by Willy Franzen on September 19, 2009
I love our oceans—everything about them. I love swimming in them, eating the food that they provide, fishing in them, watching sunsets over them, and all of the other wonderful things that they offer. However, our oceans are both blessed and cursed by the same thing—they seem infinite. That’s what makes them so great, but it’s also what has led us to abusing them nearly to the point of no return. A little pollution will disappear in the vastness of an ocean. Overfishing doesn’t matter because there are always more fish. Scraping up the bottom isn’t a big deal because we can’t see the bottom. I wish that oceans were that resilient, but they’re not. Oceana is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth.” They recognize the value of their oceans, and they’re doing something to protect them.
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advocacy,
conservation,
design,
development,
entry-level jobs,
grant writing,
green,
non-profit,
social media,
social networking,
Washington DC,
web development
by Willy Franzen on September 18, 2009
At this rate I think that I could finish out the rest of the year covering companies that are on the Inc. 5000. I’m not going to, but I’m tempted by how many high quality entry level job opportunities I’ve been able to find from this list. Today I’ve decided to take a look at Covario, a San Diego based company that makes interactive marketing analytics software with a focus on search. I do a lot with search engine optimization, so I’m quite familiar with the industry, and I know that it’s growing rapidly. Making data driven decisions becomes essential in tougher times, because companies can’t afford not to know if they’re getting a return on investment. Tracking SEO performance through web analytics is a lot easier to measure than tracking the success of a “branding” campaign. I guess that’s why Covario has grown from $1.3 million in revenue in 2005 to $12.7 million in 2008.
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Tagged as:
analytics,
California,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
operations,
seo,
software development
by Willy Franzen on September 16, 2009
While the Inc. 5000 is filled with exciting companies that you’ve probably never heard of, there are also some familiar names on the list. Rosetta Stone is a popular brand with job seekers, not because of their jobs, but because many new grads decide that they should put their free time to good use and learn a new language. (I think they’d be smarter to invest in a job search prep course, but I’m biased.) Rosetta Stone is far and away the biggest brand name when it comes to learning new languages, so it’s no big surprise that the Arlington, VA based company has grown from $48.4 million in revenue to $209.4 million over the past three years. In fact, the growth has been so strong that they recently held an IPO that was considered very successful.
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bilingual,
customer service,
education,
entry-level jobs,
human resources,
product management,
recruiting,
Virginia
by Willy Franzen on September 15, 2009
Today is the last day to enter our Maghound Your Way to a New Job contest. With so few entries so far, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll win a one-year subscription to an awesome new magazine subscription service (3 monthly magazines for free!).
I’m still on my Inc. 5000 kick, and today we’re looking at a company whose name immediately caught my eye. They’re called College Hunks Hauling Junk, and that’s exactly what they are. Omar Soliman wanted to make some money during the summer, so he borrowed his mom’s cargo van to start hauling away people’s junk. He then entered his business plan in the Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition and won the $10,000 first prize. He realized that he had a business that he could grow, and now College Hunks Hauling Junk is doing $2.9 million in revenue. Guess that’s why Omar and his co-founder Nick were named (also by Inc.) as Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. College Hunks Hauling Junk is headquartered in Tampa, FL, but through expansion and franchising they now operate in Anne Arundel, MD; Baltimore/Howard County, MD; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; San Francisco/San Jose, CA; Tampa Bay, FL; and Washington, DC Metro.
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Arizona,
Arkansas,
business development,
California,
Colorado,
communications,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
Florida,
franchising,
Illinois,
Indiana,
information technology,
Kentucky,
manual labor,
marketing,
Maryland,
Michigan,
North Carolina,
Ohio,
operations,
public relations,
sales,
Texas,
Virginia,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on September 14, 2009
Be sure to check out our new contest, Maghound Your Way to a New Job. We’re giving away two one-year subscriptions to an awesome new magazine subscription service that can help you find a job.
In continuing with my obsession over jobs at Inc. 5000 companies (which fits in perfectly with our latest giveaway), we’re going to take a look at Blue Entertainment Sports Television today. They’re a Louisville, KY based “full-service sports and entertainment management, event and production company.” They’ve taken the unified agency approach that you often see in Marketing and Advertising, and have applied it to sports. That means that their areas of work include representation, marketing, promotion, hospitality and events. Their strategy seems to be pretty solid considering that their revenue has grown 4,685.3% over the past three years to $22.9 million.
