One Day, One Job » research

Wildlife Conservation Society

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:41:20 +0000

I’m a nut about wildlife. I don’t watch Animal Planet all day or anything, but I get ridiculously excited when I see a new species in the wild. My hope is to one day run into a mountain lion in the wild, at least as long as I’m not being hunted. As fanatical as I am about wildlife, I bet I don’t even come close to the people at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a New York City based non-profit. They were founded in 1895 with a “clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe.” Their first major success was aiding the recovery of American Bison, and now they’re working to “protect many of the world’s iconic creatures here and abroad, including gorillas in the Congo, tigers in India, polar bears in the Arctic, and ocean giants in our world’s amazing seascapes.” Beyond doing that, they also run 5 parks in New York City—the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.

Jobs in the Wild

According to Wildlife Conservation Society’s About page, they’re committed to protecting 25% of the world’s biodiversity. I’m not sure where that number came from, how it’s measured, or what exactly it means, but it sounds like an ambitious goal for a passionate organization. The way that pursues this goal is by focusing on 4 key issues: “climate change; natural resource exploitation; the connection between wildlife health and human health; and the sustainable development of human livelihoods.” With so much on their plate, Wildlife Conservation Society has a lot of job opportunities. You can find all of the information on their Jobs page, where they separate opportunities into New York City Full Time, New York City Seasonal, and Opportunities in the Field. Oddly enough, all of these pages feed into the same job search function. You can narrow down your search by any of the aforementioned categories, or you can just look at all of their job opportunities. You’ll probably want to take an especially long look at the following positions: Development Associate – Operations, Guest Relations Supervisor, Marketing Assistant, Membership Sales Associate, Pathology Technician, Program Assistant – Global Program Development, and Program Coordinator. You can apply for any of these positions online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to any of Wildlife Conservation Society’s parks?

Mars

Willy Franzen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:02:10 +0000

Tomorrow is Halloween, which means that we need to talk about candy today. We’ve already looked at companies like Jelly Belly, The Hershey Company, Charles Chocolates, Vosges, and Just Born Quality Confections. We’ve also discussed jobs at Mars & Co., which is a consulting firm, and not to be confused with Mars, the CPG and candy company. You probably know them best for M&M’s, Snickers, Dove, Milky Way, Twix, and Mars bar; however, they’re also behind Pedigree, Whiskas, Uncle Ben’s, and quite a few other brands. For your sake I hope you only run into the good stuff and not Whiskas or Pedigree during your trick-or-treating. While headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars has locations all across the world. They’re a huge company with a ton of international business, which makes for a great place to gain some experience.

Take a Trip to Mars

It all started in 1911 with butter cream candies in a kitchen in Tacoma, WA. Frank C. Mars and his wife started selling these candies, and now you’d be hard pressed to find a person who has never tasted one of his company’s confections. If you’d like to be part of this true American success story, then you need to check out Mars’ Careers page. They offer a lot of information about their company and what it’s like to work for them, and they even have a separate section for students. It seems that most of the information that they provide is on International careers, but they have a job search function that will let you find what you’re looking for. And since you’re in the trick-or-treating mood, I’m going to leave that up to you—but just so you know, they have job opportunities in areas including Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Logisitcs, Manufacturing, Marketing, Purchasing, Research & Development, & Sales.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite candy from Mars?

Franklin Fuel Cells

Willy Franzen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:41:37 +0000

Whether you think the human race is going to end at the hands of the greenhouse effect or you just don’t like paying 3 bucks a gallon for gas, you likely have a vested interest in alternative energy. There’s a good chance that some time in your lifetime our main energy source will be something other than fossil fuels. Then again, I’m just coming to the realization that I won’t see flying cars in my lifetime. Hopefully I’m wrong about that one. Anyway, there are a ton of companies that are vying to win a big share of the alternative energy market. Many of these are small startups that you’ve never heard of. Their websites are ugly, and they’re usually not located in big cities. You’d never guess it from their appearance, but they’re actually at the forefront of engineering technology. One of these companies is Malvern, PA based Franklin Fuel Cells. Their focus is on “commercializing a unique solid oxide fuel cell (SOFCs) technology that can operate directly on today’s hydrocarbon fossil fuels as well as future fuels such as, biofuels and hydrogen.” I don’t really know what that means, but it sounds pretty cool.

Career Alternatives in Alternative Energy

Franklin Fuel Cells has a few million dollars in venture capital funding, and they’re working on technology that originated at the University of Pennsylvania. It’s hard to say whether they actually have any products, services, or licensing deals to bring in revenue yet, but it’s very clear that their focus is on developing technology that will shape the future. This is a long term play. Franklin Fuel Cells only has about a dozen employees right now, yet they have a few positions that they appear to be looking to fill. Most of the jobs require a graduate degree and at least a few years of experience, but Franklin Fuel Cells’ Jobs page does show an opening for a Test Technician that appears to be suitable for new grads. You can apply by sending a cover letter, résumé, and salary requirements to epaz@arbfc.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think fuel cells will play a big part in our future?

SurveyMonkey

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:06:05 +0000

One of my goals with One Day, One Job is to get more interactive. I’d like to get more feedback from you, the readers, on what you want to see, and I’d also like to use the collective wisdom of thousands of college aged job seekers to develop better content. The best way to do that is through reader surveys, which is why I recently signed up with SurveyMonkey. They’re a Menlo Park, CA (formerly Portland, OR) based “startup” that has been helping people run online surveys for the last decade. While most Internet companies that started in 1999 have since flamed out and most companies started in the 2000s have relied on flashiness to bring in venture capital money, Survey Monkey and its outdated look have been laughing all the way to the bank. By providing a dead simple way for business owners (they’ve worked with more than 80% of the Fortune 100) to collect data, SuveyMonkey has built an insanely successful business.

