by Willy Franzen on October 14, 2009
I remember being in middle school and deciding that I wanted a drum set. I already had a snare drum, but I knew that a full set would be much cooler. My mom bought me a copy of the Bargain News, a local paper full of classified ads, and helped me pore over the listings in search of a drum set. That’s certainly a relic of the past, but classified ads are far from dead. They’ve just moved online. You’re probably most familiar with Craigslist, and maybe you’ve considered using Facebook Marketplace or something like that. What you probably didn’t realize is that there is still a huge business behind classified ads. Take Chicago based Classified Ventures for instance. They’re another Inc. 5000 company, and they’ve increased their revenue from $146.7 million to $297.5 million over the past three years. They’ve done this with four distinct businesses: Apartments.com, Cars.com, HomeGain.com, and HomeFinder.com. You’ve probably noticed at least one of those sites before, which is exactly what they’re looking for.
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by Willy Franzen on October 10, 2009
My parents are in town for the weekend, and I’ve been thinking of fun things to do with them around Chicago. One place that came to mind is Shedd Aquarium. I don’t think that we’ll end up getting a chance to make it there this weekend, but it was certainly a good thought. And once I thought about it, I realized that they’re probably hiring. Shedd Aquarium is much like other aquariums now, but it really stood out when it was opened in the 1930s. The aquarium was founded by John G. Shedd, retired president of Marshall Field & Company, and financed by him with $3 million in gifts. The goal was to bring Chicago up to par with other “cosmopolitan” cities that had aquariums, and by the end of the project Chicago’s aquarium “housed the greatest variety of sea life under one roof.” It also happened to be “the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater collection,” which meant that they had to ship millions of gallons of seawater from Florida on trains to provide a proper habitat for the sea life.
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by Willy Franzen on October 3, 2009
Often people don’t realize what services are available to them. I see this all the time with college students and Career Services offices—the students complain about a lack of help even though they’ve never stepped foot in the office. Another example is students who are having trouble paying for college yet have never applied for the thousands of dollars of scholarships that are available to them. This same thing happens all the time in the world of government programs—people endure hardship because they don’t know that there are programs intended just for them. We often hear that there’s a need for more programs to help the poor, yet programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit are significantly underutilized. Ladder Up is a Chicago based non-profit organization that has “returned $183 million to 100,000 hardworking families” by providing “free, real world financial solutions that maximize earnings and savings.” Whether it’s helping their clients claim a tax credit that they didn’t know about or walking a future college student through the financial aid process, Ladder Up helps people make the most of what’s available to them.
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by Willy Franzen on September 15, 2009
Today is the last day to enter our Maghound Your Way to a New Job contest. With so few entries so far, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll win a one-year subscription to an awesome new magazine subscription service (3 monthly magazines for free!).
I’m still on my Inc. 5000 kick, and today we’re looking at a company whose name immediately caught my eye. They’re called College Hunks Hauling Junk, and that’s exactly what they are. Omar Soliman wanted to make some money during the summer, so he borrowed his mom’s cargo van to start hauling away people’s junk. He then entered his business plan in the Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition and won the $10,000 first prize. He realized that he had a business that he could grow, and now College Hunks Hauling Junk is doing $2.9 million in revenue. Guess that’s why Omar and his co-founder Nick were named (also by Inc.) as Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. College Hunks Hauling Junk is headquartered in Tampa, FL, but through expansion and franchising they now operate in Anne Arundel, MD; Baltimore/Howard County, MD; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; San Francisco/San Jose, CA; Tampa Bay, FL; and Washington, DC Metro.
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by Willy Franzen on September 9, 2009
It’s funny how well respected brands that have been around forever will get swept up in a fad. Some, like Abercrombie & Fitch, will make it part of a new identity, while others like Burberry will enjoy the popularity but maintain their core image. Burberry is a British company that has been making quality garments since 1856, but they became especially trendy in the early 2000s, if I remember correctly. While most brands are recognized for their logo or a specific product, Burberry is known for their plaid. In fact, unless you’re a tartan freak, “Burberry Check” is probably the only plaid that you recognize by name. Over their 150 years Burberry has moved more towards luxury goods than outdoor garments, which is best evidenced by their new ad campaigns with Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.
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by Willy Franzen on August 25, 2009
Before my fishing trip to Canada last week, I ordered a couple of books from Amazon for some pleasure reading. One of those books was Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)
. I bought it on the recommendation of Ben Casnocha, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the first 200 or so pages (I’ll finish it soon). The book has taught me more about driving than I’ll ever want to know, and it also put me on to NAVTEQ. They are headquartered a half mile away from me here in Chicago (with lots of international offices too) and “a world leader in premium-quality digital map data and content.” One of those premium map features is traffic tracking, which is why they were mentioned in the book. By informing drivers with up to date traffic maps in their vehicles, they not only make driving easier for their users, but they’re also mitigating traffic jams in real time by diverting drivers.
