One Day, One Job » sales

Hostess Brands

Willy Franzen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:55:09 +0000

I’ve failed you. After two years of getting it right, I forgot to do a post for Pi Day yesterday. In 2008 we looked at jobs at Pi Media, and in 2009 we looked at jobs with The Mathematical Association of America. So, what does the guy who is late for the Pi Day party do when he was supposed to bring the pie? He obviously goes the Hostess Brands route—the cheapest and easiest way to get Fruit Pies at the last minute (I guess McDonald’s is your other option). It may not be like the pies that your grandma makes (my grandma makes an awesome Chocolate Dream Pie), but it gets the job done. And if you don’t like the Fruit Pies, you can rely on other favorites from the Irving, TX based baking company like Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, Sno Balls, Ding Dongs, HoHos, and even Wonder Bread for those of you who are lacking a sweet tooth.

Be Their Guest

From what I can tell, Hostess Brands (Hostess and Wonder Bread) is owned by a company called Interstate Bakeries, which is going through some financial problems, but with that said, it appears that Hostess Brands still has plenty of job opportunities. The company may not be seeing growth like some companies that take a healthier approach to food are seeing, but Hostess and Wonder Bread are still iconic American brands. If it sounds like a brand that you might want to be a part of, then you can check out Hostess Brands’ Jobs page. Their job postings are all over the place—both in terms of location and fields (the Hostess Brands Operations Center is based in Kansas City, MO). There don’t appear to be many corporate positions posted, but there are Sales and Business Development positions from all across the country. You can apply for any of the positions online, so grab a Twinkie and start browsing.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Hostess Brands treat?

WebMD

Willy Franzen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:03:02 +0000

This is your last chance. If you want your voice heard, please take 3 minutes (seriously, it’s short) to complete our One Day, One Job survey.

If you woke up this morning with a sore throat, what would you do? I bet many of you would get on the computer, type your symptoms into Google, and probably end up on WebMD trying to self-diagnose. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing (maybe we should leave the diagnosing for the doctors), but it’s how most of us operate these days. We have a remarkable amount of medical information available at our fingertips, and WebMD, which is based in NYC with a significant presence in a number of other cities, is responsible for a lot of it. They consider themselves “the leading provider of health information services, serving consumers, physicians, other healthcare professionals, employers and health plans.” If you read that closely, you probably noticed that WebMD’s business goes well beyond their consumer facing website.

A Prescription for Your Job Search

From what I can tell, WebMD’s Consumer Network is ad supported, while they also offer paid Professional Networks, Private Portal Services, and Publishing Services that provide additional sources of revenue. I’d expect their business to continue to grow well because of their unique position. They are in the business of providing information, so they can grow as our consumption of healthcare increases, but they don’t have to worry about the threat of legislation killing their business model. One indication of this expectation for growth is the fact that they have 85 jobs posted right now. Some of the positions that seem best suited to new grads include Associate Project Manager (Montreal, Canada), Customer Service Representative (New York, NY), Health Educator (Indianapolis, IN), iPhone Application Developer (New York, NY), Onsite Health/Wellness Coordinator (Puerto Rico), Sales Planner/Account Specialist (New York, NY), and Web Designer (Portland, OR). It appears that WebMD was actually posting more jobs as I was writing this, so you’ll want to look for yourself and see what they have. There appears to be a good mix of jobs (tech, health, writing), so see if there’s a good fit for you and apply online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How often do you use WebMD?

Communispace

Willy Franzen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:43:37 +0000

We’re already working on new projects based on your feedback. If you want your voice heard, please take 3 minutes (seriously, it’s short) to complete our One Day, One Job survey.

As the preceding note indicates, I’ve been collecting user data over the past week to help me make the site more useful for you. So far the survey has received hundreds of responses, and there are a number of common themes that keep coming up. It’s amazing at how well an 8 question survey can tell me about what you guys want in a job search tool. For companies that need a little more than an 8 question survey, there’s Communispace, a Watertown, MA based market research company. Their name probably wouldn’t have made them too popular during the cold war, but fear of communism has been replaced with community building—which is what Communispace is all about.

Join the Communispace Community

Communispace works with some of the world’s biggest brands (like Pepsi, Hallmark, and Unilever) to build private online communities. These communities allow Communispace clients to interact directly with their customers. They can ask for insights, identify trends, test nearly anything, and build customer loyalty. As a business owner, I know how valuable all of those things are. Luckily, I already have a community of awesome users who are constantly giving me feedback. It isn’t so easy for huge brands. They need help, and Communispace offers an end to end solution. They provide the technology, the expertise, and the community management. The world of market research is changing as it gets cheaper and easier to reach customers en masse, and it seems that Communispace is at the forefront of this change. If you’d like to join them, check out their Jobs page. The most suitable positions for new grads are Associate Community Manager and Sales Operations Associate. There are also some technical/software jobs, but they don’t seem to be geared towards new grads. Most importantly, Communispace allows you to apply for an unlisted position, so you can do some research on their Team page and on LinkedIn to get a better sense of what kind of positions they offer but may not have posted.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you taken our survey yet?