SurveyMonkey Says…

As TechCrunch reported last month, SurveyMonkey has finally taken on some outside money and started to take growth seriously. They’ve more than doubled their staff over the last year, and they’ve revamped their management team. You won’t find a lot of information about SurveyMonkey online, but you will find a lot of people who have used their software. SurveyMonkey has never seemed to care much for flash or attention. Instead they have used the “Freemium Model” to bring in thousands of paying customers. If you’ve always wanted to work at a web startup, but were wary of the “scene,” then SurveyMonkey might be the right place for you. They have a number of job openings posted, and a few seem suitable for new grads. The most likely is Front-end Engineer, but they also have some positions in Marketing, Product Management, Technical Operations, and User Experience Design that might be work looking at. And if you don’t see anything that suits you, you can always use their online form to apply for an unlisted position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever responded to a SurveyMonkey survey?

Child Trends

Willy Franzen — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:44:08 +0000

Be sure to check out our new contest, Maghound Your Way to a New Job. We’re giving away two one-year subscriptions to an awesome new magazine subscription service that can help you find a job.

Although most people would probably think you were nuts if you told them that you live your life according to research studies, it’s not that far off from what most of us actually do do. We are constantly bombarded with nuggets of information that tell us what’s good for us and what’s bad for us. It’s hard for us not to take to heart these simplified conclusions from actual scientific research. Some of the most publicized research occurs in the areas surrounding child rearing. Child Trends is a non-profit, non-partisan “research center that studies children at all stages of development.” They’re based in Washington, DC and they’re constantly focused on using science to improve the way children are raised. They’ve been around since 1979, so I wouldn’t be surprise if some of their research actually affected the way in which you were raised.

Keeping Up with Child Trends

Child Trends has a number of main research areas including Child Poverty, Child Welfare, Early Childhood Development/School Readiness, Education, Fatherhood & Parenting, Health, Indicators of Child Well-being, Marriage & Family, Teen Sex & Pregnancy, Youth Development, and Children of Immigrants. They pretty much cover everything having to do with children. All of this research is then synthesized into LINKS (Lifecourse Interventions to Nurture Kids Successfully), which is essentially a guide to what works in child rearing—I guess living your life according to the research isn’t all that crazy. If you want to be a part of developing this kind of research, then you should check out Jobs at Child Trends. Although they don’t have any explicitly entry level positions posted, there is a Research Scientist job for someone who has relevant graduate education. They accept applications in a variety of ways, so check out all of the details on their Jobs page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you live by the research?

U.S. Department of Labor

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:02:13 +0000

Having graduated from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, I spent a lot of time learning about work, employment, and labor issues during my undergraduate days. While most people think that Labor Day is all about the end of summer (sorry!) and not being able to wear white anymore, my school ensured that I was made more aware of the history of Labor Day. Oddly enough, ILR didn’t give us the day off from classes, but they did excuse us from classes if we went to a big Labor Day celebration with speakers from major unions. If that sounds like something that would interest you, then maybe you’ll want to check out jobs with the U.S. Department of Labor. There isn’t a more suitable employer to feature on Labor Day than our Federal Government’s Cabinet department responsible for promoting “the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States.”

A Labor of Love

Maybe I’m unique in being fascinated by the world of work, but I think that the issues surrounding employment and labor are going to continue to play a huge role in our economic (and quite possibly cultural) history. The Federal Government has built itself a significant role in these issues through the Department of Labor, and with nearly 20,000 employees I don’t think the DOL is going anywhere in the near future. The scope of what the DOL does for our country’s workers includes:

improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits, helping employers find workers, strengthening free collective bargaining, and tracking changes in employment, prices, and other national economic measurements.

This creates all kinds of cool jobs for people who are interested in employment issues. From Statistician to Industrial Hygienist, the range of positions at the Department of Labor is extremely wide. Since you most likely have the day off, you’ll get the pleasure of browsing through the DOL’s Job openings yourself, since there are too many for me to list here. Before you do that, though, you may want to check out the DOL’s Reference Guide for College Students entitled Starting Your Career at the U.S. Department of Labor. It’s not flashy, but it will walk you through the process of getting a job at the DOL.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How are you celebrating Labor Day?

NAVTEQ

Willy Franzen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:35:14 +0000

Before my fishing trip to Canada last week, I ordered a couple of books from Amazon for some pleasure reading. One of those books was Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us). I bought it on the recommendation of Ben Casnocha, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the first 200 or so pages (I’ll finish it soon). The book has taught me more about driving than I’ll ever want to know, and it also put me on to NAVTEQ. They are headquartered a half mile away from me here in Chicago (with lots of international offices too) and “a world leader in premium-quality digital map data and content.” One of those premium map features is traffic tracking, which is why they were mentioned in the book. By informing drivers with up to date traffic maps in their vehicles, they not only make driving easier for their users, but they’re also mitigating traffic jams in real time by diverting drivers.

Take a Shortcut to a Job with NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ is the trusted supplier of map data for vehicle navigation systems, mobile devices, web sites, fleet management systems, government systems, and more. That means that you’ve almost certainly used NAVTEQ’s maps to navigate somewhere at some point. They’re a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nokia, but they’re pretty big all by themselves—they have more than 4,000 employees across the world. They also appear to do a significant amount of College Recruiting as their College Recruiting page indicates. They have a calendar for all of their on campus recruiting events and they encourage students who can’t attend those events (from any school) to send a résumé to careers-corp9@navteq.com. Their entry level opportunities seem to be focused in two areas: Research & Development and Accounting; however, they’re a huge company that does a lot more than those two things. Their job search function isn’t very good, so I’d recommend sticking with e-mail or an on campus event if you want to work for NAVTEQ. Be sure to check out their links on Why You Should Work at NAVTEQ, NAVTEQ’s Culture, and Employee Testimonials too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you read Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)?

The Harmony Institute

Willy Franzen — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:39:26 +0000

Have you ever realized that you were being marketed to? I don’t mean watching tv and seeing an ad that makes you want to buy something. I mean getting a creepy feeling like somebody is watching you, but instead they’re getting inside your head to sell you on something. The beauty of marketing is that you usually don’t realize it’s happening, but when you do, it’s scary. You wouldn’t normally associate this kind of thing with a non-profit, but when I came across The Harmony Institute, I was both intrigued and freaked out. They’re a New York City based organization that uses “cutting-edge scientific research with film, television and new media experiences to help [their] clients deliver narratives that modify behavior and influence change.” Is it just me, or does that sound a little weird?

