by Willy Franzen on July 2, 2009

I know just what you’re thinking right now! “I don’t get advertised to enough.” (If you’re really thinking that, why don’t you check out our job search prep course that will teach you how to get a job faster?) Ok, so that’s not really what you’re thinking, but it’s what the guys at Boston based Amp Idea are thinking. They think that online advertising has developed some amazing ideas, while outdoor advertising (and other similar mediums) have lost their effectiveness. They want to bridge that gap through things like Taxi Interactive Screens, Hotel Tourist GPS, Tabletop Restaurants, and Limo and Bus interactive devices. Over at One Day, One Internship we checked out a company called Captivate Network that is doing this kind of thing in elevators, so it seems as though there is a lot of room for growth in “digital advertising in the out of home space for business owners.”
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Tagged as:
account management,
advertising,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
sales
by Willy Franzen on June 23, 2009

When we were developing Found Your Career (our entry level job search prep course that we guarantee will help you get a job faster), we spent a lot of time figuring out how we were going to host all of the video content. Once your video hosting needs go beyond YouTube and the other free sites out there, things start getting a little complicated. Had we known about Ooyala, we might have tried using them to host our videos. They’re a Mountain View, CA based startup that provides “an end-to-end solution for content owners to transcode, manage, deliver, analyze, and monetize their video assets.”
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Tagged as:
account management,
California,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
information technology,
sales,
software development,
video,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 16, 2009

This week One Day, One Job is coming to you from the Northern woods of Michigan, which means that I have fly fishing on my mind. At least half my days up here are spent in waders—boots that go all the way up to your chest so that you can walk around in the river without getting wet—which gave me a great idea for a company to feature today. Newark, DE based W.L. Gore & Associates “is a leading manufacturer of thousands of advanced technology products for the electronics, industrial, fabrics and medical markets,” but they are most relevant to me (and probably to you too) as the company behind GORE-TEX®. If you’re not familiar with it, GORE-TEX® is a waterproof fabric that is breathable. That means that waders and rain jackets that are made out of GORE-TEX® not only keep you dry from the water on the outside, but they also keep you from drenching yourself with sweat on the inside.
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Tagged as:
Delaware,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
manufacturing,
operations,
product development,
sales
by Willy Franzen on June 10, 2009

A lot of people think inventing is easy. You see those guys like Billy Mays screaming on tv, and you think to yourself, “I could have thought of that.” Believe it or not, even those stupid infomercial products aren’t easy to come up with, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the world of invention. Inventing a new product is a long, arduous process that requires a ton of resources. Invention Machine is a Boston based software developer that “drives sustainable innovation by enabling global organizations to consistently generate breakthrough ideas that accelerate product development.” It’s hard for a non-inventor to understand how software can help the inventing process, but judging from the number of large corporations that are using Invention Machine’s software, there’s something there.
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Tagged as:
design,
entry-level jobs,
Germany,
innovation,
international,
Massachusetts,
sales,
software development,
user experience
by Willy Franzen on June 3, 2009

When I was at Cornell, working on group projects was the bane of my existence—especially when I didn’t get to choose the members of my group. It always seemed that I got stuck with a slacker or two, and there was always someone who just wanted to do the whole project by himself/herself (ok, sometimes that was me). Besides getting stuck with crappy partners, the logistics of organizing meetings, keeping edits to a document straight, and communicating with people who don’t check their e-mail drove me crazy. I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t enjoy the group project experience at Cornell, because Dana Lampert, a fellow alum, founded Wiggio, a company and web application that “makes it easy to work in groups.” They’re based out of Cambridge, MA, and they’ve moved well beyond focusing on just college students. Wiggio can help sports teams, non-profit organizations, small businesses, Greek organizations, and pretty much anyone who works with other people. They’ve already broken 100,000 users, and they seem to be growing at an awesome pace, which is why now is the time to think about working for them.
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Tagged as:
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
sales,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 19, 2009

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.
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Tagged as:
business development,
customer service,
data,
education,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
France,
Illinois,
information technology,
international,
Japan,
Massachusetts,
math,
project management,
quality assurance,
quality engineer,
research,
sales,
science,
software development,
statistics,
United Kingdom,
user experience,
writing
by Willy Franzen on May 13, 2009