Tomato Mountain Farm

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:56:30 +0000

We’re already working on new projects based on your feedback. If you want your voice heard, please take 3 minutes (seriously, it’s short) to complete our One Day, One Job survey.

We’re supposed to reach a high of 56 degrees today in Chicago, which is great even if it’s foggy and gloomy. Spring is on its way, and in only a couple of months it will be farmers market season again. Although my city is short on farms (we have a few, really), there are a ton within driving distance. Many of them haul the food that they produce into the city on a weekly basis and sell it to the yuppies who love eating fresh, organic, locally grown food (also known as me). One of these farms is Tomato Mountain Farm, which is based in Brooklyn, WI. They have a presence somewhere in Chicago 6 days per week, and their produce offerings range from basil and beets to watermelons and zucchini. Obviously, they also grow a lot of tomatoes.

Grow Your Career

Tomato Mountain Farm is “a 12-acre certified organic farm and processing kitchen located 25 miles south of Madison, Wisconsin.” Beyond their produce, they also offer products like salsas, sauces, and preserves. It may be a small operation, but they’re growing a wonderful business based on serving everybody’s most basic need in its most basic form: fresh food. If you are interested in what Tomato Mountain Farm is doing, you should check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for two people to work farmers markets for them. You can find the full position description here (.doc file). In many ways these are entrepreneurial opportunities, so it could be a cool way to spend the summer and get your career started.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you frequent farmers markets?

Zinch

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:46:38 +0000

If you’ve been in the job search for very long, you’d probably do anything to go back to Senior year of high school when you were applying to college. It’s not that the admissions process is particularly fun, but at least it has a set timeline and a fixed set of options. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement. That’s why there are quite a few young entrepreneurs who have built companies that aim to make the college process better, just like I’m doing with the entry level job and internship searches. One of these companies is San Francisco based Zinch, which was founded by Mick Hagen, a Princeton dropout. They’ve created a social network that allows high school students to connect with the colleges that they want to attend. There are more than 700 colleges and universities that invest in Zinch, which is why more than 1.5 million students have created Zinch profiles to show off to admissions counselors and to apply for scholarships and financial aid packages.

Getting a Job Is a Zinch

Zinch’s motto is simple: “I am more than a test score.” They’re all about helping students make their case for why they’re a great fit at a given institution of higher learning. It’s the anti-common app. But what about Zinch’s business model? How does it work? Well, Zinch is free for students, but colleges must pay an annual fee to connect with students. This may seem strange to you, but you have to remember that colleges are essentially businesses, and they need a constant flow of customer. While schools like Harvard and Princeton constantly have way more qualified applicants than spots in their Freshman classes, most colleges aren’t so lucky. They need to market themselves to students. Traditionally they’ve done this by inundating the mailboxes of high school juniors and seniors based on data from standardized test scores. (Side story: My mom forced me to check the “do not mail me” box on all of my testing stuff, so I felt left out when all of my friends were getting recruited and nobody was sending me anything.) Zinch thinks that’s a poor model, so they’ve stepped it up a bit. They’ve created a new marketing platform for colleges, and it seems to be working out pretty well.

This means that Zinch is growing and hiring. If you check out their Jobs page, you’ll see that they are looking for people in Engineering/Software Development, Sales/Marketing, Internet/Search Marketing, Graphic Design, Public Relations, and Videography/Cinematography. To apply for any of these positions, you need to e-mail work@zinch.com with the following:

1) An attachment of your resumé/CV
2) Answers to the following questions:
+ If you could change/add one thing about Zinch, what would it be and why?
+ How would you move Mount Fuji?
+ What are three things you want to accomplish before you die?
+ What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done (crazy can be defined as, for example, dangerous, silly, stupid, etc)?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wish that you had Zinch when you were in high school?

New York Hall of Science

Willy Franzen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:31:35 +0000

In 1964 New York City hosted the World’s Fair for the third time. The fair was held in Queens at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and it was dedicated to “Man’s Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe.” More than 50 million people visited the fair to see all kinds of cool exhibits—many focused on technology (you can read more about the fair on Wikipedia. One of these exhibits was the New York Hall of Science, which continues to operate to this day as New York City’s “only hands-on science and technology center.” It has been remodeled and revamped multiple times since 1964, and wide range of science focused educational programs. It looks like a really cool place to visit, even if most of their activities seem to be targeted towards kids.

