One Day, One Job » food

Mars

Willy Franzen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:02:10 +0000

Tomorrow is Halloween, which means that we need to talk about candy today. We’ve already looked at companies like Jelly Belly, The Hershey Company, Charles Chocolates, Vosges, and Just Born Quality Confections. We’ve also discussed jobs at Mars & Co., which is a consulting firm, and not to be confused with Mars, the CPG and candy company. You probably know them best for M&M’s, Snickers, Dove, Milky Way, Twix, and Mars bar; however, they’re also behind Pedigree, Whiskas, Uncle Ben’s, and quite a few other brands. For your sake I hope you only run into the good stuff and not Whiskas or Pedigree during your trick-or-treating. While headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars has locations all across the world. They’re a huge company with a ton of international business, which makes for a great place to gain some experience.

Take a Trip to Mars

It all started in 1911 with butter cream candies in a kitchen in Tacoma, WA. Frank C. Mars and his wife started selling these candies, and now you’d be hard pressed to find a person who has never tasted one of his company’s confections. If you’d like to be part of this true American success story, then you need to check out Mars’ Careers page. They offer a lot of information about their company and what it’s like to work for them, and they even have a separate section for students. It seems that most of the information that they provide is on International careers, but they have a job search function that will let you find what you’re looking for. And since you’re in the trick-or-treating mood, I’m going to leave that up to you—but just so you know, they have job opportunities in areas including Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Logisitcs, Manufacturing, Marketing, Purchasing, Research & Development, & Sales.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite candy from Mars?

Charm City Cakes

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:49:36 +0000

Today’s my birthday. I’m 25. If you want to get me a present, you can buy me something on my Amazon Wishlist. If you don’t, then you can still check out today’s post on how to try to get a job with a company that is absolutely not hiring. As I was thinking of a birthday themed company to feature, Charm City Cakes came to mind. They’re the Baltimore, MD based bakery that is featured on the Food Network’s Ace of Cakes. Unfortunately, they’re not making my birthday cake (if they were it would probably be a giant trout cake), but they are the best of the best when it comes to birthday—or any other celebration’s—cakes. You have to love any company that is truly at the top of it’s industry—especially when they’re head and shoulders above the competition like Charm City Cakes is.

You Can’t Get By on Charm Alone

So what’s that I said about the fact that Charm City Cakes is REALLY REALLY not hiring? While I was perusing their website looking for information on jobs, I came across this blurb on their FAQ.

We are not currently hiring any staff, interns, externs, unpaid grunts, or volunteers.

It’s not as strongly worded as their blurb on not allowing visitors, but it kind of has a similar tone:

If you ask to visit, we will be forced to say “no”. If you show up anyway, we will not be able to let you come inside. We don’t want to let you down and we don’t want to feel like mega jerk meanie heads. We are very sorry to be so stern and such, but there are no exceptions to this policy.

If you think about it, it makes sense. Most companies are dying for great applicants, but when a company has a reputation like Charm City Cakes does, there’s the problem of too much interest. I’ll bet they hear from every Joe Schmoe who has ever cracked open a a Betty Crocker box and thinks that he is the next Ace of Cakes. It’s an administrative nightmare. When they do need to hire someone, it’s probably not going to be some random that e-mailed them. The same can be said about other similar companies—hedge funds, boutique consulting firms, other businesses featured on tv shows. Getting a job with them can truly seem impossible.

So, how do you do it? I see two ways, and both involved networking. The first is pestering the person you want to hire you until he or she just can’t say no again. You’ve seen this approach work in movies and popular culture, and it resembles Charlie Hoehn’s idea of free work in a lot of ways. This isn’t the best way to endear people to you, but sometimes unwillingness to give up will convince someone to give you a chance. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re in search of a dream job like mopping the floor at Charm City Cakes, then it might be worth a shot.

The second technique is to build up your value. Start somewhere with a lower profile and bust your butt until you’re the best. Then network your way into a conversation with the person that you want to hire you (or maybe just cold call them). That conversation is very different from the one that I previously mentioned, because now you are just the kind of superstar that the company wants. You’re no longer some amateur with an unrealistic ambition.

I can’t promise that either of these techniques will work to get you a job at Charm City Cakes, but if you have a dream job that seems unattainable, these are my suggestions on how to give it your best shot. Sometimes companies truly don’t have room to grow and really won’t hire anyone on any condition, but if you’re good at dealing with rejection, there’s no sense in not trying. The biggest takeaway is that you need to differentiate yourself from all of the other applicants who aren’t truly serious, and to do that you need to be willing to sacrifice everything to make your dream happen.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you recommend that new grads go about attaining unattainable jobs?

Charles Chocolates

Willy Franzen — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:00:45 +0000

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.

Chocalicious Jobs

It amazes me that there are any people out there who don’t like chocolate even a little bit. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find a food with a higher overall approval rating than good old chocolate. And if you’re going to eat chocolate, it might as well be the best. That’s what Charles Chocolates is all about. Everything that they produce “uses only the finest ingredients, including some of the world’s best chocolates, organic herbs, fruits and nuts as well as the freshest organic Straus cream and butter,” and “everything is made by hand in very small batches using traditional techniques.” If you’re a Hershey kind of guy or gal, then Charles Chocolates probably isn’t the right place for you. On the other hand, if you are salivating as you hear more about this company, then you need to check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re recruiting heavily on the sales side. They have positions that include: Charles Chocolates Sales Representative, Sales Assistant, Inside Sales Representative, and Account Representative. These all seem suitable for new grads depending on the level of prior sales experience. Yes, that’s a lot of sales job, but Charles Chocolates can’t grow until they sell lots of chocolate. If you’re hungry for more, apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to salesjobs@charleschocolates.com with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Charles Chocolates looks best to you?

CleanFish

Willy Franzen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:00:50 +0000

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.

Something’s Fishy About These Jobs

Our oceans may seem endless, so one would think that the supply of food that they provide would never run out. Unfortunately, we’re getting close to losing many of the ocean’s food sources—and that has negative effects well beyond not being able to fulfill our appetite for seafood. For instance, here on the Gaspé in Quebec a large portion of the economy is based on sport fishing for salmon. Commercial harvest of salmon in Greenland can significantly deplete the runs here in Canada. Fewer fish means fewer dollars spent, and that will ripple through the economy. Since we’re not going to stop eating salmon, and sometimes farmed salmon can have worse effects on wild salmon than commercial fishing, CleanFish is a great alternative. They find sustainable sources for delicious seafood, and if they can’t find a good source for a particular type, they don’t sell it.

This may sound like some kind of niche business, but I was surprised to find that many of the restaurants in Chicago that I eat at and even some of the grocery stores that I shop at stock CleanFish products. I’ve eaten CleanFish many times without even knowing it. CleanFish is an example of social entrepreneurism at its best, which is why you should consider a job with them. They don’t have any specific positions posted, but they do offer internships, which means that they value young talent. They also have an open call for résumés on their Jobs page, so answer it and help make it so that I can continue to eat salmon and catch salmon without fearing that one day I’ll never be able to do either.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite kind of fish to eat?

