One Day, One Job » events

Best Shot Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:56:19 +0000

Some of the most fun that I had during college was playing in a charity dodgeball tournament. My team was doing really well until we ran into a team of future NHL players, pitchers from the baseball team, and some former softball players (they threw underhand, and they threw hard) in the semifinals. That match was pretty ugly, but even when you lose at dodgeball, you have fun. We’ve seen dodgeball gaining more and more popularity, and with that trend we’ve seen more and more non-profits using dodgeball to raise funds. Best Shot Foundation is a Washington, DC based non-profit that is doing just this. They’re an organization that is focused on bringing attention to the fact “that pneumonia kills more young children than any other disease,” and then doing something about it.

Give It Your Best Shot

Even here in America pneumonia can be a major problem for people—especially those whose immune systems are compromised in some way. However, across the world it’s a much bigger problem. According to UNICEF:

Pneumonia kills more children than any other illness—more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Over 2 million children die from pneumonia each year, accounting for almost 1 in 5 under-five deaths worldwide. Yet, little attention is paid to this disease.

That’s a startling statistic. Best Shot Foundation is focused on fixing this problem by focusing on “the belief that increased public commitment will drive increased health resource allocation.” They’re getting things started by organizing dodgeball tournaments at college campuses across the country. I love the idea, and I think that you should help. Since Best Shot Foundation is a startup non-profit, they don’t appear to have any full-time, permanent jobs right now, but they are hiring 16 Regional Tournament Organizers to take on the challenge of running these tournaments. Since finding a job is so tough now, this is a perfect stopgap position to gain some experience for your résumé and show off your skills and abilities. And it could turn into something permanent if Best Shot Foundation continues to grow. You need to do more than just send a résumé to apply, so check out all of the requirements in the job description before applying.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever played in a dodgeball tournament?

Rooftop Media

Willy Franzen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:54:01 +0000

We’ve featured a lot of startups here at One Day, One Job, but never one with as good of a sense of humor as Rooftop Media. They’re a San Francisco based company that is entirely focused on comedy. Yes, they were able to secure $2.5 million in venture capital solely on their sense of humor. Ok, they actually have a well thought out business model too, but I’d like to think that instead of pitching decks (slides) to VCs, they just did a little standup routine and that was that. The main concept behind Rooftop Media is providing a platform for middle tier comedians—professionals whom you’ve probably never heard of. They have a destination comedy video site called RooftopComedy.com, while also working with media and advertisers. For media they “create custom comedy programming for broadcast, web, mobile and print channels hungry for unique, compelling content,” and for advertisers they “create powerful, branded entertainment and integrated marketing programs on behalf of our advertising clients.” They’ve worked with impressive names like Microsoft, Purina Mills, Virgin America, Fast Company, and more.

Climb Up to the Rooftop

Comedic marketing is a brilliant idea that we’re all quite familiar with—Super Bowl commercials are a perfect example. Rooftop Media is taking the idea to a new level by creating a huge library of comedic content while also working with their comedians to make content targeted to specific audiences. For instance right now they’re putting together Rootop’s Rooftop Comedy National Comedy Competition’s Funny Film Contest, which is open to US college students. Yes, it’s a comedy contest, but it’s also a promotion for Microsoft Office Live Workspace—presumably because you can use it to make funny films. That’s a pretty brilliant way to do marketing, considering that funny videos are about the only way to grab a college student’s attention for a prolonged period of time. If you’re intrigued by what Rooftop Media is doing, then you should check out their Jobs page. There are two posted opportunities that seem suitable for new grads—Graphic Designer and Coffee and Donuts Dude/Dudette. The former requires some strong graphic design skills and experience, while the latter is purely a foot in the door position that will hopefully be the start of something more. You can apply for both positions online, so be sure to bring your sense of humor. You might also want to check out their internship opportunities in Marketing and Events Marketing, because they do mention the potential for full-time employment for successful interns.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Rooftop Media?

Blue Entertainment Sports Television

Willy Franzen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:36:53 +0000

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.

Are You the BEST?

