One Day, One Job » Minnesota

ING Direct

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:42:55 +0000

I’m a big proponent of making personal finance part of the job search. By managing your money wisely (even if you barely have any left), you’re creating a project for yourself that you can use to demonstrate to employers how you’ll be an effective employee. When I need information on personal finance, I always look to Ramit Sethi, the founder of a website called I Will Teach You To Be Rich and the author of a book by the same name (he also just launched a course on how to make money freelancing and he’s doing a free webinar tonight at 7 PM PST – affiliate links). One thing that he strongly recommends is using online banks that offer high interest rates and great easy to use features. One of these banks is ING Direct, which is headquartered in Wilmington, DE. While you may have noticed that most banks are on a real estate binge as they try to gain customers, ING Direct is doing the opposite. They operate almost entirely “in the cloud.” Since they “believe saving money should be as simple as having a cup of coffee,” they do have cafés in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Wilmington, Chicago, St. Cloud, and Honolulu where you can ” sip a latte, surf the Internet for free and talk to [them] about how [they] can help you Save Your Money.” And by keeping a low overhead, ING Direct is able to offer better interest rates and fewer fees, which gives them a huge advantage in winning over customers.

Saving Towards a Career

It may be hard to imagine not needing a brick and mortar bank, but ING Direct makes it work. They have a huge ATM network, they’ll write and mail your checks for you, and they make transferring money between accounts simple. It’s the way that you’ll expect to bank in the future, but ING Direct is doing it now. ING Direct is owned by ING, the Dutch financial institution, but it seems that they act quite independently—they’re not like other banks. This is where banking is headed, so ING Direct should be the place to be if you want to work in “retail” banking. To get started, you need to check out ING Direct’s Jobs page. You’ll see that in addition to their Wilmington, DE location, they also have offices in St. Cloud, MN; Los Angeles, CA; and Seattle, WA. There are dozens of positions posted, and quite a few of them appear suitable for new grads. Most of these positions fall into one of three categories: Sales, Analyst, or IT/Software Development; however, there are a few exceptions like Interactive Advertising Designer and Card Dispute Associate. Unfortunately, ING Direct’s applicant tracking system is kind of terrible, so it makes it impossible for me to link to specific positions. You’ll have to browse through the listings yourself, and apply through their submission form.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have an ING Direct account?

Caribou Coffee

Willy Franzen — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:55:49 +0000

It’s Christmas Eve—the day… err… night… that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer made a name for himself. We give Santa Claus all of the credit for delivering presents all across the world, but it’s those reindeer that are doing the hard part. Here in North America, we have reindeer just like the ones that pull Santa’s sleigh, but they’re known as caribou. Since I can’t think of any companies using reindeer in their brand name, that led me to Caribou Coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I don’t typically patronize Caribou Coffee, but I figured that a company with 6,000 employees would have to have some interesting entry level opportunities. The company is based in Minneapolis, MN, and has 500 retail locations in 16 states along with the District of Columbia. Caribou Coffee’s mission “is to provide a total experience that makes the day better,” and they’re able to do that for a lot of people by serving great coffee.

Then One Cloudy Christmas Eve…

Whether you’re in the Christmas Spirit or you’re being a total scrooge, there’s a decent chance that a job at Caribou Coffee might be the perfect way for you to start off the new year. The company does a really nice job with their Careers page, as it lays out all of the options that you have: Team Member (Store Level), Shift Supervisor (Store Level), Corporate Support Center Positions, Store Manager, District Manager, and Corporate Positions. They give a nice rundown of what the jobs entail along with a list of benefits. I’d imagine that most of you are more interested in the Corporate stuff than the Store level stuff; however, there isn’t anything that screams entry level to me on their corporate postings. That means that you have three options if you want to work at Caribou Coffee: start at a store, wait for something more suitable to be posted, or hope for a Christmas miracle (try cold calling!). Good luck.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you drink Caribou Coffee?

VEE Corporation

Willy Franzen — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:09:01 +0000

One of my earliest memories is from Detroit’s Thanksgiving parade. I think that I was about 2 years old at the time, and I saw Oscar the Grouch on some sort of float. I don’t remember much more about the parade, but I remember that. I guess that I’m an experiential marketers dream since I managed to remember that over all of the other cool things that happened when I was two years old (another early memory was getting my head stuck between the bars on a McDonald’s playground—another branded memory). I think that the people at VEE Corporation would be especially happy to hear about my early memory since they’re the company behind Sesame Street Live. They’re a Minneapolis based firm that provides “live entertainment, promotion and event marketing services for America’s most respected brands, properties and agencies.” They’re big on full-body costumes and mascots as well as merging marketing and entertainment.

Experience VEE Corporation

Running the Sesame Street Live show seems like a big enough deal, but plenty of other huge brands have entrusted their identifying characters to VEE Corporation. These include Mr. Potato Head, Shrek and Donkey, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Mariah Carey’s legs, the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, and plenty more. VEE’s service offerings include Planning & Consultation, Logistics, Design & Ingenuity, Costumes/Creatures/Mascots, Fabrication & Construction, and Ship & Store. It’s a completely different kind of marketing company, which means that their job offerings are especially unique. If you check out Vee Corporation’s Jobs page, you’ll see what I’m talking about. They don’t have a lot of specific postings right now, but they split their offerings into a few categories of application pages—Theatrical, Corporate, Production Services, Shop and Craftsperson, and Operations and Road Crew. It’s interesting to see that VEE Corporation is using a Ning site to manage their application processes, but it doesn’t seem as though they’re tapping into all of the site’s social functionality. That might be a cool addition. They actually have so many different application forms that things get a little confusing, but it shouldn’t be too hard for you to figure out which form is the right one for telling VEE Corporation why you’ll be a great addition to their team.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any events put on by VEE Corporation?