I never liked talking on the phone much. I’m not sure why, but as a kid I never felt comfortable calling people. I eventually got over that, but I’m certainly glad that running my business doesn’t require a ton of phone time – I can do a lot of stuff online. However, if I was running a more phone intensive business, I’d definitely consider using Ifbyphone, a “hosted voice application and platform” run by a Skokie, IL (near Chicago) based company with the same name. Most phone systems require a huge hardware investment, but Ifbyphone’s can do all of the following through their software solution: Hosted IVR, Voice Broadcasting, Toll-Free Numbers, Local Phone Numbers, Call Routing, Virtual Receptionist, Store Locator, Google® Integration, Call Tracking, Dynamic Numbers, Find, Me Call Forwarding, Lead Distributor, Click-to-Call, and Conference Calling. I don’t know what all of those things are, but they sure sound important. Anyway, Ifbyphone focuses on offering their platform to small and medium sized business, and they have $4.6 million in venture capital funding to do it.
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Tagged as:
account management,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
sales,
telephony
by Willy Franzen on May 8, 2009

The other night I went to a great event called Out of Work Chicago to watch Jason Seiden speak and to get familiar with job seekers who aren’t fresh out of college. It was a great event, and I definitely enjoyed it. I didn’t need a ticket because I came with one of the featured speakers, but the thought of registering hundreds of people for an event seems pretty intimidating to me. I don’t know if the guys at Out of Work Chicago use Eventbrite, but it looks like the perfect solution for registering and ticketing people at any size event. If your event is free, Eventbrite is free. If you’re charging, they take a 2.5% cut. That sounds like a pretty decent deal to me, considering it eliminates most of the headaches of event registration.
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Tagged as:
account management,
California,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
events,
sales,
software development
by Willy Franzen on April 22, 2009

I wasn’t going to write an Earth Day post today, because I hate the environment. (That’s not true, it’s just what I tell Green Peace people who harass me as I walk down the street. The real reason was that I was going to do Administrative Assistants’ Day instead.) However, I came across San Francisco based New Leaf Paper, which couldn’t be a more fitting company to feature on Earth Day. According to their web site, they lead “the paper industry in the development and distribution of environmentally superior printing and office papers.” It’s kind of like Dunder Mifflin gone green and moved to California (there’s an idea for the Michael Scott Paper Company!). If you’re surprised that a paper company can offer both quality and affordability while being eco-friendly, then you should check out New Leaf’s Eco Audit. I don’t know what to make of all those numbers, but hopefully you will. At the very least it sounds phenomenal that they saved 118 Trees, 5,551 Pounds of solid waste, 50,178 Gallons of water, 84 Million Btu of energy, and more.
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Tagged as:
California,
entry-level jobs,
green,
holiday,
manufacturing,
sales
by Willy Franzen on April 10, 2009

Easter is almost here, and since we’ll be covering a non-profit on Sunday, it’s time to talk about candy again! Last year we checked out entry level jobs at Just Born Quality Confections (the manufacturer of Peeps), so this year we need to give jelly beans their due respect. And if we’re talking about jelly beans, it’s hard to ignore Jelly Belly. Although I have a soft spot for those simpler jelly beans with less creative flavors (except for the nasty licorice flavored ones), I know that Jelly Belly is the king of the jelly bean industry. They offer an insane variety of flavors that includes Buttered Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Toasted Marshmallow, and Jalapeño. While Fairfield, CA basedJelly Belly has branched out a bit from their jelly bean roots, they seem quite committed to furthering the success of the bean. They’ve even brought jelly beans to the sports market to compete with the drinks and gels that most people are accustomed to.
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Tagged as:
California,
entry-level jobs,
food,
holiday,
sales,
web development
by Willy Franzen on April 8, 2009

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.
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Tagged as:
analyst,
Connecticut,
entry-level jobs,
France,
international,
Massachusetts,
research,
sales,
seo,
travel
by Willy Franzen on April 6, 2009

