One Day, One Job » human resources

Berry Plastics

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:39:49 +0000

A couple of days ago the blogosphere exploded (pun intended) with news about bomb proof wallpaper. The story originally came from Popular Science with a video of a wrecking ball trying to knock down a brick wall that has been reinforced with the X-Flex Blast Protection System (the video is included below). I always love news stories like this one, because it puts the spotlight on a company that you never would have otherwise. In this case it’s Berry Plastics, an Evansville, IN based plastics company. Their products range from agricultural films to plastic bottles and from drink cups to trash bags. There’s a good chance that you have dozens of items in your house/dorm/apartment that were manufactured by Berry Plastics—you just don’t know it because most people don’t care who manufactured their shampoo bottles.

Bomb Proof Your Job Search

I’m pretty sure consumers will be much more brand conscious when it comes to buying bomb proof wallpaper. Obviously the military is talking about using the X-Flex Blast Protection System, and I can also imagine the product’s being used in areas where hurricanes or tornadoes are prevalent. You’ll see why in the video below (subscribers should click through to view):

For me the obvious question whenever I find an interesting company like Berry Plastics is are they hiring? Considering that Berry Plastics has more than 13,000 employees (most of them in a manufacturing setting), I’d have to imagine that they’re always hiring at some level. Unfortunately Berry Plastics has the worst Applicant Tracking System that I’ve ever seen. It uses a Java applet, and it’s absolutely unusable. It doesn’t really make sense, since they have a pretty informative Careers page. Since I can’t get the read on specific positions, we’ll have to go by the fact that Berry Plastics says that they typically offer positions in the following areas: Accounting, Administration, Automation, Customer Service, Engineering, Graphic Arts, Human Resources, Information Technology, Production (Molding, Printing, Machine Operator, Material Handling), Maintenance, Management, Marketing, Materials Management, Purchasing, Quality Assurance, Sales, and Tool Room.

There’s no word on college recruiting, but you’d have to imagine that an Engineering focused company of 13,000 does at least some entry level hiring. You should also note that one of the benefits listed on their Careers page is “Fun.” I guess your best bet is to apply through their online application form, or if you’re really going to go for you could print your résumé on Berry Plastics’ bomb proof wallpaper and send it to them. They’d have to hire you because they wouldn’t be able to destroy your résumé.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to use bomb proof wallpaper?

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?

ExactTarget

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:53:54 +0000

I think that e-mail is still the king of social media. We have all of these fancy social networking accounts, but they all send their notifications to our inboxes. If you want someone’s attention, e-mail is the way to go (assuming your message doesn’t look like spam). Heck, you’re probably reading this in your e-mail. That’s why e-mail marketing continues to be a rapidly growing industry. We’ve already taken a look at jobs with Constant Contact, Aweber, and e-Dialog, and now we’re going to look at an industrial strength e-mail marketing company, ExactTarget. They’re based in Indianapolis, and since 2000 they’ve been focused on “providing the most powerful on-demand software for email communications and finding the best and brightest marketers on the planet to revolutionize the way people think about email.”

Target Your Job Search Exactly

ExactTarget offers a wide array of e-mail Products, Services, and Solutions that are used by clients like CarMax, Expedia, The Home Depot, and other huge brands. If you’d like to join ExactTarget at the forefront of e-mail marketing, then you should check out their entry level Catapult Rotational Program. Here’s an introductory video on the program (e-mail readers click through to watch):

If you like what you just saw, then there are two tracks that you can take. The ExactTarget Business Track will allow you to gain experience across departments like Marketing, Accounting, Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Account Management, Deliverability Services, Strategic Services, Training, SMB/Renewals, Partnerships, Human Resources, and Sales, while the ExactTarget Technical Track will have you working in Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Customer Support, Integration, Product, Quality Assurance, Deliverability Services, Training, Implementation, Design and Deployment. You may be able to meet up with ExactTarget recruiters on your campus, but if they’re not recruiting at your school you can get the run down on how to apply for the program here. ExactTarget has done a fantastic job with their entry level recruiting program, and I bet that reflects how much they value young talent.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of the Catapult Rotational Program?

Rosetta Stone

Willy Franzen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:39:19 +0000

While the Inc. 5000 is filled with exciting companies that you’ve probably never heard of, there are also some familiar names on the list. Rosetta Stone is a popular brand with job seekers, not because of their jobs, but because many new grads decide that they should put their free time to good use and learn a new language. (I think they’d be smarter to invest in a job search prep course, but I’m biased.) Rosetta Stone is far and away the biggest brand name when it comes to learning new languages, so it’s no big surprise that the Arlington, VA based company has grown from $48.4 million in revenue to $209.4 million over the past three years. In fact, the growth has been so strong that they recently held an IPO that was considered very successful.

A New Tongue, A New Job

While many companies in the business of selling content are struggling these days, Rosetta Stone continues to thrive because of their unique approach. They created a system for effectively teaching people languages on the computer, and then they modified the process for 30 different languages. Even though it costs them very little to administer their content to a new customer, they’re able to charge a significant amount of money because of how well their software works. If you love languages, then it’d be hard to find a company as interesting to work at as Rosetta Stone. They have a really nice looking Careers page, but they blow it by listing their jobs on CareerBuilder.

It’s actually relatively easy to browse Rosetta Stone’s 100+ job listings, I’m just averse to anything related to the big three job boards. In fact, you can even narrow down Rosetta Stone’s job listings to just entry level positions. Right now you’ll see listings for Customer Security Representative, Talent Acquisition Coordinator, Customer Care Representative, Associate Product Manager – Consumer Learning Products, and Consumer Product Support Specialist. There’s a good chance that some of Rosetta Stone’s other jobs are also suitable for new grads, but you’ll have to browse through the job postings yourself to find them. Since all of the positions are on CareerBuilder, you’ll have to apply through their website. You might also want to check our Rosetta Stone’s Facebook Recruiting page, where they talk about their campus recruiting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used Rosetta Stone to learn a language?

U.S. Department of Labor

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:02:13 +0000

Having graduated from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, I spent a lot of time learning about work, employment, and labor issues during my undergraduate days. While most people think that Labor Day is all about the end of summer (sorry!) and not being able to wear white anymore, my school ensured that I was made more aware of the history of Labor Day. Oddly enough, ILR didn’t give us the day off from classes, but they did excuse us from classes if we went to a big Labor Day celebration with speakers from major unions. If that sounds like something that would interest you, then maybe you’ll want to check out jobs with the U.S. Department of Labor. There isn’t a more suitable employer to feature on Labor Day than our Federal Government’s Cabinet department responsible for promoting “the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States.”