Be a Hall Monitor

There are all kinds of neat attractions at NYSCI. These include Science Playground, Rocket Park Mini Golf, Search for Life Beyond Earth, Sports Challenge, and plenty more. The New York Hall of Science also offers “Virtual Visits” that allow people from around the world to enjoy what they have to offer. Hopefully you have a younger relative whom you can use as an excuse to visit, because the place looks like a lot of fun. If you’d like to work at the New York Hall of Science, then check out their Jobs page. It only has one opening posted right now, but it’s perfect for a new grad. They’re looking for a Visitor Services Assistant. To apply for the position, you can send a cover letter and résumé to rlogan@nysci.org. That e-mail address is for the COO, so you may be able to inquire about other positions, but I don’t know how effective that may be.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited the New York Hall of Science?

NetJets

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:36:24 +0000

If I ever make a ridiculous amount of money, the first thing that I’m going to do is buy a private jet—or at least a share in one. It seems like the ultimate way to travel. I’ve been on private planes before, but they had propellers and I was sitting next to or right behind the pilot (not nearly as classy). NetJets is a company that allows wealthy individuals and businesses to buy shares in private jets (since who really needs an entire jet to himself or herself?). They also have a subscription service called MarquisJet that lets you get a guaranteed number of hours of private jet use. It may not make private air travel affordable or cost effective, but it certainly puts it within reach for a lot more people. NetJets is by far the market leader, and they’re also a Berkshire Hathaway company. You know if Warren Buffett is investing in it, it has to be pretty good. NetJets is based in Columbus, OH, but quite obviously they operate all over the world.

Be a NetJetter

Even Warren Buffett thinks that private jet travel is a ridiculous luxury, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a customer and then buying the company when the time was right. The truth is that commercial airline travel is a pain in the butt, and many people will pay exorbitant costs to avoid it. Even if energy costs get continue to grow, you have to like the future of NetJets. Assuming that you aren’t morally opposed to private air travel, you should check out NetJets’s Jobs page. It’s split in to three sections: Pilots, Flight Attendants, and Corporate Positions. We’ll look at the latter since that’s most likely to have good fits for new grads. There are 15 jobs posted right now, and a few appear to be suitable for new grads. These include IT Business Analyst, Prospect Development Specialist (Teetorboro, NJ), and Technical Marketing Analyst. You can apply online, but we can’t link you directly to the job descriptions because NetJets uses a crappy applicant tracking system.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever flown on a NetJet?

The Economist

Willy Franzen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:00:13 +0000

I’ll admit it, I don’t read The Economist regularly, but plenty of my friends do—mostly the smart ones. It’s a magazine (they call themselves a newspaper, but you’d likely identify it as a magazine) that stands apart from other periodicals in a variety of ways. It’s not the topics that they cover—they offer both news coverage and analysis and opinion on business and politics—it’s more the way that they cover those topics. The most interesting thing about The Economist is the fact that all of their articles are written anonymously. It’s about “a belief that what is written is more important than who writes it,” but you have to like the fact that anonymity allows the writers the freedom that they need to address topics in the ways that they should be addressed. The Economist is all about free trade and free markets, yet it “considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability.” The Economist is based in London, but they are very much an international business and magazine.

Put the Free Market to Work

I can’t imagine that you could take a job with The Economist without being an avid reader. If you’re already one, then I’m sure that you’re chopping at the bit to see what kind of jobs they have available, and if you aren’t, then you better go pick up a copy or start browsing their website. You’re certain to find yourself challenged in a way that you never have been before. Not only does The Economist’s approach make them stand out editorially, but it also makes them stand out as a business. While many huge names in the print media are struggling—the New York Times is a perfect example, The Economist continues to thrive and grow. This article from PaidContent.org goes into more detail about The Economist’s economic successes, which are even more impressive considering that their parent company (half owner) Financial Times is struggling. So what about those jobs? The Economist has job offerings all across the world, but we’re going to focus on their US based opportunities, which are mostly located in New York City. Potential entry level opportunities include UI Developer, Account Executive – EIU Enterprise Subscription Sales (Chicago, IL), Distribution Customer Service Analyst, Integrated Marketing Coordinator, and Drupal Developer. All of the jobs look really interesting, and you can apply by using the HR contact info on The Economist’s site. If you’re looking for a job on the editorial side, I’m sure that you have your work cut out for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Economist?

Academy of Natural Sciences

Willy Franzen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:53:00 +0000

For most of us museums are just places to go to visit for a day and to learn something new. We rarely think about what is going on behind the scenes, but we should. At many major museums there is also a significant research function. A perfect examples is the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, which sounds like a research institution, but it also runs a museum. In fact, The Academy is the “oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World” according to Wikipedia. The Academy has been at the forefront of biological and earth sciences since its inception, and it continues to promote public education in those areas. Just to give you an idea of the scale on which they operate, their collections include more than 17 million specimens. That’s crazy!

