiful building in the heart of Manhattan with a storied history and amazing acoustics. It’s also host to approximately 250 performances every year. Carnegie Hall is the “ultimate destination for music lovers across the world,” according to Sanford Weill, the Hall’s Chairman of the Board, and it’s hard to argue with him. Carnegie Hall is all about music at its best, and if you believe strongly in the importance of music, you should consider working at Carnegie Hall.

Get a Gig at Carnegie Hall

If you think about it, Andrew Carnegie is responsible for creating quite a few interesting entry level job opportunities. I bet he didn’t think about that when he donated all that money. His donations have certainly gone a long way. If you truly love music but don’t know how to turn that into a career path, you should consider a job at Carnegie Hall. It can provide you with great work experience in a setting that you’ll love. It can also provide the foundation for a great future. I have a friend who started working at Carnegie Hall after graduating from college, and now she’s working in investment banking. It certainly will open up new opportunities for you.

Carnegie Hall currently has three job listings that look well suited to new college grads. These are Associate Editor, Performance Manager, and Technical Analyst. The titles almost sound like higher level jobs, but the descriptions confirm for us that these jobs should be considered entry level. Carnegie Hall is located in New York City, and so are its jobs. You can apply for a job at Carnegie Hall by sending a cover letter and resume to hr@carnegiehall.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Sugar Inc.

Willy Franzen — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:14:57 +0000

Sugar certainly doesn’t have the cleanest reputation. It’s accused of making us fat, rotting our teeth, and causing hyperactivity. Sugar Inc. is a company that wants you to throw out those bad associations you have with sugar and just think back to when you were a kid and sugar was the essence of everything good. Sugar Inc. isn’t in the business of sweets – they run a network of websites, but their CEO is named Brian Sugar and his wife Lisa Sugar is the Editor in Chief, so they’re running with the sweet play on words. Sugar Inc. consists of 15 style/entertainment sites – PopSugar, BuzzSugar, FabSugar, BellaSugar, CasaSugar, YumSugar, FitSugar, Geek Sugar, GiggleSugar, DearSugar, PetSugar, LilSugar, SavvySugar, CitizenSugar, and TeamSugar. You can probably guess from the names what topic each of the sites covers, but you should probably check a few of the sugars out to get a better sense of Sugar Inc.’s content strategy, which is to be “the definitive online media company for trendsetting, passionate women ages 18-44.”

Sugary Sweet Jobs

There are a lot of blogs and sites for “trendsetting, passionate women ages 18-44,” but not many are part of a network that is said to be bringing in $15 million in revenue this year and doing so well selling ads that they can cancel a sales deal with NBC. Revenue growth often means job growth, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing with Sugar Inc. They have quite a few job openings right now, and a number of them look like they might be of interest to new college grads. Sugar Inc. doesn’t come right out and say that these are entry-level opportunities, but most of the experience requirements are well within the realm of possibility for a new graduate.

All of the job opportunities that we’ve picked out for you at Sugar Inc. are located in San Francisco, CA. Each has a different e-mail address to which you should send your cover letter and resume, so take notice. Sugar Inc. is currently looking for a Celebrity Style Editor (celebritystylejob@sugarinc.com), a GiggleSugar Editorial Assistant (gigglejob@sugarinc.com), a UI Design Engineer (geekjobs@sugarinc.com), a PHP Software Engineer (geekjobs@sugarinc.com), and an Executive Assistant/Receptionist (adminjobs@sugarinc.com). We haven’t found too much information on what it’s like working for Sugar Inc., but how could working at an Internet company that is making money and covering a wide range of interesting topics not be fun?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Sugar Inc. site?

National Public Radio

Willy Franzen — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:07:46 +0000

A child’s first sign of teenage (pre-teenage?) rebellion often begins at the radio dial. The parent’s up-to-this-point unchallenged decision of what to listen to while in the car is called into question, and all hell breaks loose. If there are multiple kids in the family (or even just in the car), the negotiation can quickly becom more heated than a multi-lateral peace process in a war-torn nation. The parent will fight hard to maintain his or her right to National Public Radio, but the kid will persist in his or her challenge to hear something that feeds a suddenly “eclectic” taste in music. Often the parents cede this battle in hopes of winning in the future (bad idea!), which results in the parent’s driving the kids around the mini-van listening to rap music that would be a lot more offensive if the parent knew what some of the words meant. Eventually the rebellious tykes will grow up and realize that they too want to be more cultured, and they slowly, but surely come around to listening to NPR. Or maybe some kids just never speak up. They like NPR from the start. Maybe those are the ones who end up taking entry-level jobs at NPR.