Uline

Willy Franzen — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:49:51 +0000

I love boring businesses. It may not seem like it considering the fact that I’m often featuring startups that are on the cutting edge of technology, but I really do appreciate when a company is able to take an extremely simple idea and make it profitable. Uline is a perfect example. They are a Waukegan, IL based company that considers itself “the leading distributor of shipping, industrial, and packing materials to businesses throughout North America.” It all started in 1980 when Liz and Dick Uihlein identified a need for a local shipping supplies distributer. They started the business in their basement with the H-101 carton sizer, and now they have a product line that fills a 452 page catalog. That’s a lot of growth, and I expect it to continue as e-commerce and the shipping that results from it keep expanding (I have about a dozen boxes in my apartment from various holiday season shipments). And if for some reason the shipping business does slow down, Uline can always reorganize as a producer of forts for children—I always loved playing in cardboard boxes.

Box It Up

Now, if you give Uline a closer look, there are some striking similarities between their business and our favorite fictional employer, Dunder Mifflin. They’re both customer service oriented companies that provide businesses with essential supplies; however, I’m going to make a wild guess that the similarities between Uline and Dunder Mifflin end there. Companies with dysfunctional leadership don’t have sustained growth, and Uline is growing so much that they broke ground on a new Pleasant Prairie, WI corporate headquarters last Fall. With that growth comes jobs, or American jobs as Uline likes to call them. If you take a look at Uline’s Jobs page, you’ll see that they have opportunities in Ontario, CA (that’s California, not Canada—I know it’s confusing); Toronto, Canada; Duluth, GA; Waukegan, IL; Tijuana, Mexico; Eagan, MN; Allentown, PA; Coppell, TX; and Seattle, WA. Positions that might be suitable for new or recent grads include Account Rep (Ontario, CA), Administrative Assistant (Toronto, CA), Customer Service Representative (Toronto, CA), Account Rep (Toronto, CA), Accounts Receivable Clerk (Toronto, CA), Account Rep (South Florida / Duluth, GA), Computer Operator / Help Line Technician (Waukegan, IL), .NET Web Developer (Waukegan, IL), Internet Marketing Associate (Waukegan, IL), Desktop Technician (Gurnee, IL), Account Rep (Eagan, MN), Account Rep (Iowa / Eagan, MN), Account Rep (NYC / Breinigsville, PA), Account Rep (Pittsburgh, PA / Breinigsville, PA), and Account Rep (Dallas – Ft. Worth, TX / Coppell, TX). You can apply online for any of these positions, just don’t try delivering yourself in a box to their corporate headquarters. That would be weird.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Uline?

Minnesota Children’s Museum

Willy Franzen — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:52:09 +0000

Although I’ve never been there, I hear that the Mall of America is great. It’s an impressive spectacle of consumerism, and it’s a must-see if you’re in the Twin Cities area. However, I’d imagine that it’s not the most educational place to take your kids. Luckily, Minnesotans have the Minnesota Children’s Museum in St. Paul. It was named by Cookie Magazine as one of “sixteen road trip-worthy museums that put the emphasis on children.” The Museum is loaded with cool exhibits like Earth World, which focuses on local habitats, and Habitot, which creates exploration opportunities for toddlers. They also play host to exciting traveling exhibits like Dinosaurs, which will be arriving in 42 days (they have a countdown on their homepage).

Get a Job for the Children

Now, Minnesota Children’s Museum may not be record-breaking big, but it makes up for it with awesome educational opportunities. A monstrous mall just can’t compete when it comes to intellectually stimulating activities for kids. But what about intellectually stimulating jobs for you? The Minnesota Children’s Museum Jobs page only shows one position posted right now, but it’s a cool one. They’re looking for an Exhibit Graphic Designer. It appears that they’d prefer someone with experience both in museums and graphic design, but I think someone who has been doing the right things throughout college might be a perfect fit. You can find application instructions with the job posting, and you can keep an eye on the MCM Jobs page for more opportunities in the future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited the Minnesota Children’s Museum?

Facet Technology

Willy Franzen — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:57:50 +0000

In my day… Columbus Day was a real holiday. Now there’s a huge portion of the population that doesn’t even get the day off. Yes, I understand that Christopher Columbus was a bit overrated as a historical hero (and a lot of the things that we learned about him in grade school were inaccurate), but I’m still amazed that he had the guts and the persistence to make a voyage across the Atlantic happen. Now we’ll barely take a walk down the street without a GPS enabled device in our pocket. Navigation and exploration have a long history, but I’m not sure how much more advancement is possible. Facet Technology would disagree. They’re an Eden Prairie, MN based software and services company that is changing what state of the art means when it comes to the Transportation, Mapping and Food Processing Industries. They’re another Inc. 5000 company with 110.4% three-year growth, and I think they’re going to shoot up the rankings over the next few years.