A Labor of Love

Maybe I’m unique in being fascinated by the world of work, but I think that the issues surrounding employment and labor are going to continue to play a huge role in our economic (and quite possibly cultural) history. The Federal Government has built itself a significant role in these issues through the Department of Labor, and with nearly 20,000 employees I don’t think the DOL is going anywhere in the near future. The scope of what the DOL does for our country’s workers includes:

improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits, helping employers find workers, strengthening free collective bargaining, and tracking changes in employment, prices, and other national economic measurements.

This creates all kinds of cool jobs for people who are interested in employment issues. From Statistician to Industrial Hygienist, the range of positions at the Department of Labor is extremely wide. Since you most likely have the day off, you’ll get the pleasure of browsing through the DOL’s Job openings yourself, since there are too many for me to list here. Before you do that, though, you may want to check out the DOL’s Reference Guide for College Students entitled Starting Your Career at the U.S. Department of Labor. It’s not flashy, but it will walk you through the process of getting a job at the DOL.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How are you celebrating Labor Day?

Lucky Brand

Willy Franzen — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:49:56 +0000

Next March I’m going to regret not saving this one for my St. Patrick’s Day holiday themed post, but today we’re going to take a look at Lucky Brand. They’re a clothing manufacturer and retailer that is “rooted in rock ‘n ‘roll with a signature sense of humor.” Their About page will tell you that they stand for “independent thinking, individual style and a feeling as authentic as love” and that they’re known for “great-fitting, vintage-inspired jeans;” however, I think it’s much simpler than that. One of their founders came up with the idea to put the phrase “Lucky You” behind the flies of every pair of pants that they made. It was an instant point of differentiation, and I think that it has a lot to do with why Lucky Brand is going strong 19 years after they started. It really is pure, politically incorrect genius. Lucky you…

Get Lucky

The best way to get a feel for Lucky Brand is to check out their clothes online or visit one of their retail stores. If you don’t get what the brand is about, you’re not going to get a job with them. I think that’s true of any brand, but it’s especially pertinent in industries like apparel where brand is everything. So, what about jobs at Lucky Brand? They have a ton of Store Management opportunities at their retail stores. This may not be exactly what you had in mind post-graduation (or maybe it is), but it kind of offers the opportunity to run your own business—at least that’s what the job description makes it sound like. They have openings for Retail Management in Ala Moana, HI; Miami, FL; Monterey, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Tampa, FL; San Jose, CA; San Francisco, CA; Austin, TX; Waikiki, HI; Westlake, OH; Los Angeles, CA; Manhattan, NY; Las Vegas, NV; El Paso, TX; Aurora, IL; Chicago, IL; Pleasant Prairie; WI; Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; Bridgewater, NJ; Elizabeth, NJ; Seattle, WA; Wrentham, MA; Peabody, MA; Boston, MA; Houston, TX; Studio City, CA; St. Louis, MO; and quite a few more locations (although those jobs were posted in March and earlier). You can find all of those job postings on Lucky Brand’s Jobs site.

You also have the option of submitting a résumé for general consideration for corporate jobs in Vernon, CA. I think that this might be worthwhile because of what Lucky Brand has to say about their Internship Program:

The Lucky Brand Fall 2009 Internship Program is intended to help acclimate Junior and Senior level university/college students to our company culture, build on their creativity, and allow them the best opportunity to get to know Lucky Brand. This program is designed to identify, develop and potentially hire top entry level talent.

If they’re looking to hire top entry level talent, then why don’t they have any entry level jobs posted outside of retail? Maybe it’s just a season thing, or maybe they mostly like hiring past interns, but it’s worth investigating. Lucky Brand offers internships in Design, Human Resources, Wholesale Sales & Planning, Accessory Jewelry Design, Accessory Design, eCommerce, and Marketing, so those are areas where they might also have entry level jobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you consider yourself lucky?

Taproot Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:04:30 +0000

As I tell you every weekend, the non-profit world can never get enough top notch talent. Part of the reason is that the careers aren’t nearly as lucrative as private sector careers, but another part of it is that there are a seemingly unlimited number of non-profit organizations out there. Taproot Foundation solves this problem in an interesting way. They act as a project management consulting service while linking top notch business professionals up with non-profit organizations in a volunteer capacity. They typically work with organizations in the areas of Arts, Education, Social Services, Environment, and Health on engagements in the areas of marketing, HR, IT, and strategy management. I’m always impressed by non-profit consulting services, and this appears to be a pretty cool twist on that model.

Tap into a New Career

The way that the Taproot Foundation works is that they recruit a team of 3-6 volunteers to work on an engagement. The teams are typically virtual, and they commit to 100 hours of time over 6 months. Each team member has a specific role, and a clear idea of the scope, deliverables, project plan, timeline, and tools & additional resources that will be relevant to the project. The team will also have the support of the Taproot staff and other volunteers at higher levels. It’s a really cool approach, and the volunteer opportunities sound truly exciting; however, the Taproot Foundation also happens to be hiring. Current job openings that might be suitable for new grads include VISTA Program Development Fellow – Pro Bono Action Tank (San Francisco, CA), VISTA Corporate Sponsorship Fellow (Chicago, IL), and VISTA Eastern – Central Region Program Fellow (Washington, DC). They also have a location in New York, but there’s nothing suitable there right now. Each of the job descriptions goes into great detail, so check them out to get the full scoop on the careers that the Taproot Foundation offers.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

CB Richard Ellis

Willy Franzen — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:55:21 +0000

Considering the fact that I drove by a house in Michigan that was on sale for $12,500 just a few days ago, it’s pretty obvious that the real estate market still has some rebounding to do. There has been a lot of hurt in the industry over the past couple years, but maybe things are looking up. A friend who works at CB Richard Ellis let me know about a position that they’re trying to fill, and after I checked their Careers page I saw that they’re hiring for more than 200 positions. Considering the fact that they just went through a round of layoffs at the end of last year, I’d say all those job postings is probably a good sign for where the company (and maybe the economy?) is going. If you have heard of CB Richard Ellis before, you should know that they’re headquartered in Los Angeles and they’re “the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2008 revenue).” Clearly $12,500 houses aren’t a problem for them.

Be with CBRE

CB Richard Ellis is a huge company. Not only are they world’s revenue leader in commercial real estate, but they also happen to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 employees and 300 offices. That makes finding an entry level job with them a little bit intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start, especially when they don’t have anything tailored to recent grads on their site. They do have a Career Paths section on their site, but it only allows you to self-select as Experience Professional or MBA. Neither of those pages offers much information that would be helpful to a recent grad. This means that we’re going to have to dive into the dreaded job search function to find entry level jobs at CBRE.