Working at NPR

If you don’t know, National Public Radio “is an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming.” They’re non-profit too! Since most people who will end up working for NPR, probably listen to NPR, we’re going to jump right into the jobs. NPR offers something called a Kroc Fellowship, which was “established to identify and develop a new generation of extraordinary journalists for the public radio system.” Typically 3 fellows are selected each year, and they get “rigorous, hands-on training in every aspect of public radio journalism — writing, reporting, producing and editing, for both radio and the Web.” The fellowships start in August, but applications happen almost a year in advance, so this is something to look at for next year. Getting into this program is a long shot, but it is well worth a try if you want to be a journalist. Here are all the details.

NPR also offers regular, non-fellowship jobs for new college graduates. We ran over their list of available jobs to see what would be appropriate for our readers. Although the only clearly defined entry-level position at NPR is as a Staff Tax Accountant, we took a long, hard look at the job titles and descriptions and found quite a few opportunities that look to be well suited to new college grads. These include Marketing Manager; Consumer Products, Web Metrics Analyst, Business Development Analyst, Marketing Specialist, IT Staff Technologist, and Research Analyst. There are also a number of software/tech jobs that have experience requirements that would probably scare off most entry-level candidates, but might still be worth a look. You can find these and all of NPR’s current openings on the NPR Jobs page. NPR is located in Washington, DC, and so are all of the jobs we mentioned. Applying online looks to be straightforward, so get to it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you listen to NPR?

Penguin Group

Willy Franzen — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:13:18 +0000

Since we’ve hit you with more technical jobs over the past few days, we figure that we owe it to those of you who aren’t programmers to cover some more traditional jobs. And what could be more traditional than working for a major publishing house in New York City? If that sounds like something that intrigues you, then you should take a look at the Penguin Group and their entry-level jobs. They don’t appear to have a distinct college hiring program like Random House’s Associates Program, but they do have plenty of jobs that require little or no previous work experience.

It’s All About Whom You’re Publishing

Although I read a lot of books, I’m not sure that I know too much about the publishing industry. To me it seems like whom you’re publishing is the most important thing. Well, Penguin Group has the whom covered. Their roster of authors includes Dorothy Allison, Nevada Barr, Saul Bellow, A. Scott Berg, Maeve Binchy, Harold Bloom, Sylvia Browne, Tom Clancy, Robin Cook, Patricia Cornwell, Catherine Coulter, Clive Cussler, Eric Jerome Dickey, Richard Paul Evans, Helen Fielding, Ken Follett, Sue Grafton, W. E. B. Griffin, Nick Hornby, the Dalai Lama, Spencer Johnson, Jan Karon, Anne Lamott, James McBride, Terry McMillan, Arthur Miller, Jacqueline Mitchard, Toni Morrison, Kathleen Norris, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert B. Parker, Nora Roberts, John Sandford, Carol Shields, John Steinbeck, Amy Tan, and Kurt Vonnegut. That’s impressive. If you haven’t quite advanced to those names yet, you should also know that they published The Little Engine That Could and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.

March of the New College Grads

Penguin Group has a good mix of jobs that require little or no experience. You can find all of the jobs listed on their Job Opportunities page, which turns out to be quite difficult to find. The only way that we got to it was through their Contact page, which happens to be the first result when you Google “Penguin Group Jobs.” Job titles that require no prior work experience and are clearly entry-level include Human Resources Assistant, Junior Designer, and Subsidiary Rights Assistant. Jobs descriptions for titles such as Assistant Managing Editor, Print Shop Operator, and Online Content Coordinator say that 1 year of work experience is required. We’ll take that to mean that exceptional college students with significant internships experience will make great candidates. There are also a couple of other positions that require more previous work experience (2 to 3 years), but may be something that is worth looking at if you have a really strong resume (which reminds us to remind you to read our new post Résumé Your Facebook Addiction).