Explore Every Facet

Computers are pretty good at identifying objects when they know what to expect. For instance, a factory that makes widgets can quite easily set up computers that use vision technology to ensure that the widgets are consistently produced. Every widget should be the same, so detecting differences isn’t all that difficult for computers. This all changes when you leave a controlled environment. This is how Facet Technology responds:

Many environments, however, don’t allow full control over all the parameters that make standard computer vision tools easy to use. By changing one of the parameters – either moving the man-made object into an uncontrolled environment (outdoors) or by changing the man-made object into a natural object (grain, fruit, meat, poultry, etc.) – the identification and inspection task becomes several times more difficult. This is where Facet’s patented technology shines and allows computer vision tools to now be used successfully. Facet allows you to control the uncontrollable.

Think about how this technology can change the way we navigate—the possibilities are endless. It really is the next step after GPS and location aware devices. If you’re intrigued by what Facet Technology is up to, then you should check out their job postings. Right now they’re looking for an Associate Software Engineer, a Computer System Specialist/Software Tester, and a Data Acquisition Vehicle Operator. While the latter doesn’t require a college education, it sounds like a pretty cool gig (driving around a camera equipped, ultra high-tech SUV to collect data). You can apply to any of the jobs by sending a cover letter and résumé to jobs@facet-tech.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How important do you think Facet Technology will be in the future of navigation?

Mattel

Willy Franzen — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:10:29 +0000

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.

All Work and No Play Makes You a Dull Job Seeker

Usually, the problem with companies that seem really cool (especially in the fashion industry from what I hear) is that they know they’re hot stuff. That means that they treat their employees like commodities because they know that there’s always someone who wants to work for their brand. This isn’t the case with Mattel according to the FORTUNE list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Despite the fact that they did go through some layoffs last year, Mattel appears to be hiring now for quite a few positions. There is a Campus Recruiting section on the Mattel Careers site; however, it doesn’t say anything about entry level jobs.

To get the scoop on what kind of opportunities Mattel has, you’re going to have to dive into their Applicant Tracking System instead. Their are 54 jobs posted right now, and a few look suitable for new grads. They include Mechanical Engineer(New York, NY), Associate Art Director – American Girl (Middleton, WI), Key Account Coordinator – Fisher-Price (East Aurora, NY), Key Account Representative (Brondby, Denmark), and Child Testing Researcher (El Segundo, CA). Mattel’s locations El Segundo, CA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; East Aurora, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Middleton, WI; Minneapolis, MN; and New York, NY, so keep that in mind if you don’t see something posted that fits what you’re looking for. You can apply for all of the jobs directly from Mattel’s Applicant Tracking System (which isn’t all that bad compared to others that I’ve dealt with).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What was your favorite Mattel toy?

Concur

Willy Franzen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:15:31 +0000

Since you’re looking for your first job, it’s probably a safe assumption that you are not familiar with “expensing” things. Hopefully you will be one day (soon). Many companies (especially consulting firms) allow their employees to pay for travel, lodging, and food, and then submit receipts to the company to get reimbursed. It can be pretty sweet if you’re getting $30 a night to spend on dinner, while racking up credit card points and frequent flier miles at no expense to you, but the downside is that submitting expense reports to get reimbursed is time consuming and quite annoying. Concur, a Redmond, WA based company that I learned about in Sramana Mitra’s Entrepreneur Journeys, solves this problem through their “on-demand Employee Spend Management business services.” Put simply, they have a suite of solutions that enables companies to automate the expensing process.

Do You Concur?

Expense management is a complicated process that you’re probably not going to understand fully any time soon, but all you need to understand about Concur is that they make the process much simpler. Or as Concur puts it, their “unified approach to managing employee spend delivers a 360 degree view into all employee expenses, helping companies globally enforce policies and monitor vendor compliance, while delivering unprecedented control and valuable insight.”

The cool thing about how Concur started is that they fixed a problem that was bothering them. Concur’s current CEO, Steve Singh, was complaining to his business partner about how he had to file $150,000 in receipts a week before a project closed to make sure that he’d get reimbursed. From this complaint came Concur—a solution. The company has grown significantly since it was founded in 1993, and they seem to still be growing as they’re hiring now. They do have a College Recruiting Page, but it seems a bit out of date. Your best bet to get the scoop on jobs at Concur is to check out their main Careers page and then take a look at their specific job openings. The most suitable options for new grads are Records Maintenance Clerk (Redmond, WA), Market Development Representative (Prague, Czech Republic), Account Manager (Eden Prairie, MN), Collections Specialist (Sydney, Australia), Collections Specialist (Eden Prairie, MN), and Accountant – Internal Auditor (Redmond, WA). You can apply online directly from those job descriptions, so get at it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever dealt with an onerous expensing process?

Fleishman-Hillard

Willy Franzen — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:57:25 +0000

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.

Be Rewarded at an Award-Winning Agency

Fleishman-Hillard is currently seeking a Coordinator in its Boston office. (Fleishman-Hillard also has offices in Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Kansas City, MO; London, England; Los Angeles, CA; Melbourne, Australia; Miami, FL; Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; Montreal, Canada; New York, NY; Potland, OR; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; St. Louis, MO; Sydney, Australia; Toronto, Canada, and Washington, D.C.) This position is a mix of “traditional” and “new” public relations in a large agency setting. Beyond administrative and office duties, the Account Assistant also conducts media relations, media monitoring and reporting, research and other junior-level account activities. The best way to land this position is to have had a prior agency internship while in college, preferably with Fleishman-Hillard itself or another large agency.