Jobs for Naturalists

One thing that is severely lacking on the Academy of Natural Sciences website is a solid About page. I had to head to Wikipedia to get a full idea of what they do, so if you’re interested, be sure to do a little extra research. The Academy has a great history, and its place in Philly reminds us about how Philadelphia used to be America’s most influential city. It’s amazing to think that The Academy is now approaching its 200th anniversary, and if you want to be able to celebrate it with them, you’ll want to take a look at their Jobs page. It does appear that they have much more interesting internships than jobs, but they do have entry level positions like Office Manager, Academy Explorers Camp Leader, Academy Explorers Camp Assistant, and Lead Sales Associate available. Additionally, there are some PhD level positions including Postdoctoral Fellowship, Macroinvertebrate Ecology of Mongolian Streams and Rivers and Stream Ecologist. You can apply by sending a résumé, cover letter, and salary requirements to hrjobs@ansp.org with the job title and requisition number in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited The Academy?

Acquia

Willy Franzen — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:56:35 +0000

I’m a huge fan of open source software. I build all of my sites on the WordPress platform, and I am amazed at how powerful the blogging software has become over the years. Still, I know that it can’t do everything. If I get too much more advanced, I’ll probably have to move to a platform like Drupal—another open source content management system. The problem with that is that I’m not a programmer, and Drupal is a bit more complex than WordPress. Luckily, there’s a support option. Acquia is a Woburn, MA based company that provides “products, services, and technical support for the open source Drupal social publishing system.” They were founded by Dries Buytaert, the guy who created Drupal, so there’s no question about whether they’re the right people to offer Drupal support—they know the platform inside and out.

Acquia a Job

It may seem strange that powerful software like Drupal is available for free to anyone. Why would software developers give away their hard work? Maybe some of it is altruistic, but it turns out that there are a lot of business models that can be built on top of free software—and they work better when the software has more users. Acquia is a perfect example. Support is worth big bucks to many Drupal users, so $8,000 annually for Acquia’s Enterprise package is money well spent. Acquia has been growing rapidly; with an infusion of capital last year, they have been able to grow their team pretty quickly. If their Jobs page is any indication, this trend hasn’t stopped. Right now Acquia has a number of positions open that seem suitable for new grads. These include Front-End UI Developer, Client Advisor, Technical Consultant, and Inside Sales Rep. You can apply online for any of these positions through this form.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Had you heard of Drupal before?

Invodo

Willy Franzen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:53:59 +0000

Video is an amazing sales tool. It’s able to show you exactly what you’re buying and how it works. The only thing better is an in-person demonstration, and those are far too expensive for most products. Now that online video capabilities are pretty much ubiquitous, we’re seeing more and more companies adopt video as part of their sales process. More and more product pages have an embedded video along with all of the stuff you normally expect to find on an e-commerce site. Invodo is the company that is often behind these videos. They’re a three year old company based in Austin, TX, and they offer “a full-service eCommerce video solution that drives conversion for retailers, consideration for manufacturers, and satisfaction for consumers.” They work with more than 2,500 manufacturers and retailers including Sony, New Balance, Toys “R” Us, and plenty more major brands.

Video That Sells

If you want to take a look at the type of video that Invodo offers, all you have to do is check out their home page. It’s loaded with samples of work that they’ve done. Invodo offers a full solution for their clients. This includes content production, a platform for delivery, and a network for distribution. Surprisingly they don’t seem to have a video about themselves—you’d think that would be a key part of their sales process. They also don’t have a video about their Careers, but they’re a small company so that’s understandable. Their Jobs page only shows one position right now, and it’s for an Enterprise Salesperson. The position seems perfectly suited to a new grad, and it seems to be more Sales & Marketing than just Sales. To apply send your cover letter and résumé to careers@invodo.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Has video influenced your purchasing decisions?

ING Direct

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

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

Saving Towards a Career

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have an ING Direct account?

MyPunchbowl

Willy Franzen — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:51:33 +0000

I love Groundhog Day. I’ve always intended to have an annual party in celebration of the holiday, but I’m not one for throwing early morning parties (and who wants to celebrate after the fact if Phil sees his shadow?). In past years I’ve featured the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and NOAA in honor of Phil. Additionally I’ve featured companies like WeatherBill and The Weather Channel already, so I thought it was going to be hard to find another relevant company. Then I came across this blog post that told me that MyPunchbowl is “an official partner of the Groundhog Day festivities.” Problem solved! MyPunchbowl is a “free online invitations and party planning” startup based in Framingham, MA. They offer the perfect services for planning that Groundhog Day party that I’ll probably never have. They also do Ecards, and I’ve put one together for you that you can find below.

Bring the Party to Your Job Search

There are a lot of online invitation sites, but MyPunchbowl is unique in that they offer “start to finish party planning.” This includes bringing “your party to life with ideas, invitations, favors, gift registries, photo/video sharing, and more.” It may sound like a silly idea, but it makes a lot of sense—enough sense that the company has venture capital backing it. MyPunchbowl has really brought Web 2.0 to party planning, and they’re doing an awesome job with it. The user experience on their site looks phenomenal, and they have great integration with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

If you’re a party lover, and you like the way that MyPunchbowl is doing things, then you should check out jobs at MyPunchbowl. They have a number of open positions that include a couple that seem perfect for new grads—Product Specialist and Inside Sales Rep. One of the key requirements for applying for a job at MyPunchbowl is to have a user account, so be sure that you’re really familiar with how to use the site before applying. Maybe you can use it as an excuse to throw a party.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Will you use MyPunchbowl to plan your next party?