The Harmony Institute Will Change You

At first glance The Harmony Institute sounds like some creepy conspiracy theory gone non-profit, but when you think about it, it makes sense. The non-profit world is full of great causes that people don’t really believe in. Using science-based marketing techniques to influence the way people think is the only way to get buy in from the general public on big ideas like environmentalism, ending poverty, and improving education. By using entertainment to deliver well-crafted messages, The Harmony Institute can help other organizations achieve their causes. This is mainly based on using “unique methodology in researching and testing the impact of behavioral science on consumers of mass media storytelling.” If you’re intrigued by this, then you should check out Jobs at The Harmony Institute. They don’t have any full-time openings posted right now, but they say that they’re looking “for motivated, multi-disciplinary individuals who believe that social change can occur through new and engaging venues.” You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to info@harmony-institute.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about The Harmony Institute?

Eduventures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:02:37 +0000

When I came across Eduventures during my daily search for exciting employers to tell you about, I knew that I had heard of them before. It took me a second to figure out where, but a search through past e-mails showed me that someone I knew who used to work in Career Services at a major university had moved on to a new position with Eduventures, which is located in Boston, MA. That makes perfect sense because Eduventures is “the industry leader in research and consulting for higher education institutions.” People who are familiar with the inner workings of different university functions are essential to Eduventures’ being able to do their job. And what is that exactly? They help higher education institutions develop and adopt best practices through membership research programs and consulting services.

Getting a Job Doesn’t Mean Leaving Higher Ed

As you have probably experienced, most colleges and universities have a proprietary way to do everything. There’s a tendency to develop a new solution instead of looking outside to see what others are doing. Eduventures helps their clients (all 300+ of them) take a look outside of their own ivory tower and get a feel for how they can improve in the areas of Academic Leadership, Continuing and Professional Education, Development, Enrollment Management, Online Higher Education, and Schools of Education. If you love the world of higher education or you get frustrated by it and want to make it better, a job with Eduventures might be worth considering. If you head over to their Careers page you can check out testimonials from employees and see what it’s like working at Eduventures. Obviously, you can also check out their job opportunities. They don’t make it explicit how much experience is needed for the jobs that they have posted, but it seems possible that recent grads with the right background and experience could be a good fit for their Sales Executive, Research Analyst, and Contract Business Research Consultant positions. The application method varies by positions, so be sure to check out the specific job descriptions for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think higher ed has a lot to gain from consulting services?

Green Seal

Willy Franzen — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:25:07 +0000

Whether or not we’re really going through a green revolution is up for debate, but I can assure you that Marketing departments across the world are taking advantage of the public’s appetite for “green” products. Unfortunately, “green” doesn’t really mean anything. To you it might mean one thing, and to me it might mean another. We assume that something that is labeled or advertised as green will be better for the environment, but how do we really know? That’s where Green Seal comes in. They are Washington, DC based “independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and service.” They do this by certifying products that meet their Green Seal standards. By having an independent third party set standards, consumers can actually make informed choices about the products they buy (as long as they’re Green Seal certified, of course).

Are You Green Seal Certified?

There’s a lot that goes into the certification process, and there are plenty of other organizations and businesses that work in the green certification field. The reason that Green Seal is different is that their “standard-setting process is open, collaborative, fair, and completely transparent.” There are no trade secrets. That means that even the most environmentally conscious customers will be able to know if Green Seal meets their personal standards. If Green Seal meets your personal standards, you may want to think about a job with them. I couldn’t find a Jobs page on their website, but they do post open positions on Idealist. Right now they have two opportunities that appear to be suitable for new grads: Environmental Scientist and Environmental Engineer. The jobs sound pretty similar, and they require a strong science background, so check out the full job descriptions and see if you’re the right fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you try to buy certified products? Which certifications?

Wize

Willy Franzen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:48:09 +0000

Buying a product online is easy when you know which specific brand and model you want, but finding the microwave with the largest capacity or an LCD TV that swivels isn’t always so easy. There’s so much information out there on products, that finding specific details that are important to you (but not everyone else) can be frustrating. Wize is a San Mateo, CA based startup that is trying to make online comparison shopping more intelligent. If you’re buying on price, you already have plenty of product search engines that will make your decision easy for you, but who’s going to tell you which washing machine is most water efficient? That’s what Wize is all about. They’re scouring the Internet for all of the information that is buried in reviews and making it easily searchable so that you can choose the right product for you. It’s still in its early stages, but it seems like a pretty cool approach to e-commerce.

Be Wize

Comparison shopping, product reviews, and e-commerce are some of the most mature markets online. There are sites in the space that have been around since the 90s, so it’s surprising to see an upstart like Wize taking on the market. With that said, they seem to have taken a very different approach to assisting online shoppers, and they’re building a business in a space with a very easy path to monetization (affiliate marketing). I’m relatively impressed with the search product that they have so far, and they seem to have a decent amount of traffic according to Compete.com. They don’t have any job listings on their site, but they do have a couple positions posted on Startuply. One is definitely an internship, while the other is a job/internship. They’re looking for an entry level person to help them in Data Management / Marketing. It sounds like a pretty cool gig, and you can apply online, so get after it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Wize?

Mattel

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

Take a second and think of your favorite toy growing up. Was it a Barbie? Matchbox Car? American Girl Doll? View-Master? Magic 8 Ball? Rock’em Sock’em Robots? Hot Wheels? Polly Pocket? Even if it wasn’t one of those, there’s a good chance that it was made by Mattel. I’m sure that you’ve heard of the El Segundo, CA headquartered toy company before, but I bet you never realized just how many toys they actually make. Not only do they have some of the biggest toy names in the world, but they’re also behind all of Fisher-Price’s toys. If you always wanted to be like Tom Hanks in Big and work for a toy company, Mattel is your chance to live every child’s dream.

All Work and No Play Makes You a Dull Job Seeker

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What was your favorite Mattel toy?