Blue Entertainment Sports Television is fortuitously named, as their acronym is BEST. I guess you’re well on way to living up to that name when your clients include Magic Johnson, Reggie Bush, Victoria Azarenka, Shawn Marion, Bryan Brothers, and Caroline Wozniacki. Blue Entertainment Sports Television is actually a relatively new brand that came from the combination of preexisting brands SFX Tennis, SFX Events, SFX Media, Game-Seven Sports Marketing, Team Championships International, Blackwave Sports, Humarks, and Worldwide Football and Management Group. There’s actually a case study on the rebranding, and it seems to be correlated with huge revenue growth.

Although BEST doesn’t get specific about what kind of jobs they offer, they do make a call for résumés on their Contact page. To get a feel for what kind of jobs they might offer new college grads, you should browse through their LinkedIn Company Profile and take a look at what types of positions their current employees have. You can apply for a job at BEST by sending a cover letter and résumé to careers@experienceBEST.com. You should also note that they have quite a few offices beyond their headquarters in Lousiville, KY including domestic offices in Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; and Washington, DC and international offices in Australia, Austria, Canada, Argentina, and Poland.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about BEST?

WWE (formerly WWF)

Willy Franzen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:28:55 +0000

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.

Body Slam Your Way into a New Job

One thing that surprised me when I started doing research on World Wrestling Entertainment was the fact that they aim for a PG rating with all of their content. They put a huge emphasis on being family friendly because kids are such a huge part of their fan base. This philosophy runs throughout WWE’s five business units: Live and Televised Entertainment, Consumer Products, Digital Media, WWE Studios, and Sales & Sponsorships. If you’ve always loved professional wrestling and think that a career with WWE would be action packed, then you need to check out WWE’s Careers site. There are a bunch of job openings that can be considered entry level including Business Analyst (Stamford, CT), Live Event Marketing Rep (based anywhere in the U.S.), Motion Graphic Designer (Stamford, CT), On-Air Talent (Stamford, CT), and Writer Assistant (Stamford, CT). You can apply for all of these jobs online, so start practicing your body slams and elbow drops.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Who is/was your favorite wrestler?

First Book

Willy Franzen — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:46:47 +0000

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.

Open a New Chapter with First Book

Considering the fact that you’re probably someone who enjoys reading (since that’s what One Day, One Job is all about), you have to have a strong understanding of how powerful reading skills can be. It all starts when you’re 5 or 6 with a single book, yet many kids just don’t have access to age appropriate books. First Book solves that problem. They also have an awesome way to market their story. By asking you “What book got you hooked?” they’re getting right at an emotional memory. You have to agree that “there are some stories no child should grow up without.” If First Book already has you reminiscing about your early days of reading, then you should check out their jobs. They have two Director level (not entry level) jobs posted on their Jobs page, but there’s also a Strategic Alliances Coordinator position posted on Idealist. It’s perfect for a new grad, so give it a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What was your first book?

Leading Authorities

Willy Franzen — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Events are all about the people. A lot of that has to do with who’s invited—or more importantly, who shows up. You can invite people like Aretha Franklin, Trent Lott, John Cleese, Terry McAuliffe, Steve Wozniak, Brad Paisley, and Darell Hammond, but they’re probably not going to come to your event (if they all did it would be quite a mix). Unless, of course, you’re using Leading Authorities. They are a Washington, DC and Chicago, IL based lecture agency that provides “top-tier speakers and nationally-recognized entertainment acts to events all over the world.” Yeah, you’ll have to pay a hefty sum, but how else will you get an impressive name to keynote your conference or sing at your party? Leading Authorities is also an “award-winning production house” and an event design firm. That means that you’ll be able to make the most of the talent that you bring in for your event—assuming that you, a recent college grad, are throwing a huge event.

Become a Leading Authority

Leading Authorities offers everything that’s necessary to put on an amazing event. They’re especially well networked in the worlds of politics and entertainment, so that’s where most of their talent comes from. If you browse through their talent roster, you’ll find a lot of familiar names and a lot of names that you haven’t heard of. Don’t overlook the people that you’ve never heard of though—they often make the most interesting speakers. To get a better idea of what Leading Authority offers, check out their video below.