Interested? Apply for the job online here. Even though the position is in Boston, much of the recruitment process originates in the St. Louis office. I recommend reading their blog, Stand Out, and the biographies of some of the folks in charge of talent development.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Need help with your cover letter and résumé—or your entire job search? Heather offers low-cost coaching packages specifically for students and recent graduates seeking careers in public relations. Click here to learn more.

Graywolf Press

Willy Franzen — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:13:14 +0000

Although the book publishing industry isn’t struggling like the newspaper publishing industry is, I still wonder what the future holds for publishing. Maybe Graywolf Press has it right—they’re a non-profit publishing house based in Saint Paul, MN. (I hear that the New York Times is now non profit too. badum-CHING!.) Now, I can’t find a mission statement for Graywolf Press, but I’m going to guess that it has something to do with advancing the art of the written word. Unlike Island Press, a non-profit publisher and “provider of the best new ideas in environmentalism” whose internships we featured on One Day, One Internship, Graywolf Press doesn’t seem to have a common theme that ties together the books that they publish. The most that I could find was that Graywolf Press focuses on “introducing and promoting the most exciting and creative writers of our times.”

Howl to Get a Job

To get an idea of the kind of stuff that Graywolf Press does publish, you should check out their website and browse through all of their books. Graywolf started by “working out of a space provided by Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Washington” and moved on to a “print shack” in their founders backyard. They’ve expanded quite a bit in the 35 years since they were founded, and that means you won’t be working in a shack if you land a job with them. Right now there’s only one job posted on their Jobs page, but it’s perfect for new grads. They’re looking for an Editorial Assistant to join their 9 person office. If you’re intrigued by this position, “send a cover letter, resume, and a one-page report on a contemporary novel to jobs@graywolfpress.org.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you read any books published by Graywolf Press?

Mono

Willy Franzen — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:40:38 +0000

I love simplicity. I also appreciate singularity. You know… One Day, One Job. There’s so much clutter these days that it can become really hard to focus. I’m sure that you’re seeing it in your job search, and you’re probably wondering why companies just keep layering on more complexity to what they do. If so, then you’re in good company. Mono is a Minneapolis, MN based branding, advertising, and design agency that is all about simplicity. They think that putting smart, innovative people on client projects is the key to great branding. That’s it. I like it. And so do their clients (it’s an impressive list).

Mono Day, Mono Job

I took a few minutes to browse through some of Mono’s client work, and it’s awesome. I’m not just saying that they work with really great brands (which they do), but I’m also saying that their stuff is out of this world. Just look at what they did for NBATV, Herman Miller, and PBS. Simple, but beautiful. Mono doesn’t offer a ton of information about themselves online, but they get the message across just fine. You can tell who they are by using their website. They don’t even have a Jobs page – just an e-mail address for employment inquiries. They do, however, have what looks to be a fantastic internship program, so they clearly have an interest in young talent. If you’d like to work for Mono or you just want to know whether the company was named after a disease or not, get in touch with them at employment@mono-1.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you appreciate Mono’s simplicity?

Scottrade

Willy Franzen — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:58:44 +0000

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!

Trade Up to an Entry Level Job with Scottrade

Now, you may be thinking, “Ummm… Willy, the stock market sucks right now, why would I want to get involved with that business?” There are quite a few reasons. First of all, Scottrade is growing at an excellent rate, which is why they were included in the Inc. 5000. Second of all, they’re not one of these big banks that is on the edge of failure. They’re a discount brokerage that focuses on customer satisfaction, not playing with money in risky ways. Third of all, they’ve been named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. Oh yeah, and the 4th reason is that they are hiring at the entry level. They do some college recruiting, but they also post plenty of positions on their Jobs site.

Jobs at Scottrade’s St. Louis headquarters that might interest new grads include IT Web Architect, Business Analyst, Business Analyst Specialist, and quite a few more – especially in the IT/Software Development Areas. Additionally Scottrade has jobs at its brokerages across the country. The Stockbroker position seems most appropriate for new grads, and you can do it almost anywhere – St. Louis, MO; Richmond, VA; Miami, FL; Oakland, CA; Greenville, SC; Albany, NY; Aventura, FL; Bloomington, IL; Boca Raton, FL; Castro Valley, CA; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Lafayette, LA; Midvale, UT; Ocala, FL; Parsippany, NJ; Redding, CA; San Antonio, TX; Santa Rosa, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; St. Cloud, MN; Yoba Linda, CA; Redding, CA, and probably a lot more places in the future.

You can apply for all of the jobs online on Scottrade’s Jobs site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you invest? Do you use Scottrade?

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?

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?

The Onion

Willy Franzen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:43:21 +0000

Happy Election Day! I’m not going to urge you to vote like most other people will, because yesterday I learned that “It’s more likely that you will be killed driving to the polling booth than it is that your vote will change the outcome.” That’d be a lot to have on my conscience, so I’m going to say vote at your own risk. If you’re upset that I’m making a mockery of the political system, then today’s company isn’t for you. That’s because we’re talking about The Onion and their entry level jobs. I can’t think of a more fitting company for election day (except for maybe Diebold, but they’re not nearly as much fun) than The Onion because politics and satire go hand in hand. Without politics satire is hamstrung, and without satire politics is utterly painful. The Onion is not only “America’s finest news source,” but also “the funniest publication in the US” according to the New Yorker.