Unfortunately, CBRE’s job search function doesn’t let us link to specific jobs, and there are 200+ jobs to wade through. CBRE does have jobs all across the country, so getting ultra-specific with your query still should turn up a few results that might interest you. CBRE’s job areas include Administrative/Operations, Business Development, Client Services, Commercial Real Estate, Executive Management, Facilities Management, Finance/Accounting, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing/PR/Communications, Project Management, Property Management, Purchasing/Procurement, Research Management, Risk Management, Sales/Brokerage, Technology, and Transaction Management, so there really is something for nearly everyone. There’s also the position that my friend told me about: Marketing Coordinator (.doc file) in Woodbury, NY. You can apply for this specific position by sending your cover letter and résumé to joscelyn.wippern@cbre.com. For other positions you can apply online through CBRE’s Applicant Tracking System, or you can apply through e-mail to cbreresume@cbre.com. If you still have questions about the CBRE hiring process you can check out their Careers FAQ.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about CBRE?

National Park Service

Willy Franzen — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:37:02 +0000

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays—not only because it signifies the start of summer, but also because I love small town patriotism. My hometown always has a fantastic parade that is often accompanied by a fighter jet fly over. Now, today’s employer may not immediately make you think of Memorial Day like last year’s did (it was Weber-Stephen, the manufacturer of my favorite charcoal grills), but you’ll realize pretty quickly why the National Park Service is a great choice for today. Not only are some of the parks that they manage great places to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, but they’re also responsible for quite a few memorials including The Marine Corps War Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, and The World War II Memorial. Memorial Day is really about our fallen heroes, and the National Park Service is constantly working to honor them by maintaining and managing our memorials.

Celebrate Memorial Day All Year Long

If you love Memorial Day as much as I do, then a job with the National Park Service might be something worth thinking about. Whether you love the outdoors and want to be at Yosemite, love history and want to be at Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, or love our country and want to be at one of the memorials, you’ll have plenty of options. The NPS is constantly working to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” So, how do you land a job with them? You can start at the NPS Jobs page (it has some awesome photos from the 70s), but that will dump you into USAJobs.gov—use this link so that you only see jobs posted from the NPS. There are 163 jobs posted right now, and many of them are entry level, so we’re not going to wade through all of them for you, but you should know that the NPS typically hires in the following areas: Administration, Health and Safety, Archeology, History, Architecture, Human Resources, Biological Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Community Planning, Maintenance and Facility Management, Concessions, Natural Resources, Contracting, Park Police, Cultural Resources, Park Ranger (Protection), Engineering, Park Ranger (Interpretation), Financial Management, Park Site Interpretation, Firefighting, Physical Sciences, and Fire Management. That should help you direct your search on the USAJobs.gov site a little better. Applying for government jobs can be tricky, so be sure to pay very close attention to the details before you send in your application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite National Park/

22squared

Willy Franzen — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:21:36 +0000

How do you feel about the intersection of friendship and marketing? I know that a lot people weren’t happy when Facebook Beacon started telling their friends what they were buying from other sites, and I also know that nobody wants their friends to go salesman on them (like with Cutco knives); however, word of mouth marketing remains one of the most effective vehicles to reach people with a message. That’s because we still seem to trust our friends the most when it comes to making purchasing decisions. But can brands become our friends? According to 22squared, a marketing agency based out of Atlanta, GA and Tampa, FL, “consumers want brands that act more like helpful friends than persuasive marketers.” I think that’s right, but it still sounds a little weird to me. Maybe we should look at Facebook again for the answer. Plenty of people are “Fans” of brands (like ours), which is very much like being Facebook Friends with them.

What’s the Big Deal About 484?

I don’t know where they got the name 22squared, but Google tells me that 22 squared = 484. I’m not sure what to make of that, so let’s get back to talking about how 22squared thinks that “the consumer is your friend.” They’ve actually developed a metric to judge how friendly brands are. You can calculate it like this:

Strength of Relationship + Number of Advocates + Maturity of Relationship = Friendship Factor %

I’m not sure where you get the inputs from, but if you click “The Work” link on 22squared’s Home page (I can’t link because it’s in Flash) and click through the pages, you’ll see the scores of many well recognized brands. Usually you need to divide by something to get a percentage, so I don’t know what this is all about, but I’d love to hear the science behind it. I wonder what One Day, One Job’s Friendship Factor % is. I’d like to think that we’re a pretty friendly brand.

Anyway, if I want to keep your friendship, I need to get to the jobs. Right now, 22squared’s Jobs page (which I can link to) only has one job opening posted. It’s for a Flash Developer in their Atlanta, GA office. Considering what a nice job they’ve done with their own site’s Flash (even if you can’t link to anything and it’s not search engine optimized), I bet this is a pretty cool job. If you don’t have Flash skills, don’t worry. 22squared also lists an HR contact (signe.garnitz@22squared.com) to whom you can send a resume and cover letter – presumably for unlisted positions. 22squared offers internships in Account Management, Media, Creative, Brand Planning, Digital/Interactive (Creative and Media), Broadcast Production, Studio, Information Technology, and Human Resources, so those might be areas that they also hire at the entry level. I can’t promise anything, but it’s worth checking out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you feel about brands as friends?

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?

Kaos Studios

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:41:25 +0000

If you’re sitting around playing video games instead of being a diligent job seeker, then you’re the reason that companies like Kaos Studios are on “a hiring binge.” I guess that’s a good thing because you’re creating jobs for other people. It won’t do much for you, but you can call it an act of selflessness. I continue to be amazed by how well video game companies are doing in such a rough economy. The connection between unemployment and gaming seems to be pretty clear (although the question of which comes first is yet to be answered). I’d rather you enroll in our job search training course, than buy a couple of new games, but I’d imagine that the folks at Kaos Studios would disagree. They’re a NYC based video game and their most recent title is Frontlines: Fuel of War – yes, it’s a shoot ‘em up.

Need Some Kaos at Work?

It’s nice to see a company that is as aggressive about hiring right now as Kaos Studios is. They seriously have Jobs stuff plastered all over their site. They have an unannounced project that they’re working on that they need help with, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reasons why you might want to work at Kaos. Others include Donut Fridays, Bagel Mondays, a breakroom with all kinds of games, shooting your boss with a paintball gun, and a creative and open environment. Those are just some selections from their Top 10 List, which doesn’t even include the top notch compensation and benefits that they offer their employees. Kaos is an indie studio that has a deal with a major publisher – THQ – which apparently is a good thing in the video game industry. There’s a lot more to know about Kaos Studios, but you should be able to find plenty of info on their website. Right now they’re looking for mostly Senior people, but they have a few job openings that should appeal to new or recent grads. These include Graphics Programmer, Animator, Multiplayer Programmer, HR Generalist, Level Designer, and Associate Level Designer. You can apply for each of these jobs directly from the job postings, and if you don’t see anything that suits you, you can send a resume and cover letter to Jobs@KaosStudios.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever played Frontlines: Fuel of War?

Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:21:05 +0000

I love writing these holiday posts. It’s always fun to think of holiday related jobs, and since today is President’s Day, I had a lot of options. I could have looked at car dealerships or retailers that celebrate with a President’s Day sale, but I wanted to feature some jobs that honor our past presidents. Since Washington and Lincoln are all over our money, we’re going to check out jobs with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re responsible for printing all of our paper money, but that’s not all that they do. The BEP is also the country’s largest producer of security documents, which includes “U.S. passports, materials for Homeland Security, military identification cards, and Immigration and Naturalization Certificates.” They don’t produce our coinage – that’s the United States Mint, but they do have the coolest domain name in the government – MoneyFactory.gov – even though it kind of sounds like a get rich quick scheme’s web site. And last but not least, they must be pretty busy because the current low interest rates mean that the government is printing a lot of new money.

Jobs in the Money

If you don’t believe the saying that “money can’t make you happy,” then you might be well suited for a job with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. You’re probably not going to get rich with a job in the Federal government, but you’ll certainly be surrounded by cold, hard cash. The BEP looks like a fascinating place to work, and they have quite a few job offerings that might interest new college grads. They have two locations – Washington, DC and Fort Worth, TX – but they only have job openings in DC right now. The BEP’s job listings are some of the most confusing that I’ve ever read, so it’s really hard to tell what the experience requirements are for each job. With that said, I think that you might want to check out jobs like Quality Assurance Specialist, Human Resources Specialist (Employee & Labor Relations), Management Assistant, Chemist, Picture Engraver (Banknote) Apprentice, and Research Chemist. It’s hard to say whether all of these jobs are entry level, but give them a good look if you’re intrigued by the titles. You should also note that the BEP has some Special Hiring Programs. These include the Outstanding Scholar Program, which “exempts qualified applicants from normal competitive hiring procedures who have obtained Superior Academic Achievement,” and a Merit Promotions Program. The application instructions for jobs with the BEP are at the end of each job posting, and they’re onerous to say the least, but if you want to be surrounded by money, there’s no better option.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite bill produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing?

Epic Systems

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:17:17 +0000

My Dad is an architect, and he often likes to send me suggestions on which companies I should feature next. Sometimes he finds some pretty cool stuff, and a month or so ago he sent me a link to the Winter 2009 online issue of HQ Magazine, which features an article called “Top 20 Places to Work.” Usually such lists focus on a range of reasons for a place’s being great to work at, but HQ is an architectural publication, so this list is all about office space (not the movie). The section of the article on Epic Systems says: “Epic’s campus fits into idyllic pastures and farmland, providing serene, relaxing views from within. Outside are hiking trails, playing fields, a treehouse. Meeting rooms have working fireplaces to further the sense of calmness.” It sounds amazing. Epic systems is a Wisconsin based, privately held, employee owned healthcare software provider.

Epicly Helpful

Epic Systems only has 170 clients, but “they are some of the most respected organizations in healthcare.” Epic’s software apparently makes the patient experience a lot better, but until it makes waiting rooms obsolete, I’m not quite sold. Basically, what Epic’s software does is that it records every touch that a patient has with a healthcare provider. The information is kept securely, but in a way that allows patients to access it when they need it. Epic Systems provides a product that keeps doctors, nurses, and patients fully informed about what’s going on. We all know that the healthcare industry is a mess, but it’s also growing rapidly. Epic Systems seems to be taking advantage of this environment by making a product that makes healthcare better for all parties involved.

Here’s a sample situation from Epic’s website:

Imagine this: you’re from Dallas, but you’re on vacation in Seattle. Shortly after trying some of the free samples at the fish market, you come down with something nasty and end up in the Emergency Room. You can’t remember the names of the medications you’re taking at home, but you mention to the doctor that you’re normally seen at Black Springs Clinic in the Dallas area. The doctor in the ER is able to access your chart from the clinic without the need to place a call or retrieve a fax. Your ER doctor sees not only the specific medications and doses you were last prescribed at home, but also that you’re allergic to Iodine, preventing a potentially severe reaction during your care.

You get back on your feet after a few hours in the ER and are given a couple medications and a recommendation to see your doctor at home once you’re back from vacation. While still in Seattle, you pull out your laptop and are able to send a secure message to your physician in Dallas, letting him know briefly what happened. You also sign up for a follow-up appointment for when you return. When you arrive, your doctor has access to your clinic chart, as well as the information documented during your visit to the ER in Seattle.

Sounds pretty great.

Do Something Epic

Epic may have only made the list of Top Places to Work because of their building, but they look like they belong on any general list of the best places to work. Their Careers site is loaded with information – especially the Life and Work section. We could go on and on about how cool it looks to work at Epic, but you’re better off checking it out on your own (start by taking a tour of their campus). Epic allows you to browse their jobs by both Career Type and Educational Background; however, I prefer to look at their listing of all available positions. The jobs are insanely easy to scan for entry level positions, so there’s no need for me to list them here, and you can apply online. Although they are a software company, they have job openings in areas that include Accounting, Biotechnology, Botany, Consulting, HR, IT, Project Management, Writing, and, of course, Software Development.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Epic’s Campus.

Activision

Willy Franzen — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:41:54 +0000

As we noted when we featured Blizzard’s entry level jobs, video game sales tend to do really well when unemployment is high. This is one of those times that you’re probably thinking about buying a Wii/Xbox 360/PS3 and forgoing the job search for the comfort of your parents’ basement. As much fun as it might be for the first 6 months, that’s not the answer. That’s why Jason Seiden and I are announcing our 21 day online job search training course today. It’s called Found Your Career, and it’s open for enrollment. We’re offering an introductory price to the first 100 students to sign up, so get in before the price goes up. It’s a great way to put all of that video gaming energy to good use (and it’s much more affordable). Another way to put that energy to use is by considering jobs with Santa Monica, CA based Activision, the company that is behind Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and many more games. Video games are hot now, but now’s not the time to hone your expert level skills on Guitar Hero, it’s time to hone your job search approach by developing new skills and focusing on industries that are still growing in tough times.