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Argentina,
Australia,
Austria,
California,
Canada,
Colorado,
entry-level jobs,
events,
hospitality management,
international,
Kentucky,
marketing,
New York,
Poland,
production,
sports,
television,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on September 13, 2009
Be sure to check out our new contest, Maghound Your Way to a New Job. We’re giving away two one-year subscriptions to an awesome new magazine subscription service that can help you find a job.
Although most people would probably think you were nuts if you told them that you live your life according to research studies, it’s not that far off from what most of us actually do do. We are constantly bombarded with nuggets of information that tell us what’s good for us and what’s bad for us. It’s hard for us not to take to heart these simplified conclusions from actual scientific research. Some of the most publicized research occurs in the areas surrounding child rearing. Child Trends is a non-profit, non-partisan “research center that studies children at all stages of development.” They’re based in Washington, DC and they’re constantly focused on using science to improve the way children are raised. They’ve been around since 1979, so I wouldn’t be surprise if some of their research actually affected the way in which you were raised.
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Tagged as:
child development,
education,
entry-level jobs,
non-profit,
research,
science,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on September 12, 2009
We all need someone to call us out when we step over the line. Maybe it’s a parent, sibling, significant other, teacher, friend, or random guy on the street. For corporations it’s Corporate Accountability International, although I’m not sure there’s a lot of love going between the two parties. I don’t know when corporations became such a bad thing, and to be honest I still think that corporations do a lot more good than bad, but a great part of living in such a free society is that there’s always someone out there looking to hold you accountable. Boston based Corporate Accountability International demands “direct corporate accountability to public interests.” That means that when a corporation puts the food that we eat, the water that we drink, or the air that we breathe at risk, Corporate Accountability International will be causing a stir about it.
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Tagged as:
advocacy,
communications,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
public policy,
public relations
by Willy Franzen on September 11, 2009
When I was a freshman at Cornell, a bunch of my friends decided to form a group called the Red Revelers. We would go to sporting events and act rowdy. We had t-shirts and everything. I guess that’s why Revel Consulting caught my eye when I was browsing through the Inc. 5000 (expect to be hearing a lot about that list in the next few weeks—it’s my favorite resource for finding cool companies). They’re a Kirkland, WA based consulting firm that has expertise in Product Management, Program & Project Management, Change Management, Process Engineering, Sales and Marketing Management, Strategy Development & Measurement, and Cloud Computing. They’re also the 34th fastest growing private company in the United States. Beyond an awesome growth rate, they were also “named to the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For by Seattle Business magazine based on job satisfaction, work environment, and professional growth opportunities.”
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Tagged as:
consulting,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
product management,
project management,
sales,
strategy,
Washington
by Willy Franzen on September 10, 2009
The other night I wanted to read a book before bed, but I had moved the lamp from my bedroom into my living room because our hard to reach light fixture’s lights burnt out. It took all of 30 seconds to move the lamp back to my bedroom, but it was a pain in the butt. If only I had a LightWedge—a product made by the company of the same name that will illuminate your book for you. It’s a stupid simple idea that beats the heck out of wearing a headlamp in bed. Oh yeah, and the Newton, MA based company is making a ton of money. Inc. magazine recently came out with their list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the US, and Lightwedge came in at #1,609. That may not sound great, but when you see that they increased from $3.9 million in revenue in 2005 to $11.6 million last year, you have to be impressed. I always say that the best way to job search during a recession is to look for the companies that are growing, and there’s no better way to find those than Inc. magazine’s list.
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account management,
analyst,
customer service,
e-commerce,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
sales,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on September 8, 2009
by Willy Franzen on September 7, 2009
Having graduated from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, I spent a lot of time learning about work, employment, and labor issues during my undergraduate days. While most people think that Labor Day is all about the end of summer (sorry!) and not being able to wear white anymore, my school ensured that I was made more aware of the history of Labor Day. Oddly enough, ILR didn’t give us the day off from classes, but they did excuse us from classes if we went to a big Labor Day celebration with speakers from major unions. If that sounds like something that would interest you, then maybe you’ll want to check out jobs with the U.S. Department of Labor. There isn’t a more suitable employer to feature on Labor Day than our Federal Government’s Cabinet department responsible for promoting “the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States.”
