One Day, One Job » North Carolina

DPR Group

Willy Franzen — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:39 +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.

High-tech companies seem to be beating the recession better than most, so if you’re interested in a public relations career, why not choose a firm that specializes in this sector? DPR Group, which has offices in Germantown, MD and Cary, NC, is a full-service agency that is approaching its 13th year in business. In North Carolina, the Triangle Business Journal recently ranked DPR Group as a Top 10 PR Firm for the fifth consecutive year. Although DPR Group doesn’t include a client list on their Web site, it does mention that their high-tech clients include “software firms, system integrators, electronics manufacturers, telecommunications companies, consulting firms, as well as a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles and other high-tech devices.”

Be a Driver of Innovation

Based on testimonials, it appears that DPR Group’s has clients throughout the U.S., ranging from small to global. The firm’s services seem pretty typical, although I’m surprised that they’re not more involved in social media. DPR Group does, however, have a small group of partner organizations that might provide those services. DPR Group is currently seeking an Account Coordinator (Monster posting) in its Germantown, MD office. They need someone who can support senior-level staff and work on multiple clients at one time. Interested? Submit your cover letter, résumé and two writing samples to MDCareers@DPRGroup.com. You might also consider contacting president Dan Demaree directly at ddemaree@dprgroup.com. Additionally, you can check out DPR Group’s Careers page for more information on other opportunities in both Maryland and North Carolina.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about DPR Group?

Geomagic

Willy Franzen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:51:42 +0000

If you had a laser that could scan 3-dimensional objects and create digital models of them on your computer, what would you do with it? I’d probably use it on myself first. Then I’d try it on all kinds of stuff that is lying around the house. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that I’d ever get sick of such a toy. Unfortunately, these things don’t exist for consumers yet, but Research Triangle Park, NC based Geomagic has the technology to do this for inspection and manufacturing processes. Names like Ford, Harley-Davidson, Richard Childress Racing, Timberland, Fisher Price, Pratt & Whitney, NASA, Alcoa Howmet, Danaher and Invisalign use Geomagic’s technology to improve their products. Whether it’s for custom fitting dental products or repairing a NASA space shuttle, digitizing 3D objects opens up all kinds of opportunities.

Do You Believe in Geomagic?

It’s hard to get a handle for what exactly Geomagic does without actually seeing it in action. Luckily they have a video on their About page, which I’ve included below (subscribers can click through to view):

Geomagic is obviously a very technical company, so it’s no surprise that their jobs are skewed more towards Engineering and Software Development. They only have a few openings right now, and only one looks like it might be suitable for a new or recent college grad. The title is Continuous Integration Engineer (LAMP Programmer), and you can find all of the details on Geomagic’s Careers page. They also offer the opportunity to apply for an unlisted position, so you may want to look into that if your skills don’t match up with the listed positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What would you use Geomagic’s technology to model?

Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:00:09 +0000

When I saw the name and location of Winston Salem, North Carolina’s Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, I was instantly reminded of one of my favorite recent reads—Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley. A North Carolina based non-profit with Reynolds in it name has to be tied to the tobacco industry, and it is. “The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation was established in 1936 as a memorial to the youngest son of the founder of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company,” and it seems to be one of the few good things that has come out of the tobacco industry—”a trust for charitable works in the State of North Carolina.” The Foundation is focused on making grants to non-profit organizations in the areas of Community Economic Development, Democracy and Civic Engagement, the Environment, Pre-Collegiate Education, and Social Justice and Equity, which, in my opinion, is a huge improvement on the other things associated with the Reynolds name.

