Libraries used to be their own little kingdoms of knowledge. If you needed to research something, you’d go to the library and hope that they had what you were looking for. If they didn’t, you were out of luck. The Internet has changed everything. Now we live in a world where our libraries are interconnected and information resources can be shared instantly between institutions. And even there is a resource that can’t be shared electronically, you can track it down instantly. A big reason that this is possible is Dublin, OH based Online Computer Library Center. They started in 1967 as “a regional computer system for 54 Ohio colleges;” however, they have since grown to serving “more than 71,000 libraries of all types in the U.S. and 112 countries and territories around the world.” They’re better known as the OCLC, and they’ve very much an Information Technology focused non-profit.

You Down with OCLC?

OCLC’s vision is very simple: “The world’s libraries. Connected.” They do this through WorldCat (a global network of library content and services), a Membership Association, a wide array of Products and Services, Support and Training, and Programs and Research. Basically anything that helps libraries do their job better by networking with other libraries is OCLC’s realm. If you’re into Information Science, then this is the place to be. That’s also true because OCLC has been named by Computerworld as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT for the past 4 years, which is why you should check out their Careers page and job postings. You’ll want to check out jobs like Training and Support Coordinator (Washington, DC) and Software Engineer (Dublin, OH) among others. You can apply online, so get to it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• OCLC.org
• Jobs at Online Computer Library Center
• About Online Computer Library Center
• History of OCLC
• Leadership at OCLC
• People and Culture at OCLC

How thankful are you for OCLC?

Now, I’m not a rocket scientist, but there’s a chance that you are—or want to be. If that’s the case, then you need to check out Ball Aerospace. And even if your pursuit of rocket science ended with building model rockets as a kid, you still might want to take a look. I first came across Ball Aerospace while reading an article about the 20-foot tall, 130 pound rocket that their interns launched 4,000 feet into the sky. That puts my childhood rocket launches to shame—which it should considering the fact that Ball Aerospace “is a leader in design, development and manufacture of innovative aerospace systems.” They develop things like “spacecraft, instruments and sensors, RF and microwave technologies, data exploitation solutions and a variety of advanced aerospace technologies and products that enable exciting missions,” so a 20-foot tall rocket is child’s—er—intern’s play for Ball Aerospace, which is located in Boulder, CO; Dayton, OH; and Albuquerque, NM.

Get on the Ball and Launch Your Career

Ball Aerospace has been around since 1956. They work with both defense and civilian government agencies and commercial customers too. To last that long in such a rapidly advancing industry, Ball Aerospace has to be constantly innovating, and to do that requires great people. Which is why Ball Aerospace is extremely aggressive about college recruiting. They’re looking for the best minds in aerospace, and they’re trying to get them while they’re young. There’s an entire College Relations section on their Careers site. They visit a select number of campuses, but most students will have to interact with them online. You can start by browsing their Job listings; however, I think that reaching out to collegerelations@ball.com to get a feel for the kinds of opportunities that are available at Ball Aerospace might be a better bet. That e-mail address is not meant for résumé submission, so keep that in mind.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• BallAerospace.com
• Careers at Ball Aerospace
• College Recruiting at Ball Aerospace
• About Ball Aerospace
• Leadership at Ball Aerospace
• Ball Aerospace’s Investor Relations Information
• Ball Aerospace in the News

Did you play with model rockets as a kid?

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

• 1800JunkUSA.com
• Jobs at College Hunks Hauling Junk
• About College Hunks Hauling Junk
• College Hunks Hauling Junk’s Blog
• Junk Hunk History
• College Hunks Hauling Junk’s Fact Sheet

Have you used College Hunks Hauling Junk?

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

Get Lucky

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

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• LuckyBrand.com
• Jobs at Lucky Brand
• About Lucky Brand
• Lucky Brand’s Hiring FAQ
• Social Responsibility at Lucky Brand
• Lucky Brand on Facebook

Do you consider yourself lucky?

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

• PublicAllies.org
• Jobs at Public Allies
• About Public Allies
• Public Allies’ Story
• Staff at Public Allies
• Public Allies’ Ally Program
• Public Allies News and Events

Have you ever heard of Public Allies?

Part of my daily routine is reading Greg Mankiw’s Economics Blog. When I saw his post announcing that the text book that he wrote will now be accompanied by an interactive learning tool, I was intrigued. I quickly read the Washington Post article that Dr. Mankiw linked to in the announcement to learn more about Aplia, the company that developed this educational tool. It turns out that Aplia, which is based in Belmont, CA, was developed by a Stanford economist named Paul Romer who was very successful in developing a theory to explain why different economies grow at different rates, but not so successful at engaging students. Since Dr. Romer is clearly a problem solver at heart, he developed a product (and company) called Applia that “offers high-quality, auto-graded assignments” and is “dedicated to improving learning by increasing student effort and engagement.”