If you think that a job at a lecture agency would be cool, you’re in luck because Leading Authorities is hiring. If you head over to their Jobs page, you’ll see that they have a Program Consultant opportunity in their Washington, DC office. The job appears to be suitable for new grads, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to monique@lauthorities.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Leading Authorities’ speakers do you want to see most?

Erwin-Penland

Willy Franzen — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:15:03 +0000

We’ve featured quite a few integrated integrated marketing agencies in the past, but I’m not sure that we’ve ever actually talked about what integrated marketing is. According to Wikipedia (original reference has a dead link), integrated marketing communications is “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.” That sounds desirable, but how do you accomplish that? You either do it all yourself, or you hire an agency that does it all. It’s really hard to to accomplish integrated marketing when you have one agency doing PR, another doing TV ads, and another doing interactive. Greenville, SC based Erwin-Penland is an agency that does it all—interactive, public relations, direct mail, event planning, advertising, strategic planning, and media—and they don’t farm any of it out to freelancers or other agencies.

Take a Trip to Erwin-Penland

The cool thing is that Erwin-Penland takes an integrated approach to branding themselves and their jobs. They have a gorgeous website, and they make it very easy to understand what they’re all about. Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video from Erwin-Penland’s About page because that’s the perfect way to show you what they’re all about, so I’m going to encourage you to go watch it now. It makes the company look like a really fun place to work. So does the fact that Erwin-Penland divides their workforce into client teams, not departments. That should make for a very different work experience than most other agencies offer.

If that sounds like something that you’d enjoy, then you need to check out Jobs at Erwin-Penland. Right now there are quite a few opportunities posted, and there’s also a Twitter account for EPJobs (in fact they just announced 7 new hires this week—what recession?). The job openings that seem most suitable for new grads are Junior Account Executive and Junior Copywriter; however, you may also want to check out Traffic Manager, Graphic Designer, Planner, Billing Coordinator, and Technical Support Analyst. Additionally, Erwin-Penland encourages new grads to apply for their paid internships. There’s a résumé submission form on each job description page, so find the right job for you and apply today.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Erwin-Penland?

Don Jagoda Associates

Willy Franzen — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:15:30 +0000

These days the entry level job search is a lot like a sweepstakes. You send out hundreds of applications (entries), and assume that you’ll never get a response either way. Still, you hold out hope that you’ll win an all expenses paid trip to… a job interview. It’s not a reassuring feeling, which is why you should change your approach (that’s what we teach you here and especially in our course, Found Your Career). Just like there’s a group of people who have figured out the tricks to winning sweepstakes, there’s also a group of people who have figured out the tricks to landing jobs. Today, I’m hoping that you’ll figure out both by pursuing a job with Don Jagoda Associates. They are a Melville, NY based marketing-services agency that specializes in areas that include: Promotion Development; Sweepstakes, Contests & Games; Online Services; Incentive & Loyalty Programs; Creative & Production; Fulfillment; Travel Services; Refunds & Rebates; Premiums; Tie-Ins & Strategic Alliances; Event Promotions; and Hispanic Promotions.

You Can Be a Winner

Now, you may be concerned that the world of sweepstakes, contests, games, refunds, rebates, and all other kind of promotions can get a little sleazy, and you’re probably right; however, Don Jagoda Associates has a fantastic reputation—just ask those people who are sweepstakes afficionados. Don Jagoda Associates is an industry leader, and even though their website isn’t much to look at, it has a ton of information on everything that they do. This includes case studies on projects that they’ve done in Interactive, Integrated, Offline, and Event Promotions. If you look at the case studies, you’ll notice that Don Jagoda Associates works with a ton of major brands. Once you get a feel for all of the cool things that DJA does, you should probably check out their Jobs page. They have locations both in Melville, NY and Los Angeles, CA, and right now they’re looking for an Assistant Account Executive (they don’t say at which location). You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to csertic@dja.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

By the way, we have a big contest coming in the near future with some awesome prizes. Keep your eyes peeled.