Many Layers to the Onion

Think about career paths where your best isn’t good enough – investment banking, consulting, medicine… humor? It wasn’t the first thing to come to your mind, yet writers at the Onion go through 600 ideas to generate just 18 headlines. That’s a failure rate of 97%, yet they’re “failing forward” to generate satirical genius every week. Unfortunately, if you want to join this fail happy team of writers, you’re going to have to wait. They don’t currently have any job openings posted on the editorial/writing side. They are also about as cold calling unfriendly as it gets. Their contact page has the following disclaimer (which is in way too serious of a tone for The Onion):

Unsolicited bulk e-mail, e-mail attachments, and junk e-mail of any kind are not accepted and will be discarded/filtered immediately upon receipt. Please do not send/e-mail resumes concerning listed positions unless specifically told to do so in the listing. Any unsolicited Resumes will be immediately discarded.

NOTE: Editorial submissions of any kind are not accepted. The Onion cannot guarantee their return, nor can The Onion guarantee a response to unsolicited submissions. Requests for articles/graphics from past issues are not accepted and The Onion cannot guarantee a response to such requests.

I mean, having your resume immediately discarded isn’t too much of a threat, but it’s clear that The Onion wants nothing to do with you if you’re not applying for a specific job opening. They must get bombarded with resumes and submissions from people who want to work for them, and they probably don’t have the resources to give them all a fair look, so they just trash them all.

This is kind of disappointing, but there is still some hope. If you can sell with a sense of humor, then one of The Onion’s Account Executive positions might be worth applying for (they won’t throw away your resume if you apply for these). They want people with 1-2 years of experience in selling, but at least one of the job descriptions says that they will consider new college grads. There are Account Executive positions in New York, San Francisco, and the Twin Cities. To apply, you should send a cover letter, resume and compensation requirements to scurtis@theonion.com. Make sure that you look at the job descriptions carefully, since The Onion is clearly very anal about how they accept resumes.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Post a link in the comments to your favorite article from The Onion.

Garmin

Willy Franzen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:43:43 +0000

Ok, it may be politically incorrect to celebrate Columbus Day, but it’s just about the only holiday that I had off in college. Maybe it just happened to be a convenient weekend for Fall Break, but I still can’t believe that I didn’t have class on Columbus Day, but did have class on Labor Day (when I went to a School of Industrial and Labor Relations). Anyway, Christopher Columbus wasn’t much of a navigator. He had no idea where he was going, and he tried to take the long way around the world. Still, his ineptitude was the reason that he “discovered” the Americas. Had Garmin been around in the 1490s, Columbus never would have ended up where he did. Then again, the existence of a company built on GPS technology would have changed a lot of things for famous explorers five centuries ago. (Much like the existence of iPods – like the one we’re giving away – would have changed the world for musicians back then.)

Find Your Way to Garmin

Since Garmin started in 1989, their goal has been to “create navigation and communication devices that can enrich their customers’ lives.” GPS has certainly enriched my life, and I’m sure it’s done the same for you. Getting lost is a thing of the past, right? Ok, maybe not yet, but we’re getting there. I can say with certainty that with a GPS system I never would have started my first drive home from college during Columbus Day Weekend by driving for 45 minutes in the wrong direction. Garmin keeps improving their navigation devices, and they rely heavily on new grads to help them do it.

Garmin has a great recruiting site for college students called GarminU, although it’s easy to miss when you visit their Careers site. It’s just a little link on the left side of the page, but it’s well worth visiting. It includes behind the scenes videos with Garmin’s entry level employees, interview preparation tips, internship testimonials, and info on why you should pick Garmin. There’s also a link to Garmin’s campus recruiting schedule. You should definitely check that before applying for a job online, since campus recruiting is usually a much more effective way to make your first contact.

If Garmin isn’t visiting your campus, or if you’ve already missed them, then you’ll have to browse Garmin’s online job listings to find the right opportunity for you. They don’t have specific listings just for entry level opportunities, but we’ve identified which jobs that we think will be good fits for new grads. The listings are easy enough to browse, but we can’t link specifically to the jobs. We’ll list the titles, but you’ll have to search for them yourselves. Most of Garmin’s job opportunities are at their Olathe, KS headquarters. These include Cartography Technician, Web Content Writer, Web/Interface Designer, Test Software Engineer, General Accountant, Component Engineer, Software Engineer – Development Tools, and Software Engineer. There are also opportunities in San Francisco, CA (Software Engineer – Web Services and Web Developer); Minneapolis, MN (Software Engineer – Information Services and Web Software Developer); Salem, OR (Aircraft Systems Engineer); Tempe, AZ (Software Quality Engineer – Applications); and Los Angeles, CA (Software Quality Engineer – Automotive OEM). Garmin accepts online applications, so you’ll have to find the jobs that interest you and apply from there.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do any of you have any embarrassing travel experiences that would have been prevented by having a Garmin GPS unit? Please share in the comments.