GrubHub.com

Willy Franzen — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:32:26 +0000

I’m one of those people who has trouble deciding what to eat. I know it’s annoying, and I know that it reflects poorly on my character. I’m that friend that nobody likes to have, but I’m working hard to get better. It’s not easy. I don’t have a problem with normal decision making, but when it comes to food I shut down. Luckily there are serviced like GrubHub.com that make my life (and the lives of my friends) easier. They’re an online menu repository for every restaurant that delivers in your area. They started in Chicago, which is where they’re headquartered, and they also serve San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, New York, and Philadelphia. Not only do they give you all of the information that you need to make an informed ordering decision, but they also let you place your order online so that you can avoid that dreaded phone call to order food. Deciding what to eat has never been so easy—unless, of course, you’re paralyzed by choice.

Grubby Jobs

It’s amazing that ordering food online still isn’t ubiquitous. GrubHub is doing their best to change this, but developing relationships with every restaurant that delivers in an area takes a lot of time. Hopefully one day GrubHub will have the entire country covered, but they have a long way to go before that happens. Now, I’m not an unabashed GrubHub fan. It’s an extremely useful service, but there’s a ton of room for improvement—especially when it comes to restaurant discovery. If you know what you want, ordering is easy, but if you’re like me and can’t decide, it’s tough to get a good view of all of the dining options. I think that CampusFood.com (they don’t appear to be hiring anyone) does a better job in terms of usability while offering a nearly identical service. Maybe GrubHub should focus on helping me find a meal instead of asking me to share their site with friends as soon as I land on their home page.

Now that my complaints are out of the way (hopefully someone from GrubHub is reading), lets take a look at GrubHub’s jobs. They’re a small company with only about 30 employees, but they do appear to be growing. Right now they’re looking for an Advertising Sales Executive in New York City. It’s a job that will require a lot of cold calling, but it offers the opportunity to play a big part in moving GrubHub forward as a business. It’s the only job posted, but you can always try reaching out to GrubHub to see if they have anything else available in Chicago or one of the other cities in which they operate. To apply for the Advertising Sales Executive position, send an e-mail to sales@grubhub.com with your resume and cover letter.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ordered through GrubHub before?

City Harvest

Willy Franzen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:45:15 +0000

I never thought that I’d hear the words “city” and “harvest” used together as often as I do these days, but now it seems that every city has a farmers market, urban vegetable gardens, and restaurants with hyper-local cuisine. Oddly enough, City Harvest means something slightly different when they talk about harvesting food. They are “a non-profit organization founded in 1982″ and “the world’s first and New York City’s only food rescue program.” What does that mean? It means that this year they will “collect 26 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms.” They’re harvesting anything and everything that they can (as long as it’s up to their food safety standards) to feed New York City’s hungry. It’s a brilliant idea, and the organizations longevity proves that it’s working.

Harvest a Job

It’s amazing how much food we waste every day. I remember going on an overnight field trip in 5th grade, and instead of throwing out our food, we had to put in a bucket and weigh it. The table with the least “ort” (food refuse) won. City Harvest obviously doesn’t take leftovers from people’s plates, but they do take food that never gets served like bread that a bakery never sells or items that never get served by a caterer. It makes so much sense, and City Harvest is able to execute the idea on a huge scale. They have 17 trucks operating 365 days a year and work with 38,000 donors. If you’re impressed by City Harvest’s creative approach to battling hunger, then you should think about a job with them. Right now, they’re looking for a Program and Marketing Assistant. The job looks perfect for a new grad, so check out the full description and send a resume/CV and cover letter with salary requirements to hr@cityharvest.org if you like what you see. Don’t forget to include Program and Marketing Assistant in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you heard of anything like City Harvest before?

Charlie Trotter’s

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:56:16 +0000

When I moved to Chicago last year, just days before my 24th birthday, my parents decided that they wanted to treat me to a truly amazing Chicago experience to start off my life in the city right. They took me and my girlfriend to a dinner at Charlie Trotter’s, one of the finest restaurants in Chicago and the world. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the name, Trotter’s is usually found somewhere on Restaurant Magazine’s list of the Top 50 Restaurants in the World (although they seem to have dropped off the list this year).

When I dined at Charlie Trotter’s I chose the Grand Menu, which is an 8-course tasting menu. Although the menu is constantly changing, I had the pleasure of enjoying: Prince Edward Island Oysters with Sea Water & Pickled Daikon; Chilled Snow Lake Trout with Roe, Watercress & California Crayfish; Four Story Hill Farm Quail with Spring Onions, Chanterelle Mushrooms & Chorizo; Grilled Nantucket Bay Scallop with Boudin, Pig’s Tail & Fennel; Forty Eight Hour Braised Short Rib with Lobster Mushrooms & Fermented Black Garlic; Concord Grape Sorbet with Grape Leaf & Parsnip; Honey Crisp Apples with Cider Granite & Ginger Jelly; and Black Mission Figs with Shaved Fruit Cake, Marcona Almonds & Pedro Ximenez. It was an amazing meal that took food to a level that I didn’t know it could reach.

Trot Out Your Best

Yes, Charlie Trotter’s is obscenely expensive if you look at it as just a dinner, but there’s so much more to the experience than just eating. What you have to understand about Charlie Trotter’s is that everything is perfect. Your food will never be cooked improperly. If you tell them that you don’t like cheese, they will prepare you something without cheese. Your water glass will never be empty. You are experiencing something at its highest level. It’s like Albert Pujols’ swing, Yo-Yo Ma’s music, or my fly fishing (just kidding)—Charlie Trotter is one of the best at what he does. And that’s why you should consider a job with him. If you are able to land a job at Charlie Trotter’s—and it won’t be easy—you will be a part of something that is pure excellence. Even if your future isn’t in hospitality, you will gain an appreciation for performing to the highest expectations. That will translate to any job, just like working at the best consulting firm, investment bank, or ad agency. And if you want to stay in the culinary field, then there’s obviously no better place to start than Charlie Trotter’s.

Just ask Grant Achatz, the chef at 10th ranked Alinea (also in Chicago). He got his butt kicked during his try-out at Charlie Trotter’s, but he’s clearly better for it. This isn’t some company that you can just send your résumé to and hope that they take you, but if you meet the below criteria, you should give it a shot:

No matter what level of education or job experience you may have, we are always seeking to meet individuals who have a great attitude, are willing to commit themselves to learning, are passionate about food and wine and have a great work ethic. All of these attributes are of equal importance to us during the application process at Charlie Trotter’s.

You can submit your résumé to Matt Merges at Matthias@charlietrotters.com for culinary positions and to Christian Giles at Christian@charlietrotters.com for service positions. Just make sure that you bring “your A game.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever dined at Charlie Trotter’s?