Eventbrite

Willy Franzen — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:58:36 +0000

The other night I went to a great event called Out of Work Chicago to watch Jason Seiden speak and to get familiar with job seekers who aren’t fresh out of college. It was a great event, and I definitely enjoyed it. I didn’t need a ticket because I came with one of the featured speakers, but the thought of registering hundreds of people for an event seems pretty intimidating to me. I don’t know if the guys at Out of Work Chicago use Eventbrite, but it looks like the perfect solution for registering and ticketing people at any size event. If your event is free, Eventbrite is free. If you’re charging, they take a 2.5% cut. That sounds like a pretty decent deal to me, considering it eliminates most of the headaches of event registration.

Are You Brite Enough?

It’s cool to see a Web 2.0 startup like San Francisco based Eventbrite that not only has a great product, but also a defined revenue stream. Instead of building hype, they’ve built a simple service that excels at what it does. If I’m ever running an event that requires registration, I’ll definitely give Eventbrite a try. And if you’re looking for a job, you should give Eventbrite a look. Their Jobs page has three openings posted right now, and two of them seem like they could be suitable for new grads. There’s an Account Executive/Sales position that doesn’t require any prior work experience, and there’s also a Customer Support position that requires 2-5 years of experience. That sounds like a lot, but I’m sure there are quite a few of you out there who have that type of experience – even if it was as part of a college organization or volunteer work. There’s also a Senior Software Development position posted that definitely isn’t for new grads; however, I haven’t come across many Web 2.0 companies that don’t want to hear from brilliant Software Developers, so if that’s you, you should definitely reach out to Eventbrite. To apply for any of the jobs with Eventbrite, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@eventbrite.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you registered for an event through Eventbrite?

Gravity Tank

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

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

Get Pulled In by the Gravity Tank

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Gravity Tank?

Levy Restaurants

Willy Franzen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:50:27 +0000

Yesterday I told you how my move to Chicago has extended my baseball watching season, but I’m not sure that I mentioned that I have tickets to today’s Cubs game! I’m pretty excited about it, although I’m not excited about the fact that it might get into the 40s tonight during the game. October baseball is not for fair weather fans – the types who might prefer a catered event at the stadium to a real baseball game. Whether you’re a fair weather fan, an insanely devoted fan who just wants to be as close to your team’s stadium as possible at all time, or even if you just enjoy fine dining, a job with Levy Restaurants might be something worth thinking about. They’re a company that is all about hospitality and dining experience, and they happen to do catering/events at some pretty amazing venues – Wrigley and U.S. Cellular Field included.

The Levy Difference

A caterer doesn’t get the right to cater at top flight sports venues with out offering a fantastic experience. Levy Restaurants attributes their success to what they call “The Levy Difference.” There happens to be a video on their website with the same name, so we’re going to recommend that you watch that before you dig deeper into internships with Levy Restaurants.

Now that you’ve watched the movie, let’s take a look at Levy Restaurants’ entry level job offerings. Their job descriptions don’t offer a lot of detail, but we’re pretty sure that a number of their jobs can be considered entry level. If you look at all of their current job openings, you’ll see quite a few Assistant Director of Operations positions (Conseco Field House – Indianapolis, IN; Live Nokia Theater – Los Angeles, CA; Qwest Field – Seattle, WA; Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO; and STAPLES Center – Los Angeles, CA). Any job title that includes “assistant” has a pretty good chance of being a well suited to new college grads. There are also an Accounting position at Lambeau Field (Green Bay, WI) and a Marketing Coordinator position at Chase Field (Phonenix, AZ) that may be worth looking at. Finally, there are a number of jobs as Sous Chef (many locations). These require significant culinary knowledge, but may be considered entry level for you if you just graduated from culinary school. Levy Restaurants is based out of Chicago, IL, but has locations all across the country, so be sure to check out their list of venues to see where they might be hiring in the future. They don’t provide an HR contact or an e-mail address, so the only way to find out more information about jobs with Levy Restaurants is to apply online directly from the job descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever experienced the Levy Difference? What’s it like?