Willy Franzen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:39:19 +0000

A lot of people find it ironic that I put an end to my job search by starting a company that helps other people with their job searches. I’ll admit that it’s a bit odd, but it seems to be working out pretty well. Maybe you’ll do something similar by landing a job at a job-search focused company like Mountain View, CA based LinkedIn. There are plenty of other companies trying to build professional social networks and online résumé sites, but none of them seem to have any hope competing with LinkedIn. LinkedIn reached critical mass first, and that’s why they’re one of my favorite online job search tools. Not only do they allow you to visualize your own professional network to see whom you’re connected to, but they also let you browse through the networks of different companies to learn more about their organizational structure. Where else can you get access to the résumé of someone whose job you want to have five years down the road? LinkedIn is an amazing tool for smart job seekers, and it’s also an amazing business—they’ve been profitable for nearly three years (which is impressive for a startup of their size and scope).

Get LinkedIn

LinkedIn is obviously much more than a job search tool, but that’s its most common use for new and recent college graduates. If you’re not already on the site, you should sign up today. If you are, you should invest some time and effort into learning more about how to use the site—we have some great tutorials in our job search training course, Found Your Career. This goes doubly if you want to land a job at LinkedIn—I can’t imagine their hiring anyone who isn’t extremely familiar with their product. It wouldn’t make sense. Oddly enough, LinkedIn’s Careers site and Job Search function leave something to be desired. Maybe it’s because I expect theirs to be best of breed, but I’m disappointed. The Careers site provides all of the normal information that you’d expect, and the Job listings are just that—a list of jobs. They do allow a few ways to sort them, but they’re not very helpful. It’s actually better to use the general LinkedIn job search tool and specify that you’re looking for jobs at LinkedIn. It makes the results a little easier to sort through. None of LinkedIn’s current job postings are explicitly entry level (which I find a bit surprising), but they do have a number of positions on the Software Development side and Account Management/Advertising side that look like possibilities for recent grads with the right background. Since LinkedIn is all about networking, you may even want to skip the job postings, and just focus on using the site to connect with people at the company—that would show true knowledge of how their product works.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use LinkedIn?

Wizards of the Coast

Willy Franzen — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:56:03 +0000

When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I played a trading card game called Magic the Gathering. Being a baseball card collector, I was more interested in what the cards were worth than actually playing the game. I occasionally played with my friends, but when they lost interest, I went back to baseball cards. Many trading card games came after (I didn’t play any of them), but apparently Magic the Gathering was the first. I had long forgotten about Wizards of the Coast, the company that was behind Magic cards, when I came across their name again. I took a look, and was surprised to see that the Renton, WA based company has grown quite a bit over the past decade and was eventually purchased by Hasbro. Wizards of the Coast is still a gaming company—the world leader in hobby games—and their brands include Dungeons & Dragons, Duel Masters, Heroscape, Axis & Allies, and Star Wars in addition to Magic the Gathering.

Are You Wizard Enough?

It’s surprising that a company can have as much success as Wizards of the Coast while still staying seemingly under the radar, but that’s exactly why the company has been so successful. Instead of expanding outside of their niche market as they’ve grown, Wizards has stayed true to themselves and grown within their market. They have an insanely loyal following, which is why the competition for jobs at Wizards of the Coast can be extremely fierce. Their most sought after positions are in Game Design and Game Development, and right now they don’t have anything at the entry level in those areas. They do, however, have positions available for Freelance Online Flash Designers, a Sales Web Content Coordinator, and a Wizards Play Network Coordinator for Germany/Austria. You can see all of their Job postings here and you can submit a résumé for general consideration here. You’ll also want to be sure to look at the Wizards of the Coast Careers FAQ before applying.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play Magic the Gathering or any other Wizards of the Coast games?

WeTheCitizens

Willy Franzen — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:00:47 +0000

As someone who has just tweeted his 5,000th tweet, I have to say that I’m getting a little sick of all the buzz about social media. It’s not that I don’t think tools like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are valuable—if that was the case I wouldn’t be writing this right now—it’s just that too many people are forgetting that results, not tools, are most important. That’s why it’s cool to see a company like WeTheCitizens that is putting social media to work in a results-driven way. They’ve developed a platform to help “you recruit, mobilize, and track the effectiveness of your supporters.” Ok, YOU may not need something like that, but politicians, non-profit founders, and movie producers do. WeTheCitizens is an Atlanta based startup (with an office in DC) , and they’re going through a bit of an identity crisis right now (it’s not all that uncommon for startups). They’re very confident in their product—Wildfire Platform—but they’re apparently in the process of changing their name from WeTheCitizens to Mobilization Labs. To make it more confusing, a lot of the branding that they’re doing is for Wildfire Platform. If you can look past all of that, you’ll see a really cool company in its formative stages.