America’s Test Kitchen

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:34:44 +0000

I love cooking, but I didn’t always. I went into college barely knowing how to make myself a bowl of pasta, but when I lived off campus Sophomore year, I was left with little choice but to learn how to cook. I’ve never been one to follow recipes strictly, though. I always like trying something new and getting creative with my cooking. That’s exactly the philosophy behind America’s Test Kitchen. It’s a real kitchen (all 2,500 square feet of it) in Brookline, MA that is used to “to develop the absolute best recipes for all of your favorite foods.” They do this by testing recipes anywhere from 30-70 times until they not only get it right, but get it right to the point that it’s dead simple for the people who are consuming the products that America’s Test Kitchen puts out – magazines, cookbooks, DVDs, tv shows, and websites. To me it sounds like one of the coolest places in the world, so if there’s no post tomorrow, it’s because I quit in hopes of a career at America’s Test Kitchen (just kidding!).

Cooking Up Some Great Jobs

Although I’ve been familiar with the America’s Test Kitchen tv show and their Cook’s Illustrated magazine for a while, I never thought to look at their jobs. Luckily, a loyal reader pointed out that they have a ton of openings in a variety of areas. Of those jobs, we’ve picked a few that seem best suited for new or recent college grads. They include Assistant Test Cook, Junior Software Developer, eCommerce Marketing Coordinator, Production and Traffic Coordinator, Web Production Assistant, and Graphic Designer. Some of the jobs require a couple years of experience, but if you’ve been interning and participating in activities that give you real world experience, landing these jobs shouldn’t be a problem. The applications instructions vary a little bit depending on the position that you’re applying for, so head over to the America’s Test Kitchen Jobs page to get all of the details on these delicious jobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Hungry yet?

Jelly Belly

Willy Franzen — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:37:44 +0000

Easter is almost here, and since we’ll be covering a non-profit on Sunday, it’s time to talk about candy again! Last year we checked out entry level jobs at Just Born Quality Confections (the manufacturer of Peeps), so this year we need to give jelly beans their due respect. And if we’re talking about jelly beans, it’s hard to ignore Jelly Belly. Although I have a soft spot for those simpler jelly beans with less creative flavors (except for the nasty licorice flavored ones), I know that Jelly Belly is the king of the jelly bean industry. They offer an insane variety of flavors that includes Buttered Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Toasted Marshmallow, and Jalapeño. While Fairfield, CA basedJelly Belly has branched out a bit from their jelly bean roots, they seem quite committed to furthering the success of the bean. They’ve even brought jelly beans to the sports market to compete with the drinks and gels that most people are accustomed to.

Are You Ready for This Jelly?

It’s hard to go through the weeks leading up to and after Easter without popping at least one jelly bean in your mouth. That’s why it should be obvious to you to consider a job with Jelly Belly – assuming that you actually like jelly beans. How does one find a job with Jelly Belly? It’s pretty simple, you head over to their Careers page and see what’s available. Right now they’re looking for a Lead Web Developer, a Sales Manager – Sports Nutrition, and a Production Supervisor – Packaging. All of the requirements on these jobs say that they’ll take experience OR education, but that seems kind of crazy. It may be the case that none of the jobs are suitable for new college grads, but if you really love Jelly Beans, you’ll use the information on their Careers page to reach out to them and see if you can make something happen.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Jelly Belly flavor?

Sambazon

Willy Franzen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:55:37 +0000

I don’t know if you’ve heard of açaí, but apparently it’s all the rage these days. In fact the buzz has gotten so big that the newest Internet scam is to push açaí as celebrity-endorsed weight loss products. This is giving açaí, a berry that has “30x the antioxidants of red wine, and an essential fatty acid profile similar to olive oil,” a terrible reputation. I think that we all know that this berry isn’t going to solve all of your problems, but that doesn’t mean that you should miss out on “getting with the purple berry.” Sambazon is a company that does açaí right. They “promote sustainable management of the Brazilian Amazon by providing the highest quality whole food, organic, fair trade Açaí products to consumers.” In other words they make products like juices, smoothies, energy drinks, sorbets, and supplements (with no false promises of instant weight loss like the scammer/spammers). I think that I first heard about Sambazon over a year ago from the Inc 5000, but I’ve been waiting for them to post some jobs that I can feature here.

These Jobs Are the Berries

Finally, Sambazon has some jobs that I think that some of you might be interested in, but first you should get to know the company a little better. The best way to do that is to check out their blog. Lately Sambazon co-founder, Ed “Skanda” Nichols, has been doing a series called The Real Deal Açaí Blog Series to address all of the crap that has been going on in the açaí industry. Reading up on this series is probably the best way to get a feel for what the company is about and how they work. If you like what you see and want to be part of the Sambazon Team (which is actually for athletes sponsored by Sambazon), then you should check out Sambazon’s Jobs page, which is hidden in a tiny font on the sidebar of their Contact page. The jobs that they have aren’t exactly ideal for most new college grads, but they look pretty cool. Sambazon is looking for Part-Time Retail Sales Merchandisers/Demonstrators in Dallas/Ft. Worth; TX, Houston, TX; and Seattle, WA. These are sales jobs that require a lot of travel by car, but they’ll get your foot in the door of a company that is cool, exciting, and growing. The application instructions differ depending on which location you’re applying for, so check out the job postings to get all of the details. Also, if you think that you could add something to Sambazon team even though they don’t have a job posted for you, you can always try reaching out to them at jobs@sambazon.com

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever tried açaí?

King Arthur Flour

Willy Franzen — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:29:17 +0000

On Sunday morning I woke up to a massive lake effect snow squawl. My first thought was, “I don’t want to go outside today.” Then I realized that everyone else was thinking the same thing and that all those brunch spots that are usually a two hour wait would probably have tables available. Then I wimped out and decided to make pancakes – chocolate chip pancakes. So, I pulled out the King Arthur Flour and searched for their pancakes recipe in Google. I was shocked to learn that this is one of their King Arthur Flour Guaranteed Recipes. If I somehow managed to screw up, they had a phone number that I could call to get someone to help me fix it. Oh yeah, and they’d send me a $5 Baker’s Catalogue gift certificate for my troubles. Luckily the pancakes were delicious, and I didn’t have to take advantage of their fantastic customer service offerings, but the idea that a flour company even offers customer service is remarkable. I always say that companies that treat their customers well make great places to work, and this appears to be true with Norwich, VT based King Arthur Flour.

Get Knighted

I’ve been using King Arthur Flour for a while, but I didn’t think of them as a potential employer until I saw that the Wall Street Journal named them to their list of Top Small Workplaces 2008. The company is 219 years old, has 160 employees, and used to be family owned (now they’re 100% employee owned). Baking is a big deal at King Arthur Flour, which is why “each worker gets a five-pound bag of flour each month and free loaves of bread, as well as a 10% to 40% discount at the company store, which includes a wide array of baking supplies and baked goods.” And if all that’s not enough, they “knight” their employees when they reach service time milestones. You’re probably thinking, “All this for a flour company?” And the answer is “Yes!” There’s a reason that they’re able to stand out in an industry that is about as commoditized as an industry can get. It’s because they offer high quality products (it’s not just any flour), great customer service, and treat their employees well.

How can you be on your way to getting knighted? You should start by checking out King Arthur Flour’s Jobs page. Right now they have 3 opportunities posted, and they all are worth taking a look at for new college grads. They are for a Shift Team Leader – Customer Service, Baking Specialist – Customer Service, and Human Resources Analyst. You can apply by sending a resume and cover letter in Word or PDF format to jobs@kingarthurflour.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever baked with King Arthur Flour?

