One Day, One Job » manual labor

Institute for Environmental Awareness

Willy Franzen — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:13:10 +0000

I don’t know about where you are, but here in Chicago it’s pretty clear that spring is on its way. We’re going to break 50 degrees this week, and the geese are already back and looking for places to nest. I may be in a huge city, but I’m not completely out of touch with nature. However, I’ve always wanted to spend more time closer to nature. The Institute for Environmental Awareness is a Massachusetts based organization that offers that kind of experience. Their mission is “to promote and support programs and services that encourage living and learning in harmony with the Earth and all Life,” and they do this through a number of earth-based, outdoor education programs. You may have noticed that I couldn’t find a suitable logo for them. That’s because their website looks like it’s from the mid 90s, and I wasn’t going to subject you to yellow text with a black drop shadow over a photo of a tree. An ugly website may be a bad indicator for a marketing firm or a web startup, but not for a nature based organization.

Be Environmentally Aware

The Institute for Environmental Awareness runs three programs: Earthlands (“operates an off-grid program and retreat center”), the Earthlands Land Trust, and University of the Wild (“earth-based education programs that empower people to become leaders in growing new and sustainable cultures”). There’s not much more information about the Institute on their website; however, their job descriptions tell you a lot about what they do. Right now they’re looking for two Program Center Coordinator/Caretakers for Earthlands. These people will work on Program Coordination, Facilities Maintenance, Educational Program Assistance, and Community Involvement. They’ll also live on-site and receive a $500/month stipend for the 6 months that the position lasts. You’ll be able to live in harmony with nature and get away from it all. It sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity, so if you’re interested, reach out to Michael Iacona, Earthlands Office Manager, at office@earthlands.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Can you tell that spring is coming?

California Conservation Corps

Willy Franzen — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:41:49 +0000

After my Freshman year of college, I decided that I wanted a summer job that would allow me to work outside. I ended up doing maintenance at a fish and game club. It was like a great experience—even if I only worked 20 hours per week. If you want to work outside and are looking for something a little more intense than 20 hours per week, then you need to check out the California Conservation Corps. It’s a government run program that “matches up California’s young people and its natural resources.” Every year the CCC hires 3,300 corpsmembers and pays them minimum wage to take on projects like working on backcountry trails, aiding salmon restoration, promoting watershed stewardship, and providing emergency response services. The CCC has been around since 1976, and since then they’ve employed more than 100,000 young men and women with 98% saying that they “would recommend the CCC to a family member or friend.”

Get Paid to Enjoy the Outdoors

The California Conservation Corps provides a wide range of work opportunities for people between the ages of 18 and 25. These aren’t permanent entry level jobs, but they’re a great internship alternative or a great way to get some real work experience after you graduate. The CCC has a great website that is filled with all kinds of information about their programs. You can see what a day in the life is like or read over their FAQ. There are work locations with the Corps all across California, and there is also a wide variety of project types. The CCC site gets a bit confusing when you start looking for employment opportunities, but you can find Staff Openings here and Corpmembers opportunities here. Additionally, it looks like some of the CCC programs do their own hiring, so, for instance, you can find information on applying to the Backcountry program here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Had you heard of the California Convervation Corps before?

College Hunks Hauling Junk

Willy Franzen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:52:17 +0000

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.

Are You Hunky Enough?

College Hunks Hauling Junk certainly has a provocative name, but that’s part of their success. Finding someone to haul away your junk isn’t that hard, but it’s really easy to go with the brand you recognize. College Hunks Hauling Junk is all about grabbing attention so that they’re the company that you choose when you need to get rid of some junk. It doesn’t hurt that they can call themselves green, as they recycle 60% of the junk that they collect. Now, College Hunks Hauling Junk obviously has plenty of jobs available. If you want to get in the business of hauling junk to pay your way through college, they can help, but they’re also a growing company with growing needs. They have a bunch of corporate job postings that consist solely of titles. Since they’re a college startup, it’s hard to say how much experience they’re looking for with each position, but you’ll have to apply to find out. The posted job titles include Truck Captain/ Wingman, VP – Franchise Development, Client Loyalty Associate (Inside Sales Rep), Operations Manager, VP – Marketing, VP – Public Relations, VP – Finance, VP – Business Development, and VP – Information Technology.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used College Hunks Hauling Junk?