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by Willy Franzen on August 12, 2009
Events are all about the people. A lot of that has to do with who’s invited—or more importantly, who shows up. You can invite people like Aretha Franklin, Trent Lott, John Cleese, Terry McAuliffe, Steve Wozniak, Brad Paisley, and Darell Hammond, but they’re probably not going to come to your event (if they all did it would be quite a mix). Unless, of course, you’re using Leading Authorities. They are a Washington, DC and Chicago, IL based lecture agency that provides “top-tier speakers and nationally-recognized entertainment acts to events all over the world.” Yeah, you’ll have to pay a hefty sum, but how else will you get an impressive name to keynote your conference or sing at your party? Leading Authorities is also an “award-winning production house” and an event design firm. That means that you’ll be able to make the most of the talent that you bring in for your event—assuming that you, a recent college grad, are throwing a huge event.
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by Willy Franzen on July 30, 2009
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…
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by Willy Franzen on July 23, 2009
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.
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by Willy Franzen on July 19, 2009
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.
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by Willy Franzen on July 16, 2009
Take a second and think of your favorite toy growing up. Was it a Barbie? Matchbox Car? American Girl Doll? View-Master? Magic 8 Ball? Rock’em Sock’em Robots? Hot Wheels? Polly Pocket? Even if it wasn’t one of those, there’s a good chance that it was made by Mattel. I’m sure that you’ve heard of the El Segundo, CA headquartered toy company before, but I bet you never realized just how many toys they actually make. Not only do they have some of the biggest toy names in the world, but they’re also behind all of Fisher-Price’s toys. If you always wanted to be like Tom Hanks in Big
and work for a toy company, Mattel is your chance to live every child’s dream.
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by Willy Franzen on July 4, 2009
Last year we took a look at jobs with Phantom Fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July, but this year it’s a weekend, and that means non-profit entry level jobs. I decided to play things a little safer, so my first thought was The National Council on Fireworks Safety, but they don’t appear to have any jobs. That led me to the Itasca, IL based National Safety Council, which is also concerned with fireworks safety. Fireworks safety is just one small piece of what the National Safety Council does though, as their mission is to “educate and influence people to prevent accidental injury and death.” And that’s just want we want to do on July 4th.
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by Willy Franzen on June 28, 2009
I’ve mentioned before that I’m on the board of advisors for a startup non-profit called National Coaching Fellows. During my time on the board, I’ve learned how challenging the non-profit world can be. Luckily, NCF has had the support of a “student-driven consulting corps for non-profits” to get through some of its growing pains. That consulting group is Chicago’s campusCATALYST, an organization that “seeks to direct the innovation, ingenuity, and problem solving skills of America’s future leaders towards community development by cultivating a rich academic and social entrepreneurship experience for college students and tangible solutions for nonprofits.” In other words, they take students from the University of Chicago and Northwestern and put them on consulting teams that help non-profits achieve their missions.
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by Willy Franzen on June 26, 2009
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.
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by Willy Franzen on June 25, 2009
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.
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by Willy Franzen on June 21, 2009
Father’s Day is almost always a little bittersweet for me, as it marks the end of a week long fly fishing trip with my Dad to Northern Michigan. I hate for the trip to be over, but there’s no better way to celebrate the holiday than having spent a week with my Dad doing what we love—catching fish. Last year I searched high and low to bring you a post about the National Fatherhood Initiative, and this year it wasn’t easy to find another Dad related non-profit. Lucky for you, I came across the Fatherhood Educational Institute, which is based in Chicago. I know that I couldn’t have done half the things that I’ve done in my life without my Dad (like start this business), so it makes a lot of sense that the Fatherhood Educational Institute aims “to promote positive fatherhood involvement in povery stricken communities.” Great fathers are so important to the success of their children.
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by Willy Franzen on June 5, 2009
I’ve done it. I’ve found the most ridiculous looking corporate website on the web. It has an animated moving background and multiple bouncing balloon/blimp logos that make it look like it’s straight out of the Imagination Land episode of South Park. It may be a little hokey, but it works for Niles, IL (right outside of Chicago) based The Bradford Group because they’re in the collectibles industry. Their customers aren’t concerned with flash and edginess, they’re all about sentimentality. When you’ve been doing direct marketing of collector plates, music boxes, and all kinds of commemorative items for 36 years, you probably know your audience. So, even though The Bradford Group’s web design leaves me laughing out loud, I’m not going to sell them short based on my taste as a non-collector. (And if you totally disagree with me and love the design, you can make it your computer’s background.)
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by Willy Franzen on May 26, 2009
This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.