Aplia for a Job

Paul Romer took $10 million in venture capital to spur the growth of the company, and he eventually sold out in 2007 to Cengage, a textbook publisher. Aplia is now “used by more than 1,000,000 students at over 950 institutions,” so I’ll wager that Cengage is pretty happy to have a successful interactive tool to bring some life to their slowly dying textbook business. Now, the real reason that I got so excited when I first heard about Aplia isn’t my interest in interactive educational tools (although I clearly have an interest there), it’s the fact that I thought they might have jobs. And they do. They still seem to operate separately from Cengage, so they have their own Jobs page (although it’s branded like it’s just for Cengage).

On that Jobs page, you’ll find quite a few jobs that appear to be suitable for new grads. We can’t link to the specific openings because of their crappy Applicant Tracking System, but you should be able to find their jobs easily. They have Content Writer positions in Accounting, US History, Psychology, Biology, and Economics that can be located in Belmont, CA; Boston, MA; or Cincinnati, OH. Additionally there are jobs for an Editorial Assistant, Flash Expert, and Customer Support Representative. The jobs look awesome, so give them a look and apply online if you’re interested.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Aplia.com
• Jobs at Aplia
• About Aplia
• Words from Aplia’s Founder
• Management at Aplia
• Aplia in the News
• Subjects Covered by Aplia

Did any of your courses use Aplia?

I’ve mentioned before how I often use Twitter to find the companies that I feature here, but lately I’ve been using Twitter more and more to connect with students and new grads who are going through the job search. Lately I’ve been noticing (and interacting with) a lot of PR students who are nervous about the job market. (By the way, you can follow me @willyf.) That’s why when I came across an entry level PR job with Roop & Co. – on Twitter nonetheless – I thought it was something I should let you all know about. Roop & Co. appears to be a small, more traditional PR firm located in Cleveland, OH. They don’t seem to have jumped on the social media bandwagon like many other PR firms, but what they do is equally cool. Roop & Co. specializes in PR, Graphic Design, and Investor Relations. The first 2 aren’t out of the ordinary, but you don’t see a lot of companies that do investor relations management for companies – at least I don’t.

The Scoop on Roop

If you’re intrigued by Roop, then you’re in luck. Their web site has quite a bit of information. You can check out their clients, their team, and their capabilities. Unfortunately, you’re not going to find anything on their jobs. Probably because they’re a small firm, they haven’t devoted a section of their site to Careers yet. That’s ok, though, because we found a posting for an Assistant Account Executive on the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism website (they post a lot of jobs actually). Roop is looking for “an up-and-coming PR superstar,” and although the job posting includes phrases like “the person must be a self starter and have the ability to hit the ground running” (those are some serious cliches), we still think that it looks like a cool gig. To apply, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@roopco.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• RoopCo.com
• Jobs at Roop & Co.
• About Roop & Co.
• People at Roop & Co.
• Roop & Co.’s FAQ
• Roop & Co.’s Clients

Have you heard anything about Roop & Co.?

We’re always on the look out for different kinds of non-profit jobs to feature on weekends, and today we’ve certainly found some. Battelle Memorial Institute is a Columbus, OH based organization that looks very much like a business – their tagline is even “the business of innovation” – but they are actually “organized for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes.” They have 5 main areas of focus – Energy, Health & Life Sciences, National Security & Defense, Laboratory Management, and Community & Education – which means that they do all kinds of things to further their vision of building “long-term relationships with their clients by anticipating their needs and delivering economically and socially valuable science and technology.”

A Battelle You Can Win

The Battelle Memorial Institute is named for Ohio industrialist Gordon Battelle. He “did not live to see his vision realized, but believed in it so strongly that others continue to make it a reality” through the gifts taht he left in his will. It all started with “a few machine shops and foundries,” but Battelle now “oversees 20,000 staff members and conducts $3.9 billion in annual research and development.” They work with all kinds of clients including federeral, state, and local government agencies; large corporations; private sector customers; and other partners. It’s still hard to put a finger on exactly what they do, but taking a look at their job listings will give you a more specific idea of the types of projects that they work on. You can search their jobs here, and you’ll notice that they have 127 open positions as of today. Since there are so many jobs and they are so background specific, we’re going to leave finding the jobs up to you today. Their job listings should be pretty easy to scan, and they vary widely in location. Battelle is hiring in locations all across the country, and you can apply for the jobs online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Battelle.org
• Jobs at Battelle Memorial Institute
• About Battelle Memorial Institute
• Battelle’s History
• Battelle’s Solutions

What do you know about Battelle?

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Last year on this day, we featured the USA Football, a non-profit organization that promotes amateur football. Since then we’ve taken a look at some other Super Bowl related jobs like the those with the NFL’s teams and with World Vision (they administer the donation of Championship paraphernalia that was produced for teams that didn’t win a championship). If you want to work in or around the sport of football, it’s a good idea to use all of the hoopla surrounding today’s events to generate ideas for your job search. That’s why we’re going to look at the Pro Football Hall of Fame today. Despite their strong ties to the NFL, they’re actually a non-profit organization based in Canton, OH.. Their mission includes 4 parts, and it’s what you would expect:

To honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to professional football; To preserve professional football’s historic documents and artifacts; To educate the public regarding the origin, development and growth of professional football as an important part of American culture; and To promote the positive values of the sport.