Fuse Marketing

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

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

Light Your Fuse

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Ruder Finn

Willy Franzen — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:00:47 +0000

Despite what their name might make you think, Ruder Finn was not founded by someone from Finland with bad manners. They are actually a family-owned public relations firm that was founded in 1948 by David Finn and Wlliam Ruder. Ruder Finn has four specialties – Health & Wellness, Global Connectivity, Corporate & Public Trust, and Life & Style – with many areas of focus within those specialties. The firm’s first client was Perry Como, who was followed by a list of other celebrities; however, Ruder Finn represents more than just celebrities. They work with many major corporations, the United Nations, and they even represented the Bosniaks and the Croats in the Yugoslav Wars. Yes, warring nations choose Ruder Finn to manage their PR – that’s impressive, albeit a bit strange.

Not Quite an Entry-Level Job, Not Quite an Internship

Ruder Finn is obviously well know for their public relations work, but they’re also known for their Public Relations Executive Trainee Program. They run this program thrice annually, and the application deadline for the Fall program was August 1st, but it has been extended (they don’t have a set limit on the number of applicants accepted into the program). We’re not sure how much longer they are accepting applications, so you should probably get your application together as quickly as possible. Before you do that, though, let us tell you a little bit more about the Ruder Finn Public Relations Executive Trainee Program.

This program is not quite an entry-level job, and it’s not quite an internship – that’s why we’re posting it here and on One Day, One Internship. It’s intended for new college graduates, and it’s located in New York City. The program has been running for 30 years, and each session runs for approximately 4 months. Participants are expected to work 35 hours per week and to attend weekly training classes. Ruder Finn pays participants a prorated annual salary of $24,000 (so that should be about $8,000 for 4 months), but does not provide benefits. Participants who excel in the Executive Trainee Program are often hired full-time as Assistant Account Executives. We’d guess that participants who don’t end up getting full-time offers probably go on to work for other great public relations firms.

If you’re a new grad who is looking for a job in public relations and wants to gain experience in writing, media monitoring, media relations, electronic media, special event planning, new business presentation, and more, then the Ruder Finn Executive Trainee Program is a great opportunity. If you can get your act together quickly, apply for the Fall term. If you can’t, don’t fret – they offer this program every spring and summer too. Ruder Finn is very particular about how you apply for this program, so be sure to follow the instructions on their How to Apply page carefully.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you know anything about this program? Leave a comment.

hip consulting group

Willy Franzen — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:43:01 +0000

The idea for today’s post came straight from a reader and friend. She graduated a few months ago and has been looking for entry-level jobs in event planning since. She told us about one company that she was really excited about, but asked us not to post about it until she was either working for them or had landed another job. She recently landed a job doing exactly what she wants to do (big congratulations to her), so we’re free to tell you about hip consulting group, a boutique event management firm. They definitely offer internships, and they seem amenable to hiring new grads, so they’re definitely worth a look for anyone who has an interest in event planning.

Get Hip

hip consulting does everything when it comes to events. Whether it’s a corporate meeting, a customer appreciation event, or an employee incentive program, they’ll take care of it. They help clients select a site, register attendees, produce creatives and A/V, brainstorm ideas, and much, much more. The key to their success is attention to detail, so you can be sure that they’ll be willing to do what it takes to make sure an event happens without a hitch. They must be doing things right considering they were named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Hot 500 Fastest Growing Businesses in America. They started with an initial investment of $50,000 in 2000, and did $6.5 million in sales in 2006. That’s some serious growth. With that growth has come hiring – from 2006 to 2007 they grew their numbers by 50% to 30 employees. Hopefully, they’ll continue that pace, and you’ll be part of the plan.

Our one issue with hip consulting is their website. It looks great, but it’s all in Flash. That means that we can’t link to specific pages, and we can’t search the content of their site in Google. Their Careers page says that they’re always looking for new team members, and that’s about it. From what we can gather about them, the jobs that they offer are most likely to be in the areas of marketing, hospitality management, video production, and graphic design. There may be other opportunities, but it’s hard to discern when they don’t post specific job openings. They offer internships, which is always a good indicator that they hire at the entry-level as well (we also did some LinkedIn research and saw that they’ve taken interns on full time after graduation). If you’re a new college grad who wants to get into event planning and wants to work for a CEO who loves fly fishing (I had to throw that in!), then hip consulting looks like a great place to look into. They’re located in Centennial, CO, and they invite you to send a resume and cover letter to careers@gethip.biz.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Know of a cool company that you want to share with us after you ensure that you’ve landed a job? Just e-mail us at info@onedayonejob.com.