Entry Level Job Hero

You’ll know that “You Rock!” when you get hired. Until then, you’re playing a game called Entry Level Job Hero. If I was to go any further with this metaphor (that people who have never played Guitar Hero won’t get), I’d say that the current level/song is “Activision.” Anyway, Activision makes extremely popular video games, and video games in general are really popular right now. It’s no big surprise that they have close to 70 job listings (including internships) posted. You can find out plenty about the company on their About and Investor Relations pages. You may notice that the company is now known as Activision | Blizzard because the two companies have joined forces, but since they both generally operate separately, we’re featuring their jobs separately. Activision does have a University Relations page; however, it only has information on internships. That means that you’re going to have to browse through Activision’s job listings to get the scoop on entry level jobs. We also can’t link to the specific job listings because of the way Activision’s Applicant Tracking System is set up. When you’re browsing the listings, keep an eye open for job titles like Web Application Developer, User Interface Artist, Staffing Assistant, Software Engineer, QA Tester (ok, fine, this job actually requires video game expertise – get practicing), Network Programmer, Inventory Analyst, Junior Publicist, and quite a few more (unfortunately they pulled the Bullshot Artist job). Most of the jobs are located in Santa Monica, CA, but they also have locations all across the country and the world. You can apply for the jobs on Activision’s website, so start researching and get at it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to enroll in Found Your Career?

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?

WGBH

Willy Franzen — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:08:58 +0000

We’ve catered to the PBS junkies before when we’ve covered entry level jobs at PBS here and WTTW11’s internships on One Day, One Internship, and we’re going to do it again today. WGBH is a non-profit PBS affiliate based out of Boston that also happens to be the “single largest producer of PBS prime-time and online programming.” They started out by broadcasting the Boston Symphony Orchestra over the radio in 1951, but they’ve expanded to television and the web since. It’s really amazing how much of PBS’s programing comes out of WGBH. One of my all-time favorites was ZOOM, which is a little embarrassing to admit, since I was a bit old to be watching it at the time. Another interesting thing about WGBH that I picked up from Wikipedia is that they’re “considered a leader in services for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, or visually impaired.” WGBH actually “invented television closed captioning, audio description (Descriptive Video Service), and created the Rear Window Captioning System for films.” As you can see, WGBH is an innovator not just in public television, but in all media, and probably a great place to work.

Working at WGBH

If you’re looking to get a start in television, public television is the perfect place to begin. And if you’re going to go into public television, you might as well work with the best at WGBH. Their Jobs page shows quite a few openings, which we, unfortunately, can’t link to because of the way that they’ve set up their website. That’s ok because their Jobs page is easy enough to navigate. You can look through all of the jobs yourself, but we think that the most appropriate positions for new college grads are probably limited to: Account Coordinator, Board Relations Coordinator, Compensation and Benefits Specialist, NOVA Web Developer, Production Coordinator (New York), Production Secretary (Antiques Road Show), Production Secretary (TV Direct Response & Marketing), Radio Producer/Announcer, Secretary/Office Coordinator (Masterpiece Theater), and Stenocaptioner. You can apply for the jobs online directly from the job descriptions. They don’t accept unsolicited materials in job applications, so make sure that you stick to what’s asked for. All of the jobs are located in Boston, MA unless otherwise noted.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite programming from WGBH?

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?

Blizzard Entertainment

Willy Franzen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:47:47 +0000

Some people seem to think that this financial crisis is a sign that the end of the world is coming. Well, I can assure you that it is not going to lead to the end of the World… of Warcraft. Why’s that? Because video game sales were up 18% from last October to this October. I guess when you can’t find a job, a new video game seems like a smart investment (you have a lot of time on your hands). I’d recommend that you invest in our job search training course instead, but that’s just my opinion. So, even if you’re frustrated by your job search, don’t give up on the World… of Warcraft. Not only can video games give you a way to blow off your steam while you’re getting pwned by your job search, they can also provide you ideas for new employers to look into. For instance, Irvine, CA based Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind World of Warcraft seems to be on a hiring binge. Maybe your 1337 gaming skills aren’t useless (and don’t tell me that you don’t need a job because you’re mining cybergold). Oh yeah, and if you’re playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure, you’re doing it wrong, n00b.

Looks Like You’re About to Get Pwned

Most of the jobs at Blizzard require technical expertise, but that’s what you’d expect from a major video game developer. There are also a ton of artistic/creative jobs and customer support jobs, and there are even some opportunities in HR. There’s no need for us to list the specific job opportunities, because Blizzard’s Jobs page is fantastic. They lay out and categorize all of their opportunities for you on one page, and they provide a drop down box that highlights jobs by specific function. That means that you can see all of the Software Engineer jobs highlighted across different departments. It’s really slick. Unfortunately, they don’t come right out and tell you which jobs can be considered entry level, but it’s actually not hard to tell just from looking at the job titles.

In addition to Blizzard’s sweet Jobs page, they also have a University Relations page. It offers some additional information for college students who want to work at Blizzard, and it includes a calendar of Blizzard’s upcoming campus recruiting events. Other than that, though, there isn’t much additional information. The page says

We’re hiring recent graduates in all areas, including programming, art, animation, and design. Please research the available positions and send your resume, cover letter, salary history, and demo reel (if applicable) to resumes@blizzard.com.

So, in other words, go look at the jobs page and see which positions you think that you’re a good fit for. There is a universityrelations@blizzard.com e-mail address, so you may want to direct any questions that you have there. Blizzard does a great job of selling their jobs, so you should be able to easily find everything that you need to know. Now get together a 1337 cover letter and resume and show Blizzard that you’re not a n00b.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play WoW?

Harlem Success Academy

Willy Franzen — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:00:11 +0000

Did your Kindergarten class have a special name? Something beyond the teacher’s name? If it did, you probably don’t remember it, but kids at Harlem Success Academy are going to remember the names of their classes for a long time. Not only are their classes named by the colleges that their teachers went to, but the classes are identified by the year that they will be graduating from college (if my math is right, then this year’s Kindergarteners are the Class of 2025). I think that’s pretty inspirational, and that’s the point. Harlem Success Academy is a charter elementary school that is exactly what its name says it is.

You Can Succeed Too

Harlem Success Academy has a different culture and a different take on academics. It all comes down to results, and that’s what Harlem Success Academy is all about. They’ve only been around for just over two years, but they were able to take their first class of 1st Graders from 44% reading at grade level to 96% reading at grade level by the end of the year (and 2/3 were reading at 2nd Grade Level or above). That’s a serious accomplishment in a short amount of time. It seems that Harlem Success Academy has cracked the code when it comes to improving educational outcomes in underserved communities.