If you love football, then finding a job at the Pro Football Hall of Fame would be pretty cool.

Your Place in the Hall of Fame

Whether you’re a football player or a job seeker, getting a place at the Pro Football Hall of Fame isn’t easy. In fact, it might be harder for job seekers, because there’s no clear path on how to get in. If you’re a football player, at least you know that if you meet certain statistical figures, you’ll have a pretty good shot. Unfortunately, the Pro Football Hall of Fame doesn’t have a jobs page, and Google doesn’t turn up much info on how to land a job with them. They do have a Volunteer Opportunities page, which might provide a way to inquire about jobs, but there’s absolutely nothing on how to join their staff (there have to be some actual employees at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, right?). Since you have plenty of time before the game today, we’re looking at you to find some more information on how to land a job with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We know that there’s a way in, and even though they may or may not be hiring right now, we’d love to know what it is.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• ProFootballHOF.com
• Volunteer Opportunities at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Pro Football Hall of Fame History
• Pro Football Hall of Fame FAQs
• Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Mission

What are you doing for the Super Bowl?

Two days ago we featured MediaVest, a company that says it builds brands. Today, we have another “brand builder” for you. Liggett Stashower is a Cleveland, OH based advertising agency. They were named by Crain’s as the coolest place to work in Cleveland, and this video certainly backs it up. Liggett Stashower wins awards for community service and gives college students scholarships. I also hear that they occasionally pull children from burning buildings and are weeks away from the cure for cancer. Seriously, though, as soon as I arrived on Liggett Stashower’s website, I was impressed by them. They’ve done a fantastic job building their own brand, so it makes sense that other companies should trust them to do the same for them. If you’re interested in marketing, advertising, public relations, or communications, this is a place that you want to work.

Say Liggett Stashower Three Times Fast

Liggett Stashower has invested a lot of effort in building a great website, but the only drawback is that it was built in Flash, which means that we can’t link to most of the pages on the site. You’re going to be on your own when it comes to finding all of the important information that you should be looking for when you do employer research. Luckily, Liggett Stashower’s website is insanely easy to navigate, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding what you’re looking for. They have made just about everything that you could ever want to know about the company easily accessible from their home page. You can check out information about their employment opportunities, their work, their people, and a lot more.

Right now they only have one open position that can be considered entry level. It’s a Project Coordinator job, and it reports directly to the VP of Project Management. They prefer someone with a year of agency experience and a marketing or communications degree, but we’re sure that an internship or two will stand in for the required experience. If you’re interested, send a cover letter and resume to Brenda Stolarski at bstolarski@liggett.com. You should also note that Ligget Stashower has an exceptional internship program (and a really cool Internships page that includes a game built just for potential interns), so it’s pretty likely that they do more entry level hiring than what we see now.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Liggett.com
• Liggett Stashower at a Glance
• Liggett Stashower News
• Liggett Stashower’s Multimedia Gallery
• Liggett Stashower’s Intern Blog

What do you think of Ligett Stashower’s website? Are you as wowed as we are?

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

• MLB.com
• Jobs with MLB.com
• Jobs with MLB Teams
• About Major League Baseball
• About MLB.com
• Major League Baseball’s Wikipedia Entry

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

This is a sponsored post. We’ve worked directly with Alcoa to bring you the inside scoop on their top entry-level career opportunities.

My introduction to Alcoa came through the Baseball Express catalog. I was a high school baseball player, and I spent hours poring over the pages dreaming about saving up enough to buy a brand new baseball bat made out of cutting edge materials. The catalog’s copy had me convinced that a bat made from Alcoa’s latest alloy was the key to hitting home runs. Had I spent more time in the batting cage, and less time researching my baseball bat purchase, maybe I would have done more than played Club Baseball in college for a year. Then again, the bat that I finally chose did hit the ball a lot farther than the bats that I had used in previous years. Since you probably had better things to do in high school than read baseball catalogs from cover to cover, you may not be familiar with Alcoa, but you should know that producing aluminum for baseball bats is just a tiny sliver of what they do. It is, however, an excellent example of how Alcoa seems to have a hand in almost everything.

What Does Alcoa Do?

In one word: aluminum. Alcoa’s major cash cow is their Global Flat Rolled Products business, which “offers the widest variety of aluminum plate and sheet in the world.” If you’re using a product made out of aluminum, there’s a good chance that it started out at Alcoa’s Global Flat Rolled Products. Just think of all the cool things that are made from aluminum – baseball bats, beer and soda cans, airplanes, consumer electronics – we could keep going. If you really want to see some of the coolest things that have been made out of aluminum, you should check out Alcoa’s blog posts from the Consumer Electronics Show. The possibilities with aluminum as a material are seemingly endless, and that’s why Alcoa has branched out over the years into an a amazingly diverse array of businesses that include Defense, Plastics, Energy, Recycling, Propulsion, HVAC, and many more. They’re blogging about their work in Recycling and Aerospace, so check those blogs out for a unique look inside Alcoa.