The Hershey Company

Willy Franzen — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:56:15 +0000

At least 3 days a week I walk out of my apartment building and I smell chocolate. That may sound strange, but I live less than a mile from a chocolate factory. On days when the wind is blowing right from the West and they’re churning out chocolate, I don’t need to eat dessert – the delicious smell is enough. It’s especially enjoyable when it’s snowing out, and I’m sure that it won’t be nearly as nice on a 90 degree Summer day. It’s a pretty cool perk that I didn’t know that I was getting when I moved into this building. I’m hoping that you can get the same perk when you take a job with The Hershey Company. I don’t know if their corporate offices are near their factories, but even if they aren’t, you’ll still be surrounded by chocolate if you work for them. Hershey’s obviously doesn’t need an introduction, but you may not know that some of their other big brands are Reese’s, KitKat, Kisses, Jolly Rancher, and Ice Breakers. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, they’re located in… Hershey, PA.

The Secret Ingredient in Hershey’s Chocolate Is You

Ok, the above statement (taken from the Hershey’s recruiting website) kind of weirds me out. It makes me think of what may have happened to Augustus Gloop in Willy Wonka. With that said, it’s true that Hershey’s isn’t much without the people who work for them. They are “the largest North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and sugar confectionery products with revenues of nearly $5 billion and almost 13,000 employees worldwide.” That’s a lot of people, a lot of money, and a lot of chocolate. If you love chocolate, it’s the place for you. Hershey’s has a page on their Careers site just for students; however, it doesn’t really yield a lot of information. Your best bet is to scan their job postings to see what’s available for new grads. Right now current opportunities at the entry level include Associate Supply Planning Analyst, Food Technologist – Confectionery / Chocolate Experience, and Industrial Engineer. Hershey’s has a weird way of posting jobs. They’ll post a career track with openings at all experience levels. It’s pretty confusing, because there’s no clear message about which experience requirements go with with which positions. Since it’s easy to apply online, I say just apply for the jobs anyway, even if you don’t think you have the exact experience that they’re looking for.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Hershey’s candy?

Vosges

Willy Franzen — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:00:14 +0000

If your sweetheart is out of a job this Valentine’s Day, then give him or her a gift that shows that you really care. Chocolates, flowers, and jewelry only bring temporary satisfaction, but there’s nothing more satisfying (besides a relationship with you, of course) than a job that you love. Enroll your sweetheart in Found Your Career (our online job search training course) today.

Last year we did a weeklong build up to Valentine’s Day – we checked out jobs at ProFlowers, OpenTable, eHarmony, and Tiffany & Co. One obvious choice that I left out was a confectioner or chocolatier. That’s why today we’re going to look at Vosges, a Chicago based producer of Haut-Chocolat. I had a lot of options when it came to picking a chocolatier to feature today, and I probably could have picked one that has more jobs available (your homework can be to go find one), but I picked Vosges for a single reason. They make a chocolate bar with bacon in it. I’ve had it, and it’s awesome. How could you not want to work with a company that is creative enough to mix those two things together?

Delicious Jobs

Have you ever asked someone out and been told, “Yes, when pigs fly?” If so, you might want to give that person one of Vosges’ Flying Chocolate and Bacon Pigs. Ok, I sound like a walking advertisement for Vosges, but I am just wowed by their creativity. It’s not just about chocolate though. Their mission is pretty ambitious – “to create a luxury chocolate experience rooted in a sensory journey of bringing about awareness to indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate and the obscure.” Or as their founder puts it, “Peace through chocolate.” If you’re as impressed by Vosges as I am, then you might want to consider a job with them. Their Jobs page is a little odd, because it starts by talking about the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi. They eventually get into the fact that they’re “always looking for high-energy, dedicated team members to join our chocolate revolution.” In other words, they seem more than open to cold calling. In addition to that they also have retail positions at their stores in Chicago, New York, and Las Vegas. But wait… I’ve saved the best for last. Vosges is also looking for a Vosges Chocolate Concierge (Multi-Channel/Customer Service Representative). This sounds like a really cool job, and the description even says that it’s targeted towards current college students who are nearing graduation. The job description is pretty detailed, and you can’t apply by e-mail, so check out the Vosges Jobs page for all of the info. Oh yeah, and if you land the job, you better send me some chocolate.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a Vosges Bacon Bar?

POM Wonderful

Willy Franzen — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:42:55 +0000

For a long time fruit juices other than orange juice (and prune juice) were largely the domain of young children. I’m not sure why this was, but I still to this day feel like a kid when I drink juice. Over the past few years we’ve seen juice gain in popularity – not grape or apple juice, but more exotic juices like pomegranate, cherry, and acai. POM Wonderful has been one of the companies that profited the most from the upswing in adult juice consumption. Maybe it’s all of the health benefits of the pomegranate that is convincing adults to hit the juice. It’s hard to not like something that improves cardiovascular and prostate health while also improving erectile function. Not to mention that pomegranates are loaded with antioxidants. With those health benefits and great marketing, POM Wonderful is primed for continued success – they’re the largest producer of pomegranates in the United States.

Wonderful Entry Level Jobs

How could you not want to work for a company with “Wonderful” in its name? They make delicious juices, they have clever packaging, and creative ads. They also have jobs all over the world, although their entry level opportunities seem to be restricted to West Los Angeles, CA. Right now there are two jobs available that look like they might be good ways for new college grads to get a foot in the door at POM Wonderful. These jobs are Administrative Assistant and Administrative Sales & Merchandising Coordinator. You can find the full descriptions by visiting POM Wonderful’s Careers page, and you can apply online directly from the job postings. Sounds wonderful, huh?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you drink POM?

Starwood

Willy Franzen — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:42:12 +0000

Having a girlfriend who is a consultant, I’m often subjected to hours of consultant-speak. It’s not really English, as it consists mostly of acronyms. One thing consultants seem to talk about a lot, even though they don’t have an acronym for it, is the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card. It’s apparently by far the best credit card for the consulting lifestyle (especially when you work for a firm that almost exclusively puts you up in Starwood hotels). Since I’ve been hearing the Starwood name a lot, and I’ve had a few people recommend their Jobs to me, I thought it was time to take a look at what kind of entry level jobs are available with one of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies. In case you’re not familiar with the Starwood brand, they’re the company behind Sheraton, Four Points, aloft, W Hotels, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Element, Westin, and St. Regis. All of them are nice places to stay, and a few of them are about as trendy as you can get when it comes to hotels – check out aloft.

Be a Star at Starwood

Starwood gets hospitality. They also get entry level recruiting. They make it dead simple for college students and new grads to figure out how to land a job with them. They have a College Recruiting page that outlines the 4 ways of getting a job with Starwood. You can go through Campus Recruiting or apply online, and you can apply for their Management Training Program or opt for Direct Placement. The Management Training Program seems to be geared towards students who are graduating from hospitality programs, but that’s not explicitly stated as far as I can tell. The program lasts 6-18 months and concludes with placement as an Assistant Manager or Manager in the hotel where the trainee trained. Applications for the Management Training Program haven’t been opened yet, but they say that you will be able to apply online in early 2009. If you go to one of the schools on this list, you’re better off talking to your Career Services office about when Starwood will be on campus than waiting for the online application to be posted.