If this sounds like something that you’d like to be a part of, then you’re in luck, because Harlem Success Academy is doing a lot of hiring. Their job listings show 25 current positions that they’re hiring for. Three of these are in Elementary School Teaching – Elementary School Teacher (with openings in Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade, Science, Special Education, Music, Dance, Sports, and Art), Assistant Teacher, and Special Education Teacher. It’s hard to tell whether these jobs will be well suited to a new college grad since the job descriptions aren’t very clear about what the experience and degree requirements are, but they’re certainly worth inquiring about. There are also openings that are seemingly entry level in Student Support Services (Educational Associate, Speech Therapist, and Teacher Aide) and Administration (Instructional Data Analyst, Technology Assistant, School Affairs Coordinator, Finance Assistant, Recruitment Assistant, Executive Assistant, and Special Projects Manager). You can find full descriptions of each of these jobs on the category pages that we just linked to, and you can apply for the jobs directly from the descriptions. And in case it wasn’t obvious, the jobs are located in Harlem, NY. Now go tie your personal success to the success of Harlem Success Academy and apply for a job!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about getting Kindergarteners focused on going to college?

Rolls-Royce

Willy Franzen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:18:34 +0000

Let’s be honest – the closest that you’ve ever come to a Rolls-Royce was when you were watching MTV Cribs and saw one in a rapper/athlete/actor’s garage. I’ve seen some college students with some really nice cars, but never a Rolls. With that said, you can finally get close to Rolls-Royce through the college recruiting process. In fact, your lack of familiarity with Rolls-Royce automobiles won’t even matter, because Rolls-Royce plc (the company that we’re talking about today) doesn’t even make cars anymore. That business was sold to BMW in 1998. Rolls-Royce focuses on four global markets – Civil Aerospace, Defense Aerospace, Marine, and Energy – and two vital teams – Services and Research & Development. Although that may not be consistent with the brand image that you’ve associated with Rolls-Royce for a long time, you’re going to have to get used to it – especially if Rolls-Royce sounds like a company that you’d want to work for.

Think High Tech Engineering, Not Luxury

As a “high technology engineering company,” Rolls-Royce is obviously always looking for top engineering talent, but they also need talent in other business areas. They rely heavily on college recruiting to fill these needs, and now is the time to get involved in the recruiting process. In fact, Rolls-Royce is already more than halfway through their campus recruiting schedule. They still have a few campuses to visit, but most of you are going to have to initiate the process online. Before we get into how you do that, let’s see what kind of entry level job opportunities Rolls-Royce offers.

Rolls-Royce has two entry level programs for new graduates – Leadership Development and Professional Excellence. To figure out which of the programs is right for you, you can look at the descriptions that we just linked to you, but you should probably first take Rolls-Royce’s Which Programme (they’re British) assessment. From here, you will hopefully find that your program of choice is open in your area of interest. Rolls-Royce provides a grid that shows which programs they offer in which areas by location (US, UK, and Germany). For the 2008-2009 recruiting season they are looking for people in Customer Management, Engineering, Finance, and Human Resources for the Leadership Development program and Engineering, Supply Chain Planning and Control, and Project Management for the Professional Excellence program. There’s actually a third program called Controls Fast Track for Engineering grads who are interested in becoming a Controls Engineer, but this only seems to be available in the UK.

Getting in the (RR)ecruiting Process

First of all, Rolls-Royce’s Careers site is filled with information. It’s a huge improvement from their old site, and should answer almost every question that you’ll have. The only problem is that it seems to make the assumption that you’ll be making your first contact with Rolls-Royce through campus recruiting. They don’t clearly state how applicants from schools that they don’t visit should apply. There is an online job application process that you can use; however, the Student and Graduate Programmes section only links to internships. The Other Job Opportunities section seems more promising in terms of listings, but it has a note that says “If you are a college student and you are interested in a co-op, intern, leadership program or entry level position, please click here to apply.” Unfortunately, the “click here” links to a page that redirects to Rolls-Royce’s main Careers site. This is a pretty big screw up considering that Rolls-Royce works so hard to sell college students on its jobs. We think that your best bet is to e-mail collegerecruiting@rolls-royce.com and ask them how you should apply (you may even want to include your cover letter and resume). If you figure out what works, please share it with the rest of our readers in the comments.

From what we understand, the Rolls-Royce recruiting process closes in December, so you still have time. They have 64 facilities in 26 states, and we’re not sure where they locate most of their entry-level hires, so that’s another question that you may want to direct towards collegerecruiting@rolls-royce.com. You’ve probably noticed that we’ve focused almost entirely on jobs in the US, but Rolls-Royce also offers opportunities for new grads in Germany and the UK. If those are something that you’re interested in, you can find all of the corresponding information on their Careers site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you know that Rolls-Royce wasn’t in the automobile business anymore?

National Society of Leadership and Success

Willy Franzen — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:13:15 +0000

Back in May I went to my first Cornell Entrepreneurship Network event in New York City. It was about recruiting, so it was a must attend for me. I heard some really interesting people speak, and I met quite a few people who have a strong interest in recruiting. I always questioned whether these types of events would be valuable to me, but this one certainly was. Two of the people whom I met were Christina Velderman and Gary Tuerack from the National Society of Leadership and Success, which is also known by the Greek letters Sigma Alpha Pi. Gary is the President and Founder, and Christina is in charge of Special Projects and Operations. They told me that the Society offers some pretty neat entry level jobs, so I thought that it was worth sharing with you. The society “is a nationwide community that dramatically improves one’s ability to successfully attain desired outcomes.” The Society offers a speakers series in addition to a student organization / honor society.

Can You Be a Successful Leader?

To get a complete picture of what the National Society of Leadership and Success does, you should really check out their informational video. You may also want to take a look at a collection of videos from an interview with the Society’s founder, Gary Tuerack. The Society is a for profit venture, but it offers students many of the same benefits that participation in the Cornell Entrepreneurship Network has provided for me – getting to hear great speakers and meet great people. The Society offers paid, on-campus internships to students who are ambitious enough to build and lead their own chapters of the Society. These internships are a core part of the Society’s business model, so a number of the entry level jobs that they offer are actually based on working with the interns.

The Society is located in Hoboken, NJ, and it looks like they’re hiring for quite a few entry level positions. You’ll see on the Society’s Careers page that they’re looking for an Internship Support Specialist and an Intern Recruiter. If you’re interested in these positions, you’ll definitely want to learn more about the Society’s Internship Program. They’re also looking for an Inside Sales Rep (Chapter Development Coordinator) and a PHP Programmer / Technician. All of these opportunities seem well suited to new college grads, so if you’re interested in being a part of the National Society of Leadership and Success, send a cover letter and resume to careers@societyofsuccess.com AND fill out their online application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Is the National Society of Leadership and Success on your campus?