It’s Opening Day! Although it may not be a real holiday to you, to those of us who who are die hard baseball fans it’s quite possibly the best day of the year (especially fans of perennial losers whose best record all season is 0-0). I already had my baseball fix this weekend, since I flew out to NYC to see the opening of the new Yankee Stadium in an exhibition game between the Yanks and the Cubs, but I am beyond excited to watch some games that actually count. With that in mind, we’re going to run with the baseball theme today. We’ve already covered jobs with Major League Baseball and its teams, so we’re going to look at St. Louis based Rawlings today. They were the manufacturer of my first ever baseball glove (which had a Jose Canseco facsimile signature on the palm), so I inevitably think of Rawlings when I think of baseball. Their posted job offerings are a bit sparse, but hopefully you’ll use the good vibes from Opening Day to inspire your job search. (Remember: These posts aren’t just about the companies that we feature. They’re also about bringing creativity to your job search.)
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Tagged as:
apparel,
baseball,
entry-level jobs,
holiday,
manufacturing,
marketing,
Missouri,
sales,
sports
by Willy Franzen on March 19, 2009

When Jason Seiden and I decided that we were going to do an online job search prep course, we knew that we wanted to build a buzz before the course was open for enrollment. We decided that the best way to let people know more information about the course was to build an e-mail list. That’s what we did, and very quickly hundreds of people who were interested in the course signed up to be given more information via e-mail. When you need to manage an e-mail list of that size, it’s a lot easier to use third-party software. We went with a company called Aweber, but we looked at a number of other companies that offer similar services. One of those companies was Constant Contact, which is based out of Waltham, MA. As they put it, they help “small businesses, associations, and nonprofits connect with their customers, clients, and members” through “leading email marketing and online survey tools—supported by its expert personal coaching and support.” In fact, if you scroll to the bottom of many of the mass e-mails that you get, there’s a good chance that you’ll see a Constant Contact logo at the bottom.
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Tagged as:
analyst,
Colorado,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
sales,
software development
by Willy Franzen on March 13, 2009

I don’t know if you’ve heard of açaí, but apparently it’s all the rage these days. In fact the buzz has gotten so big that the newest Internet scam is to push açaí as celebrity-endorsed weight loss products. This is giving açaí, a berry that has “30x the antioxidants of red wine, and an essential fatty acid profile similar to olive oil,” a terrible reputation. I think that we all know that this berry isn’t going to solve all of your problems, but that doesn’t mean that you should miss out on “getting with the purple berry.” Sambazon is a company that does açaí right. They “promote sustainable management of the Brazilian Amazon by providing the highest quality whole food, organic, fair trade Açaí products to consumers.” In other words they make products like juices, smoothies, energy drinks, sorbets, and supplements (with no false promises of instant weight loss like the scammer/spammers). I think that I first heard about Sambazon over a year ago from the Inc 5000, but I’ve been waiting for them to post some jobs that I can feature here.
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Tagged as:
entry-level jobs,
food,
food merchandising,
organic,
sales,
Texas,
Washington
by Willy Franzen on March 6, 2009

I know that despite the fact that I keep ripping on the traditional media – the old guard – I keep featuring their jobs here. I’m not being a hypocrite. I promise. I know that taking entry level jobs with companies that might not be around in 5 years isn’t the best decision, but if anyone can save the old media, it’s you. The new media has been created by the masses and has originated from young people with new ideas, which is just what these media behemoths need to survive. Of course these companies probably don’t realize how much they need you yet, but they do. Well, if you’re going to get a job in old media – like the magazine industry – you might as well go with the best. Condé Nast has a list of brands that is rivaled by few and includes Vogue, W, style.com, Glamour, Allure, Self, Teen Vogue, GQ, Details, men.style.com, Architectural Digest, Brides, Modern, Bride, Elegant Bride, Brides.com, Lucky, Domino, Cookie, Golf Digest, Golf World, Vanity Fair, Gourmet, Bon Appétit, epicurious.com, Condé Nast Traveler, concierge.com, Wired, Wired.com, Condé Nast Portfolio, Portfolio.com, WWD, FN, and The New Yorker. There’s still a lot of uncertainty in the industry, but those are still great names to be associated with.
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Tagged as:
administrative,
California,
copywriting,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
magazines,
marketing,
media,
Michigan,
New York,
sales
by Willy Franzen on February 27, 2009