When I was in college, I wanted nothing more than to work at Fleishman-Hillard. Renowned for their corporate culture, Fleishman-Hillard is headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., has 80 offices throughout the world, does business in more than 20 languages and has 29 practices areas. In 2008, the firm’s work and culture earned them the “Best Agency to Work For” by The Holmes Report. But their list of awards hardly stops there, including “103 Silver Anvil Awards, 90 CIPRA/SABRE Awards, and numerous other national and international awards.”
And Fleishman-Hillard doesn’t just win awards outside the organization, but also with its own employees. In 2007, 98 percent of Fleishman-Hillard employees called the firm an organization “of which they can be proud,” according to an employee satisfaction survey. Fleishman-Hillard rewards their employees in return, giving out two awards annually – the “team player” and John D. Graham – recognizing “individuals in various geographic regions for unparalleled commitment to the client, the agency and their team.” Managers also give awards at their discretion for “their heroic efforts.” I’ve known many individuals who’ve worked for Fleishman-Hillard over the years, including one of my college mentors, and I’ve heard nothing but good things.
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by Willy Franzen on May 19, 2009
If you’re an Internet geek like me, then you’ve probably noticed all of the buzz around Wolfram|Alpha. Some have dubbed it a “Google killer,” but as far as I can tell, they’re way off the mark. They’re wrong because Wolfram|Alpha isn’t a search engine – it’s a knowledge engine. The goal is “to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone.” The concept is kind of hard to grasp until you try it, but once you see how it works, I think that you’ll be impressed. So, who is behind Wolfram|Alpha? Wolfram, of course! They’re based in Champaign, IL, and they’re “one of the world’s most respected software companies–as well as a powerhouse of scientific and technical innovation.” They’re the company behind Mathematica – a software package that excels in ” computation, modeling, simulation, visualization, development, documentation, and deployment.” I’ve never had the pleasure of using it, but I know math teachers who think it’s pretty awesome.
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by Willy Franzen on May 13, 2009
I never liked talking on the phone much. I’m not sure why, but as a kid I never felt comfortable calling people. I eventually got over that, but I’m certainly glad that running my business doesn’t require a ton of phone time – I can do a lot of stuff online. However, if I was running a more phone intensive business, I’d definitely consider using Ifbyphone, a “hosted voice application and platform” run by a Skokie, IL (near Chicago) based company with the same name. Most phone systems require a huge hardware investment, but Ifbyphone’s can do all of the following through their software solution: Hosted IVR, Voice Broadcasting, Toll-Free Numbers, Local Phone Numbers, Call Routing, Virtual Receptionist, Store Locator, Google® Integration, Call Tracking, Dynamic Numbers, Find, Me Call Forwarding, Lead Distributor, Click-to-Call, and Conference Calling. I don’t know what all of those things are, but they sure sound important. Anyway, Ifbyphone focuses on offering their platform to small and medium sized business, and they have $4.6 million in venture capital funding to do it.
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by Willy Franzen on May 5, 2009
Let’s be honest, as a new or recent college grad, you probably don’t have much wealth to manage. That’s why you’re looking for a job – so that you’ll be rich one day and have somebody else look after your finances. Wait! So, if wealthy people don’t manage their own money, then who does? Wealth management companies, of course. That means that you can get a job managing wealth without having any wealth of your own to manage. Ok, this is starting to sound like some too good to be true scam – my bad. Seriously, though, if you’re smart, have the drive, and are interested in all things financial, a career in wealth management could be worth a shot. Wealth managment is actually a pretty cool field – it pulls from a variety of disciplines that include banking, estate planning, tax advisory, investment management, legal advisory, and, of course, financial planning. If that sounds like something that you might like to do after graduation, then you should check out Wayne Hummer Wealth Management, a Chicago based firm that was founded in 1931.
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by Willy Franzen on April 2, 2009
If you Google “gravity tank,” one result tells you that “A simple, inexpensive gravity tank in a swine manure liquid-solid separation process will help producers control hog odors.” Another says that in a rooftop water gravity tank the gravity pressure is .434 times the height of the bottom of the tank from the fixture in feet. The Gravity Tank that we’re looking for is very different. It’s a Chicago based innovation consulting firm that combines research, strategy, and design to push their clients in new directions. Their staff consists of “anthropologists, former architects, filmmakers, engineers, graphic designers, industrail designers, MBAs, quant researchers, professors, brand strategists, and more.” They’re small, with only 35 employees, but they’ve already some very cool work with some very big names.