Penguin Group

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

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

It’s All About Whom You’re Publishing

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

March of the New College Grads

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

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?

Bridgewater Associates

Willy Franzen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:30:39 +0000

Every day I take it upon myself to tell thousands of new college grads about exciting entry-level jobs. You’d think I’d pay enough attention to notice a company that does a ton of college recruiting, has a great work culture for young people, and is right in my “backyard.” Apparently I don’t. I came across a job listing for Bridgewater Associates and was intrigued because they are located in Westport, CT – the town where I went to high school. I figured I must have heard of them at some point and since forgotten about them. My curiosity continued, and I checked out their location on Google Maps. Then I saw this photo tagged for their location, and it hit me. This company is located on the banks of one of my favorite trout streams! Any good job searcher should know to never ignore the opportunities that are right under your nose. So, right off the bat, we know that Bridgewater’s people get to work in a beautiful location and have a great way to spend their lunch breaks if they’re interested in piscatorial pursuits.

Pure Alpha

I’m sure that my anecdote has left you wondering what exactly Bridgewater does. They currently manage “$140 billion in global investments for a wide array of institutional clients, including foreign governments and central banks, corporate and public pension funds.” Many would call them a hedge fund (although they don’t seem to be too keen on that terminology). The company is based on a strategy called “Pure Alpha,” which is based on separating “value-added return from active management” from “return from passively holding a portfolio” to create optimal portfolios for each. They’ve beaten global markets for 15 years, so it is apparently working for them.

Alpha Entry-Level Jobs

Bridgewater Associates appears to be making a lot of money, and it seems like they’re looking to spend that money by hiring new people. Their Job Bank has a variety of opportunities, many of which are targeted at new college grads. Their College Recruiting page shows 3 young people – one in a hoodie, another with her feet up on the desk, and another sitting on the desk – and mentions 4 positions that are typically geared towards the entry-level. These are Management Associate, Investment Associate, Operations Associate, and Portfolio Accountant. These are general job descriptions and not specific listings, but they offer great insight into what you’d be doing in one of these jobs.

Bridgewater is all about being different. They appear to be very relaxed with flex-time and casual dress, and they seem to do anything to encourage the free flow of ideas. They’re not offering your typical finance jobs. They seem to be extremely friendly to young people, and have one of the best online entry-level recruiting presences we’ve seen. They are located in Westport, CT, which is certainly not a hotspot for social opportunities (I can vouch personally for that), but New York City is just an hour train ride away.

Browsing Bridgewater Associates’ job listings is a different experience than what you’d typically be accustomed to. In some ways it’s really helpful, and in others it’s a little irritating. They ask you to pick from 14 areas and then view jobs by area. There’s no way to view all openings at once. Since multiple areas may interest the same candidates (especially entry-level candidates who may not have a clear idea of what they want to do), it would be a lot more convenient to find just entry-level positions listed somewhere on their College Recruiting page. Not all of the jobs geared towards new grads are finance heavy – there are also entry-level opportunities in support roles. Applying online looks easy, and you can apply for multiple positions with one application. If you doubt that your major will be a good fit for a particular job, just take a look at Bridgwater’s Employee Profiles. You can view them by Job Title or Major, which will show you that there’s even a place at Bridgewater for History and Chemistry majors.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Seriously considering a job at Bridgewater Associates and want to know more about the area? Leave a comment, and I’ll answer any questions that you may have.

Echo Global Logistics

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:52:13 +0000

This is what we like to see! One of our readers contacted us earlier this week to tell us about a company that he is interning for this summer. He’s been a Fan of One Day, One Job for quite a while, so he knows the drill around here. He says he’s really enjoying working for Echo Global Logistics, and that we should do a post about their entry-level jobs. There’s nothing like a firsthand recommendation from a loyal reader, so lets figure out what Logistics actually means and how it might be an interesting industry to consider in your job search.

Echoooooooooooooooooo

Echo Global Logistics is “a leading provider of technology enabled business process outsourcing, serving the transportation and logistics needs of our clients.” What does that mean? Echo actually has a great graphic on their website that explains what logistics is about. Here it is:

As you can see, there is a whole lot of shipping going on. Echo doesn’t do the shipping, but they help other companies find the right shipper. It’s not always as easy as using UPS or FedEx. It sounds like a pretty simple business, but it obviously comes with its complexities. That’s why companies hire Echo to do the logistics for them.

Working at Echo

Now that you know what logistics is, let’s talk about why Echo is probably a great company to work for. We all know that readers of One Day, One Job are extremely intelligent, savvy, and perceptive. If another reader recommends a company, you should listen! Here are some of the points our reader made in the e-mail to us: Echo was named one of Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For, they’re doing a lot of entry-level hiring, they have an awesome Careers page, and they’re a young company that has grown to 500 employees and 1,000 clients since they were started in 2005. Most important, our reader really enjoys working there.

That’s what he said, here’s what we found. Echo’s Careers site is truly phenomenal. In terms of content, it has everything that you could ever want from a company that you are researching. There are actually two Careers sites, one for new grads, and another for experience hires. How cool is that? Echo includes information such as life at echo, a day in the life of an entry-level employee, a tour of their office, and overviews of the company’s departments. There’s a lot more information that you’ll find easily by browsing Echo’s site. Our only complaint is that the site is mostly Flash based, which looks great, but hurts their search engine optimization. Using Google to find jobs with Echo won’t be very successful. Still, the Careers site is top notch.

What Kind of Jobs Are There in Logistics?

Our other slight complaint is that Echo doesn’t make it clear which job opportunities are available for new grads at the entry-level. Their Job Openings page is the same for experienced and entry-level job searchers. Our reader told us that they’re hiring new grads in all of their departments, but we only see a few jobs listed that are appropriate for new grads. These include Business Development Representative – Inside Sales, Account Executive (Park City, UT or Rancho Palos Verdes, CA), and .Net Developer. We imagine that there are more opportunities available, so we hope someone from Echo will stop in and leave a comment advising new grads on how to apply for jobs that aren’t listed on the site (like the ones that we heard about from our reader in Finance, IT, HR, Sales, and, of course, Logistics). Since Echo is headquartered in Chicago, IL, we’d imagine that most of their entry-level jobs would be located there.

Despite our nitpicking, we think that Echo looks like a great place to start your career after college. Their online presence is phenomenal, and that always impresses us. Now that you know what Logistics is, take a look and see if Echo has anything that interests you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you know of a company that we should feature? Send an e-mail to info@onedayonejob.com and tell us about it.