Improving North Carolina Grant by Grant

The cool thing about foundations like the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is that they get to give out lots of money. That’s what allows them to have such a wide range of focuses. Instead of having to do everything themselves, they can find the best organizations with the best people and fund them. Although the Foundation has had to make some changes due to the economy, they still have plenty of money to spread to do-gooders in North Carolina. If you’d like to spend some time working at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, then you should check out their Jobs page. Although they don’t have any permanent positions posted right now, they do have an annual fellowship that they offer (it lasts 2 years, but they offer a new one every year). It sounds like a pretty cool gig, as “the fellow acts as a junior program officer and works with Foundation staff in evaluating grant proposals and visiting with grant applicants.” The application deadline is January 11, 2010, so check out all the information and see if a fellowship at Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is something that you want to do.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation?

MMI Public Relations

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:19:26 +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.

A full-service firm rooted in traditional public relations, MMI Public Relations integrates “emerging” public relations technologies such as social media, when appropriate, to achieve the best results for their clients. This small agency is located in Raleigh, NC and headed by highly sought-after speaker Patty Briguglio. It’s not surprising to me that she speaks both on public relations and business in general. Half the fun of being at a small agency is the entrepreneurial environment! However, the small agency/entrepreneurial environment may cause you to question stability during these tough economic times. Well, MMI-PR has won the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce’s Pinnacle Award for Steady Growth and Profitability in 2007, 2008 and 2009—and been named to the Triangle Business Journal’s Best Places To Work list. No need to worry!

Join a Team that Puts Team First

What can you expect in terms of clientele? Industries ranging from architects to environmental to nonprofits to professional services, and more. MMI-PR definitely does not have a niche in a single client area. MMI-PR is currently seeking an entry level public relations professional in anticipation of more growth. Although their Web site is vague about the exact qualifications for this position, MMI-PR does note that previous agency experience is definitely a plus. Interested? Submit your cover letter and résumé to careers@mmipublicrelations.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about MMI Public Relations?

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?

Public Allies

Willy Franzen — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:30:23 +0000

I happen to work with someone who knows a thing or two about leadership development. We’ve already developed one product to help future leaders land a job, and we have more in the pipeline. That’s why Public Allies caught my interest when a friend recently told me that they are hiring. They’re a Milwaukee, WI based non-profit that aims to “advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation.” They do this in three ways: putting diverse young adults through a paid full-time nonprofit apprenticeships, engaging and growing an alumni network of diverse leaders, and helping leaders and organizations better harness the assets of diverse teams and communities through training and consulting programs.

Join the Allies

By holding “the conviction that everyone leads,” Public Allies is creating a permanent network of leaders who are committed to a concerted effort to initiate positive change. They’re doing this where they’re headquarted in Milwaukee as well as in Phoenix, AZ; Chicago, IL, Cincinnati, OH; Bridgeport, CT; Wilmington, DE; Estes Park, CO; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Albuquerque, NM; New York, NY; Durham, NC; Pittsburgh, PA; San Antonio, TX; and Milpitas, CA. Their Ally Program is the first thing that may interest you. It’s a 10-month full-time Americorps apprenticeship that puts you to work at a non-profit in your community. You can check out the application and eligibility requirements here. Beyond this program, Public Allies also has a number of job openings. They’re not necessarily entry level, but the following positions (all located in Chicago, IL) might be worth looking at: Program Support Coordinator, Program Director, and Program Manager / Leadership Series Coordinator. You can find specific application information on the individual job postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever heard of Public Allies?

Sterling Publishing

Willy Franzen — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:47:50 +0000

Who knew that Barnes & Noble owned a publisher? I certainly didn’t, but it makes a lot of sense. If you own the sales channel, you might as well start creating your own product too. That’s why Barnes & Noble acquired New York City’s Sterling Publishing a few years back. It’s allowed them to squeeze more profit out of their dominance in retail book sales. It seems to me that the scope of the types of books that Sterling publishes is expanding, but their main focuses are in puzzles, photograpy, crafts, gardening, and do-it-yourself. If you really want to take a close look at what types of books Sterling Publishing puts out, you can see a list of their imprints with descriptions on the Sterling Publishing About page.