If the Management Training Program isn’t for you, there’s another option. You can check out Starwood’s Career Paths and apply for Direct Placement. You have to go through a general job search function where you can narrow down from the 1,650 jobs posted by location, hotel, or job title. This is the one area where Starwood’s Careers site stumbles a bit. The job search function isn’t very good. Unless you enter specific criteria, you’re going to be inundated with results that are going to be hard to scan. Still, if you want a job in a posh hotel in an exotic location, that’s the best way to find one.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you stayed at any Starwood Hotels?

Coca-Cola

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:43:58 +0000

Somehow the Coca-Cola brand has been indelibly tied to the image of Santa Claus. In fact, there’s even an urban legend that the modern image of Santa Claus was created by The Coca-Cola Company. It’s not true, but the fact that many people believe it to be true speaks volumes about Coca-Cola’s branding prowess (dating all the way back to the 1930s). We considered a lot of Christmas themed companies to feature today, but we keep coming back to the image of St. Nick sipping on a glass bottle of Coke. Let’s see how you can find a job with Coke.

Live on the Coke Side of Life

Surprisingly, Coke doesn’t appear to have any sort of entry level hiring program. If they do, they certainly don’t mention it on their website. It’s quite possible that they do some college recruiting (they definitely do it for internships), but all we could find were some entry level jobs posted on their site. Some examples include Administrative Assistant (Irvine, CA and Brussels, Belgium), Supply Planner (Houston, TX), Brand Experience Junior Project Manager (Issy-les-Moulineaux, France), and CDT Business Analyst (Columbia, MD, Bentonville, AR and Irvine, CA). There aren’t a ton of jobs from what we can tell, but we have heard word of Coke’s hiring 300+ new college grads every year. We’re not sure where you can find all of those jobs. Maybe they’re posted seasonally. You can apply for a job with Coca-Cola directly from the job descriptions, and if you don’t see anything that you like, you can search their career opportunities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Merry Christmas!

Slow Food USA

Willy Franzen — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:30:11 +0000

Have you ever heard of the slow food movement? Despite what it might sound like, it’s not about eating snails, turtles, and sloths. The slow food movement about envisioning “a word in which all people can eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet,” or as USA Today puts it, “slow food aims to everything that fast food is not.” As delicious as Chicken McNuggets are, I have to say that fresh, locally grown produce usually comes out ahead for me. Slow Food USA is a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, NY that is working to grow the slow food movement and “to create dramatic and lasting change in the food system.” I wish I could tell you more about what their strategy is to accomplish this, but their 5 Year Strategic Plan is “coming soon.”

Eat Slowly, Apply Quickly

If you’ve been visiting your local farmers’ market and trying to eat local foods as often as possible, then Slow Food USA might be a place that you want to think about working. The organization’s focus is on education, which they approach through a variety of programs. These include Slow Food in Schools, Slow Food on Campus, Renewing America’s Food Traditions, Slow Food Nation, and quite a few more. If any of these programs look like something that you might have been involved with in college, then why not take a look at Slow Food USA’s Employment and Internships page. Right now, most of their job openings are at the Director level (which is unfortunately too advance for most of you), but they do have one job as a Youth Program Coordinator that looks inviting for new grads. The job description says that they’re looking for someone with 3 years of experience in a related field, but the rest of the description makes it sound like something that could be a good fit for a lot of new grads who have spent some time working, volunteering, and extra-curricularing (yes, I invented a new word) during college. They’ll be accepting cover letters and resumes for this position until January 16th at jobs.sfis@slowfoodusa.org. There’s also a job listing for a Membership Assistant at the bottom of Slow Food USA’s Jobs page that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the page. This looks like a surefire entry level job, although it says that the job starts in November of 2007. Considering the start date and the placement on the page, this looks like it might be an outdated posting, but you could give it a shot if it looks interesting to you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you eat slowly?

Dreyer’s

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:52:37 +0000

Today’s jobs are going to be especially sweet, but before we tell you about them, we want to remind you about two sweet deals that we’re offering. The first is a free copy of an awesome book called How to Self-Destruct written by career coach and management consultant Jason Seiden (who is partnering with us for our job search training course), and the second is the HP Magic Giveaway, where we and 49 other sites are each giving away $6,000 HP packages to our readers. Now that we’ve reminded you, let’s talk about some sweet jobs that might also be recession proof. A couple weeks ago we told you about Blizzard Entertainment’s jobs because the video game industry is thriving as people who are unemployed flock to gaming. Well what else do you do when you’re unemployed and sitting on the couch? Eat ice cream, of course. So instead of sitting there with a wiimote in one hand and a spoon in the other, why don’t you think about a job with Dreyer’s? They’re a $2 billion company with more than 7,000 employees, and they’re all about ice cream.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Entry Level Jobs with Dreyer’s

Dreyer’s makes ice cream under four brands – Dreyer’s, Edy’s, Nestle, and Häagen-Dazs. They offer tons of delicious flavors, and also make Dibs which are an extremely dangerous thing to have around the house when you’re looking for a job – I know from experience. They also offer the best job in the world, which, unfortunately, is not entry level. That’s ok, because Dreyer’s has jobs for new college grads too. Their campus recruiting schedule seems to be over, but they still have job openings listed on their website. Their Operations Leadership Development Program has openings in Houston, TX; Bakersfield, CA; Fort Wayne, IN; and Tulare, CA. These jobs are specifically tailored to new grads; however, you may also find some interesting opportunities on Dreyer’s main job listings pages. These jobs are in areas like Accounting / Finance, Administration Support Services, Engineering, Environment – Health and Safety, Facilities Maintenance – Production/Warehouse, Information Technologies, Manufacturing – Operations/Production, Quality Assurance, Retail Sales & Services, Supply Chain/Logistics, and Warehouse. They’re not geared towards new college grads, but they’re probably worth looking at. You can apply for all of the jobs directly from the job descriptions, and you’ll also want to check out The Grooves before you apply (they’re Dreyer’s guiding principles).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Dreyer’s ice cream product?

Jennie-O

Willy Franzen — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:21:12 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for reading and helping to make the first year of One Day, One Job a great success. Last year we told you about jobs at Plimoth Plantation and Colonial Williamsburg, which are still a great option if you want to be reminded of Thanksgiving every day when you’re at work, but this year we’re going to take the easy way out and talk about turkey. I was first introduced to Jennie-O when I tried some of their turkey bacon. It’s good, if you haven’t had real bacon in a while. Since my Thanksgiving cooking philosophy is that bacon makes everything better (especially when it’s put on top of the turkey and doused in maple syrup, seriously, try it), I’ll let Jennie-O provide the turkey, but I’m getting the bacon somewhere else. In the three or four years that I’ve been familiar with the Jennie-O brand, I’ve noticed that they’ve revved up their branding efforts. You’ve probably seen some of their tv commercials, which are pretty funny, but you may have overlooked the fact that they’re working hard to expand recognition of their employment brand with college students.