STATS

Willy Franzen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:41:20 +0000

I love statistics—especially when applied to sports—so it should be no big surprise that some of my favorite blogs include The Wage of Wins Journal, Sabernomics, and FanGraphs. Surprisingly, the statistical knowledge found on the best blogs these days is often far ahead of what you will find in the front offices of many major sports teams. The reason for the recent advancement in statistical sports knowledge of laypeople has a lot to do with how easy the Internet and computers have made it to collect and analyze in-depth data. A big reason that sports data is available is because of Northbrook, IL based STATS. Their story is pretty cool. They were founded in 1981 and “began as a grass roots operation tracking baseball in a unique, esoteric fashion.” Now, they’re “the world’s leading sports information, content and statistical analysis company.” I guess that numbers worked out for them.

Do Your STATS Match Up?

If you’re a sports stats geek like me, you’re probably already dying for a job with STATS. As you look more closely at the company, I think that your excitement will grow. They couldn’t be a bigger deal when it comes to sports statistics—they cover an insane number of sports, and their clients include the NFL, the NBA, CBS Sports, Google, Yahoo!, and quite a few other impressive names. So what about jobs at STATS? There are quite a few opportunities, and plenty of them appear to be suitable for new college grads. Current entry level positions include Part-Time Paralegal, Soccer Optical Tracking Position – Major League Soccer, Database Administrator, Computer Programmer, Data Collectors (Golf, Football, Baseball, or Soccer), and STATS Reporter. All of these jobs look awesome, so apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to jobs@stats.com (a few positions require you to apply in a different way, so be sure to check out all of the Job Listings first).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

And if you ever wondered about proper sports grammar, you need to check out STATS’ Style Sheet.

CB Richard Ellis

Willy Franzen — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:55:21 +0000

Considering the fact that I drove by a house in Michigan that was on sale for $12,500 just a few days ago, it’s pretty obvious that the real estate market still has some rebounding to do. There has been a lot of hurt in the industry over the past couple years, but maybe things are looking up. A friend who works at CB Richard Ellis let me know about a position that they’re trying to fill, and after I checked their Careers page I saw that they’re hiring for more than 200 positions. Considering the fact that they just went through a round of layoffs at the end of last year, I’d say all those job postings is probably a good sign for where the company (and maybe the economy?) is going. If you have heard of CB Richard Ellis before, you should know that they’re headquartered in Los Angeles and they’re “the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2008 revenue).” Clearly $12,500 houses aren’t a problem for them.

Be with CBRE

CB Richard Ellis is a huge company. Not only are they world’s revenue leader in commercial real estate, but they also happen to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 employees and 300 offices. That makes finding an entry level job with them a little bit intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start, especially when they don’t have anything tailored to recent grads on their site. They do have a Career Paths section on their site, but it only allows you to self-select as Experience Professional or MBA. Neither of those pages offers much information that would be helpful to a recent grad. This means that we’re going to have to dive into the dreaded job search function to find entry level jobs at CBRE.

Unfortunately, CBRE’s job search function doesn’t let us link to specific jobs, and there are 200+ jobs to wade through. CBRE does have jobs all across the country, so getting ultra-specific with your query still should turn up a few results that might interest you. CBRE’s job areas include Administrative/Operations, Business Development, Client Services, Commercial Real Estate, Executive Management, Facilities Management, Finance/Accounting, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing/PR/Communications, Project Management, Property Management, Purchasing/Procurement, Research Management, Risk Management, Sales/Brokerage, Technology, and Transaction Management, so there really is something for nearly everyone. There’s also the position that my friend told me about: Marketing Coordinator (.doc file) in Woodbury, NY. You can apply for this specific position by sending your cover letter and résumé to joscelyn.wippern@cbre.com. For other positions you can apply online through CBRE’s Applicant Tracking System, or you can apply through e-mail to cbreresume@cbre.com. If you still have questions about the CBRE hiring process you can check out their Careers FAQ.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about CBRE?

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

Willy Franzen — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:28:02 +0000

There are countless celebrities who support charitable causes. There are many who throw their full support behind a single organization; however, few celebs are as personally invested in their charitable work as Michael J. Fox is. Why is he so invested? Because his life is on the line. He is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, “a degenerative disease of the brain that often impairs motor skills, speech, and other functions.” If you’ve seen Michael J. Fox on tv lately, you’ve seen what Parkinson’s does to the human body. It’s a tragic disease that will hopefully be cured due to the work of the New York City based Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. As an accomplished actor and someone who is living with Parkinson’s, Michael J. Fox is the perfect person to lead the fight against the disease.

Outfox Parkinson’s

The MJFF’s mission is pretty simple; they are “dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease within the decade through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today.” The Fox Foundation has already funded $142 million in Parkinson’s research, but they’re clearly not satisfied stopping there. To accomplish that, they need a top notch staff, so it’s no big surprise that they’re hiring. If you head over to the MJFF’s Jobs page you’ll see 5 open positions. 3 of them require significant previous work experience, but the other 2 seem well suited to new college grads—Grant Administrator – Research Programs and Development Assistant. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to foxjob@michaeljfox.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research?

Root Cause

Willy Franzen — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:51:30 +0000

If there’s one criticism that I often hear about the non-profit world, it’s that they’re plagued by inefficiency. It’s certainly not true across the board, but taking the profit motives out of an organization can certainly create efficiency issues. Additionally, things like organizational structure, egos, and political agendas can disrupt for-profits and non-profits alike. Root Cause is a Cambridge, MA based non-profit strategy consulting service that “envisions a world in which the public, private, and nonprofit sectors work together to invest and re-invest in the most efficient, effective, and sustainable solutions to social problems.” In other words, they want to find the absolute best way to solve the world’s social problems, and then work with social innovators and social impact investors to make things happen.

The Root to Success

Beyond consulting, Root Cause has 5 other initiatives: Knowledge Sharing, Social Impact Research, InnerCity Entrepreneurs, Social Innovation Forum, and Public Innovators. Each of these initiatives is focused on achieving Root Cause’s values:

Focus above all else on the social problem being addressed, regardless of organizational structure (government, for-profit, nonprofit), ego, or political agenda.