A Sterling Start

Sterling Publishing’s mission is “to publish high-quality books that educate, entertain, and enrich the lives of [their] readers.” I’m not sure that differs much from any other publisher, yet they say that they stand out because they “have the reach of the major publishers yet the passion & creativity of an independent press.” You’ll have to take a closer look at Sterling and the books that they publish to get a feel for whether they’ll be the right place for you. If you do think that you’ll be a good fit, then you should head over to Sterling’s Careers page. They don’t have specific job listings, but they mention that their “learning and development programs begin at the entry level and continue through to senior management.” They also have a quote from Meaghan F. in the Publicity Department about how easy it is to get a good start at Sterling Publishing:

I started at Sterling as an Intern during my senior year of college. I ended up getting a full-time job out of that experience and years later I still learn something every day as a Children’s Publicist. The opportunity for growth at Sterling is tremendous.

It’s hard to say what specific entry level positions Sterling may be hiring for, but I would guess that they are similar to the jobs that you’d find at other publishers. The easiest way to find out is to submit salary requirements, cover letter, and resume to hr@sterlingpublishing.com. I know that they are located in New York City, but I think that they might also have a location in Asheville, NC with job opportunities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite book published by Sterling Publishing?

ChannelAdvisor

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:48:05 +0000

Now, I know that the name ChannelAdvisor sounds like some sort of new and improved tv guide that you can buy on the infomercials, but bear with me for a second and I’ll tell you what ChannelAdvisor is really about. The simple version is that they’re a Morrisville, NC based company that helps other companies sell online. The more complex story is that ChannelAdvisor “helps the world sell online with solutions for retailers to efficiently distribute their products across multiple online channels, drive shoppers to those products, and then convert those shoppers into customers.” That sounds good, but what does it really mean? Major retailers often have thousands of products. Their first e-commerce priority is to get their products listed on their own site, but after that they want to extend their reach to comparison shopping sites. There are tons of these comparison shopping sites, and they all have different data requirements for listing products. The retailer can try to do it on their own, or they can hire ChannelAdvisor to do it for them.

Don’t Change the Channel

ChannelAdvisor appears to be the best in breed when it comes to understanding online sales channels—just look at the list of respected brands on their customer list. Clearly they know what it takes to drive traffic and sales online. Unfortunately, the story on ChannelAdvisor isn’t all cupcakes and marshmallows. They did go through a round of layoffs last year while at the same time securing $20 million more in funding. The good news is that this resulted in their first operating profit in January. Now that things have settled down, it appears that ChannelAdvisor is hiring again. Their Jobs page shows 15 open positions, and a number of those seem suitable for new grads including Customer Support Analyst, Customer Support Engineer, Inside Sales Specialist (Surrey, UK), and Inside Sales Specialist. All of the jobs (except the one in UK) are in Morrisville, NC, and you can apply for them online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about ChannelAdvisor?

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.

U.S. Census Bureau

Willy Franzen — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:48:34 +0000

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.

Everyone Counts at the U.S. Census Bureau

Ok, I’d like to go on about the cool things that the Census Bureau does, but we don’t really have time. Navigating the Census Bureau’s job offerings is kind of a hassle, so I want to make sure that you can find what you’re looking for. On their main Jobs page they have links to four sections – Headquarters Opportunities, 2010 Census Taker Opportunities, Regional Office Opportunities, and Student and Research Opportunities. You may be tempted to check out the Student Opportunities, but you actually want to check out either the Headquarters or Regional Office Opportunities. If you check out the Headquarters Opportunities, you’ll find job listings like Statistician / Analyst, Mathematical Statistician, Information Technology Specialist, Geographer, and Cartographer. These links will take you to more specific listings where you’ll find a link titled “How to Apply.” If you click that, you’ll find even more information and another link to the specific job descriptions on USAJobs.gov. You can also skip ahead and just search all of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 90 current openings. If you decide to check out the Regional Office Opportunities, you’ll just have to select a region, and you’ll be shown a list of opportunities. It’s a lot simpler.