Some might say that high-end and luxury are always in, but if there was ever a time that they weren’t, it’s probably now. That’s not going to stop Niche Media from doing what they do. They “produce must-read, luxurious magazines that mirror the sensibilities and spirits of the unique, vibrant communities to which they cater.” Their titles include Art | Basel | Miami Beach, Aspen Peak, Bal Harbour, Boston Common, Bridgehampton Polo, Capitol File, Gotham, Hamptons, Los Angeles Confidential, Michigan Avenue, Ocean Drive, Ocean Drive Español, Philadelphia style, Style: Palazzo/The Venetian, Vegas, and Wynn. Sounds like a list of places that you’d like to go on vacation, huh? That’s the point.
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Tagged as:
account management,
California,
entry-level jobs,
magazines,
Massachusetts,
New York,
publishing,
sales,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on February 23, 2009

Managing relationships is hard. Even with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, e-mail, text messages, cell phones, and every other tool that we have to stay in touch with people, it’s just not that easy to actively maintain a lot of relationships. Now, imagine that your job is all about managing relationships with people who pay your company money. Welcome to a job in Sales. It’s not easy, and managing all of your relationships with an address book, rolodex, or your cell phone’s saved numbers isn’t going to cut it. You need help with customer relationship management (CRM), and Salesforce.com is CRM (seriously, their stock ticker symbol is CRM). Salesforce’s big tagline is “No software” (their phone number is actually 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE), but they don’t really mean it. Their business is all about providing software, but it’s software as a service. That means that Salesforce eliminates most of the headaches of traditional CRM software by being really easy to use. It may be software, but the goal is for the end user (the guy or girl working in Sales) not to realize it.
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Tagged as:
California,
entry-level jobs,
sales,
software development,
user experience
by Willy Franzen on February 20, 2009

When I interned at Orvis, I got to take a trip to their distribution center in Roanoke, VA. I learned a lot about the company on that trip, and I got to experience one interesting situation. At the time Orvis had a new product – a kangaroo skin hat – that happened to be illegal in California. Unfortunately they didn’t realize that kangaroo products were illegal in California until after one of the hats had already shipped. Apparently every violation of this law comes with a very steep fine. It was understandable that there was a big fuss about this, and somehow the company was able to track down the package before it crossed the California border. Now imagine that your company faces this problem every day. That’s what it’s like for wine retailers – every state has different restrictions, regulations, taxes, and other hoops that you need to jump through to ship wine. That’s where Boulder, CO based Six88 Solutions comes in. They produce software called ShipCompliant that makes it much easier for wine companies to stay in compliance with the law.
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Tagged as:
Colorado,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
sales,
shipping
by Willy Franzen on February 10, 2009

How much energy do you use every day? I’m not talking about Calories, although I’d be surprised if you knew that, I’d be shocked if you could tell me how much energy you consume on a given day. You might know how much you spend (and that might be more important), but as energy becomes a bigger and bigger issue, you need to be an informed “consumer.” Everybody needs a little Positive Energy, right? Well Positive Energy is an Arlington, VA based company that is working to “engage the 300 million Americans who are in the dark about their energy use through a combination of cutting edge technology, analytic direct marketing, behavioral science and world-class design.” Sounds pretty cool to me.
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Tagged as:
account management,
analyst,
energy,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
green,
quality assurance,
quality engineer,
sales,
Virginia
by Willy Franzen on January 28, 2009

Over the weekend I was having a conversation with some friends about what kind of bagged lunches we used to take to school. A common theme was the popularity of Lunchables and how it was a rare occasion for most of us to have our parents actually buy Lunchables at the supermarket (I didn’t care for Lunchables, so I was scorned by the group). Lunchables have absolutely nothing to do with today’s company, except that whenever I hear the name Inventables, I immediately think of Lunchables. Inventables is a Chicago based (I think that I can actually see their office from my window) company that helps companies innovate by making sourcing and selling materials and technologies easy. In other words they go out and find the newest, most innovative materials and provide a subscription service that provides information to companies that are looking for new materials to use in their products. They look for materials like we look for entry level jobs.
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Tagged as:
customer service,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
innovation,
research,
sales
by Willy Franzen on January 16, 2009

For a long time fruit juices other than orange juice (and prune juice) were largely the domain of young children. I’m not sure why this was, but I still to this day feel like a kid when I drink juice. Over the past few years we’ve seen juice gain in popularity – not grape or apple juice, but more exotic juices like pomegranate, cherry, and acai. POM Wonderful has been one of the companies that profited the most from the upswing in adult juice consumption. Maybe it’s all of the health benefits of the pomegranate that is convincing adults to hit the juice. It’s hard to not like something that improves cardiovascular and prostate health while also improving erectile function. Not to mention that pomegranates are loaded with antioxidants. With those health benefits and great marketing, POM Wonderful is primed for continued success – they’re the largest producer of pomegranates in the United States.
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Tagged as:
administrative,
California,
entry-level jobs,
food,
food merchandising,
merchandising,
sales
by Willy Franzen on January 13, 2009