When it comes to researching Alcoa, you could spend weeks learning about the entire company – it’s huge. They have 97,000 employees who work in 34 countries. Your best bet is to focus on the divisions that interest you the most, and learn about them and their specific entry-level opportunities. You may never have considered a job at a major industrial corporation, but you should look closely at Alcoa. It’s likely that they’ll exceed your expectations. For example Alcoa has recently been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies and one of the World’s Most Sustainable Companies. They also send their employees on Earth Watch trips and invite them to blog about their experiences. Pretty cool, huh?

What Can I Do at Alcoa?

Alcoa is a major entry-level employer, and they typically add about 175 new college graduates to their ranks every year. The positions that they hire for are as diverse as the businesses that they operate in, and they have locations all across the country – there’s something for everyone. They’ve worked with us to identify the positions that One Day, One Job readers will be most interested in, and you will find those listed below. They’ve also provided a link directly into their applicant tracking system for students who can’t find a job listing that is well suited for them. If you don’t find anything below, use this link to submit your cover letter and resume for consideration by Alcoa’s college recruiting team. If you look like a good fit, they’ll work with you to find the right position in the company.

We know that Alcoa has a very strong internship program, so we asked the folks at Alcoa what kind of jobs their interns who stay with the company usually take after they graduate from college. We were told that last year’s intern class went into areas like Legal, Electrical Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, and Finance. We were also told that Alcoa counts internships, volunteer work, and other similar activities as years of experience. That means that even if a job listing says that 3 years of experience is required, you shouldn’t be afraid to apply.

Here are Alcoa’s entry-level jobs for new college graduates with the most recently posted listed first:

• ABS Technician (Continuous Improvement/Lean Production/Manufacturing) – Global Primary Products – Point Comfort, TX
• Communications Specialist – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Warrick, IN
• Associate Buyer – Alcoa Corporate – Springdale, AR
• Capital Council Commodity Analyst – Alcoa Wireless Services – Pittsburgh, PA
• NDT Level III – Aerospace Automotive and Commercial Transportation (Howmet Castings) – LaPorte, IN
• Business Analyst I (HRMS) – Alcoa Corporate – Pittsburgh, PA
• Product Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – LaPorte, IN
• Safety Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
• EHS Professional – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Massena, NY
• Tooling/Product Engineer – Aerospace Automotive and Commercial Transportation – Flexible Location
• Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
• Metallurgical Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Winsted, CT
• Electrical Engineer – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Alcoa, TN
• Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
• Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
• Mechanical Engineer – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Warrick, IN
• Metallurgical Engineer – Global Rolled Prod & Hard Alloy Ext – Warrick, IN
• Safety Specialist – Global Primary Products – Wenatchee, WA
• Cost Accountant – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
• Facilities Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – LaPorte, IN
• Reliability Engineer (Power Distribution) – Global Primary Products – Wenatchee, WA
• Sr. Accountant – Engineered Products & Solutions – Torrance, CA
• Product Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
• Project Specialist – Aerospace Automotive and Commercial Transportation (Howmet Castings) – Whitehall, MI
• Process Engineer – Global Primary Products – Rockdale, TX
• Facilities Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
• Senior Treasury Analyst (Global Leasing) – Alcoa Corporate – Pittsburgh, PA
• Safety Coordinator – Engineered Products & Solutions – Hernando, MS
• EHS Engineer (EHS-RD) – Alcoa Technical Center – Alcoa Center, PA
• Mechanical Engineering Technician – Engineered Products & Solutions – Cleveland, OH
• Marketing Analyst – Engineered Products & Solutions – Nashville, TN
• Jr. Business Analyst – Engineered Products & Solutions – Simi Valley, CA
• Project Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Eastman, GA
• Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Eastman, GA
• Facilities Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Whitehall, MI
• Environmental Engineer – Global Primary Products – Wenatchee, WA
• Engineered Products & Solutions – Global Primary Products – Nashville, TN
• Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
• Manufacturing Engineer – Sapa (Alcoa Extrusions) – Morris, IL
• Production Planner – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
• Process Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – LaPorte, IN
• Plant Sales Representative – Engineered Products & Solutions – Dover, NJ
• Manufacturing Engineer – Engineered Products & Solutions – Hampton, VA

If you see something that catches your eye, just click the link, read the description, and apply. They’ll know that you came from One Day, One Job. If you’re intrigued by these jobs, but don’t see anything in your desired field or location, you can still send your resume and cover letter to Alcoa through this online form or you can use their search function to find newly listed opportunities. You may also want to look at Alcoa’s GREA Acquiring Talent Program, which is a Leadership Development Program and has a separate application process.