As for locations:

The U.S. Census Bureau headquarters is located in Suitland, Maryland, just outside the District of Columbia.

The National Processing Center (NPC) is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The NPC also has two call centers located in Hagerstown, Maryland and Tucson, Arizona.

The Census Bureau has 12 Regional Offices located in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Seattle.

The Census Bureau has a ton of jobs, and there are a lot more coming. Many of these offer extremely interesting entry level work, but you’re going to have to show off your data parsing abilities to find and apply for the jobs – they don’t make the process easy at all.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you excited for the 2010 Census?

Luck Stone

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:21:57 +0000

Although people mostly associate St. Patrick’s Day with drinking, I like to think of it in terms of searching for something good. Just think – there’s the four leaf clover, and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and… ok that’s it. Well, you can also use St. Patrick’s Day as motivation for your job search. That’s why we’re looking at Richmond, VA based Luck Stone today. Not only are they a company that fits in with our St. Patrick’s Day theme, but they’re also a company that is all about searching for something good. The only thing that’s different about them is that they consider the stuff that you dig through to be the “pot of gold.” Yes, that’s right. It’s the stone that they’re after.

Bring Luck to Your Job Search

Lucky Stone “is the largest, family owned and operated aggregates company in the U.S. and is the 12th largest producer of crushed stone in the nation.” That means that they dig stuff up, and they sell it. It’s 21st century alchemy with an Irish flair! The good news for you is that you can stop eating your Lucky Charms in your underwear at noon every day and turn stone into a job because Luck Stone has a strong college recruiting program. Their job listings don’t show any jobs for new grads, but their College Recruiting page invites interested entry level candidates to contact their Talent Acquisition Consultants. It’s easier than finding a four-leaf closer, so get on it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?

Hesketh

Willy Franzen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:49:56 +0000

As you may or may not know, every weekend we feature two non-profit organizations and their jobs. That means that in addition to looking at corporate websites all week, we also spend a considerable amount of time looking at non-profit sites. Since companies are usually trying to sell someone something, their websites tend to be both nice to look at and easy to navigate/use (with a big exception for many of the Careers sections of these corporate sites). With the non-profits there’s more variability – some sites are stunning and easy to use, while others could use a lot of work. Non-profits may not be selling a product or service, but they still need to sell themselves to donors, volunteers, job seekers, and even the people whom they’re aiming to serve. That means that design and usability isn’t something that they can ignore, and that’s why Hesketh, a user experience agency, “has developed practices and services that are specifically attuned to challenges faced by non-profits, higher education, member-based associations, and other organizations committed to socioeconomic development.” They serve corporate clients too, but Hesketh seems to be carving out a pretty cool niche for themselves (they’ve also literally carved out a new, old niche for themselves recently).

Be the Power of the Web

It’s funny how narrowing the market that you focus on can lead to immense business growth, but it works. As Hesketh’s offerings have become more focused over the past few years, they’ve experienced what seems to be some pretty solid growth. They attribute it to excellent customer service, and we believe them. Right now that growth has led to the opening of a new position – Interaction Designer. It’s only one job, but the description looks fantastic. You’ll need a background in web design, but other than that it looks to be solidly entry level. The job is based at Hesketh’s office in Raleigh, NC, so if that sounds like a place that you’d like to be and you’re excited at the prospect of working to improve the websites of non-profit clients (in addition to many other clients), then send your cover letter, resume, and portfolio to careers@hesketh.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are the best and worst non-profit websites that you’ve seen?

Red Ventures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:37:14 +0000

Just by looking at their name, you can tell that Red Ventures was founded after the Cold War ended. Their name may sound like a secret name for the Communist party, but their 3 year revenue growth of almost 6,000% is anything but Marxist. They’re taking advantage of the free market as one of the 25 fastest growing privately held companies in the country according to Inc. Magazine. They’re in the business of Customer Acquisition Marketing, and they work specifically in the areas of Home Services, Consumer Services, Business Services, Automotive, Home Remodeling, Financial Services, Education, and International (help us with reader acquisition, and enter to win an iPod Touch from us). With their rapid growth they seem to keep adding employees, and their benefits look way better than Socialism could ever offer.