YouTheEmployee

I could try to explain to you what Wildfire Platform does, but luckily I don’t have to. WeTheCitizens has a YouTube video on their home page that does just that, and I’ve embedded it below for you (e-mail and RSS readers should click through to view):

Apparently Wildfire Platform “has been tested and proven across non-profits, movies, and political campaigns, including gubernatorial, senatorial, and even U.S. Presidential.” I’d love to see a full-blown case study of a success story, but it doesn’t look like WeTheCitizens/Mobilization Labs has one up yet. For now, that video will have to sate your appetite for information on Wildfire Platform—at least until you reach out to the team at WeTheCitizens. Although they don’t have a Jobs page yet, they recently posted on their blog about Paid Post-College Internships.

I don’t usually cover internships here, but I’m covering these since they’re paid and the post says: “We have multiple full-time positions we’re looking to fill that will open up at the end of the internship period. We’re pretty confident that the interns will get first dibs on those opportunities.” I basically see it as a temp or intern to hire arrangement. They’re looking for people to help in areas like Sales, Social Media, Social Networking, Marketing, but they’re not tied down to any specific positions. They just want “smart, web-savvy college graduates looking to jump in and start making a difference in a small, fast-growing internet startup.” If that’s you, then e-mail your cover letter, résumé, and references to Esther Weathers at esther@wethecitizens.com by January 20th.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which name do you like better WeTheCitizens, Wildfire, or Mobilization Labs?

Green Irene

Willy Franzen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:21:11 +0000

Some people never need to hire a professional. Whether it’s a plumber, personal trainer, or eco-consultant that they need, they’d rather teach themselves how to solve the given problem. Other people would rather spend their time and effort most efficiently, so they hire a professional when they get in over their heads. If you’re the latter type, and you want to “green” your home or office, then you’ll want to get familiar with Green Irene. They are a New York City based company, founded in 2007, that provides eco-consulting services and sells green products. If you’re worried about the negative impact that you’re having on the environment, you can have one of their consultants visit your home and office to make recommendations on how you can do better. The Wall Street Journal did a nice feature on the eco-consulting industry (it includes Green Irene), so check that out to get a better sense of the overall market.

Go Green with Irene

When I first started looking at Green Irene, there were a couple of red flags that made me nervous about featuring them. The first was that when you type “Green Irene” into Google, the top two suggestions that come up are “Green Irene scam” and “Green Irene complaints.” That’s enough to make anyone nervous, but it’s actually relatively common with companies that operate businesses like Green Irene. The results of those searches didn’t turn up much in terms of negative press. This leads to my second issue, which is probably why so many people are searching those searches: Green Irene uses a direct sales business model (many scam jobs use a similar model). That means that their eco-consultants aren’t Green Irene employees, but “independent business women and men who work from their own home or office as distributors of Green Irene consulting services and green products.” They also have a strong incentive to focus on selling products during their consults.

Although I don’t love this model for a business, I do understand why Green Irene does it (it makes starting up and growing quickly way easier). There are direct sales positions with Green Irene, but those aren’t what caught my interest (I think new grads can learn a lot doing direct sales, but it usually offers less than ideal situations). I’m more interested in the Operations Assistant position posted on their Jobs page—it’s perfect for a new grad. If you like what you see in the description, e-mail your résumé and cover note to jobs@greenirene.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Green Irene?

Experience Project

Willy Franzen — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:56:40 +0000

Check out this week’s sponsor, New York City Teaching Fellows. They’re seeking new grads with no prior teaching experience or background in education to help make a difference in NYC’s public schools.

Do you have a secret? An embarrassing story? Maybe you have a real problem (like not having a job) or a health issue. It could just be something that you’re passionate about. If you have experiences that you want to share or you want to read about the experiences of other people, then Experience Project is the site for you. It’s a free web site that allows people across the world to share their experiences. It all started when Armen Berjikly, Experience Project’s founder, was inspired by a friend to build a support community for multiple sclerosis patients. It was so successful that Armen decided to expand the project so that it could serve everyone—it’s now “the first social network based upon who you are and not who you know.” The company is based in San Francisco, and according to their data and the data on Compete.com, they’re doing some pretty serious traffic.