Freedom from Hunger

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

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

Innovating Hunger Away

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

Do You Have a Hunger for Helping People?

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Zappos.com

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:21:35 +0000

Most people like shoes. They protect your feet, offer support, and keep you warm. Some people love shoes – love them to the point that their loved ones (not the shoes) are likely worried about them. Oddly enough, the people who deeply love shoes often seem most interested in shoes that barely protect their feet, offer little support, and provide little or no warmth. We don’t really get that. Zappos.com puts these people to shame. As a company they have a shoe obsession that is far worse than that of the most Sex and the City addicted, Daily Candy reading, New York City fashionista. Why do we say that? Because Zappos.com is obsessed with everything shoes, not just the shoes of some designer whose name you’re supposed to know.

A Shoe-in for Best Customer Service

If you asked someone at Zappos what they love more, shoes or customer service, they’d probably have a hard time coming up with an answer. That’s because the Zappos equation is something like Amazing Selection of Shoes + Unparalleled Customer Service = Profit. It seems to be working, as they’re on their way to selling $1 billion in shoes this year. That’s only 2.5% of the US shoe market, but they’ve done it in 9 years. Their growth rate is excellent, and that’s why they’re doing a ton of hiring, as you’ll soon see.

The fact that customers have a year to return any shoes that they purchased from Zappos (and get the shipping paid for) is impressive, but what really knocks our socks off is the way that Zappos trains their employees. Every new hire, no matter what they were hired for, spends 4 weeks in intense Customer Loyalty training answering phones in the Zappos call center. About a week into the training period Zappos offers their new hires an incentive – a $1,000 incentive – to quit. Yes, they bribe their newly recruited people to take their first week’s salary plus a cool $1,000 and run (hat tip to What Would Dad Say although it seems like he got a few things wrong judging from the Harvard Business Review article on Zappos’ HR practices that he linked to as the original source). Zappos figures that if someone values $1,000 now more than a future career at Zappos, they’re not the right type of person for the job. It may sound like an expensive proposition, but it’s a lot less expensive than hiring someone who is not fully committed to the company’s customer service principles.

Working at Zappos: Deal or No Deal?

Considering many people choose not to take the deal and stay with Zappos after the first week, it’s obvious that the company is offering a unique and exciting work experience. If you still need more convincing, you can read employee perspectives in the Inside Zappos Blog, look at photos and videos from Zappos’ Halloween 2007, watch Zappos YouTube videos, keep up with Zappos Employee Tweets on Twitter, follow the Zappos CEO’s Twitter account, or just look at cute pictures of the pets of Zappos customers.

Now that you’re totally convinced (if you’re not, the links at the end of the post will give you even more opportunities to research Zappos), here are the jobs at Zappos that we think might be considered entry-level or appropriate for a new college grad. In Henderson, NV you could get offered $1,000 to quit being a Financial Analytics Manager, Editing Assistant (labeled as Intern, but looks to be an entry-level job from the description), Front-End Developer, User Interface Designer, Web Content Strategist, Web Designer, Recruiting Assistant, Merchandise Planning Analyst, Merchandise Planning Coordinator, Merchandising Assistant – Clothing and Toys, Merchandising Assistant – Performance Bags, Merchandising Assistant – Private Label, Merchandising Assistant, Designer Footwear, Project Manager, Performance QA Engineer, QA Engineer, or a Software Engineer. In Shepherdsville, KY they’ll offer you $1,000 to quit being a Recruiting Assistant, Photographer Assistant, or Software Engineer. You can find more detailed information about each of these positions on Zappos’ Jobs page. Although their site is a bit cluttered looking, they do a great job of getting across information about each job. Our only complaint is that some of the items in the descriptions are a bit redundant, which can be confusing – especially in terms of what experience is required for each job.

Now go get researching so that you can say, “I turned down $1,000 to quit my new job after a week.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Zappos.com
Jobs at Zappos
About Zappos
Zappos Blogs
Zappos on Twitter
Zappos’ Core Values
Zappos on YouTube

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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?

Pella

Willy Franzen — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:22:40 +0000

It’s hard for me to write this post, because I have a strong allegiance to Marvin, which is one of Pella’s biggest competitors. It started in 7th grade when I was working at my Dad’s architecture firm. The entire office was invited to a lobster lunch put on by some Marvin sales reps. My partner in crime (a friend of mine who was old enough to have the coveted title of intern) and I jumped at the chance to take a break from shooting rubber bands at each other and join the architects for a free lunch. We had to endure a long sales pitch about windows, like that South Park episode where the parents endure a time share sales pitch in return for a free skiing weekend, but when it was finally over, we chowed down. My then overweight 7th grade self put away a couple of lobsters and almost put one in my pocket for the ride home. It was by far the best day during my Summer job, but I’m willing to forget a couple lobsters and start pushing Pella, because they’ve truly impressed me with their college recruiting and entry-level hiring program.

Windows of Opportunity

Pella makes high end windows and doors. You can fluff it up by talking about how they provide great views in your home or office, but when it’s all said and done, they do something pretty simple, and they do it really well. So well, in fact, that they won the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates award for “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Window and Door Manufacturers.” Pella also has a reputation as one of the most energy efficient window and door manufacturers. It’s logical that windows and doors are two of the places that your house or office is most likely to leak heat (in or out), so it’s great that Pella is so invested in energy efficiency. They even “earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for windows in 2007 for its leadership in manufacturing energy-efficient windows and educating consumers about them.” We keep saying it – a company that takes pride in its products takes pride in its people, and that means that Pella looks like a great place to start a career.

The Door to Your Future

Pella appears to have an extremely strong entry-level hiring and college recruiting program. Their College Relations page has links to all the pages you’ll need to research jobs at Pella. They include a page detailing entry-level positions generally as well as a page that lists all of the possible career paths at Pella starting at the entry-level for each. Although Pella does a significant amount of campus recruiting, they still seem to be extremely friendly to new college grads who want to apply online. We wished they’d link their fabulous College Relations section of their website to specific entry-level job openings, but unfortunately they direct all attention to their somewhat disappointing job search function. There’s no way to find just entry-level jobs, so you have to scan the postings for promising job titles (at least there are only 20 listings, so it’s not hard).

Our search turned up job titles like Department Manager, Human Resources Representative, and National Account Retail Sales Representative – all of which appear to be entry-level. There is also a listing for an Engineering Career Development program for new grads. Pella has locations across the country, but they are headquartered in Pella, Iowa. All of the job descriptions are well detailed, so start looking through Pella’s entry-level opportunities and see if you find anything anything that is better than free lobster.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have the inside scoop on working at Pella? Leave a comment and let us know.