Go Red

In a lot of ways, Red Ventures looks like many other interactive marketing agencies, but they’ve taken a very different approach to their business. Instead of having clients pay them to do their with marketing, Red Ventures has taken on the role of a dealer instead of an agency. That means that they actually sell the products of their clients, but they use their own in-house agency to do all of the marketing work. It’s a cool business model, and it opens Red Ventures up to both the risks and rewards of customer acquisition. They may forgo the safety of steady income from clients, but they see all of the upside when they hit one out of the park. Founders Ric Elias and Dan Feldstein started Red Ventures with the goal of building a company that they’d want to work for, and now, hopefully, it’s a company that you want to work for.

They have quite a few job openings at their Charlotte, NC, and many of them look like great opportunities for new and recent college graduates. These include SEO Specialist, Software Developer/Business Analyst, Paid Search Marketing Analyst, and Workforce Operations Analyst. There’s also an
Entry Level Regional Field Sales Representative or the Northern California region.

Red Ventures also has quite a few Sales jobs, but we’re not sure that they’re the types of jobs that our readers will be interested. Some examples are Inside Sales Professional, Advertising Sales Representative, Inside Sales Security Consultant, and Bilingual (English/French-Canadian) Security Choice Sales Consultant. They also have opportunities in Miami, FL; Dallas, TX; New York, NY; San Juan, PR; and Guatemala City, Guatemala. You can find more jobs like these along with all of Red Ventures jobs listings on their Careers page, and you can apply through their online application form. They provide a ton of information about what it’s like to work for them on their website, so be sure to check out the links below.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Ignite Social Media

Willy Franzen — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:00:51 +0000

If you’ve already read our article about using Facebook advertising in your job search, you might know the name Alex Payne. He was one of the participants in our experiment who responded to our call for “adventurous job seekers.” He’s a new grad from Duke with a double major in English and Literature, and he was looking for a job in marketing and publishing. We’re not sure if our experiment helped to ignite his interest in social media, but he’s taken an internship at Ignite Social Media to try his hand at online marketing. Alex recently pinged me to let me know that Ignite is hiring for a couple positions that might be well suited to new college grads. It’s good to know people on the inside.

Ignite Your Career

Social media is becoming a big business, and we’re seeing more and more jobs in social media every day. Ignite Social Media is based out of Cary, NC and they certainly have a good eye for budding social media talent (they hired Alex, a kid who was brave enough to use Facebook ads in his job search). Right now they have three job openings that they announced in more detail on their blog. They’re looking for a Web Copywriter, an Interactive Designer, and an Account Manager. All of these positions require a certain level of expertise, but they can certainly be classified as entry level.

If you’re fired up about working at Ignite, you can send a cover letter and a link to your LinkedIn profile (they really are all about social media) to erin@ignitesocialmedia.com. The cover letter is important, so be sure to write it specifically for the job that you’re applying for at Ignite. If you’re applying for the Web Copywriter job, you should include links to 2+ writing samples, and if you’re applying for the Interactive Designer job, you should include links to 2+ design samples. They’ll mark your application as spam (not really, I made that up, but they won’t read it) if you don’t include the cover letter and required samples.

If you have any questions about working at Ignite, we’re sure that Alex and other Ignite employees will be happy to answer them in the comments section. We expect nothing less of a company that specializes in social media.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you have a tip on a company that we should cover, let us know. We love it when our readers tip us off.

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.

Brunswick

Willy Franzen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:18:33 +0000

Bowling, billiards, and boating – sounds more like plans for retirement than what you’ll be doing after you graduate, right? Not if you end up working for Brunswick. They’re a company that has been in a lot of businesses since John Brunswick started the Cincinnati Carriage Making Company in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854. They’ve added and dropped many product lines, even over the last 10 or 15 years, but recently they’ve settled on marine engines, pleasure boats, fitness equipment, bowling, and billiards. These groups of products aren’t necessarily related, but they’ve proved to be the most profitable for Brunswick over the years.