Fiji Water

Willy Franzen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:17:08 +0000

Sometimes I give people a hard time for buying Fiji Water, but I shouldn’t, considering that I occasionally drink it myself. I drink a lot of water, and Fiji Water is some of the best, but it seems crazy to have water shipped half way around the world when we have some of the world’s best drinking water sitting in our toilets (and coming out of our faucets too). Still, there’s something to be said for enjoying the luxury of sipping water that comes from an artesian well at the edge of a primitive rain forest. If you’re going to drink bottled water, it might as well come from somewhere that you could only dream of vacationing.

Fiji Water Is Green

No, not literally green. The water is crystal clear, but it’s hard not to have hesitations about drinking Fiji Water when you hear on the news that drinking bottled water will cause the end of human life as we know it. Not only is the water in plastic bottles, but its shipped thousands of miles. So why is Fiji Water green? You can find out at FijiGreen.com. Essentially, they’ve taken 4 steps to ensure that their business doesn’t have an adverse environmental impact. They’ve committed to being carbon negative (that’s better than carbon neutral), they are working to save the rainforest, they have reduced their packaging, and they are putting increased resources into recycling. Now that you can drink Fiji Water without a heavy conscious, you can also consider working for them.

Entry-level Jobs in Fiji?

Yesterday we teased you with the prospect of entry-level jobs en provence, and today we’re teasing you again. How would you like to have an entry-level job in Fiji? Too bad. The closest that you’re going to get is having Fiji Water touch your lips. That’s ok, though. Fiji Water has a few jobs that might be good fits for new college grads. The most likely options are the Territory Sales Manger positions, which are located in Oakland, CA, San Antonio, TX, and Houston, TX. You may also want to look at the Event Coordinator – Mid-Atlantic (New York, NY) and Commercial Financial Analyst (West Los Angeles, CA) positions, although the experience requirements seem to be just beyond the threshold of entry-level. These jobs may not be in Fiji, but they still look pretty cool to us. Fiji Water doesn’t have a specific college recruiting program, but they do have a strong internship program. You may want to try cold calling them and see if they have any positions in your field of interest that are specifically meant for new college graduates.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Any Fiji Water drinkers out there?

The Landers Group

Willy Franzen — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:13:07 +0000

One Day, One Job is about helping college students find great entry-level jobs. We’ve always taken this literally by featuring companies that look like great places to work (we can’t ever be 100% on this, but we do our best). Well, a big part of finding a great first job is avoiding the not so great (or really awful) jobs that are out there, so, today, we are going to look at a company called The Landers Group, which has been identified as a scam by people online and in the media. As it gets later in the post-graduation job hunting season, many new grads become desperate. It makes them easy prey for employment scams like those peddled by The Landers Group.

I’m Smart, I Don’t Fall for Scams

Yeah, that’s what suckers say. How do we know that smart people fall for these scams? We’ve seen it happen. One of my friends is a freshman at an Ivy League school. He was torn between getting a summer job or an internship, so he was looking at all kinds of options. He told me that he had landed an interview with a really cool sports marketing company. Being a reader of One Day, One Internship, he knew to contact us with questions on how to research a potential employer. He had already scheduled an interview with the company for when he returned home, but he sent us the name of the company (The Landers Group) so that we could tell him a little bit more about it. Within seconds we found a number of Google results that indicated he was in for a learning experience (but not the kind you want to get out of your internship). Our friend is a smart kid. He’s proactive and trying to get a Summer internship even though he’s only a freshman. He was about to get burned.