Take a rigorous, thoughtful, and creative approach to work that integrates a broad range of perspectives.
Strive to integrate practice, applied research, and public policy.

Take an entrepreneurial, goal-oriented approach to work, with a commitment to integrity, diversity in all forms, and learning by listening, acting, and on-going self improvement.

Collaborate to support new and existing systems, institutions, and infrastructures in order to provide all types of organizations with access to the information, capital, and tools they need to develop enduring solutions to social problems.

It’s a refreshing approach that sounds like it has the potential to truly change the way non-profit work is done. If you agree, you’ll probably want to check out Root Cause’s Jobs page as well as their job postings on Idealist. Right now they have an opening posted on Idealist (but not on their Jobs page) for for a Consulting Research Associate. It looks like a fantastic opportunity for a new or recent college grad. If you’re interested, send a cover letter and resume to Abby Fung at afung@rootcause.org by June 19, 2009.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Root Cause’s philosophy?

Public Library of Science

Willy Franzen — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:07:27 +0000

Most scientific literature isn’t what I’d call an easy read, so I wouldn’t be surprised if most of you aren’t beating down the doors to get your hands on the newest research papers. Unless you are a big consumer of research literature, then you probably don’t care much about the openness of scientific and medical publishing, but you should. Open sharing of information can significantly promote innovation, and who can argue against wanting more advances in science and medicine? The Public Library of Science is all about open sharing, as they are a San Francisco, CA based “nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world’s scientific and medical literature a public resource.” They were founded in 2000, and since then they’ve been pushing for scientific and medical journals that “are immediately available online, with no charges for access and no restrictions on subsequent redistribution or use.”

Open Up Your Job Search

The Public Library of Science has three main goals that are hard to argue against:

Open the doors to the world’s library of scientific knowledge by giving any scientist, physician, patient, or student – anywhere in the world – unlimited access to the latest scientific research.
Facilitate research, informed medical practice, and education by making it possible to freely search the full text of every published article to locate specific ideas, methods, experimental results, and observations.
Enable scientists, librarians, publishers, and entrepreneurs to develop innovative ways to explore and use the world’s treasury of scientific ideas and discoveries.

If you love science and think the open source movement is one of the coolest recent social movements, then a job at the Public Library of Science would be a perfect fit for you. You can check out all of their available opportunities on their Jobs page; however, none of the jobs currently posted are explicitly entry level. Depending on what kind of things you’ve done up to this point, the Production Editor and Agile Quality Engineer positions might be worth checking out. You can apply for a job at the Public Library of Science by sending a resume and cover letter to jobs@plos.org with the job title as the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of the Public Library of Science’s push for openness?

CPWR

Willy Franzen — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:49:34 +0000

For most of the jobs that we feature here, safety isn’t much of an issue. You may be concerned about job security given the current economic conditions, but not many of the jobs that we cover will put you in harms way—at least as long as you don’t tip back too far in your desk chair. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of dangerous jobs out there, and many of them are in the construction industry. It’s doubtful that the business of building things will ever be completely safe as long as humans are doing it, but CPWR is doing its best to improve safety in the construction industry. Their acronym used to stand for The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, but now it seems that their full name is The Center for Construction Research and Training. They are a Silver Spring, Maryland based non-profit organization (despite their .com web address) that was created by the AFL-CIO in 1990, and they’ve become “an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry.”

Work Safely

CPWR’s mission is pretty simple, they have a “common vision of a world in which workers acting collectively, their union representatives, employers, government, users of construction services, academia, and the public work together to prevent occupational fatalities, injuries, and illnesses and continuously improve working conditions throughout the construction industry.” They focus on working with all stakeholders to create win-win situations through research, since there’s still a lot that we can learn about how to make construction safer. If safety research sounds like something that you could dig into, you’re in luck. CPWR has a job/internship for you. They have the same position listed as both on Idealist, and it’s for a Research Assistant. It requires a background in “computer science, statistics, economics, mathematics, public health, or other quantitative social sciences,” and you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to sdong@cpwr.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about workplace safety?

The School for Field Studies

Willy Franzen — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:36:13 +0000

We all know it; studying abroad can be a total joke. I know plenty of kids who partied in a different country for a semester and managed to get college credit for it. Fortunately, there are plenty of study abroad programs that focus more on the “study” than the “abroad.” One of those is The School for Field Studies. Now, you may be skeptical when you see their list of locations sounds more like your top 5 vacation destinations (Costa Rica, Turks & Caicos, Kenya, Mexico, and Australia), but look at all of their student accomplishments. The School for Field Studies is “the nation’s oldest and largest environmental study abroad program,” and it combines “hands-on environmental studies with scientific research to develop sustainable solutions to critical environmental problems.”

Work in the Field

While some students are drinking their way across Spain, The School for Field Studies’ students are getting works like Wood density predicts plant damage and vegetative recovery rates caused by cyclone disturbance in tropical rainforest tree species in North Queensland, Australia or Efficacy of a starch-iodide swab technique to detect the illegal use of bleach in a Spiny Lobster published. Those topics may seem way out of left field to you, but I’ll bet that you’ll be happy they did that research when you’re on vacation and order for lobster for dinner. Or would you rather eat a lobster that was poisoned with bleach? Exactly. The School for Field Studies sounds like a really cool institution, which is why you might want to consider a job with them. They have a few current openings that could be suitable for new grads including Safety Program Specialist at their headquarters in Salem, MA and Student Affairs Manager at their Center for Rainforest Management Studies in Australia. You can apply for a job with SFS by sending a cover letter and resume to jobs@fieldstudies.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you study abroad?

Right To Play

Willy Franzen — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:42:08 +0000

You know all those rights that you learned about in school? All that stuff in the Constitution. I’m sure it’s important to you now, but how important was it to you as a kid? Unless you were a unique kid, you just wanted to play. That’s why Right To Play is such an interesting non-profit. They’re “an international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world.” Play may seem trivial to many, but Right To Play has found that it’s often the key to opening up those other rights that many of us take for granted. They’re a Toronto based organization with a New York City presence, and they’re currently working in 23 countries: Azerbaijan, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Peru, occupied Palestinian territory, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and Zambia.