Thanks to Alcoa for working with us to bring you these excellent entry-level job opportunities. Now go get researching!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Alcoa.com
• Careers at Alcoa
• About Alcoa
• Working at Alcoa
• Profiles of Employees at Alcoa
• Why Alcoa?
• Alcoa’s Career Opportunities for Students (Mostly Internship Related)
• Alcoa’s Businesses
• Alcoa’s Vision and Values
• Alcoa’s Annual Report

What’s your favorite product that’s made out of aluminum? Leave a comment.

We’re trying to figure out what the :: in thunder::tech is all about. All that we can come up with is that it reminds us of the analogies section of the SATs (some of you are probably too young to have experienced that, since the College Board dumped analogies a few years ago); although, the SAT analogies were in the form of:

One Day, One Job : entry-level jobs :: buffalo sauce : wings

If you have a better analogy for us, we’d love to hear from you in the comments. We’d also love to hear from you if you know what the :: in thunder::tech is about. thunder::tech “is a web design shop, ad agency, PR firm, and design & branding studio all rolled into one.” They are an unbelievably fun company to research (but their website is totally distracting, in a good way), and they seem like an awesome place to start a career.

All Play and No Work Makes thunder::tech a Fun Place

Here are 5 things that we really like about thunder::tech:

• They put their softball team first when it comes to hiring
• The counter on their site that includes gems such as “103 Days Since Friday” and “57 Days Since the Milk Expired”
• Their description of the thunder::tech office
• Their tweets
• Their office video (see below – e-mail and feed readers need to click through)

As you can see, the people at thunder::tech not only have a good sense of humor, but they’re actually funny. They also have an awesome website, which you’d hope they would, since web design is a big part of their business. Don’t be surprised if you waste (put to really good use doing research) half an hour on their site. It’s completely engaging, and we’ll be surprised if it doesn’t instantly make you want to work at thunder::tech – even if you don’t have skills or a background relevant to their core businesses. thunder::tech does seem to put a really heavy focus on having fun, but they do actually work sometimes – just look at their amazing portfolio.

thunder::job

thunder::tech is located in Cleveland, OH, and they’re currently looking for Account Manager/Coordinators. They’re also always looking to meet people who excel in design, development, publicity, advertising, and operations. We’re not sure exactly what they have at the entry-level besides Account Coordinator positions, but we’re sure that they’ll find a place for you if you can hit a softball 400 ft. You can find everything that you need to know on thunder::tech’s Jobs page. Their job descriptions are awesome (it’s too bad there’s only one full-time job listed), so read the internship descriptions if you want to be entertained. thunder::tech has an easy online application form, so head over to thunder::tech’s site and start wandering around so that you can convince yourself to apply. The application form is the same for all positions, so you can use it to apply for an unlisted position too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• ThunderTech.com
• Jobs at thunder::tech
• About thunder::tech
• What thunder::tech Does
• thunder::tech’s Portfolio
• thunder::tech News
• @thundertech on Twitter

Did you come up with a better analogy for us? Post it in the comments! Best analogy gets mentioned in a future post.

Do you know how to make any sport better? Just put the word “arena” in front of it! Arena Soccer, arena badminton, arena fishing, arena skydiving… you get the point. Putting “arena” in front of a sport’s name is only second to putting “extreme” in front of it. Well one of the sports that actually works (not necessarily better) in an arena is football. The Arena Football League is putting out a product that is exciting to watch and offers an option for the football junkies who are bored to tears in the offseason. Getting a job in sports can be tough, and getting a job with a team in a major sports league can be near impossible. Sometimes looking to the secondary leagues (sorry AFL) can offer great options.

Arena Entry-Level Job Hunting

If you need an introduction to the Arena Football League, the Wikipedia page is probably a good place to start. You can also check out ArenaBowl.com. The Arena Football League is yet another sports league that uses TeamWork Online to manage its job postings. We like the way TeamWork Online does things, so it should be pretty easy for you to get the scoop on entry-level jobs with a variety of Arena Football League Teams.

One nice feature of searching for jobs with secondary sports league teams is that they often offer locations beyond the major cities that have NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL franchises. Almost all of the entry-level job opportunities with Arena Football League teams have something to do with ticket sales, so if you aren’t good at selling, you may want to sign up for their job notifications and wait for new opportunities to crop up.

Current opportunities with AFL Teams include: Ticket Services Coordinator – San Jose SaberCats (San Jose, CA), Ticket Account Executive – Amarillo Dusters (Amarillo, TX), Inside Sales Representative – Los Angeles Avengers (Los Angeles, CA), Account Executive – Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings (Bossier City, LA), Account Executive – Lubbock Renegades (Lubbock, TX), Ticket Sales Account Executive – Utah Blaze (Salt Lake City, UT), and Communications Manager – Columbus Destroyers (Columbus, OH). The Communications Manager position is the only non-sales position, but it seems to require more experience than the typical new college graduate would have (although the description sounds well suited to an entry-level hire).