Gobble, Gobble. Jobble, Jobble.

Ok, so Jennie-O’s Career page has a corny headline – “It’s everything you’ve wished for” with a picture of a wishbone. Whatever, it works for them, and it’s pretty witty. Their whole Careers site is top notch, so we can’t hold one pun against them. Not only do they have all kinds of information about what it’s like to work for Jennie-O, but they also have a section specifically for college students. It includes a calendar of recruiting events (which have already happened) and other general information. One unique feature is an image that shows which entry level jobs and internships at Jennie-O match up with which college majors. You should find this extremely helpful, although it doesn’t seem like Jennie-O lists specific job openings. It appears that instead they just take applications and then figure it out from there. They do provide a list of jobs that they offer throughout the company and a map with company locations (in Minnesota and Wisconsin), but the Application page asks you to fill out an application form and e-mail it to them. That’s it.

Jennie-O typically offers entry level jobs in Accounting, Human Resources, Industrial Engineering, Information Technology, Live Production, Maintenance Engineering, Production Management, Product Marketing, and Quality Assurance with jobs titles like Associate Live Production Supervisor, Associate Applications Analyst, Associate Maintenance Engineer, Associate Product Manager, Associate Technical Analyst, Industrial Engineer, Production Manager, Quality Assurance Supervisor, and Staff Accountant, so you can use these as a guideline when deciding whether or not you want to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever tried maple bacon wrapped turkey?

Food & Water Watch

Willy Franzen — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:45:34 +0000

Do you look at the labels on all of the food that you buy? Not only the nutritional facts but also the ingredients? If you answered yes, then you’re probably a health conscious consumer, or maybe you have a specific food allergy. Well what about the stuff that’s in your food that isn’t on the ingredients label? No mater what kind of drugs they pump into the cow that your hamburger is coming from, it’s always just going to be labeled beef. How about that bottle of water that you’re drinking from right now? It’s just water, or is it? A salmon from Lake Ontario is still just salmon, even if it’s full of PCBs (at least you can’t buy those in the grocery store). There’s a lot of stuff in our food and water that we don’t know about, which is why Washington, DC based Food & Water Watch exists. They’re “a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food.”

Are You on the Watch?

The government is supposed to ensure the safety of our food and water. That’s a responsibility that we’ve entrusted to them. It gives us a little less freedom in what kind of food choices we can make, but it’s worth it to know that there are certain minimum standards for what we’re going to put in our body. Food & Water Watch asserts that the government isn’t doing the job that they should be. That’s why they take it upon themselves to “challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.” If you’re passionate about food quality and safety, a job with Food & Water Watch might be something that you want to consider.

There are a number of job opportunities with Food & Water Watch currently available. The most appropriate for new college grads are Policy Analyst – Fish Campaign, Organizer – Food Campaign, and West Coast Organizer – Fish Campaign. The Policy Analyst position is based out of Washington, DC, while the West Coast Organizer position is based out of San Francisco, CA. They don’t say where the Food Campaign Organizer job is located. You can apply for these jobs by sending a cover letter, resume, three references, and a brief writing sample to jobs@fwwatch.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you watch what you eat?

Decagon Devices

Willy Franzen — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:49:52 +0000

I love the Wall Street Journal’s list of Top Small Workplaces 2008, but I wish it was longer. It always alerts me to companies that I never would have found no matter how hard I look every day. For instance, Decagon Devices is a “is a small manufacturer of biophysical instrumentation for food and consumer goods manufacturers, agronomic scientists and soils scientists.” I can’t imagine how I would have found them without the WSJ’s list. Decagon Devices does appear to hire new college graduates, but the jobs that they are hiring for have very specific academic requirements. Maybe in the future they’ll have some jobs that don’t require a scientific background, but until then, those of you who aren’t scientifically inclined should spend time that you would have spent researching today’s employer telling your friends about us. That’s all that you need to do to win the iPod Touch that we’re giving away in 4 days. So far the number of entries is pathetic, so take advantage of everyone else’s laziness and go with that iPod.

10 Sided Jobs

Now that we’ve weeded out all the people who think that biophysical instrumentation is a fancy word for the phenomenon of hearing music inside your head when you use an iPod, let’s take a look at what Decagon Devices actually does. They make devices for markets that include Food Science, Pharmaceuticals, Thermal Properties, Geotechnical Civil Engineering, Environmental Research, and Commercial Irrigation. When it comes down to it, Decagon Devices is all about measurement. Most of what they do is way over my head, so I’m going to hope that you can figure out if their jobs are a good fit for you. Right now they’re looking for a Food Physicist/Engineer and an Environmental Instrumentation Application Specialist. Both are geared towards new college grads, but they’d prefer someone who graduated with a Ph.D. in a relevant field for the Food Physicist position; whereas, the Environmental Instrumentation Application Specialist should be a good fit for someone with a B.S. in soil or plant sciences. The company is located in Pullman, WA, and if the WSJ thinks that they’re a good place to work, then they are. You should definitely check out the section about them in the article for more details. To apply for the Food Physicist job, send a cover letter and resume to laura@decagon.com. To apply for the Environmental Instrumentation Application Specialist position, send your cover letter and resume to gtvanek@decagon.com by November 14th.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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?

Edible Arrangements

Willy Franzen — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:09:51 +0000

Back in February, I told you all about ProFlowers and how I use them for all of my flower sending needs. Flowers are great. They’re beautiful, they smell good, and they make people happy. Still, I can’t get over the fact that they’re kind of useless (as Brad Paisley would say, I’m still a guy). You pay a lot of money to send them to someone, then the flowers sit around in a vase for a week until they’re thrown away. I’d much rather be sent something that I can use or, better yet, eat. That’s why I love Edible Arrangements. They allow you to send beautiful “bouquets” of delicious fruit – chocolate covered if you like. Whenever I’ve sent an Edible Arrangement to someone, I’ve been told that it was the best gift basket that the person has ever received. Not only are the arrangements tasty, but they provide healthy snacks for at least a few days (chocolate covered pieces not withstanding). Take a look at their arrangements, and see what I’m talking about.

Deliciously Entry-Level

Edible Arrangements is one of those companies that makes you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” They’ve taken a really simple concept, and built a franchising business on it. It all started with one store in my home state of Connecticut, and has taken off since. Last year Edible Arrangements was named the 139th fastest growing company in the country by Inc. Magazine, and this year they were named the 49th best franchise by Entrepreneur magazine. There are now 857 Edible Arrangements stores across the world, and they’re continuing to grow.

Edible Arrangement’s corporate office is located in Wallingford, CT, and they have a number of job openings that might be well suited to new college grads. Their Corporate Jobs page includes listings for a Creative Chef in the Product Development department, Franchise Trainers, and Customer Care Representatives. The Chef position looks to be, by far, the most interesting opportunity, but it also requires a strong culinary background. There are also jobs for Franchise Sales Consultants; they don’t seem to be intended for new college grads, but it may be worth applying for if you’re really interested.