Why You’ll Fall For It

We’ve never had firsthand experience with The Landers Group or any other company that follows similar business practices, but we’ve found enough evidence through our research to indicate that any time spent in contact with one of these companies is wasted. You will usually find these jobs listed on major job boards with titles like “Sports and Entertainment Marketing – Entry Level Positions.” The job description will go into great detail about all of the wonderful things that await those who apply – excellent pay, travel opportunities, learning experiences, and quick advancement. Take a look at all of The Landers Group’s Job Postings on CareerBuilder. They’ll also brag about their amazing client list. From their website:

One by one The Landers Group has added every major sports team in Southern California to its portfolio. No other advertising and marketing firm in the area can make the same claim… Our unparalleled portfolio includes the Los Angeles Dodgers, the LA Clippers, the LA Kings, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, MLS’ Chivas USA, the UCLA Bruins, and also clients such as Crowne Plaza Resorts, Disneyland, and Sea World. Our unique grass-roots marketing approach has given our clients a valuable edge in the marketplace and it places them front and center in the public eye!

Since it seems that Sports and Entertainment Marketing are extremely popular fields with college students, these job listings must get viewed thousands of times. Many of those who read the job descriptions get excited and apply. We don’t have a reference to back this up, but we’re going to guess that everyone who applies gets an interview.

The “Interview” Process

It’s relatively likely that your “interview” with The Landers Group might be your first ever job interview. Whether you realize that something’s fishy depends on how perceptive you are. We’ve heard that their secretary will not refer to the company by name, probably because they operate under multiple names and don’t want you to realize it. Your first interview will most likely be informational, where they’ll continue the pitch that they started in the job posting. Any questions about what the company actually does or what their entry-level jobs are like will probably get a vague response. You’re also likely to hear, “You’ll have to see it to believe it.” Since scammers usually don’t turn away people, we’re going to guess that you’ll get asked back for a second interview too.

The second interview is where you’ll really get to see The Landers Group in action. You will be tagging along with one of the company’s employees. The story usually goes that you end up in a sketchy car with a sketchy person going to a sketchy neighborhood. Once you get there, you find out what The Landers Group does. They sell coupons door to door. Remember that amazing client list? That’s whose coupons you will be selling. You’ll be given one side of the street, and the employee will take the other. You’ll essentially spend the day working for free. How do we know? We’ve found stories from people who have done it like this and this. If you’re lucky, you’ll just end up having wasted a day. If you’re not, you may end up stranded many miles from home or having had a gun pointed at you and with mud all over your only suit.

How to Avoid Getting Burned

Now that you’ve read about The Landers Group, you will hopefully know to avoid these scams. If you’re not sure whether an employer is legitimate, use what we’ve taught you to do some employer research. Our articles How to Use Google to Find a Job and Turning the Tables: Digging Dirt on Employers are both excellent resources that will teach you what to need to know. Often, finding out the truth is as easy as doing a Google search with the company name and the word scam – here are the results for “The Landers Group scam.” Also, remember that these companies use major job boards as their main recruiting tool. Don’t think that because something is listed on Monster, Yahoo! HotJobs, or CareerBuilder it is legitimate – anyone can pay to post their jobs on these sites.

Don’t forget that The Landers Group operates under a variety of names. There are also many other companies that use similar business practices to recruit unsuspecting college students into bum jobs. The stories are often different, but the end result is usually the same. Although The Landers Group is focused quite heavily on selling an actual product, some of these companies are even skeezier. Instead of selling, you’ll be doing their bidding by recruiting more suckers to work for you recruiting more suckers. In general these types of operations are known as Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) operations, and they should be avoided unless you are completely comfortable with what you’re getting into. Here’s a post from the Consumerist on other operations that are using tactics similar to those of The Landers Group.

A List of Companies Known to Have Similar Practices

The Landers Group
Kelly Advertising
Granton Marketing
DS Max
After Five Marketing Group
Dalton Management
Innovage

This is by no means a comprehensive list. If you know of other companies that should be added, please leave a comment with the company’s name and a reference or personal story telling us why they should be included.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

This was obviously a different kind of post for us. What do you think? Leave a comment. We love to hear feedback.

Minds Matter

Willy Franzen — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:00:56 +0000

Today we have an exclusive entry-level job in New York City for our readers! We were forwarded an e-mail (we were about 4th down the line) by a friend, and we wanted to share this excellent opportunity with our readers, since it can’t be found anywhere else on the Internet. Minds Matter is a not-for-profit organization that brings high-achieving and motivated high schools students from low-income families together with dedicated mentors to achieve academic excellence and expand educational horizons. There are only two employees (we’re not sure if that’s for the entire organization, or just the New York City chapter), an Executive Director and a Program and Development Assistant (PDA) at Minds Matter. The current PDA joined two years ago right out of college, but is leaving in the Summer for graduate school. That means Minds Matter needs a replacement. If you want to do some research on Minds Matter, their 2007 Annual Report has everything you could possibly want to know about the organization.