I hate shoes. Ok, that’s not really true, but after spending a week in Aruba over the holidays, it was a sad realization for me when I had to put my sneakers back on for the trip home to Chicago. I appreciate that I have boots that keep my feet warm and dry, slippers that are extremely comfortable, and basketball shoes that give me enough ankle support to prevent a sprain, but I still prefer the feeling of sand between my toes. I’m lucky. It’s a luxury to be able to enjoy the feeling of being shoeless. There are a lot of children who don’t know what it’s like to have a good pair of shoes to protect their feet. TOMS Shoes is a Santa Monica, CA based company that is trying to change that. They’re a shoe company, but they’re more than that. For every pair of shoes that TOMS Shoes sells, they give a pair of shoes to a child in need. So far, they’ve given over 200,000 pairs of shoes to children in places like Argentina, Ethiopia, and South Africa via “Shoe Drops.” They say that “changing life begins with a single step…” and we have to agree.
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Tagged as:
apparel,
California,
entry-level jobs,
merchandising,
recruiting,
sales
by Willy Franzen on January 7, 2009

Having a girlfriend who is a consultant, I’m often subjected to hours of consultant-speak. It’s not really English, as it consists mostly of acronyms. One thing consultants seem to talk about a lot, even though they don’t have an acronym for it, is the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card. It’s apparently by far the best credit card for the consulting lifestyle (especially when you work for a firm that almost exclusively puts you up in Starwood hotels). Since I’ve been hearing the Starwood name a lot, and I’ve had a few people recommend their Jobs to me, I thought it was time to take a look at what kind of entry level jobs are available with one of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies. In case you’re not familiar with the Starwood brand, they’re the company behind Sheraton, Four Points, aloft, W Hotels, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Element, Westin, and St. Regis. All of them are nice places to stay, and a few of them are about as trendy as you can get when it comes to hotels – check out aloft.
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Tagged as:
accounting,
administrative,
architecture,
customer service,
design,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
food,
hospitality management,
human resources,
information technology,
international,
law,
marketing,
nationwide,
public relations,
real estate,
retail,
sales
by Willy Franzen on January 5, 2009

Now that we’ve finished out end of ‘08 recap (See: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 1 of non-profits, Part 2 of non-profits, Part 3 of non-profits, and Part 4 of non-profits), we’re ready to to start off the new year by bringing you profiles of all new companies with exciting entry level jobs. We’re also very close to opening enrollment for our job search training course, but you’ll hear a lot more about that soon enough. Today we’re going to focus on Melissa & Doug, a toy company based in Wilton, CT. From what I can tell by looking at their product offerings, Melissa & Doug’s toys are targeted towards very young children, so they don’t have much stuff for big kids like WowWee does. That’s ok though – if they made toys that you actually wanted to play with, you’d never get anything done at work.
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Tagged as:
administrative,
Connecticut,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
recruiting,
sales,
toys
by Willy Franzen on December 19, 2008

Not only is it Friday, but it’s also a Snow Day here in Chicago! Judging from the map on The Weather Channel, there’s a good chance that you’re enjoying a Snow Day too. My favorite thing to do when school was cancelled was to go sledding, and I haven’t outgrown it yet. If downtown Chicago had a single decent hill, I’d be there as soon as I finish writing this. Of course, I’d have to stop and buy a sled first. In college it’s easy – you just “borrow” a tray from the dining hall, and that’s your sled for the winter, but when you’re an adult you need to take things a little more seriously. That’s why Hammerhead Sleds exists. They make sleds for big kids. Actually, that’s an understatement. They make the most bad ass sleds that I have ever seen. These sleds aren’t cheap, though. They run $349, but they sure look worth it.
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Tagged as:
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
outdoors,
product development,
research,
sales,
Vermont
by Willy Franzen on December 16, 2008