Finally, there are all kinds of jobs at Edible Arrangements franchise stores. They have locations all across the country, but the jobs aren’t mostly the types that are geared towards new college grads. Still, you might want to take a look at Edible Arrangement’s Franchise Store Jobs page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever given or received an Edible Arrangement? Did you love it?

Glacéau

Willy Franzen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:00:31 +0000

I thought VitaminWater was one of those niche beverages that would build a cult following but never attain mass popularity. I was wrong. A $4.1 billion purchase by Coca Cola later, and Glacéau, the company that produces VitaminWater (SmartWater, VitaminEnergy, and FruitWater too), now has endorsement deals with Carrie Underwood, 50 Cent, Brian Urlacher, Shaq, David Ortiz, Carl Edwards, Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb, Tracy McGrady, David Wright, Gilbert Arenas, Tony Parker, Chauncey Billups, and many more big names; in fact, as I’m typing this and watching Olympic basketball, a VitaminWater commercial with LeBron James just came on. I guess that you can add him to the list. I can’t think of another product with such a strong endorsement team, which makes me wonder if all of these celebs and athletes are seeking out Glacéau about endorsement deals because VitaminWater is a product that they drink and love. Or maybe it’s just because Glacéau is reportedly throwing around 8-figure endorsement deals. Either way, they know how to build a brand.

JobWater

In case you haven’t figured it out, Glacéau is in the business of water. It all started with a guy named Darius who was too good for tap water. He decided to make his own water (how you do that, I’m not quite sure), but the idea was for Glacéau to be “inspired by nature and enhanced by science,” kind of like many of today’s athletes. At some point adding flavor to the water came into the equation, and before you could blink, 50 Cent was in their ads. Although Glacéau has sold out to Coke, they still seem to do their own hiring. Their Jobs page (which is the only page on the site that we can link to – the rest of the site is in Flash) lists a few opportunities that might be well suited to new college grads. The best prospect is the Associate Brand Manager position in Whitestone, NY. Although an MBA is preferred, it seems to be the most “entry-level” of Glaceau’s jobs. There are also opportunities that require some experience, but may still be worth a look like the Key Account Manager (Los Angeles, CA) and Area Sales Manager (Houston, TX) jobs. Glacéau has a link to an RSS feed for their jobs, but it doesn’t work. We’d love it if it did, since Glacéau has about 750 employees and will probably be doing a lot more hiring in the future. Since you can’t subscribe, you’ll have to revisit their jobs page regularly to see what’s new at the entry-level.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Glacéau product? We like SmartWater here at One Day, One Job. Also, don’t forget to check out entry-level jobs at Alcoa. We’ve worked really hard with them to find you some great opportunities.

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:18:30 +0000

Waiting tables isn’t what most new college grads want to do with the degree they (or their parents) just spent 5 to 6 figures on. In most cases that makes sense, but with the Chicago based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises even jobs waiting tables can lead towards a career in restaurant management. LEYE is a restaurant empire – they have over 70 restaurants and somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 employees. Restaurant management is tough when you have one location to watch over, but somehow founder and CEO Richard Melman has been able to repeatedly launch and then manage successful restaurants.

I’m Uncoordinated and Would Drop the Food

It’s ok if waiting tables isn’t something that you can or want to do, Lettuce Entertain You has other job opportunities for new grads too. LEYE has jobs in Management, Corporate, and, of course, in their restaurants. Despite your lack of coordination, let’s look at the restaurant jobs first. LEYE’s restaurants include Antico Posto, Hub 51, Reel Club, Ben Pao, Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, R.J. Grunts, Big Bowl, L2O, Scoozi!, Brasserie Jo, L. Woods, Shaw’s Crab House, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!, Maggiano’s, stripburger at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!, Chi. Flat Sammies, The Magic Pan Crepe Stand, Tru, Di Pescara, Mity Nice Grill, Tucci Benucch, Don & Charlie’s, Mon Ami Gabi, Twin City Grill, Eiffel Tower, Nacional 27, Vong’s Thai Kitchen, Everest, Osteria Via Stato, Wildfire, foodlife, Petterino’s, Wow Bao, Frankie’s 5th Floor Pizzeria, and Pizzeria via Stato. They all offer hourly positions, which you can search by job title on their website. These jobs include just about anything that you could do in a restaurant.

LEYE also has a fantastic internship program. They hire a significant number of their new managers through this program, so it seems possible that a new college grad from a hospitality management program (and who interned at another restaurant) could also have a shot at being a manager in a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant. Finally, LEYE also has corporate positions. Right now they have jobs in HR and Graphic Design that require some experience, but nothing that goes beyond what you would expect for an entry-level hire. Usually companies with strong internship programs do significant entry-level hiring, so it should be possible for you to find a great first job with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you dined at an LEYE restaurant? What’d you think?

Emergen-C

Willy Franzen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:13:53 +0000

Now that it’s summer, it may be hard to think back to having the sniffles and feeling a cold coming on, but try your hardest. You probably heard from various friends and family members who swear by this remedy or that remedy. Chicken soup. Zinc. Naps. Vitamin C. Ahhh…. Vitamin C. Some people swear by it, and others think that they’re nuts. You can drink OJ, use Airborne, or take Emergen-C – my favorite. You can also swallow cheap Vitamin C pills, but that’s no fun. Airborne got slapped with a false advertising suit for making claims that their product has the “ability to cure or prevent the common cold.” They settled for $23.3 million. Emergen-C doesn’t make such aggressive claims, although they do say that their product will “give your immune system a fighting chance.” In reality, it’s not all that important. Emergen-C is absolutely delicious, especially when mixed with orange juice. If it even makes you think that you’re going to feel better after taking it, then it’s doing its job – at least we know that it’s not less effective than Airborne.

Quick, Eager, Lively

Clearly, you can tell that we keep the One Day, One Job office stocked with Emergen-C. That means that we’ve been waiting for a while to see Emergen-C post some jobs that might be of interest to our readers. They finally have. Emergen-C isn’t actually the company name, it’s Alacer Corp (Alacer means quick, eager, lively in Latin), but Emergen-C is the name that they use in all of their branding. Their Jobs page is really simple. They say, “Good jobs are a lot better than bad ones. If you work with us, you’ll be feeling the good – even at 9 am Monday…” Then they go on to list their jobs. The only job that looks well suited for new college grads is as a Graphic Designer. Most of the other jobs like Document Coordinator and Quality Control Inspector are “entry-level,” but in the way that requires a high school diploma, not a college degree. To apply for a job with Emergen-C, you can send a cover letter and resume to jobs@alacer.com with the job title in the subject line. Alacer Corp is located in Foothill Ranch, CA.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you enjoy Emergen-C as much as we do? If you’ve never tried it, go to their home page and click the Share the Good button. They’ll send you some free samples!

Jones Soda Co.

Willy Franzen — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:10:32 +0000

If you asked me during any week but this one, I’d tell you that I don’t drink soda. Every year during my weeklong fishing trip with my Dad to Michigan, I make an exception for Vernors ginger ale (which is called “pop” here). I love the taste, but the reason that I give up my health conscious ways is that it just wouldn’t be a trip to Michigan without Vernors. Occasionally during the other 51 weeks of the year I’m tempted to give in and try a new soda that I’ve never tried before (stuff like Coke isn’t tempting at all), and some of the main culprits are the sodas produced by Jones Soda Co. How can you not wonder what Turkey and Gravy or Berries and Cream sodas taste like?