Masten Space Systems

Willy Franzen — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:34:25 +0000

“Just gas ‘em up and go!” is not the slogan that you’d expect to hear from an aerospace company, but that’s exactly how easy Masten Space Systems would like space travel to be. They’re a space startup, and they’re working on “developing a line of Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing (VTVL) launch vehicles,” although Masten is also know for offering to send your junk into space for a reasonable fee. Anyway, the whole idea behind what Masten Space Systems is doing is to create rocket vehicles that are reliable and reusable.

Vertical Takeoff for Your Career

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Masten Space Systems’ CFO and VP of Business Development, Michael Mealling, recently did a pitch at Startup Riot and posted the video presentation on the Masten blog. We’ve posted the video above since it is the best way for you to get familiar with the company.

Masten Space Systems still has a very small team, but they do seem to be adding people occasionally. Right now they’re looking for a Senior Engineer / Project Manager, a Technician / Fabricator, and an Office Manager. The Technician / Fabricator job is the only one that seems like it could be well suited to a new college grad. It requires welding / brazing experience and manual / CNC milling experience, so you shouldn’t apply unless you’ve had your hands dirty before. Masten is growing, so you may want to try sending a resume and cover letter for an unlisted position. If you stick out as someone who would be perfect for their team, they’ll probably hold on to your resume until something opens up. Another option is to try for an internship at Masten Space Systems. They give their interns extremely high level work, and it might be a good way to get a foot in the door. Masten Space Systems is located in Mojave, CA and requires that all job applicants fill out an employment application and attach it with a resume and cover letter in an e-mail to info@masten-space.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Know anything about Masten Space Systems? Leave a comment.

Chicago Botanic Garden

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:35:16 +0000

We’ve featured jobs at a botanical garden before, but we thought it was time to reach out to those plant science and botany majors again. It’s especially appropriate because spring is in full force at One Day, One Job Headquarters. Everything has bloomed, and not only is it beautiful here, but it also smells great. As soon as we open a door or window we’re hit with a fragrant burst of springtime. Since we hear from a lot of people that we focus too much on jobs in New York and California (hey, that’s where a lot of the jobs are), the addition of the Chicago Botanic Garden to our employer profiles should be welcome.

Chicago Has Great Flora and Fauna

You may have heard that a wild cougar was recently shot by police in downtown Chicago and that another was sighted shortly afterwards. Usually big cities don’t get that much wildlife action, which is why things like botanic gardens were created – to make sure things didn’t get too urban. “The 385-acre Garden features 23 display gardens and three native habitats, uniquely situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes.” It sounds wonderful. I haven’t been there yet, but I’m in Chicago often enough that I will make a visit sooner or later. Once I go, I’ll leave a comment on this post with my observations. There are three core components to what the Chicago Botanic Garden does: collections, education, and research. There are job opportunities that touch on all three of areas, but most of the current openings are geared towards the education side.

Jobs for People Who Stop and Smell the Flowers

The good news is that the Chicago Botanic Garden has a wide variety of employment opportunities for new college grads. The bad news is that you have to look in a few different places to find them. That’s not really bad news though, because we’ve done all the hard work for you. Everything can be accessed from their Jobs page, which includes permanent, year-round positions at the Chicago Botanic Garden. There is only one job in this category that would be considered entry-level, and it’s as a Part-Time Horticultural Specialist, Plant Information Service (it’s 25 hours per week).

The next place to look for jobs is on the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Seasonal Employment page. Many of these jobs are actually perfectly suited to new grads, so they might be a great way to transition into something more permanent. Most of these jobs require or prefer a relevant college education, and they are, for the most part, only available during the summer. Current openings include: Camp CBG Instructor, College First Instructor, Plant Collections Specialist, Science First Assistant Instructor, Science First Program Assistant, Landscape Laborer, Natural Areas Land Management Assistant, Tram Tour Guide, and Visitor Services Assistant.