Yesterday I was reading an article about how one third of hedge funds might be going out of business in the not so distant future. I usually try to stay optimistic, so I avoid news sources that rely on hyperbole like this to draw attention to their articles, but what caught my eye was a statistic that was attributed to a Chicago-based company called Hedge Fund Research. The stat wasn’t all that interesting, but I instantly wondered whether the company ever hires new college grads. This is the “always looking” approach that I’ve been advocating over the past year, and which will play a major role in our soon to be released job search training course. Instead of being in the business of managing money like hedge funds are, Hedge Fund Research is all about collecting and disseminating information about hedge funds. They may have an ugly logo and a not so pretty website, but they’re on top of everything going on in the hedge fund industry.
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Tagged as:
analyst,
finance,
hedge fund,
Illinois,
research,
sales
by Willy Franzen on December 15, 2008

It’s amazing to think that a publication started by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., and James Russell Lowell in 1857 is still kicking. The Atlantic has morphed from a focus on literary and cultural affairs to more broadly attacking the topics of foreign affairs, politics, economics, and cultural trends. It has also joined forces with National Journal and Government Executive to form Atlantic Media. Their publications are a little more advanced than Highlights and Mad Magazine, which is why a recent rebranding effort was probably necessary. Appealing to people’s intellectual sides just isn’t the best way to sell magazines, unfortunately. With lots of changes going on at Atlantic Media, and National Journal Group’s political trade journals still bringing money, now might be an interesting time to consider working at Atlantic Media.
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Tagged as:
information technology,
journalism,
magazines,
public policy,
sales,
San Francisco,
software development,
Washington DC,
web development,
writing
by Willy Franzen on December 9, 2008

First of all, if you haven’t entered our HP Magic Giveaway contest yet, you should. It closes at midnight tonight, and you still have a really great shot at winning a $6k prize package from HP, Microsoft, and Corel. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about today’s company, Rally Software of Boulder, CO. I’m sure that a lot of you will cringe because I’m featuring another software company, but it’s hard not to. Software companies are still doing a lot of hiring despite the recession, they seem to value entry level (and all) talent at a much higher level than most other companies, and they typically do a great job of communicating their story. Software companies are a dream to write about, and they set an example that other companies should follow when it comes to an online recruiting presence. Rally Software is no exception, and although a lot of their jobs require technical skills, not all of them do.
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Tagged as:
Colorado,
education,
entry-level jobs,
sales,
software development
by Willy Franzen on December 2, 2008

When I was a senior in high school (2002), I thought that my class was cutting edge to include a CD with our yearbook. Then I was greeted by “The Class of 2006 Website,” a site very much like Facebook (before there was a Facebook) for my incoming Freshman class at Cornell. Finally, Facebook arrived on the scene in 2004, and the idea of a yearbook was forever changed. At least it was for college students. Facebook didn’t open up to high schoolers until September of 2005, and in that time both MySpace and myYearbook had already started tapping the high school social networking market. You may not have heard of myYearbook, but you should have. They have the 14th most pageviews of any site on the Internet, surpassing both Amazon.com and Wikipedia. What makes this more impressive is that New Hope, PA based myYearbook was founded by a 15 year old and a 16 year old brother and sister during their Spring Break.
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Tagged as:
entry-level jobs,
Pennsylvania,
quality assurance,
quality engineer,
sales,
social media,
social networking,
software development
by Willy Franzen on December 1, 2008

You may have noticed that we occasionally run sponsored posts from companies who want to draw more attention to their jobs. We haven’t done that lately because we have more exciting things to tell you about like the job search training course that we’re working on, our partnership with VisualCV to help you build a killer online resume, and our soon to be announced contest where we’re giving away $6,000+ in HP and Microsoft products. When we do run sponsored posts, it’s always a pain in the butt to get paid. We have to fill out all kinds of forms and jump through lots of hoops to get a check sent. It’s quite annoying. Enliven Software is a startup based out of East Lansing, Michigan that makes the billing process a lot easier for small and medium sized companies. They’re aiming to be the “leading provider of secure, paperless electronic invoicing, online payables and electronic payment solutions.” Our Accounting function isn’t quite advanced enough to need their software yet, but I hope one day that I’ll be able to do all of my invoicing, billing, and getting paid online.
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Tagged as:
account management,
accounting,
entry-level jobs,
Michigan,
sales,
software development