Major League Baseball

Willy Franzen — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:51:01 +0000

I never thought that moving to Chicago would prolong the baseball season for me. Living in the New York City area gave me 13 straight years of October baseball, and now that I’ve left, both Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium will remain empty for the rest of the fall before they eventually face demolition. It’s lucky for me that I’m now living in a new city that happens to have two teams that are still in it. I get a 14th straight year of local baseball in October! Playoff baseball is by far the most exciting baseball of the year, but it also means that season will soon be over. Those of you who are baseball fans know how long the winter seems when there is only hot stove chatter to keep you entertained while you wait for pitchers and catchers to report to Spring Training. While you’re still excited about baseball, you should start thinking about how you can land a job with Major League Baseball. Jobs with the MLB are in hot demand, so it’s a smart move to get familiar with their hiring process as soon as you can.

Take Me Out to an Entry Level Job

As far as we can tell, there are 2 ways to get jobs in Major League Baseball – there are jobs with MLB.com and jobs with specific MLB teams. There also seem to be jobs directly with the league (I have a friend on Facebook who is a member of the Major League Baseball network), but I’m not sure how you can go about finding them online. Here’s a rundown of the two types of jobs that we’ve found and how you can apply for them.

MLB.com Jobs

MLB.com is part of MLB Advanced Media, which is a separate arm of Major League Baseball. They run all 30 team websites and allegedly have editorial independence from the league. Their focus is entirely on multimedia and production, but they offer all kinds of jobs. Right now, the only openings that may be suited to new college grads (and are still a stretch) are in Database Marketing and Marketing Production. MLB.com offers internships in Finance, Marketing, Club Marketing, E-Commerce, Legal, Technology, Sponsorship, Design, and Public Relations, so there are a number of areas in which jobs with MLB.com can pop up periodically. These jobs are located in New York City, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to jlc@mlb.com.

Jobs with MLB Teams

There’s a separate site where you can search for jobs with all of the Major League Baseball teams. This is where the MLB follows the lead of other major sports leagues do and uses TeamWorkOnline to post their jobs. Right now there are listings from most of the teams (although only some are entry level), but this will probably change over time, as different teams have different hiring schedules. If you’re waiting to hear about jobs with a specific team, you can sign up for Job Notification e-mails or you can subscribe to the MLB Teams Jobs RSS Feed. There is an online application process for jobs with MLB teams, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to navigate.

The TeamWorkOnline site also lists some jobs with MLB Networks, so it’s possible that this is where they post opportunities with the league as they become available. We’re not sure about this, but we can’t find anywhere else that MLB jobs are posted. If you know anything about Major League Baseball’s hiring process, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Who do you think is going to win the World Series?

Kurt Salmon Associates

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:25:03 +0000

Consulting jobs are hot for new college grads, even though a lot of people ask, “What could a new grad possibly consult on?” The truth is that consulting firms love fresh talent. They pick the best and the brightest and put them to work on teams with experienced pros to solve problems that other companies are struggling with. If you’re thinking about a job in consulting, you might as well aim for the one of the best. Kurt Salmon Associates is a consulting firm that focuses on Consumer Products and Retail (Supply Chain and Growth and Profitability) and Health Care consulting. They’ve been named a Top 10 Best Firm to Work For by Consulting Magazine for six years in a row, so you know that they’ll take good care of you – if you can land a job with them.

The Myth of the Two-Headed Salmon

Kurt Salmon Associates seems to keep their two businesses separate, which can be a bit confusing for college students who are considering working for them. They have parallel websites for their Consumer Products & Retail Consulting and Health Care Consulting; however, they do have a main Careers site which is shared by both. The shared Careers site mentions the typical career path at Kurt Salmon (Consultant –> Senior Consultant –> Manager –> Senior Manager –> Principal) and how “KSA is Keen on Green,” and then it directs visitors to the parallel Careers sections for their two businesses. Although the two separate businesses have many similarities, you want to make sure that you’re reading the site when you’re researching KSA’s job opportunities.

The Retail and Consumer Products side of Kurt Salmon Associates seems to be bigger than the Health Care side. The former has locations in Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Princeton, NJ; San Francisco, CA; Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan; Altrincham, UK; Amsterdam, NL ; Düsseldorf, Germany; London, UK; and Paris, France; whereas, the Health Care business only has locations in Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; and San Bruno, CA. If you want to learn more specifics about each of the businesses, you should check out their individual sites – Consumer Products & Retail Consulting and Health Care Consulting.

Landing an Entry Level Job with Kurt Salmon Associates

Kurt Salmon Associates provides much more information about Retail and Consumer Products Consulting Careers than they do about their Health Care Consulting Careers. There isn’t much mention of college recruiting on the Health Care site, so if that’s what you’re interested, you should look at their specific job opportunities and consider applying. If you’re interested in a Retail and Consumer Products job, then you’ll have a lot more to look at. They actively recruit at target schools which include Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Geogia Tech, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Emory, Stanford, Penn State, and New York University (you can find this on their Campus Recruiting page), but they also accept applicants from other schools. To learn more, you may want to look at their brochure, their sample Case Interview, and their consultant profiles. If you’ve already graduated, you can look at KSA’s current opportunities, otherwise you can use KSA’s general application form.