We don’t usually do this, but since the job description isn’t posted on Minds Matter’s website, we’ve copied and pasted the job description from the Word document that was attached to the e-mail we received.

Program and Development Assistant

Description of Organization

Minds Matter is a not-for-profit organization that brings high-achieving and motivated high schools students from low-income families together with dedicated mentors to achieve academic excellence and expand educational horizons. Through Minds Matter, our carefully selected students gain the opportunity to attend challenging and exciting summer programs, and receive advice and support throughout the college application process. Founded in New York City in 1991, Minds Matter has since established a national presence with existing chapters in NYC, Boston, Denver, Chicago and Portland. In addition to committed leadership volunteers, Minds Matter’s staffing model includes two full-time employees, including the Program and Development Assistant, who supports both the NYC and national organizations. Additional chapters may be opened during the 2008-2009 school year.

Overall Description of Position

Minds Matter seeks an enthusiastic, flexible, and organized self-starter to assist with a wide range of programs and operational areas. As the only employee working alongside the Executive Director at a dynamic and growing organization, the Program and Development Assistant will have the opportunity to make a large impact on both the NYC Chapter and the national organization. This full-time, entry-level position will include the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of non-profit activities including volunteer recruitment and management, program coordination, fundraising, finance and operations.

Reports To: Executive Director
Works With: NYC Executive Committee Members, National Executive Committee Members, and NYC Volunteers

Overview of Critical Responsibilities

Programmattic Support

Participate in recruitment of approximately 300 volunteers, including advertising, application screening, scheduling of interviews, and conducting interviews as needed.
Ensure organization’s compliance with comprehensive volunteer background check policy.
Participate in the recruitment and selection of student mentees, including contacting schools throughout New York City, screening applications, setting up applicant files and databases and participating in interviews.
Assist with the preparation and implementation of student and volunteer orientations.
Provide administrative support for programs, including the preparation of packets, manuals and weekly session materials.
Assist with the student summer program application process, including researching program requirements and application deadlines, tracking student applications and submitting student applications.
Answer routine inquiries for program information, written and oral.
Ensure proper set-up and clean-up of Saturday sessions.
Complete other projects as assigned.

Fundraising & Operational Support

Maintain accurate fundraising records in Kintera database, and serve as the organization’s Kintera expert.
Assist with the production of the annual report and newsletters.
Prepare semi-annual fundraising mailings.
Process check donations.
Provide support for annual fundraising Soiree.
Coordinate event logistics for donor appreciation events.
Assist Executive Director with foundation research and grant applications.
Complete other projects as assigned.

General Administrative Support

Support communications between national organization and local chapters, including schedule coordination, conference call coordination and occasional travel arrangements.
Attend all monthly Executive Committee meetings.
Prepare and send routine and bulk mailings.
Provide other assistance to leadership volunteers and Executive Director as needed.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree.
Ability to work a flexible schedule including some weeknights and frequent Saturdays during the school year.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment.
Self-motivation, flexibility and high energy level.
Careful attention to detail, and the ability to multi-task and adhere to deadlines.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Strong computer skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and Internet search applications. Desktop publishing experience helpful.

Odds and Ends

Compensation

Competitive compensation package includes annual salary in the low to mid $30’s, health and dental insurance, and two weeks of paid vacation.

To Apply

Send resume and cover letter to: careers@mindsmatter.org.

Timeline

First round “cuts” based on applications will occur by the end of February. First round interviews will take place in mid-March.

Thanks to our reader who tipped us off about this exciting entry-level job opportunity. If you know of any jobs that we should feature on One Day, One Job, share them with us by e-mailing info@onedayonejob.com.

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Want to see more exclusive jobs like this one on One Day, One Job? Leave a comment and let us know if you enjoy these types of posts.