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entry-level jobs,
government,
holiday,
human resources,
nationwide,
research,
statistics,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on September 5, 2009
Whether you’re trying to land a job, start a business, get in shape, figure out your personal finances, or get a date, there’s one piece of advice that I’ve found to be the most appropriate. It’s really simple and a little disappointing, but it just works. Do something! Get off your butt and take action. It will get you 80% of the way to accomplishing your goal. I’m not the only one who thinks this. Do Something, a New York City based non-profit, has adopted this two word phrase as their name. They’re focused on encouraging teenagers to take positive ideas and turn them into action. Instead of focusing on a specific cause, Do Something is all about getting teens to do something about the issues that matter to them—whatever they may be.
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Tagged as:
design,
entry-level jobs,
interactive media,
New York,
non-profit,
online media,
program development,
social media,
social networking
by Willy Franzen on September 4, 2009
Since I’m spending the weekend in San Francisco, I thought it would only be fitting to feature a San Francisco based startup today (as if we haven’t already featured enough). I decided to cover one in my industry (job search and online recruiting), because I really like what they’re doing (and they’re probably the best source for San Francisco based startup jobs too). Their name is Job Alchemist, and they’re the creators of one of the few job boards that I actually think is worth using—Startuply. They’ve also developed a number of other niche job boards like HomeBy3 (flexible jobs for moms) and Reddit’s job board. Beyond that, they’re working on a project called JobSyndicate, which is an affiliate network for jobs. I’ve seen a lot of entrants to this industry in the past couple years, and Job Alchemist is one of only a handful that have impressed me. When a company creates a job board that I actually use, that’s saying something.
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California,
entry-level jobs,
recruiting,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on September 3, 2009
Judging by what people are watching on the televisions on the cardio machines at my health club, there’s a lot of excitement about the US open right now—and we haven’t even reached the exciting part yet. There’s a decent amount of television coverage of the Open on ESPN2 (check out ESPN’s entry level jobs), but if you really want to watch a lot of tennis you need to watch the Tennis Channel. They’re a tv network that is based in Santa Monica, CA (with locations in Atlanta and New York City), and they’re “the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to the professional sport and passionate lifestyle of tennis.” Tennis Channel obviously isn’t for everyone, but that’s what niche media is all about. They own the tennis market.
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advertising,
California,
entry-level jobs,
sales,
sports,
television
by Willy Franzen on September 2, 2009
If you haven’t already entered out Back to School, Back to Work Contest, make sure that you do before Friday. You could win two HP laptops and a Timbuk2 bag!
Be sure to scroll down for an addendum to this post.
Programs! GET YA PROGRAMS HERE! You can’t go to a major sporting event without hearing that ring across the crowd. I’m not typically one to buy a program, especially now that I can look up anything important (like up to the minute stats) on my phone, but I realize that for a lot of people it’s about having the memento. New York City’s Professional Sports Publications and University Sports Publications (different names but essentially the same company) are in the business of publishing these mementos. They are respectively the leading publisher of professional souvenir magazines and yearbooks and college souvenir magazines and yearbooks. PSP Sports is also the publisher of the official NBA magazine HOOP.
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advertising,
entry-level jobs,
New York,
publishing,
sales,
sports
by Willy Franzen on September 1, 2009
Today we’re kicking off our Back to School, Back to Work contest where we’re giving away an HP dv6 Laptop, an HP Mini 110 Netbook, a customized Timbuk2 bag, and Syncables software to one lucky winner. Last December when we did another HP giveaway we took a look at entry level jobs with HP, so this time we’re going to check out Timbuk2 (since they were kind enough to provide a prize for one of you). They’re a San Francisco born and bred company that builds “bags and accessories for urban adventures with a simple philosophy—create good-looking, tough-as-Hell bags you can truly make your own.” I already had one that I stole from my girlfriend, and I just got another to check out for this promotion (the bag goes with me everywhere now).