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by Willy Franzen on March 29, 2009
It’s no secret that poverty and poor health are deeply related. Limited access to healthcare is part of the reason, but there’s a lot more to the story. Nearly everything that we do in our lives has some bearing on our health outcomes, and a life in poverty creates factor after factor that leads to poor health outcomes. Project HEALTH is a non-profit organization that works in Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Providence, RI; and Washington, DC to break “the link between poverty and poor health.” Honestly, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I think that poverty and poor health will forever be intertwined, but battling poverty will be the key to creating better health outcomes for lower-income people. I guess it all depends on how you define poverty.
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by Willy Franzen on March 26, 2009
After I graduated from college, I decided to take a responsible approach to my personal finances (I wish I had taken the same approach to my job search, but I didn’t, which is why I’m here teaching you how not to be a loser like I was). It took me a while to get my act together, but once I did I started investing in the stock market through Scottrade, an online discount brokerage company that is headquartered in St. Louis, MO. (And before I go on with more information about Scottrade’s jobs, I need to give Ramit Sethi’s book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich
, a plug because it just came out and is the best personal finance resource for young people that I’ve come across.) So, Scottrade allows me to buy and sell stocks at 7 bucks a pop. They also have a solid web interface that gives you access to all kinds of information, and they have 399 branches with helpful employees to answer you questions and get your accounts opened. If you’re interested in opening an account with Scottrade, let me know at willy@onedayonejob.com and I can give you a link that gets us both free trades. If you’re interested in working for Scottrade, keep reading, duh!
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by Willy Franzen on March 20, 2009
Every 10 years our country does a census to collect demographic data about our populous to drive public policy decisions. It’s an extremely big deal, and it temporarily creates 1.4 million jobs (according to government figures). But those aren’t typically the types of jobs that we talk about here, at least not the ones that send you door to door asking how many people live at a given residence. Luckily, the U.S. Census Bureau does a lot more than its once every ten years nationwide census. They are “the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and economy,” so you’d be amazed by all of the things that they track. For instance, much of the economic data that you have been hearing about in the news lately – as in “Stocks plunge on weakened Monthly Retail Sales” – comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. If you’re fascinated by data or just love counting things, there aren’t many places that offer a more interesting work experience that the Census Bureau.
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by Willy Franzen on March 7, 2009
When people ask me what I do, I tell them, “I help college students find and land jobs and internships.” That’s my 3-second elevator pitch. If you were to ask people at The Cara Program what they do, you’d probably get a response like, “We help the homeless and at-risk populations find and land jobs.” Essentially we’re doing the same things – just for different groups of people. Finding a job isn’t easy, as you probably know, but think about how difficult it is for someone who is homeless. Employers typically want employees who can provide stability, but being homeless is a pretty big sign of instability. The problem is that it’s really hard to become stable without a job. That’s why The Cara Program, based out of Chicago, provides “comprehensive training, permanent job placement and critical support services.”
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outreach
by Willy Franzen on March 6, 2009
I know that despite the fact that I keep ripping on the traditional media – the old guard – I keep featuring their jobs here. I’m not being a hypocrite. I promise. I know that taking entry level jobs with companies that might not be around in 5 years isn’t the best decision, but if anyone can save the old media, it’s you. The new media has been created by the masses and has originated from young people with new ideas, which is just what these media behemoths need to survive. Of course these companies probably don’t realize how much they need you yet, but they do. Well, if you’re going to get a job in old media – like the magazine industry – you might as well go with the best. Condé Nast has a list of brands that is rivaled by few and includes Vogue, W, style.com, Glamour, Allure, Self, Teen Vogue, GQ, Details, men.style.com, Architectural Digest, Brides, Modern, Bride, Elegant Bride, Brides.com, Lucky, Domino, Cookie, Golf Digest, Golf World, Vanity Fair, Gourmet, Bon Appétit, epicurious.com, Condé Nast Traveler, concierge.com, Wired, Wired.com, Condé Nast Portfolio, Portfolio.com, WWD, FN, and The New Yorker. There’s still a lot of uncertainty in the industry, but those are still great names to be associated with.
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Tagged as:
administrative,
California,
copywriting,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
magazines,
marketing,
media,
Michigan,
New York,
sales
by Willy Franzen on February 21, 2009
How’s the relationship between your college or university and the town or city that it’s in? Let me guess. Not so hot. It always seems that students and “townies” don’t get along too well. Beyond that, there can also be situations like at Yale in New Haven, CT where the students are generally much wealthier than the people who live in the surrounding neighborhood. This just exacerbates the fundamental gap between the university and the community. National Student Partnerships is a non-profit organization that was started in New Haven by two Yale students who wanted to close this gap. They “designed a program where college student volunteers work one-on-one with community residents, coordinating access to employment opportunities and social services, including job training, housing, health care, child care, and transportation.” It’s a wonderful idea, and it’s working – look at the success stories.
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Tagged as:
Connecticut,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
New York,
non-profit,
outreach,
Pennsylvania,
program development,
Virginia,
Washington DC
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