Applying online through the TeamWork Online site is easy, so start looking over the jobs with Arena Football League Teams and see if any interest you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• ArenaBowl.com
• Jobs with the Arena Football League
• Wikipedia’s Entry on the Arena Football League

Are you an Arena Football fan?

Considering that it’s July, you probably don’t have hockey on your mind right now, unless, of course, you’re sweltering in a room without air conditioning dreaming of the cool air inside the rink. The offseason is a time for National Hockey League Teams to address their needs, and that isn’t only about the personnel who wear ice skates. It looks to us like summer is a big hiring time with NHL teams, so while most people are focused on baseball and the Olympics, you should get back into that hockey mindset and try to find a job with an NHL Team.

Entry-Level Jobs with the NHL Teams

We’re going to keep the description to a minimum today, because there are so many jobs in so many fields from so many teams. There’s no way that we can generalize about these opportunities, so what we did was we ran through all of the jobs offered by the NHL and its teams and identified all of the positions that look appropriate for new college grads. The NHL’s Jobs site is built on the same job board software that we talked about when we covered the NFL’s entry-level jobs. We generally like it. It’s easy to navigate, and you can apply for the jobs easily online. When we covered the NFL’s jobs, we organized everything by team, but with the NHL we did it by field. Occasionally the league includes its jobs as well as jobs with other closely related organizations, but for the most part you will find entry-level jobs with NHL teams below.

Communications

Public Relations Coordinator – Boston Bruins (Boston, MA)

Creative Content Coordinator – Detroit Red Wings (Detroit, MI)

Manager of Communications – Columbus Blue Jackets (Columbus, Ohio)

Finance and Accounting

Staff Accountant – New Jersey Devils (Newark, NJ)

Staff Accountant – Dallas Stars/Cedar Park Event Center (Cedar Park, TX)

Hockey Operations

Road Tour Staff – New York Rangers (Tarrytown, NY)

Sales and Marketing

Seasonal Coordinator – Anaheim Ducks (Anaheim, CA)

Manager, Membership Development – USA Hockey (Colorado Springs, CO)

Guest Services Specialist – Washington Capitals (Washington, DC)

Game Day Premium Seating Concierge (Part-Time) – Pittsburgh Penguins (Pittsburgh, PA)

Inside Sales Representative – Atlanta Thrashers/Atlanta Spirit LLC (Atlanta, GA)

Ticket Sales Representative – Boston Bruins (Boston, MA)

Inside Sales Representative – Anaheim Ducks (Anaheim, CA)

Account Executive – Dallas Sales Office – Dallas Stars (Dallas, TX)

Inside Sales Representative – New Jersey Devils (Newark, NJ)

Inside Sales Representative – Phoenix Coyotes (Glendale, AZ)

Inside Sales Representative – Washington Capitals (Arlington, VA)

Account Executive, Ticket Sales – Dallas Stars/Cedar Park Event Center (Cedar Park, TX)

Account Executive, Ticket Sales – Los Angeles Kings (Los Angeles, CA)

Inside Sales Representative – Florida Panthers (Sunrise, FL)

Group Sales Account Executive – Florida Panthers (Sunrise, FL)

Technical Services

Assistant Information Services Manager – Tampa Bay Lightning (Tampa, FL)

Videographer / Production Assistant – Philadelphia Flyers (Philadelphia, PA)

The quality of job descriptions on these openings varies based on which team wrote them, but for the most part the NHL teams do a good job of identifying exactly what they’re looking for in candidates. Summer looks like a great time to get a job with the NHL, so get out of the penalty box and start researching.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NHL.com
• Jobs with the NHL and Its Teams
• RSS Feed of Jobs with NHL Teams

I was just reading some articles about some hockey players from Cornell who graduated (or didn’t) with me and how much they’re making in their “entry-level jobs.” I think that they made the right choice.

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

• ShrinersHQ.org
• Careers with Shriners Hospitals
• About Shriners Hospitals
• Shriners Hospitals Facts and Figures
• Shriners Hospitals’ Kids

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

Happy 4th of July! You know we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk about fireworks, so we’re going to take a look at Phantom Fireworks and what kind of job opportunities they have. The fireworks industry is a tough one to be in, because those silly things called laws always seem to get in the way. For instance, my home state of Connecticut recently confiscated half a million dollars’ worth of fireworks from B.J. Alan Company (Phantom Fireworks’ parent company) because the amount of pyrotechnic mixture in the fireworks exceeded the state regulations of 100 grams per item. Talk about raining on someone’s parade – er – fireworks show.

Ooooohhhhh, Ahhhhhhhhhhh

To be honest, most of the job opportunities currently offered by Phantom Fireworks aren’t going to launch (pun intended) your entry-level career, but who else were we going to feature on the 4th? Your college degree probably isn’t going to be put to its best use as a Tent Operator or Cashier, so maybe you should try submitting a resume for an unlisted position. Phantom’s corporate office is in Youngstown, OH and resumes and cover letters can be sent to dmayne@fireworks.com. There is a listing for an Executive Secretary which maybe worth a look for some of you, but we’re hoping that a reader with a background in chemical engineering takes charge and convinces Phantom to hire him or her for a product development job or something cool like that. There have to be some really interesting jobs in the fireworks industry, but, unfortunately, we couldn’t find any listed online for the 4th.