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Tagged as:
apparel,
California,
design,
entry-level jobs,
fashion
by Willy Franzen on August 31, 2009
In my younger days hats were a big deal. I wasn’t particularly image conscious, but when it came to hats, I was. I remember one summer college hats were in. You know—the simple white hats with horizontal lines and the college’s name. Getting them just dirty enough with the just the right bend was essential (heaven forbid if someone “doritoed” your favorite hat), and, of course, you had to pop off the button on top. The next summer they were out. It was all about fitted caps—just like major leaguers wear. I was suddenly aware of how big my head really was, as I had to buy a properly sized hat. Then it was different color hats or hats with Japanese lettering. At some point I stopped obsessing over my hats, but Buffalo, NY based New Era has continued to be THE hat manufacturer of choice for all of the cool kids.
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apparel,
entry-level jobs,
fashion,
logistics,
New York,
project management
by Willy Franzen on August 28, 2009
It’s hard to imagine that a film production company could morph into “a holistic interactive agency built for a digital world;” however, that’s exactly what New York City’s R/GA has done. Now, film production and advertising aren’t all that different, but it’s still a big psychological leap from one to the other. Moreover, not many companies are willing to take a huge risk and move where innovation takes them. R/GA embraces change. They’re also really freakin’ good at what they do. Their clients include Nike, Verizon, IBM, Target, Bank of America, and a bunch of other extremely well known companies. They also have the best corporate website built in Flash that I’ve ever seen. Everything about it works—I can actually give you links to specific pages. Beyond that, the site does a fantastic job of presenting R/GA’s brand. It’s packed with information and has fantastic videos (they obviously haven’t abandoned film production completely).
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advertising,
California,
copywriting,
design,
entry-level jobs,
information technology,
interactive media,
international,
marketing,
New York,
software development,
United Kingdom,
web development
by Willy Franzen on August 27, 2009
Yesterday I was amused by a friend’s Facebook status that said: “just had a revelation: Obama sounds like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.” I instantly imagined Barack Obama shirtless, yelling into a microphone, “Do you smellllllllllll what Barack is cooking?” Apparently SNL had a similar idea. That got me thinking about WWE (formerly the WWF), where The Rock first became famous. I was never a huge fan of professional wrestling, but I must admit to having watched on occasion. My little sister, on the other hand, was a huge fan. At about six years old she decided to be Hulk Hogan for Halloween. It was priceless. Back then they were the WWF, but a spate with World Wide Fund for Nature in 2000 resulted in a lawsuit and eventually a name change. WWE is located in Stamford, CT, just 20 minutes or so from my home town, and is a billion dollar business. Unfortunately, they haven’t been immune to layoffs, but they seem to have some great job opportunities right now.
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analyst,
broadcasting,
Connecticut,
design,
entry-level jobs,
events,
flash,
marketing,
nationwide,
production,
sports,
television,
writing
by Willy Franzen on August 25, 2009
Before my fishing trip to Canada last week, I ordered a couple of books from Amazon for some pleasure reading. One of those books was Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)
. I bought it on the recommendation of Ben Casnocha, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the first 200 or so pages (I’ll finish it soon). The book has taught me more about driving than I’ll ever want to know, and it also put me on to NAVTEQ. They are headquartered a half mile away from me here in Chicago (with lots of international offices too) and “a world leader in premium-quality digital map data and content.” One of those premium map features is traffic tracking, which is why they were mentioned in the book. By informing drivers with up to date traffic maps in their vehicles, they not only make driving easier for their users, but they’re also mitigating traffic jams in real time by diverting drivers.
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accounting,
cartography,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
gps,
Illinois,
international,
product development,
research
by Willy Franzen on August 24, 2009
This morning I was reading a New York Times article about how some of the “super rich” are being hit hardest (at least in terms of total dollars lost) by this recession. A lot of this has to do with heavy investments in real estate. As we all know, real estate has not been the place to be lately. The good news about the bad real estate market is that it’s leading to all kinds of innovation. There are a ton of cool real estate startups, and I just came across another one called eRealInvestor. They’re based in San Francisco, and they offer a suite of tools that allow those who still have it in them to invest in real estate to be much smarter about it. Since I’m not a real estate investor, I don’t fully understand what all of the tools do. However, it’s hard to argue with a data based approach to buying and selling real estate.