Not Quite Early Retirement

Brunswick may be in the business of producing great leisure products, but that it’s all fun and games. Brunswick has to work hard to be the best in the industries that they have stuck with, and they’re looking for lots of college students to help keep up the tradition. The Brunswick website is very easy to navigate, so you should have no problem finding all the relevant information that you need for your job search.

The first thing that you might notice when you look at Brunswick’s Careers page is their Financial Leadership Development Program. It’s a rotational program for new college grads who have a background in accounting, finance, business administration or other quantitative fields of study. Participants get to work in General Accounting and Reporting, Manufacturing and Product Cost Accounting, Financial Planning and Analysis, Financial Information Systems, Treasury, and Audit and Corporate Governance. Assignments can be at Brunswick Bowling & Billiards (Lake Forest, IL; Bristol, WI; Muskegon, MI), Brunswick Corporate (Lake Forest, IL); Brunswick Boat Group (Knoxville, TN; New Bern, NC; Lowell, MI; and Various Florida Locations), Life Fitness (Chicago, IL); Mercury Marine (Fond du Lac, WI; Charleston, SC; Stillwater, OK), Sea Ray (Knoxville, TN and Various Florida Locations), and US Marine (Seattle, WA). The online application for the Financial Leadership Development Program doesn’t seem to be working, so we recommend that you send your cover letter, resume, and transcript to:

Brunswick Corporation
Attn: Human Resources – FLDP
1 North Field Court
Lake Forest, Illinois 60045

That’s the first option for new grads at Brunswick, and it offers quite a bit of variety, but there are more entry-level jobs available for those who don’t have the Finance background.

More Options for New Grads at Brunswick

The rest of Brunswick’s job opportunities for new grads can be found by searching their Open Salaried Positions. If you leave the search box blank, you’ll get a listing of all current job opportunities. From here you can browse the listings that include job title, location, and brand. Any job that doesn’t have “Senior,” “Supervisor,” or “Manager” in its title has a high likelihood of being a good fit for entry-level candidates, so take a look and see what you come up with. The jobs tend to be in the same locations and with the same brands that we mentioned when talking about the Financial Leadership Development Program; however, most of the jobs are for grads with a background in Engineering. There are a few exceptions, so students with all backgrounds who are interested in Brunswick’s core businesses should take a look at what’s available.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Brunswick’s brands is your favorite?

Yelp

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:18:42 +0000

My Dad and I are now 2 days into our weeklong fishing trip. The first day was spent driving from Fairfield, CT to Ann Arbor, MI, where we stopped to spend the night. We ended up grabbing a late dinner at a pizza place that wasn’t very good. Pizza should always be at the very least very good, so that was quite a disappointment – especially considering Ann Arbor is a college town with an amazing number of restaurants. Had I been smart enough to pull up Yelp.com on my phone (they have a mobile site), I would have seen that our choice of a restaurant only had 3.5 stars on 3 ratings, and that 2 of the high ratings were for convenience or low price. Lesson learned. Luckily we redeemed ourselves with an awesome brunch at a place one of my Dad’s high school buddies recommended – it has 4.5 stars and is ranked the 2nd best Ann Arbor restaurant on Yelp.

Yelp Me Find a Place to Eat

Yelp isn’t just about food, it’s about local reviews (and the people who post the reviews). As Russell Simmons (no, not that one, their CTO) says, “We built this site expecting to find all these really cool local business, and what we really found were these really cool local people.” Maybe some of Ann Arbor’s really cool local people could have helped us find a motel room that was a bit more affordable than the jacuzzi suite, as it was the “only room left in town” because of something about a NASCAR weekend – our motel choice has 2.5 stars on Yelp. Yelp could have made our stay in Ann Arbor a lot nicer, and it certainly has the ability to be a great tool in any traveler’s repertoire.