Now go blow some stuff up… if it’s legal in your state. I will be playing with sparklers that contain less than 100 grams of pyrotechnic mixture.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Fireworks.com
• Jobs with Phantom Fireworks
• About Phantom Fireworks
• Phantom Fireworks’ History
• Phantom Fireworks in the News

Have a happy and safe Independence Day – especially if you’re playing with fireworks.

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

• Yelp.com
• Jobs at Yelp
• About Yelp
• Yelp’s Blog
• Yelp on Flickr

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

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

• Pella’s Home Page
• Careers at Pella
• About Pella
• Pella’s Products
• Career Paths at Pella
• Pella’s College Relations Page
• Search for Jobs at Pella
• Pella’s Locations
• Pella’s Careers FAQ

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

When did it become cool for companies to use the term “rock star” in reference to high potential recruits? It seems like everyone these days is looking for a rock star this, or a rock star that. At first, it was cool that employers compared top talent to those who have reached the ultimate level of fame; however, the term has lost it’s edge now that its use has become so widespread. In any case, if you think that you’re a rock star, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a place where you should fit right in.

Do You Belong in the Hall?

An artist becomes eligible for induction to the Rock Hall 25 years after the release of his or her first album, while a “rock star” new hire becomes eligible after only 6 months on the job (joking). Take a look at a list of Rock Hall inductees, and see how you stack up. You can also take a look at this unaffiliated site to see how your favorite artists who aren’t yet eligible are expected to fare. In 1995 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (which is a non-profit) was opened in Cleveland, OH to celebrate the history and culture of rock and roll. Although we haven’t visited, it looks like they’ve put together quite an impressive collection of exhibits; in fact, you’ll notice that all of the pages on their website (except the home page, which we just linked to) has a randomly selected “Spotlight Artifact.” They’ve got some pretty cool stuff!

You Must Have Scored 100% on Entry-Level Job Hero on Expert

The link between success in college and success in the workplace is much like the link between being good at Guitar Hero and being good at actually playing a guitar. Doing one won’t make you much better at the other, but people who excel in one circumstance are more likely to excel in the other too. So what should you have accomplished in college to make you a strong candidate for a job at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum? A background in accounting or music will probably help, but what you really need is a passion for Rock and Roll music.

The link to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Careers page is a bit hard to find as it’s under the More tab of their main navigation, but once you find it, you’ll see that the Rock Hall is offering new college grads two great jobs: Education Instructor and Accounting / Merchandise Assistant (this link goes to a blank page right now, but there’s a description on the main Careers page). Most of the other positions seem pretty high level, but these two are about right for a new grad. Like we said, the description for the Accounting position is missing, but the Education Instructor description has all the details that you’ll need to know.

Applicants need to include an application form with their cover letters and resumes – all of which can be sent to hr@rockhall.org. So if you love music, and think Cleveland is somewhere that you want to live (yes, two posts about Cleveland this week, because as they say, Cleveland rocks – see: Cheezhead), this is a great opportunity for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
• Careers at the Rock Hall
• About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
• The Rock Hall in the Press

We’ve been trying to think up a replacement for the term “rock star” when it comes to recruiting, but so far we’ve drawn blanks. Leave a comment and tell us what the next hot term for top talent will be.

Today, I saw on Twitter that recruiting Blogger and HR SEO extraordinaire, Joel Cheesman, is looking to add a journalist to the Cheezhead team. Yes, we’ve found a new job searching tool here at One Day, One Job. It’s not the most practical thing for college students to use, but we’ve already found a few internships and entry-level job opportunities in a week of use. In case you don’t know, Twitter is a social networking site / time waster that is best explained to college students as a combination of Facebook’s status updates and walls. All messages have to be 140 characters or less, and there’s not much more to it. Finally, the networking part of social networking is paying off! If you use Twitter, you can follow me here.

Cleveland Rocks!

When we saw the Cheez’s tweet (message on Twitter) with a link to the job posting, we asked if he would consider hiring a new college grad, maybe someone who worked for a campus daily, and he said, “Sure.” This is certainly a niche opportunity, but it’s an extraordinary chance to learn from a guy who has used the power of the Internet to put himself at the forefront of his industry. If you have an interest in recruiting, human resources, journalism, and social media, this is a perfect fit. The only catch is that you have to be willing to live in the Cleveland area.

Since most of our readers aren’t too familiar with Cheezhead, here’s the rundown. He’s a search engine optimization pro. He’s one of the top recruiting bloggers. He’s all over new forms of social media – video, blogs, podcasts, Twitter, etc. He sold out and makes a lot of money from advertising on his blog. And he loves ripping on Monster.com. The best way to get to know him is to read his blog and to track his activity across a variety of social media sites.