As you can tell, navigating KSA’s web site can be a little bit confusing. If you follow our lead, you should be able to find all the information that you need about getting a job as an entry level consultant with Kurt Salmon Associates.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

National Audubon Society

Willy Franzen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:28:48 +0000

John James Audubon painted birds. His seminal work, Birds of America, was a collection of 435 life-size prints. To this day, when you hear the name Audubon, you think of birds. Interestingly enough, John James Audubon had no direct involvement with the founding of the National Audubon Society. Audubon’s widow, Lucy, tutored a man named George Bird Grinnell and some of Audubon’s love of birds must have rubbed off, as Grinnell was one of the Audubon Society’s founders. To this day, the Audubon Society persists in its mission “to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.” The Audubon Society works to achieve this mission through a national network of community-based nature centers and chapters and scientific, educational, and advocacy programs.

These Jobs Are for the Birds

The National Audubon Society has a long list of current job openings in locations all across the country. We scanned over them, and identified all the jobs that don’t list experience requirements for you. The Audubon does a very good job of identifying their desired experience level for each position, so you should be pretty confident that these jobs can be considered entry-level.

There are also quite a few jobs listed that require 2 to 3 years of experience. These may be worth a look, since many of them seem like they could be filled by competent new college grads, but we’ll let you go find them on Audubon’s Jobs page. We should also warn you that one job listing says that the start date is in 2006. We hope that this is a result of a careless copy-paste job, but we have no way of knowing how recently all of these jobs were posted. We couldn’t find much information on what it’s like to work for Audubon, but it probably varies widely depending on location. If you’re a birder, and you’re looking for non-profit work, figure out which of the above jobs you like the best and send your cover letter and resume to HumanResources@audubon.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite bird? We like birds of prey like hawks, eagles, and falcons.

Shriners Hospitals for Children

Willy Franzen — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:37:00 +0000

We hope you had a safe 4th of July. Unfortunately, every year some people don’t. Fireworks are a lot of fun, but they can result in some really nasty burns and injuries. Since we encouraged you to blow stuff up yesterday, we thought we’d counter that by featuring a non-profit organization that helps children who endure severe burns. The Shriners Hospitals for Children do exactly that. Who are Shriners? They wear funny hats. They drive little cars in parades. They’re Freemasons. And most importantly, they help kids through their hospitals. That’s going to be our focus today, since new college grads probably aren’t too interested in being part of a fraternal organization that seems like it probably has an average age north of 60. Then again, you probably got all hot and bothered about your college’s greek organizations and secret societies.

What Do Red Fezzes Have to Do with Burn Treatment?

So a group of Freemasons decided to start a non-religious fraternal organization for fun and fellowship based on a Middle Eastern theme, what the heck does that have to do with kids and burns? Somewhere along the way the guys in the organization decided to do some serious philanthropy, so they started Shriners Hospitals for Children which “is a one-of-a-kind international health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs.” Their three focuses are orthopedic care, burn care, and spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Over Shriners Hospitals for Childrens’ 86 years, they have provided free medical care to more than 865,000 children. Wow.

Do I Have to Wear a Funny Hat to Work There?

We don’t think wearing a red fez is a required part of the dress code, but we can’t make any promises. Shriners Hospitals for Children is headquartered in Tampa, FL and has hospitals in Boston, Canada, Chicago, Cincinnati, Erie, Galveston, Greenville, Honolulu, Houston, Salt Lake City, Lexington, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Northern California, Philadelphia, Portland, Shreveport, Spokane, Springfield, St Louis, Tampa, and Twin Cities. They have jobs available in just about every field imaginable, especially in medical related areas. Quite a few of these jobs are appropriate for entry-level candidates, but we’re not going to go through each of them. Shriners Hospitals for Children has a lot of job openings, and they do a nice job of organizing their Job Opportunities. Although their Careers site isn’t flashy, it should be easy to navigate. If helping children who are enduring seemingly unthinkable medical conditions is something that you could devote your life to (and you’re not going to Med school), there are few better places to begin a career then one of the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever seen the Shriners drive their little cars around?

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.

NFL Teams

Willy Franzen — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:00:36 +0000

The Super Bowl is over, which is heartbreaking for all you football fans. I’d make reference to the outcome of how either the Pats pulled off a perfect season or Eli Manning finally lived up to his last name and got himself a ring, but I wrote this post a few days in advance because I’m in Costa Rica fishing. I probably only watched half the game before going to bed so that I can wake up at 5 AM to get on a boat. I also only saw commercials in Spanish, which are not the same Super Bowl commercials that we’ve all come to love (by the way, don’t be influenced by the big job boards buying Super Bowl ad space, they’re still a really bad way to find authentic information for your job search). There’s no Internet down there anyways, so it’s not like I could have updated this post even if I watched the whole game. You should definitely feel sorry for me.

Yesterday, we told you about jobs at USA Football as a part of our non-profit weekends feature, but while we were researching them, we found some great entry-level jobs with NFL Teams. We know you’re still excited about the outcome of the Super Bowl, so let’s put that energy to good use and find you a job in football!

There are good things and bad things about how NFL Teams market their jobs online. The good news is that they all do it together, so it’s easy to find jobs with a number of teams on the same site. The bad news is that it’s hard to find information about what it’s like to work for the individual teams; in fact, there’s not really any information about the jobs beyond what is said in the job listings. Usually, we’re able to provide you with an assortment of links to get you started on your job research, but today you’re going to be on your own while you target your fact finding to specific teams (if you don’t know how to do this, read the One Day, One Job Article Archive).