All of the jobs listed are located in New York, NY. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to to jobs@us.penguingroup.com. You can find out more about Penguin’s hiring process in this article. It’s from 2004, but it should still be helpful in figuring out how to land a job with Penguin.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have anything to say about Penguin Group? Leave a comment.

Freedom from Hunger

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:30:19 +0000

With all the hubbub about the ridiculous price of gasoline, another, more pressing price increase has been overlooked by many people. World food prices have skyrocketed as of late. On average only 14% of an American’s spending is on food, which means that we aren’t typically price sensitive when it comes to how many calories we consume (how we consume those calories is much more price sensitive). Now imagine living in a nation where the average person spends the majority of his or her income on food. If food prices go up, you must eat less. Not a good situation to be in. Freedom from Hunger is a non-profit organization that “brings innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty” and will hopefully be able to help people across the world cope with the increasing price of food.

Innovating Hunger Away

Freedom from Hunger began under another name, Meals for Millions. They developed a high-protein powdered food supplement that made it much easier to meet the nutritional needs of people living in poverty. Now Freedom from Hunger has shifted their focus to a program called Credit with Education, which uses a combination of microfinancing and education to serve “over 754,000 families in some of the poorest countries on earth.” Freedom from Hunger works in 17 countries, but is based out of Davis, CA.

Do You Have a Hunger for Helping People?

If you want to be a part of an organization that is at the forefront of hunger relief, then Freedom from Hunger is perfect for you. They have 3 entry-level job openings, all in very different disciplines. These jobs appear to be tailored to new college grads, and little relevant experience is needed to be successful in these positions. Freedom from Hunger is currently looking for an Online Content Manager, a Development Research Analyst, and a Human Resources Assistant. The job descriptions are well written and very detailed, so they should answer any questions that you have about the specific positions. Be sure to check out the Freedom from Hunger Jobs page as well, since it tells you how to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Know of a non-profit that is hiring new grads? Leave a comment and tell us about them.

Conservation International

Willy Franzen — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:38:20 +0000

I grew up in suburban Connecticut, but I spent a lot time outdoors, both around my house and in more wild places. During my childhood I rarely saw deer, turkeys, coyotes, or hawks. Only a few times did I ever hear or see a woodpecker. Seeing wildlife was special. As I got older that began to change. I see all of the above relatively often now, and I swear that I hear a woodpecker banging away every day now. I definitely consider this a victory for local conservationists who have worked hard to save and bring back wildlife habitats; however, I also know that many species of flora and fauna are still in danger across the world. Conservation International is an organization whose mission statement should be “saving life on Earth.” Instead they have chosen the slightly less terse:

We believe that the Earth’s natural heritage must be maintained if future generations are to thrive spiritually, culturally, and economically. Our mission is to conserve the Earth’s living heritage – our global biodiversity – and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.

Either way, they’re doing great work towards helping the world balance the needs of society with nature.

Conservation Across the World

The first thing that we noticed about Conservation International is that they have a gorgeous website. It looks great, it’s easy to use, and it’s full of information. They have a multimedia player on the right hand side of their web pages and articles on career ideas and job search tips. They also provide in-depth information on a wide range of conservation related issues. Their approach to conservation is also fascinating. Since their website is so great, and we have a graduation ceremony to be at today, we’ll leave most of the research up to you.

Working in Conservation

Although Conservation International doesn’t appear to have tailored any jobs specifically for new college graduates, they have a number of entry-level job opportunities. These include Editorial Assistant, Graphic Designer, Project Manager, Training Assistant, and Web Producer. The job descriptions are really detailed, so it should pretty easy to get a sense of which jobs are best to apply for. All the positions that we listed are located in Arlington, VA. We were especially impressed by some of the job descriptions for senior positions at Conservation International. It looks like the organization is working on some fascinating topics.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you hear/see more woodpeckers than you used to? We’re really curious, so please leave a comment.