Gain Some Experience at Experience Project

When I first discovered Experience Project, I instantly wondered what the business model was. After doing a little investigating, I realized how powerful targeted advertising to specific verticals can be. Even though users are able to maintain their anonymity on Experience Project, contextual advertising that matches up with a given Experience Project group should be extremely effective. I can’t say whether it is, but Experience Project’s Advertising page provides some more insight into what kind of advertising opportunities the site offers. If you’re intrigued by Experience Project’s different take on social networking, then you’ll want to check out their Jobs page. They have opportunities available in Business Development & Sales, Product Marketing (SEO and Analytics), Engineering & Product / Web Development, and Marketing & Community Management. They don’t go into too much depth about what kind of experience they’re looking for (despite their name), so I’d imagine it’s wide open for new grads to apply for these positions. To do that you should send “a cover letter specific to your arena of interest, your current résumé and up to three relevant work samples and / or links to portfolio work” to team@experienceproject.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you shared anything on Experience Project?

Cobalt

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:09:06 +0000

When I last bought a car in 2001, the best way to go about it was to stop by dealerships to see what they had in their inventory. I remember using the Internet to some extent, but it wasn’t all that helpful. Although I haven’t purchased a car since, I’m pretty sure that the web is playing a much larger role in the car buying decision process these days. That’s why Cobalt, a Seattle based company, is doing so well. They’re in the business of automotive marketing, and they made the Inc. 5000 last year with 134.0% three-year revenue growth to $168.4 million. Cobalt works with both dealers and manufacturers to “increase their retailing effectiveness and profits.” The company has been around since 1995, and it consists of three key subsidiaries: Dealix, UsedCars.com, and IntegraLink.

Drive Your Career in the Right Direction

The big reason that Cobalt has been so successful is that they were ready for the transition to digital marketing from the start. A lot of people in the automotive industry weren’t ready for a change in their business model, but luckily they have Cobalt to rely on for marketing. More than two thirds of auto manufacturers and one half of dealers in the US use Cobalt’s services in some capacity. Cobalt is a lot like a fully-integrated marketing agency in terms of the areas in which they work, but their business doesn’t appear to be quite as client focused (for instance they run a UsedCars.com—a destination site). If you’re intrigued by what Cobalt does, then you’ll want to take a look at their Careers page. It goes into a lot of detail about what it’s like to work at Cobalt, and then it will direct you to take a look at their job postings. There are lots of opportunities for new or recent grads including: Data Normalization Clerk (Columbus, OH), Technical Customer Support (Columbus, OH), Website Technical Support (Lynnwood, WA), Online Marketing Specialist (Lynnwood, WA), Technical Inside Sales (Redwood City, CA), Operations Analyst – Inventory (Seattle, WA), UI Web Developer (Seattle, WA), Build and Release Engineer (Seattle, WA), and Sales Operations Specialist (Seattle, WA).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When is the last time that you bought a car?

Mona Lisa Style

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:56:32 +0000

I don’t know a lot about how the fashion industry works, but I do know that buyers are the people who make the decisions about which items end up in stores and on websites. Mona Lisa Style is a New York City based startup that wants to help buyers “master the art of merchandising” through technology. While most industries have moved a large portion of their business online, the fashion industry is lagging behind. According to Mona Lisa Style’s Blog the way that many major companies place orders for clothing is by writing an order on a piece of paper and faxing it. All of the organization and tracking of orders is also done over the phone and on paper. Mona Lisa Style realizes how stupid this is, and they want to change it. They want to make buying as easy as online shopping.

The Art of Merchandising

As far as I can tell, Mona Lisa Style is really early as startups come. They’re self-funded, have 3 employees, and don’t even have a Chief Technology Officer / Lead Developer yet (they’re looking for one). That is a big red flag, since software as a service business typically need really strong technical talent. Still, I’m impressed with the concept behind Mona Lisa Style. They’ll certainly have an enormous challenge pushing an industry that is dragging its feet into the digital age, but if they can do it, they stand to reap huge rewards. If you love the risk and want to work towards changing the way that the fashion industry works, then you should check out Mona Lisa Style’s job postings on Startuply. Maybe they’ll join the ranks of big name NYC fashion startups like Gilt Groupe and Bonobos. Right now they’re looking for a CTO and a Fashion Sales Representative. If you’re interested, you can reach out to them at careers@monalisastyle.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Mona Lisa Style’s chances?

San Francisco Chronicle

Willy Franzen — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:12:19 +0000

Being a newspaper these days is tough. I’d imagine it’s especially tough in a place like San Francisco where people embrace new technologies so quickly. Although I’d also expect those early adopters to be just the types who are heavy users of newspapers. I’m not sure where that leaves the San Francisco Chronicle, but they do seem to have a strong history of adapting to changes in their business model. According to Wikipedia, they first went online with SFGate.com in 1994, and now they’re moving towards a focus on subscriptions instead of advertising to generate revenue. I’m not sure that’s going to work long term, but you have to like the flexibility that the San Francisco Chronicle has shown over the years. It’s no surprise that they remain one of the largest newspapers in the country.