If you want a job with an NFL Team, here are some clear cut entry-level options with specific teams:

Chicago Bears – Staff Accountant (Chicago, IL)

Minnesota Vikings – Graphic Design Coordinator (Eden Prairie, MN)

Miami Dolphins – Project Support, Ticket Sales and Account Manager, Premium Seating (Miami, FL)

These jobs might be a stretch for a recent college graduate, but you never know:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Accounting Assistant and Marketing Manager (Tampa, FL)

You can also look at all job openings with NFL Teams.

Some of these job descriptions say that you will be asked if you have the required experience as part of the application process. We’re not sure if that means that they’re really strict about required experience, or that they get so many applicants that they want to discourage people who aren’t completely serious (and well suited) for the given job. Don’t lie, but remember that experience is a subjective term.

NFL Teams have hired a lot of people through this website, so good luck adding yourself to the list of successes.

Note: On April 24th we revisited entry-level jobs with NFL Teams.

Ryan Partnership

Willy Franzen — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:00:30 +0000

Ryan Partnership has challenged its people with their unofficial motto of “See How Far Ideas Can Take You.” (Ryan’s official motto is Free Beer, No Assholes – FBNA for short. Seriously. It says so on their website.) Ideas (or maybe it’s the free beer and lack of assholes) have taken Ryan Partnership to the top of their industry, as they were named one of iMedia Connection’s Top 5 Integrated Marketing Agencies in 2006 and PROMO Magazines “Agency of the Year” in 2007. With $58.5 million in revenue in 2006, Ryan is a mature company that is still growing briskly (34% growth rate last year).

Mary Perry, President of the Promotion Agency division of Ryan Partnership, recently spoke at Montana State University. Although there’s no transcript of her speech, the title “Blending Generations in the Workforce” tells us that Ryan is the kind of place you want to work when you’re fresh out of college. The Careers section on Ryan’s website is titled “Want In?” Sounds like an elite club based on the FBNA motto.

Ryan definitely takes a different approach from most companies when it comes to online recruiting. They have a “Ryan Employee Compatibility Test” that asks you four humorously posed questions on your attitude and work experiences. Their entire website is visually appealing and very interesting, but it’s somewhat hard to navigate. For instance, we can’t link to individual pages on the site, because it’s entirely in Flash. The site is also audio and video intensive – if you’re browsing somewhere where it would be inappropriate to have your computer’s sound on, you’ll miss out on their entire message. The Careers section is also short on useful information. There are a ton of positions listed on the Ryan Partnership website, but there’s no information beyond the job title and location. Still, the fact that the Ryan Partnership’s website utilizes video of real Ryan employees to convey information about the company is refreshing and interesting.

Your best bet to get a job at Ryan Partnership is to send a cover letter and resume to humanresources@ryanpartnership.com and ask them what positions are appropriate for an entry-level candidate who just graduated college.

Ryan locations include: Atlanta, GA; Bentonville, AR; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Minneapolis, MN; Toronto, Canada; and Wilton, CT (Headquarters).

Note: On April 21st we revisited entry-level jobs at Ryan Partnership.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about jobs at Ryan Partnership? Leave a comment.

Iconoculture

Willy Franzen — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:00:49 +0000

Whether you set trends, follow them, or watch them, every day you have insights and experiences that have the potential to help companies increase their bottom lines. Iconoculture is a company that will allow you to put your daily observations to work, because it is in the business of providing cutting-edge consumer research to its clients. To get a better sense of Iconoculture as a company, check out this video or visit their home page. Iconoculture’s website is packed with information for those interested in consumer research. So what about jobs at Iconoculture?

If you are currently living abroad or plan to live abroad in the near future, are fluent in the native language and culture, and have a background in social science (Bachelors degree at least), Iconoculture may have an interesting job for you as a “Cultural Fluent.” Positions are currently available in Brazil, Russia, China, Korea, India, Australia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Indonesia, and Canada. A “Cultural Fluent” is a contractor (6 month minimum commitment) hired by Iconoculture to keep his or her fingers on the pulse of the culture they live in. By learning and then applying Iconoculture’s proprietary observational methodology and framework to your daily interactions, you will be able to identify emerging consumer trends to help Iconoculture better serve its clients. Being a “Cultural Fluent” is not a full-time job, but it is an opportunity for a well-organized individual to set his or her own hours, get a start in consumer research, and deepen his or her cultural experiences.

Iconoculture also has Global Producer and Graphic Designer positions that appear to be appropriate for some entry-level applicants. If you’re not already sold on why Iconoculture looks like a cool place to work, you should note that they were named to Inc. Magazines’ 500 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies with a 1,205.2% 3-year revenue growth rate ($12.1 million in revenue last year). They have 105 employees and are located in Minneapolis, MN.

Iconoculture is a company that provides really exciting work. Although they don’t currently have a wealth of jobs for new college graduates, I’d recommend that you keep watching their list of job openings. Even better, subscribe to their RSS feed of job openings. Also be sure to look over their Careers page for information on their corporate culture and benefits.

If you like what you’ve heard so far, start doing some research on Iconoculture and see if it looks like a good place to begin your career.

Note: On April 21st we revisited entry-level jobs at Iconoculture.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you know anything about what it’s like to work at Iconoculture, please share what you know in the comments.