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California,
entry-level jobs,
flash,
investment,
marketing,
real estate,
sales,
social media,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on August 23, 2009
What was the first book that you ever read? Mine wasn’t actually a book—it was a Super Mario Bros. comic book. My parents had decided that it would be fun to take Amtrak to Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa instead of flying. And it actually was. I spent a lot of the time struggling through the comic book, and then I was suddenly reading. That wouldn’t have happened on a 3 hour flight. Do you have as vivid of a memory of reading your first book as I do? First Book hopes so. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit that “provides new books to children in need addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books.” In 16 years they’ve provided more than 65 million books, so you have to call First Book a huge success.
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account management,
business development,
communications,
education,
entry-level jobs,
events,
marketing,
outreach,
public relations,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on August 22, 2009
Have you ever realized that you were being marketed to? I don’t mean watching tv and seeing an ad that makes you want to buy something. I mean getting a creepy feeling like somebody is watching you, but instead they’re getting inside your head to sell you on something. The beauty of marketing is that you usually don’t realize it’s happening, but when you do, it’s scary. You wouldn’t normally associate this kind of thing with a non-profit, but when I came across The Harmony Institute, I was both intrigued and freaked out. They’re a New York City based organization that uses “cutting-edge scientific research with film, television and new media experiences to help [their] clients deliver narratives that modify behavior and influence change.” Is it just me, or does that sound a little weird?
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advocacy,
behavioral science,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
media,
New York,
non-profit,
production,
psychology,
research,
science,
television,
video
by Willy Franzen on August 21, 2009
When I’m looking for companies to feature, I spend a lot of time looking at new startups. Sometimes I hear complaints that the jobs that we feature are a little heavy on the tech side, but that’s where a lot of the exciting jobs are these days. Startups are also more likely to be companies that you’ve never heard of before (which I consider a good thing). So, imagine my surprise when I’m browsing a startup job board and come across a posting for Charles Chocolates. They’re a San Francisco based chocolate startup founded by Charles Siegel, a guy who “has been a part of the San Francisco chocolate scene since 1987.” That may sound a little odd, but he’s done this before, and now he’s doing it again. I think the timing is right for an artisanal chocolate success story—just look at what Vosges is doing with their chocolate business.
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account management,
California,
entry-level jobs,
food,
sales
by Willy Franzen on August 20, 2009
Believe it or not, over the past week One Day, One Job has been coming to you from a lodge on the banks of the Grand Cascapedia river in Quebec. As I’ve learned this week, fishing for Atlantic Salmon is extremely difficult, even though you can often see the fish right in front of you. In some pools there appear to be plenty of fish, but none of them will bite. That’s probably a good thing considering the fact that the estimated annual run on the Bonaventure (where we’ve been doing our fishing) is only about 1,500-2,000 fish. That means that if I catch and release my daily limit of two fish, I’ve caught .1% of the entire run. Even though we’d really like to, we can’t even think about killing one of these fish to eat—they’re too precious. Luckily, CleanFish is a company (and a B Corporation, you know what that is now!) that offers sustainable seafood that we can eat. They’re based in San Francisco with offices in Gloucester, MA and Los Angeles, CA as well, and they’re changing the way that we eat seafood.
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California,
entry-level jobs,
food,
Massachusetts,
social venture
by Willy Franzen on August 19, 2009
I’ve never really understood the idea of the “Summer Blockbuster.” Why would you want to sit inside and watch a movie when it’s nice and hot outside? I guess sometimes it gets too hot, and sometimes it rains, but I’d rather be outside. If you disagree with me, then you’re probably a big fan of Culver City, CA’s Sony Pictures. They’re in the business of producing, marketing, and distributing entertainment, and you’re probably familiar with some of their recent an upcoming releases like: Julie and Julia, Angels & Demons, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. They’re also responsible for Seinfeld. Since I’m not much of a movie buff, I don’t know if anyone actually cares what production house puts out a movie, but I do know that Sony Pictures’ end products seem to pretty darn good—they even made my favorite movie (about the outdoors, obviously), A River Runs Through It.
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advertising,
California,
data,
entry-level jobs,
fitness,
information technology,
interactive media,
marketing,
media,
movies
is the funniest, most in-your-face career guide on the market.