Most of you probably won’t have any interest in working with the Cheez, but for someone out there this is a dream job. If that’s you, starting doing some research on Joel, and when you apply, tell him that we sent you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Cheezhead.com
• Cheezhead Is Hiring
• About Cheezhead
• Services Offered by Cheezhead
• Cheezhead’s Company HRSEO

Even if this job isn’t for you, you might find that reading Cheezhead gives you new insights into how online recruiting and job search work.

Typically young children are quite realistic about their career aspirations. They want to be firefighters, policemen, and teachers – professions that are in constant, steady demand. The more ambitious children might want a job as a doctor or veterinarian – still steady, but requiring a significant investment in education. It almost seems that as children we’re more realistic about life and careers than we are when we reach adulthood – except those kids who wanted to be astronauts. Since the beginning of the space program, there have only been 321 astronauts selected. Ever. There’s no surefire (or easy) way to become an astronaut – pilots, schoolteachers, doctors, scientist, and engineers have all been astronauts – but if selection as an astronaut is one of your life goals, you need to start preparing now. If you’re not ready for the commitment that it takes to be an astronaut, there are still plenty of entry-level jobs at NASA that will enable you to have a meaningful impact on the space program and NASA’s other endeavors.

NASA is a large government agency with many entry-level jobs, so instead of identifying each job opening, we’re going to guide you through how to their jobs website and help you find the information that you need before you decide to apply for a job. Usually, we complain that companies shortchange job searchers in terms of career related information on their website, but with NASA the problem is one of too much information. Maybe it’s a test to weed out candidates who can’t deal with navigating through complex situations, but we were a bit overwhelmed by NASA’s jobs site. Before you jump in and start looking around the site, you might want to read NASA’s Applicant Guide. It’s audaciously long, but it covers everything you need to know to get a job at NASA. If we left you to navigate the site, it would probably take you quite a while to find the guide, but we think it’s important to reward our loyal readers with shortcuts straight to meaningful content (if you like shortcuts, subscribe to One Day, One Job).

If you read our post about entry-level jobs at the US Forest Service, then you’re aware of the fact that all jobs with the United States government are posted on USAjobs.gov. Since NASA does not accept applications for unspecified positions, you must go through this site and search specifically for NASA jobs. We couldn’t find any information on an application process tailored specifically to entry-level candidates (probably because there isn’t one); however, there is a guide for college students who are seeking employment. There are also lists of occupation types, applicable entry-level pay ranges, and NASA locations to help you determine which jobs you should apply for. NASA also offers a FAQ for students. Like we said, there’s a ton of information.

In addition to NASA’s jobs site, there are a few other sites that are worth mentioning. First is NASA People, which is a site that appears to be targeted towards current NASA employees. It covers almost any question that you could have about what it’s like to work at NASA, so serious job searchers should spend some time browsing this site. Second is the annual ranking of Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, which ranks NASA at fourth. This gives in-depth statistics about what kinds of people are more likely to be happy working at NASA (most employees), and what types of people are less likely to be happy at NASA. It also breaks down the rankings into a number of factors that may or may not be important to you.

Finally, there is this Wired article that details the struggles that NASA is having connecting with young people. The problem is pretty obvious. The space race to put the first man on the moon created an amazing amount of interest in NASA for our parents’ generation, but we have been given technology like the Internet to explore the world that we live in. Many young people don’t see the point in exploring space, when there is so much to discover right at our fingertips. The article includes a presentation that was given to NASA management by some of NASA’s younger employees on how to improve engagement with Generation-Y/Millennials/whatever you want to call us by emphasizing NASA’s continued relevance to the issues that concern our generation. Even people who are not interested in jobs at NASA would do well to read this article as it brings up a lot of important questions about NASA, science, and the workplace. The Wired article ends by pointing to OpenNASA.com, which is a blog by NASA employees. It’s excellent, and as authentic of a resource as you’ll find on what working at NASA is like – especially for someone who is not far removed from college. Although the blog is unofficial, it’s the type of resource that every company could use to improve their recruiting practices.

If you want an entry-level job at NASA, you’ve got a lot of research to do. Get moving!

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at NASA.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NASA.gov
• NASA Jobs Site
• USAjobs.gov (All NASA jobs posted here)
• The NASA Applicant Guide
• NASA Jobs for Students
• NASA’s Locations
• OpenNASA.com

Want an internship at NASA? They have a lot of them, and we’re talking about them at One Day, One Internship.

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

• The Ryan Partnership Home Page
• A Quick Fact Sheet on Ryan Partnership
• PROMO Magazine Article on Ryan Partnership
• Donna’s Promo Talk Blog on Ryan’s Campbell’s Soup Campaign
• Donna’s Promo Talk Blog on Ryan’s Heineken Campaign
• Donna’s Promo Talk Blog on Ryan’s Dove Campaign

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