A Job That Is Fun and Games

Although working among “the most marginalized including girls, people living with disability, children affected by HIV and AIDS, street children, former child combatants and refugees” doesn’t sound like very much fun, Right To Play does its best to change that. Part of being human is having fun as a child, and Right To Play aims to ensure that’s a reality for all children. The organization has great stories about the work that they do. They’ve done a handball clinic in Jordan and put on a Peace Dream Cup in Liberia. If you’re looking for the intersection of sport and philanthropy, this is it. Right now, Right to Play’s Jobs page has a number of openings posted. None are explicitly entry level, but I think that you should take a look at the Grand Writer and Research Coordinator and the Development Coordinator positions. To apply, you can send a cover letter and resume to usa@righttoplayusa.org with the job title in the subject line before June 1st.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Right To Play?

Sunbelt Software

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:08:59 +0000

As you may or may not know, I’m an Apple guy; in fact, I’ve been an Apple guy for close to 20 years (I’m 24). I’ve watched the Microsoft vs. Apple rivalry unfold over the years, and even though the rivalry isn’t nearly as bitter as it used to be, I still enjoy taking jabs at Microsoft whenever I get a chance. You can call it a character flaw if you want. Anyway, the reason that I bring this up is that over the years, Microsoft has enabled a cottage industry (and by cottage I mean insanely huge) for people and companies who fix their products. The antivirus industry alone is worth billions of dollars, and that’s just one example. That’s where Clearwater, FL based Sunbelt Software comes in. They’re an antivirus software company that has Microsoft to thank for much of their success. They’ve been around since 1994 and they’re a member of the Inc. 5000. Seriously, they need to send Microsoft some sort of thank you gift.

Take a Trip to the Sunbelt

I know that those of you who aren’t into software are probably getting sick of hearing about all of the software related jobs are available, but that’s what the job market looks like. Software development skills are still in extremely high demand, and many of the people who are landing jobs are landing those jobs because of their software skills. Luckily, Sunbelt Software’s jobs aren’t exclusively software related, but most of their opportunities require strong programming skills. The cool thing about these jobs is that they’re different from many of the other software jobs out there. The job titles say it all: Junior Malware Researcher and Malware Removal Specialist. Those aren’t your typical software jobs. Other seemingly entry level openings include: Business Support, Software Developer, Office Administrator, Consumer Technical Support, and Data Mining Researcher (not a programming job). If working for one of Tampa Bay’s Best Places to Work sounds good to you, then you can apply by sending your resume in Microsoft Word or plain text format to hr@sunbelt-software.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think that I’m too harsh on Microsoft?

kgb

Willy Franzen — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:47:46 +0000

Have you always wanted to be a secret agent? Well here’s a mission, if you choose to accept it: try to land a job with New York City based kgb. No, I’m not talking about Russia’s version of the CIA. I’m talking about “the world’s largest independent provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services.” Formerly known as INFONXX, kgb is in the business of making information easily available. If you’ve seen their commercials, then you’re probably most familiar with their “Ask Us Anything” service. I personally think it’s for lazy people, but that’s because I’m a huge advocate for developing your own research skills. If getting the answer to your question is worth 50 cents, then that’s cool, but I’m gonna Google it myself. The good news is that kgb’s business goes well beyond charging lazy people who need their stupid questions answered.

Join the kgb

Now, if you want to get a job with kgb, you’re going to have to do some serious sleuthing (or maybe you could just spend 50 cents to ask via text what kind of jobs they have available). It’s not that they’re all secretive, being the kgb and all, they’re just kind of disorganized with their recruitment message. On the main kgb.com site, the only prominent link is for their work at home opportunities (they title it “become an agent”). These jobs basically entail answering questions for a cut of the 50 cents, so that’s probably not what you’re looking to do with that college degree that you just got. Hidden in this section is a link to kgb_USA’s Careers page. Here you’ll find some more interesting opportunities. They’re sorted by location, so you’ll have to check each location to see all the jobs. They have Customer Service Representative positions in San Antonio, TX; Lubbock, TX; and Hawaii. Additionally, they have jobs in Database Administration and Accounts Receivable in Bethlehem, PA. That’s not it, though. There are also jobs with kgb web in New York City posted on Startuply. These include positions like Developer of Data, Master Ruby Developer, and Usability Expert. As you can see, jobs with kgb are kind of all over the place. How you apply will depend on which positions you’re applying for, so show off your research skills if you want to land a job with kgb.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used kgb?

Wolfram Research

Willy Franzen — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:49:42 +0000

If you’re an Internet geek like me, then you’ve probably noticed all of the buzz around Wolfram|Alpha. Some have dubbed it a “Google killer,” but as far as I can tell, they’re way off the mark. They’re wrong because Wolfram|Alpha isn’t a search engine – it’s a knowledge engine. The goal is “to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone.” The concept is kind of hard to grasp until you try it, but once you see how it works, I think that you’ll be impressed. So, who is behind Wolfram|Alpha? Wolfram, of course! They’re based in Champaign, IL, and they’re “one of the world’s most respected software companies–as well as a powerhouse of scientific and technical innovation.” They’re the company behind Mathematica – a software package that excels in ” computation, modeling, simulation, visualization, development, documentation, and deployment.” I’ve never had the pleasure of using it, but I know math teachers who think it’s pretty awesome.

Join a Powerhouse

From what I can tell, Wolfram is about as academic as a company can get. They use their expertise in computer science to create amazing tools that help smart people do their jobs and research better. Yet, Wolfram’s ambitions go beyond that. This Wolfram|Alpha thing seems to be a well received attempt at going mainstream, and it’s only in its early stages. You have to love a company that is constantly working to make people smarter and more effective, which is why you should consider jobs with Wolfram Research. They don’t have specific job openings listed, but they are constantly looking for people in the following areas:

Algorithm Development
Software Engineering
Financial Engineering
Image and Signal Processing
Control Systems
Geospatial Information Systems
Instrument Control
Experimental Data Analysis
Statistics
User Interface Development
Applications Development
Software Quality Assurance
Technical Support
Technical Marketing
Business Development
Project Management
International Business Development
Special Projects
Mathematica Programming
Information Technology
Customer Relations
Educational Outreach
Technical Writing
Sales
Scientific Business Development
Technology Licensing

There’s a single online application form for all of these positions, and it’s really in-depth. So, if Wolfram Research already has you fascinated and “you’re clear-thinking, pragmatic, and energetic about getting things done well,” then go ahead and apply ASAP. Additionally, Wolfram Research has some Science and Technology R&D Fellowships that you may want to check out. Beyond Wolfram’s headquarters in Champaign, IL, they also have locations in Boston, MA; Oxford, United Kingdom; Paris, France; and Tokyo, Japan.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Wolfram|Alpha’s capabilities?