Here’s the Yelp documentary below (here’s a link). E-mail and RSS feed readers will need to click through, and if it doesn’t work, we’re sorry. This is the only format Yelp offered the video in.

Working at Yelp

Considering how fun Yelp’s product is, working for them has to be pretty cool too. They’re a growing company, and that means entry-level hiring. Yelp’s Jobs page lists these positions in their San Francisco office: Account Executive (Local Sales), Product Manager (Tools and Support Infrastructure), Software Engineer, and Desktop Support Technician. There are also looking for Marketing Assistants (aka “Scouts”) in Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham or St. Louis. These are part-time, hourly jobs, but they look pretty cool – might even be a good fit for a current college student. The e-mail addresses that you should send a resume and cover letter to are different for each job, so be sure to check out Yelp’s fantastic jobs page for those details. You may also want to take a look at the Yelp Blog or Flickr account for a deeper look at what it’s like to work at Yelp.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When could Yelp have saved you from a not so great restaurant? Tell us about it.

Viget Labs

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:30:54 +0000

There’s no getting around it – when it comes to the web, how you look matters. The easiest way to separate a spammy site from a quality site is a quick glance at the design. Yes, there are examples like Google and Craigslist that have become wildly successful despite (or because of) their sparse designs, but they are rare exceptions. When a visitor hits a web page, there are just a few seconds to convince the visitor not to press the back button. There is almost no better way to draw in and engage a visitor than a beautiful, usable design. Judging from Viget Labs’ own site as well as those of their clients, we’re pretty sure they understand the importance of great web design. Beyond design, they also help their clients focus on creating “solid web strategies” and developing “functional applications that actually work” while leveraging “the latest online marketing tactics to grow their reach.”

Four Labs

Viget Labs works with two types of clients: web start-ups and offline companies. In either scenario Viget’s goal is to help the client build a web business. The services offered by Viget are focused in four distinct areas: Strategy, Design, Application Development, and Online Marketing. For each area of business, Viget has separate blogs which are named for what they help their clients do: Advance, Inspire, Extend, and Engage. Viget also has a general company-wide blog. These blogs are extremely useful for both researching the company and engaging with people who currently work at the company. Whether you’d like to learn more about what it’s like working at Viget or you’d like to interact directly with their CEO, leaving a comment on one of their blog is a surefire way to begin the conversation.

Since they’re such a web savvy company, there is a ton of information available about Viget on the web. Beyond the blogs there are Twitter accounts and Flickr pages. We also found this gem that answers one of the most important questions that you’ll have about Viget, especially if you’re going into an interview. How do you say Viget? Here’s a hint, it rhymes with “dig it.”

Working at Viget

It should be no big surprise that Viget’s Careers page is outstanding. It’s not only beautiful, but it’s also loaded with helpful information and extremely easy to navigate. Beyond listing their job openings right on their Careers page (seems like common sense, but it often takes 3 or 4 clicks on other companies’ sites to get to actual job listings) they also talk about their benefits and link to a photo tour of their headquarters. These additions are right in line with Viget’s recruiting message:

At Viget — aside from all-you-can-drink sodas, a casual dress environment, flex hours, informal Wii bowling tournaments, free lunch on Fridays that doubles as our weekly staff meeting, regular industry or community gigs (some local, some not, thanks to a $2,500 per person conference/training budget), and team-building events like paintball or go-karts — you can expect to work in a culture of growth; one that fiercely protects integrity and respect as core values.

We also found a Viget recruiting mini-site called Team Viget which is focused on recruiting designers specifically. The only thing that we didn’t like on Viget’s site is that they have a really obvious HTML coding error on one of their job descriptions. Viget is clearly one of the best at what they do, but having a paragragh tag inside a title tag on a site for a web development company looks really bad. Hopefully they’ll read this and fix it immediately.