CNET Networks

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:48:05 +0000

There’s no doubt about it. Traditional media is dead. Even the stodgiest newspapers and magazines have been forced to go online. Television stations can’t thrive without a web presence. That means jobs in traditional media are dead too. We understand that some of you still aren’t trusting of jobs at Internet companies and that you want the “safety” of a well established company. That’s setting yourself up for failure. Sorry to be so blunt, but to paraphrase Seth Godin, every day you spend in a traditional media job is a day that the skills that you are building become less valuable. If you’re looking for jobs at a major media company with a proven track record, why not take a look at CNET Networks?

Practically Ancient

When it comes to internet media companies, CNET Networks has been around a long time. They started with a TV show in 1994, and since then they’ve been a major presence in online media. Despite their old fogey status, they’re also managing to keep up with the constant barrage of new online trends. To do this they’ve built up an impressive portfolio of sites, and now reach over 145 million unique users a month. Their brands include: BNET, CHOW, CNET, CNET Channel, International Media, GameSpot, GameFAQs, MP3.com, mySimon, Search.com, TechRepublic, TV.com, UrbanBaby, and ZDNet. You’ve probably come across at least one of these brands at some point in your web surfing.

Jobs in the New Media

CNET Networks has two job search sites, one for college students and one for everyone else. We looked at the general job search site first (we didn’t realize that entry-level jobs were listed separately) and still found quite a few jobs that appear to be appropriate for new college grads, even if they’re not targeted to them. All of these jobs are located in San Francisco, and they include: Assistant Editor I, Console Previews, Assistant Editor I, Console Previews (yes, there are two separate listings for the same job title), Associate Editor II, Game Guides, Operations Engineer, Search Engine Optimization Analyst, and Search Strategist. All of these jobs sound really interesting, but the Editorial positions sound the best. They require some previous writing experience, but should be a great fit for a college student who loves both video games and the written word (that seems like a weird combination, not sure why).

As for jobs listed on CNET College Job Search site, there are positions such as: Associate Software Engineer, Associate Software Engineer (these first two listings are located in San Francisco), and Associate Software Engineer (Louisville, KY), Account Coordinator (San Francisco, CA), and Account Coordinator (New York, NY). Oddly enough, many of these jobs say that they require 1 year experience. That doesn’t make sense for jobs that are posted solely for college students, so we’ll recommend that you ignore that requirement. Regardless, CNET Networks does a great job of describing their jobs and requirements, so take a look and see if there’s anything that’s a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Planning on spending the summer job searching/sunbathing? You better subscribe so that you can spend less time wading through job sites (we’ll do that) and more time in the sun.

DailyLit

Willy Franzen — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:00:10 +0000

Judging by the number of you who enjoy reading about jobs in your e-mail or RSS reader, there seems to be a pretty big market for delivering fresh content in an easily digestible format. There’s something really nice about having information delivered to you instead of having to seek it out. Well, we found a company that uses the same methods as we do to deliver content, but brings you literature instead of jobs. They’re called DailyLit, and they can bring people full length books through RSS or e-mail.

One Day, One Book?

Not quite. If DailyLit delivered a new book in your e-mail every day, you’d never read any of them. That’s why they break books up into installments – chunks that you can easily read while you’re going through your e-mail. You can get one, two, or four installments a day. If that’s not enough, you can click a link and have the next installment sent immediately. Many people claim that they never have time to read for pleasure, but somehow they manage to get through 100s of mostly useless e-mails every day. DailyLit makes reading e-mail and reading for pleasure one and the same. They have a variety of books, some that are public domain and free, and others that are copyrighted and have a nominal cost. All you have to do is sign up, pick a book, and start reading.

We really love startups like this. They’re not going over the top with trying to be revolutionary. They took technology that already existed and paired it with a great idea to create a compelling product. They’ve offered free books to get people hooked, and if what they say is true, they’ve elegantly designed a system that makes reading more realistic. We’re definitely going to try some free books, so if you have any recommendations, please leave them in the comments.

Are You a Bookworm?

DailyLit has two job openings right now, and both are 100% entry-level. Their Jobs page lists an Editorial Assistant position and a Software Developer position. The descriptions are detailed and explicitly ask for new college grads. DailyLit is located in Mamaroneck, NY, and we can’t find too much more information on what it’s like to work for them. We do know that they’ve hired the former President of Del.icio.us and they’re going to give new grads a ton of responsibility from the start. This looks like a really cool opportunity for the book lovers out there, so get researching!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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