Finally, the Chicago Botanic Garden offers a number of different internships. That link will take you to One Day, One Internship, where we will cover the specific internships in depth. This should be of interest to new college grads because the Chicago Botanic Garden has an internship program that is specifically geared towards transitioning new college graduates into full-time employment with government agencies. That means that anyone who is looking or a full-time botany related job should not overlook internships with the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Although full-time entry-level opportunities are a bit sparse, the Chicago Botanic Garden offers quite a few interesting alternatives for a new college graduate. Their jobs website is really well done, and all of their job descriptions are well written and informative. They even put “Filled” in red text next to any job that they are no longer hiring for. That’s a really nice touch. We imagine that they’ll add more entry-level jobs periodically, so keep your eye on their website.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How is spring coming along where you are?

Northwest Service Academy

Willy Franzen — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:00:05 +0000

There are many options after graduation – starting work right away, enjoying one last Summer off, or taking a short-term job while you think things over. Northwest Service Academy falls into that last category, and the best part is that you will get to enjoy working in the great outdoors while you reflect on your education and your future.

Northwest Service Academy is a non-profit organization that does “hands-on watershed restoration, environmental education, trail construction, resource conservation and volunteer mobilization projects throughout the beautiful Pacific Northwest.” They see themselves as a place for young people to develop leadership skills that will open up opportunities that require more experience than typical entry-level jobs.

Jobs at the Northwest Service Academy include: Trail Team Leader and Member, Wildfire Fuels Reduction Team Member, Wilderness Backcountry Ranger, and Stewardship Assistant (many of the links are now dead, so use the Northwest Service Academy’s jobs page to find current opportunities). Most of these jobs have multiple openings, and the start dates range throughout the year (for more informations see Northwest Service Academy’s recruitment timeline).

Most of the Academy’s jobs are in their Trout Lake, WA and Portland, OR centers, but there are also positions in Wisconsin and a few other places. Northwest Service Academy has done an impressive job of communicating their employment brand online, so you should be able to find a wealth of information about them through Google, including their Wikipedia entry (which we just linked to, so you won’t have to search for it).

We especially like Northwest Service Academy because their employment opportunities are so easily accessible online. All the information you could want to know about working for them is on their website and easy to find. That’s why we’re keeping it brief today.

Note: On April 27th we revisited entry-level jobs at Northwest Service Academy.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We hope your last semester (if you’re Seniors) is starting off well, and don’t forget to use the special One Day, One Job discount at Better World Books when you buy your textbooks. Not only will you get 20% off, but the money from your purchase will help fund literacy programs.

Living Lands and Waters

Willy Franzen — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:00:50 +0000

Between 1997 and 2005, Living Lands and Waters employees and volunteers have pulled 15,991 tires, 63 bicycles, 1 mannequin hand, 397 tons of metal, 545 refrigerators, and 30 messages-in-bottles from our waterways. Sadly, that’s just a small sample of the things that they’ve removed from rivers like the Mighty Mississippi.

Living Lands and Waters was founded by a man who made it his mission to singlehandedly clean up the river behind his house. That river just happened to be the Mississippi. Chad Pregracke has documented the story of his crusade to clean up America’s waters and his formation of Living Lands and Waters in his autobiography From the Bottom Up. After reading this book, we thought that Living Lands and Waters would be another great organization to feature during our weekend postings of non-profit jobs.

The jobs at Living Lands and Waters are a far cry from your typical entry-level jobs. Team members spend a 10-month season living with 7 or 8 other people on a barge on one of the country’s major river systems. The work can vary greatly day to day, but will often include intense manual labor. You may also be directing volunteers, talking to schoolchildren, repairing equipment, or helping raise funds. You’ll definitely learn many new skills, meet all kinds of people, and hopefully have the experience of your life.

Living on a barge isn’t for everyone, but if you think you’d enjoy working or volunteering for Living Lands and Waters, visit their website, watch this video, and read Chad’s book. Even if you’re not interested in the jobs, the book is an inspirational read about how one person who cares can initiate seemingly impossible change.

Note: On April 26th we revisited entry-level jobs at Living Lands and Waters.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Living Lands and Waters? Have you read Chad’s book? Leave a message in the comments section.

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