Howcast

Willy Franzen — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:46:23 +0000

When you don’t know how to do something (like find a job), what do you do? You probably head straight to Google and look for an online resource to tell you how to do what you want to do. It didn’t used to be that easy. You’d either have to ask someone, or buy a book (if you could figure out which book to buy), or figure it out yourself. Answering “how to” questions wasn’t easy, but now it is because of websites like New York City’s Howcast. Whether you head straight to Howcast or you find their answer to your question through Google, you’ll be delighted to find what they call “the best how to videos on the web.” Howcast covers nearly every topic you can imagine – from How to Adopt a Child to How to Psyche Out the Competition and – more relevant for our purposes – from How to Deal with a Smelly Coworker to How to Dress for a Job Interview. Each topic has both a video and a Wiki with written instructions, and the content is either user submitted or Howcast produced (it’s generally very high quality content). Oh yeah, and Howcast was named one of Time’s 50 Best Websites of 2008. That’s pretty cool.

How Do I Get an Entry Level Job?

Howcast answers a lot of important questions, but they completely missed the boat on one. Why the heck don’t they have a howcast on how to get a job at Howcast? It would be an awesome employment branding move, and it would really liven up their Jobs page. Unfortunately, it looks like you’re going to have to figure out how to get a job with them the old fashioned way – by showing initiative. That means you should check out their job postings, and see what you like. You’ll probably be most interested in their Writer positions. They sound like awesome jobs, and although they’ll start out as full-time freelance positions, there’s potential to make the jobs permanent. The position sounds perfect for a new grad except for the “At least 5 years of experience editing” part at the end of the job description. The reason we’re still telling you about these jobs is that we saw them posted on an entry level job board, and there was no mention of the experience requirement there. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume with a subject line of “Writer” to jobs+writer@howcast.com. Also, it appears that these positions are available in San Francisco as well as New York City. Additionally, there is a Manager of Search Engine Optimization & Research Analytics position that probably isn’t suitable for new grads, but it could be a good fit for the right recent grad. You can apply for this one by sending a resume with cover letter to jobs+seo@howcast.com. And if you do end up landing one of these jobs, your first order of business should be that How to Get a Job at Howcast video.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Howcast?

Kayak

Willy Franzen — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:32:15 +0000

Last week we took a look at Priceline’s Jobs, and since travel is always fun, we’re going to check out Kayak today. They’re a travel search engine that was started by founders of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia who decided to partner up into a “travel dream team” and build a “better online travel experience.” Unlike most travel sites, Kayak doesn’t sell anything to travelers. They’re an aggregator just like Google that scours the web for the best travel deals and returns them to you. What Kayak does sell is advertising. Just like how Google has “Sponsored Results,” Kayak integrates advertising with its search results. You can try to describe the business model with fancy words, but it’s really all about lead generation. Kayak, like Priceline, is based out of Norwalk, CT, which I find pretty intriguing. I wonder if there’s any particular reason that it’s beneficial for an online travel company to located in Norwalk.

Hop in the Kayak

After spending some time checking Kayak out, it seems to me that their big thing is simplicity. Using their search engine is pretty darn simple, and it also shows in how they express their corporate identity. For instance, Kayak’s About page isn’t particularly short, but it does a fantastic job of explaining who they are and what they do in plain English. I also really like what they’ve done with their Team page. This simplicity continues into Kayak’s Jobs page, which consists of a few bullet points on why you should work at Kayak in addition to a simple list of jobs. The job descriptions are also straightforward and get to the point. They have a number of Sales positions available; however, they seem to require a decent amount of experience. What intrigued me were the SEO Product Manager/Analytics Researcher (Concord, MA) and Search Marketing Analyst (France). These aren’t straight up entry level jobs, but if you’ve spent your college years learning (most likely self taught) about search and online marketing, then you might be the perfect fit. You can apply for all of Kayak’s jobs by e-mail, but the address depends on which position you’re apply for, so check out the individual job descriptions for more details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Kayak to find travel deals?

Gravity Tank

Willy Franzen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:14:25 +0000

If you Google “gravity tank,” one result tells you that “A simple, inexpensive gravity tank in a swine manure liquid-solid separation process will help producers control hog odors.” Another says that in a rooftop water gravity tank the gravity pressure is .434 times the height of the bottom of the tank from the fixture in feet. The Gravity Tank that we’re looking for is very different. It’s a Chicago based innovation consulting firm that combines research, strategy, and design to push their clients in new directions. Their staff consists of “anthropologists, former architects, filmmakers, engineers, graphic designers, industrail designers, MBAs, quant researchers, professors, brand strategists, and more.” They’re small, with only 35 employees, but they’ve already some very cool work with some very big names.

Get Pulled In by the Gravity Tank

As Gravity Tank puts it: “Companies call us when they want to enter new markets, reinvigorate existing brands or redefine their customer experience. They don’t want business as usual. They want meaningfully different.” If you have the same feeling about your job searching – wanting “meaningfully different” – then you need to check out Gravity Tank. I’m always fascinated by innovation consulting firms, as they look like some of the coolest places to work in the world. I wish that I could scatter links to Gravity Tank’s site throughout this post to show how cool they are, but their site is entirely Flash based, which means no links. Actually, we can link to some of their job descriptions because they’ve posted them in PDF (and they’re some of the best designed job descriptions that I’ve ever seen). Gravity Tank is currently looking for a Motion Designer and a Receptionist / Event Planner. Both positions have some work experience requirements, but they still look they might be of interest to new and recent grads. Additionally, Gravity Tank is always looking to hear from talented people, so you can reach out to them at career@gravitytank.com. They have a “Meet the Team” link on their About page, which will show you all of the positions that they currently have staffed, so you can use that to be a little more informed if you decide to cold call.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Gravity Tank?