Keeping Up with the Joneses

So why am I sitting here talking about a company whose soda I’ve never even tried? Because they have some great entry-level opportunities for new college grads, and they look like a really fun place to work. Just look at how in-depth their employee profiles are. Jones Soda Co. has 4 Retail Sales Representative positions listed on their Jobs page. These jobs are located in Southern California; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; and Chicago, IL. There are no significant experience requirements for these jobs, but having a background in sales would be a huge plus. This is what you’d be doing in one of these jobs:

Retail Sales Representatives call on and sell to assigned retail stores to ensure store level conditions meet or exceed standards. This includes shelf conditions, distribution, display support, point-of-sale signage, rack/cooler management, retail pricing and secondary product location. They must be able to analyze sales, profit margin, and market share data to determine issues and opportunities at the retail level.Retail Sales Representatives call on and sell to assigned retail stores to ensure store level conditions meet or exceed standards. This includes shelf conditions, distribution, display support, point-of-sale signage, rack/cooler management, retail pricing and secondary product location. They must be able to analyze sales, profit margin, and market share data to determine issues and opportunities at the retail level.

If that sounds like a good time to you and you will be able to get yourself from store to store (aka you have a car), then send a cover letter and resume to jobs@jonessoda.com with the job title that you are applying for in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite flavor from Jones Soda Co.?

Weber-Stephen

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:00:41 +0000

Happy Memorial Day! First and foremost, this is a day to remember those who have given their lives to protect our freedom. Help us send a big thank you out to all of those who have ever served in the armed forces, while we remember those who are no longer with us. We considered writing about careers in the military today, but it seemed a bit out of our realm. If that’s something that interests you, then you should take a look at Today’s Military to get a better sense of the options that are out there. Instead, we’re going to stick with a Memorial Day tradition that we’re much better acquainted with – the barbecue. As the official beginning of summer, Memorial Day is the perfect time to fire up your Weber-Stephen grill.

Jobs with Sizzle

There’s not much to know about Weber. They make awesome grills. Weber doesn’t even have an About page, so we had to go to their Wikipedia entry for more information. Here are some quick facts. 85 million American households own a charcoal grill (many of which are Webers). Weber-Stephen is located in Palatine, IL. They have 1,050 employees. There’s not much information available about the Weber-Stephen company, and that trend continues in their job postings, which are sparse to say the least.

We thought we’d find more, because the Careers section on the Weber website is featured quite prominently, but all we’ve got are job postings. Here are 3 job openings at Weber that might be suitable for a new college grad: Cost Accountant, Engineering Change Coordinator, and Engineering Lab Technician II. To apply for a job at Weber-Stephen or to get more information, you can send an e-mail (with cover letter and resume if you’re applying) to hr@weberstephen.com.

If those don’t look too exciting, you might want to look into working for the Weber Grill Restaurant, which sadly doesn’t have a Careers page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We love grilling steaks, so excuse us for the short post while we are tending the grill. What’s your favorite thing to grill?

FreshDirect

Willy Franzen — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:17:52 +0000

Some people love grocery shopping, some people hate it, and most people don’t have time for it. If your college campus was anywhere near a Wegmans, then you probably made time for the supermarket; however, once you start working a full-time, entry-level job in a city with no Wegmans, grocery shopping will likely become an imposition. That’s where FreshDirect steps in. They deliver fresh, affordable food to your doorstep quickly.

How Do They Do It?

Ordering groceries online isn’t a new idea, but doing it right is. There have been quite a few grocery companies that have offered online ordering, but most have missed the mark in one way or another. FreshDirect has mastered “just in time” production to get their customers the freshest food and the best prices. Grocery stores are expensive to run and middlemen hike up prices. FreshDirect avoids both of these costs by controlling the entire distribution process. They have a huge refrigerated facility, where they store and prepare food that is “made to order.” FreshDirect only operates in the New York City area right now, but they’re rapidly expanding.

Fresh Jobs

FreshDirect’s Jobs page shows quite a few openings, many of which appear to be entry-level. It’s hard to tell, since FreshDirect chooses not to fill in the experience box on many of the postings. The only job that is explicitly described as geared towards new college grads is as a FreshDirect Experience Analyst; however, these jobs also require little or no previous work experience: Merchandising Analyst, Purchasing Assistant, Purchasing Assistant, Produce, Operations Analyst – Plant Operations, Analyst, Quality Assurance, Logistics Analyst, and Junior HR Generalist, Plant Operations. The descriptions for each listing are quite detailed, so you should be able to tell which jobs will best fit your experience and education. All of FreshDirect’s jobs are located in Long Island City, NY, which is actually a neighborhood in the borough of Queens, not its own city. There’s not much more information available about what it’s like working for FreshDirect, but there is a photo tour of their plant.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you get your groceries delivered? By FreshDirect? How do you like it?

Common Threads

Willy Franzen — Sat, 03 May 2008 12:34:49 +0000

Considering that we’ve written an article about watching tv to find jobs, it shouldn’t be a surprise to you that we actually practice what we preach. We’re big fans of Top Chef and watch its new episodes every week. We like it because we learn from it, but also because it’s a reality show that rewards people for talent, not for being jerks. Although we sometimes manage to completely zone out, we do our best to pay attention and keep an eye out for entry-level job ideas. The most recent episode of Top Chef featured Common Threads, a non-profit organization that educates children on the importance of nutrition and physical well-being and fosters an appreciation of cultural diversity through cooking. We made a mental note on Wednesday night, and here we are on Saturday morning writing about them.

Delicious and Nutritious

Although the Top Chef fans probably already know, Common Threads is a Chicago based organization that offers free cooking classes and summer camps to kids who are 8 to 12 years old and qualify for free or reduced price school lunches. By teaching these kids to cook, Common Threads helps students and their families become healthier, more cultured, and more economical in their food buying decisions. It’s amazing that a few free lessons can do so much for children, but it really is empowering for a young child to prepare a meal for his or her entire family.

How can you be a part of Common Threads’ good work? You can volunteer, or you can consider a job with them. The difficulty with finding job prospects on television is that the research can be a little more difficult, and the likelihood of finding an actual job opening can be quite low. Still, you’ll never know if you don’t look. So many jobs that are offered are never listed, and the only way that you’re going to find out about them is if you ask; in fact, sometimes asking isn’t enough. Sometimes you need your first contact to tell a potential employer why they need you for a position that may not even exist. This is a scary thing to do because the risk of rejection is quite high, but the possible reward is worth it. Now is the time to suck it up, read our article on cold calling, and approach Common Threads (or another employer) about an unlisted opportunity.

Common Threads has made it easy for you to apply for a job by including a field in their contact form for employment inquiries. Just because they don’t list any job openings doesn’t mean that they’re not hiring.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you watch Top Chef? Who do you think is going to win?