Web Talent Wanted

As for entry-level jobs at Viget, there are a couple current openings that seem to be geared towards new college grads. These are Internet Marketing Specialist and Ruby on Rails Developer. In addition, there are a number of jobs that could probably be done by new college grads, although the job descriptions ask for 2+ years of post-collegiate work experience. These include Front End Developer, User Experience Specialist, and Web Designer, and Web Project Manager. We understand that Viget wants to hire people with professional experience, but it’s hard to overlook the considerable web talents that many new college grads have. Hopefully Viget will be flexible with the experience requirements.

Each job description on Viget’s site is extremely in-depth and well written. It should tell you almost everything that you need to know before you choose to apply for the job. Opportunities with Viget are available in Fall Church, VA and Durham, NC. Some positions can be filled in both locations, while others are specific to one or the other. The job descriptions will tell you which jobs are where and which e-mail address to send your resume and cover letter to. If you have more questions about working at Viget or you don’t see a position that is a good fit for you, you can use their Keep in Touch page to reach out to them for more information.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you like our design? Did it keep you from clicking the back button? If you’re reading this, we’re going to assume that it did, but leave a comment and tell us anyway.

Burt’s Bees

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:41:21 +0000

It always seems like you never have Chapstik – er, lip balm – when you really need it. Even Napoleon Dynamite was plagued by that little tube’s ability to disappear from his pocket and end up sitting on his desk at home. Some will argue that they never use lip balm because it just makes the problem of chapped lips worse, but I know for a fact that those people give in as soon as their “lips hurt real bad.” As life saving as lip balm can be at the right time, you’d still never expect it to allow a guy who lived in a turkey coop to be the face of a billion dollar business. Yes, Burt’s Bees was sold last year to Clorox for just shy of a billion dollars.

From Rags to… Rags

Apparently the whole story is quite contentious, as Burt of Burt’s Bees was bought out for just a few hundred thousand dollars by his then lover and business partner. She eventually sold the business for a much larger sum. Burt now has about $4 million to his name, but still chooses to live in a turkey coop with no electricity or running water; however, he has expanded the coop. The whole story is worth a read, and can be found at the NY Times. So, how did this cottage enterprise in Maine turn into a billion dollar business located in Durham, NC? Organic and all-natural products got hot. People will pay more for their lip balm (or cream, or shampoo, or soap) if it’s produced in an environmentally sound way with ingredients that are organic or all-natural. This is what Burt’s Bees is all about, although it stands to be determined whether consumers will still trust the authenticity of the company, now that it’s owned and operated by a bleach company.

Organic Chemistry (Not the Kind That Breaks Pre-Meds)

Although most of the jobs at Burt’s Bees require a moderate amount of experience, there are a couple that might be good fits for a college chemist. Burt’s Bees is looking for an Industrial Chemist and a Junior Quality Control Chemist. The first position appears to be more entry-level than the second, but both are worth a look. Although our chemistry knowledge is limited, we can imagine that spending a few years as a chemist with an all-natural / organic products company will open the doors for many future opportunities. The market for such products is only going to grow, and having a background in working with natural ingredients seems be something that you’ll be able to leverage quite nicely down the road.

Burt’s Bees’ Careers page is really simple, and the job descriptions are really clear about what they’re looking for. We love that! We also like their Working at Burt’s Bees page, although they’ve overlooked the fact that they should probably link to it from the Careers page. We can’t speak to whether the culture at Burt’s has changed since the company was acquired, but we imagine that it’s in Clorox’s best interest to do whatever it takes to maintain the brand’s authenticity. That should start with treating their people the same way they were treated when it was just Burt’s Bees.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Burt’s Bees
Jobs at Burt’s Bees
Working at Burt’s Bees
About Burt’s Bees
The History of Burt’s Bees (No mention of Clorox…)
The Culture of Burt’s Bees
Burt’s Bees’ Leadership Team
Research & Development at Burt’s Bees

Now where’s my lip balm…