MDRC

Willy Franzen — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:58:29 +0000

No matter what you’re doing, finding out what works and what doesn’t is the key to success. It may sound overly simple, but it’s amazing how many people, companies, and organizations keep doing things that don’t work based on thoughts and feelings. Hard, scientific research is often the only real way to figure out what works. Unfortunately, science and non-profits often don’t mix (remember how much trouble I had finding a math-related non-profit last week). One exception is MDRC, an organization that “is best known for mounting large-scale evaluations of real-world policies and programs targeted to low-income people.” They’re at the forefront of the science of doing good, and “over the years, MDRC has brought its unique approach to an ever-growing range of policy areas and target populations.”

Researching for the Greater Good

I hate to make this post mostly quotes, but MDRC’s site does a great job of communicating what they’re all about. I think the following paragraph sums MDRC sum exceptionally well:

Too often, public policies that profoundly affect the lives of low-income families are shaped by hunches, anecdotes, and untested assumptions. Ineffective policies waste precious resources and feed public cynicism about government. Most important, such policies may hinder the very people they are designed to help. MDRC was created to learn what works in social policy — and to make sure that the evidence we produce informs the design and implementation of policies and programs.

MDRC has 5 policy areas that are their main focuses – K – 12 Education, Higher Education, Families & Children, Workers & Communities, and Welfare & Barriers to Employment. If you’re passionate about any of these areas and stimulated by social science when it’s actually practiced scientifically, then working at MDRC might be a dream come true. Your first move should be to check out their Jobs page. You’ll see 5 job postings – a couple of which appear to be entry level friendly. Those include Research/Management Assistant – Accountability and Deployment Department (New York, NY) and Technical Research Assistant/Analyst – Welfare and Barriers to Employment (Oakland, CA), and Technical Research Assistant/Analyst – Young Adults and Postsecondary Education (New York, NY). You can apply for these positions by sending a cover letter and resume to jobs@mdrc.org , and you can find out more about working at MDRC on their website.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about taking a scientific approach to doing good?

Mozilla

Willy Franzen — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:53:19 +0000

I remember the days of browser wars. It was Netscape vs. Internet Explorer, and it was ugly – the Internet that is. Back then it was all about whether or not your browser displayed pages properly, and people were passionately in favor of one browser or the other (or maybe some weird 3rd option). Now it’s all a lot simpler (unless you’re still using Internet Explorer) – your browser probably displays most sites just fine, and you’re more worried about speed and bells and whistles. That’s where Mozilla shines with their Firefox browser. They’re absolutely dominant with web savvy users (except with me – I still use Safari), and they are constantly making their products better. The Mozilla Corporation is a Mountain View, CA based wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit, while the Corporation calls itself a “public benefit organization.” That means that they are “dedicated not to making money but to improving the way people everywhere experience the Internet” – even if by definition they’re still a for profit.

Browse Mozilla’s Jobs

Not too long ago it seemed that the browser wars were over. Microsoft had come out on top, and they had even decided that there was no need to keep working on building a better web browser. Out of nowhere an open source project started gaining traction. Internet Explorer is still an industry behemoth, but Mozilla’s Firefox continues to grow and can now claim 15% of the world market share. That means that there’s still a lot of room to grow, and with Mozilla’s focus on user experience, you can be sure that Firefox will continue eating away at Internet Explorer’s user base.

One of the coolest things about working at a company like Mozilla is how many people they reach. Most of my daily work is done on the web, and my web browser is almost like my office. Most of our computing needs are moving to the web, and Mozilla is doing everything in its power to make that experience as enjoyable as possible. So, how can you become a part of Mozilla and their awesome projects? You can start by checking out their Careers page. It’s really well done, and includes information on the company, the team, life at Mozilla, first person experiences, and – obviously – job listings. Their jobs are posted in a number of sections that include College Recruiting, Engineering, Engineering Operations, Finance, Labs, Legal, Marketing, Quality Assurance, and User Experience. We obviously want to take a look at College Recruiting which includes jobs like Firefox Engineer, Platform Engineer, and Web Developer. Don’t just focus on those jobs though, there’s the chance that some of the other jobs might be suitable for some entry level candidates too. You can apply online (through your web browser, obviously), so get to it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which web browser do you use?

Battelle Memorial Institute

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:55:03 +0000

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

What do you know about Battelle?

Council on Foreign Relations

Willy Franzen — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:06:12 +0000

What happens when you put Angelina Jolie together with a suspected conspiracy to create a “one-world government?” No, it’s not an upcoming movie release. It’s actually a non-profit organization called the Council on Foreign Relations. They are “an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.” They can claim Angelina Jolie as a member, and because of their secrecy clauses and interesting membership requirements (and the fact that so many high-ranking government officials are members), people get all kinds of ideas about Council on Foreign Relations. In fact, Wikipedia says that “some believe it to be the most powerful private organization to influence United States foreign policy.” Ok, let’s cut through all the crazy stories and see what CFR is really about.

Join the Council

If it’s not already obvious, Council on Foreign Relations is the place to be if you’re interested in foreign affairs. They’ve been promoting “understanding of foreign policy and America’s role in the world since its founding in 1921.” The need for understanding foreign policy isn’t going anywhere, so I think the Council on Foreign Relations is going to continue to be an exciting place to be (at least until they accomplish that goal of a one-world government). That’s why you should consider a job with them. Right now their job listings include two positions that are perfect for new grads. These entry level jobs are Washington, DC based and include Research Associate – International Institutions and Global Governance and Research Associate – Asia Studies. They sound like fascinating jobs, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to humanresources@cfr.org with the position name in the subject of the e-mail. And if you’re not interested in the jobs, you should still check them out. Maybe you’ll unravel a global conspiracy.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you believe in conspiracy theories?