Chronicle Your Job Search

One of the disappointing things about most newspapers and magazines is that they don’t provide much information about themselves on their websites. They publish plenty of content, but getting the inside scoop on the company is usually tough. The Chronicle follows this trend, although they do provide a very in-depth history page. One of the few other “meta” pages that the San Francisco Chronicle has is their Jobs page. They don’t have a ton of openings, but current listings include Online Client Services Coordinator (this is the most “entry level”), Inside Sales Account Executive, Account Executive – Retail Advertising, and Commission Only Account Executive. There aren’t any Editorial positions open right now, but The Chronicle does accept general résumé submissions here. They also list hr@sfchronicle.com as an e-mail address to send additional application materials to.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read the San Francisco Chronicle?

Uline

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

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

Box It Up

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Uline?

Bonobos

Willy Franzen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:00:28 +0000

Want to get $30 off your first Bonobos purchase? They have an awesome referral program, so if you want a Bonobos invite, just leave a comment below with your real e-mail address in the proper field (it won’t be displayed). We’ll send you a referral coupon code for $30 off.

Pants are important. Especially when you’re trying to land a job. Going to a job interview without pants is the kind of disaster that only happens in nightmares. Showing up with wrinkled pants is a more likely problem for most recent grads—it makes you look sloppy and careless. Wearing ill fitting pants is almost as bad, even if you have demonstrated to your potential employer that you know how to properly use an iron. The problem is that there aren’t a lot of non-jean pants out there that fit men well. At least that’s what Bonobos, a New York City based fashion startup, thinks. They kind of have a Web 2.0 feel to them, even though they’re in a business that is hundreds of years old. They pride themselves on making great fitting men’s pants (they do suggest a pants hack for women who want Bonobos), offering unbeatable customer service, and providing an overall wonderful shopping experience. I just bought my first pair of pants from Bonobos last night, and I’m excited to see if they live up to the hype. If they don’t, I can take advantage of their free two-way shipping and “any pant, any time, any reason” return policy.

Get in on the Monkey Business

So, the Bonobo isn’t actually a monkey—it’s a “sexually promiscuous Great Ape that possesses nearly all of modern man’s better traits” according to Bonobos’ website. I’m not sure where Bonobos got their name, since chimps don’t wear pants, but the company appears to be extremely committed to saving the Bonobo (they donate $1 for every new customer to an ape sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo). The company was started by two guys from Stanford Business school, one of whom was altering his own pants with a girlfriend’s sewing machine to improve the fit. Word spread about his great fitting pants, and now there’s a company funded with $3 million in angel investment and valued at $15 million pre-money. If that’s not enough, Bonobos is on their way to doing $4 million in sales this year, and they were featured by Forbes earlier this year and by the New York Times just a few weeks ago.

Bonobos seems to be on a hot streak right now, and they’re intent on keeping it going. That’s why it shouldn’t be a surprise to see that their Jobs page is loaded with opportunities. These positions include Junior Art Director/Stylist, Technical Designer, PR Ninja, Operations and Warehouse Ninja, Style Ninja, Field Ninja, and Front End Developer. Bonobos has a great perspective on talent in that they don’t get too hung up on experience, so you shouldn’t hesitate to apply for any of these positions as long as you can demonstrate that you’ll be the best person for the job. I think that Bonobos does exceptionally with their job postings—the only thing I don’t get is why they use the term “ninja” in many of their job titles. I guess hiring a PR Chimp and a Style Chimp might put some people off. The application instructions vary from job to job, so be sure to look at the postings closely. Also, you should note that they’re very open to applications for unlisted positions, so that’s an option too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

2tor

Willy Franzen — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:55:50 +0000

I think that online education is going to be a really big deal in the near future (possibly why I developed an online course for job seekers); however, I still have doubts about online degree programs. I get pitched quite often by online universities that want to advertise here on One Day, One Job, but it just doesn’t feel right to me. I just don’t know how to separate the “degree mills” from reputable online universities, so I stay away. Luckily, this won’t be a problem for long. 2tor, a New York City based startup, is changing the face of online education by partnering “with preeminent institutions of higher education to deliver rigorous, selective degree programs online.” Prestigious college and universities can bring their brand name and time tested curricula online by using the “tools, expertise, capital, and global recruiting” that 2tor provides.

You Need a 2tor

2tor is all about providing a platform and technological expertise. Why should a higher ed institution waste time developing proprietary software and methods to bring their courses online, when 2tor has a perfectly tailored solution? 2tor is already working with the USC Rossier School of Education to offer an online Master of Arts in Teaching program, and it won’t be long before even more quality academic opportunities are available online. Online universities have been successful to this point because of technical knowhow and excellent online marketing. 2tor is putting their funding to use to replicate these core competencies while teaming up with unbeatable educational brands. I think 2tor has a great shot at changing the world of online education, and if you do too, you may want to check out their job opportunities. Right now they’re looking for Admission Counselors in Landover, MD. These are actually Sales positions, and they look pretty well suited to new grads, so get your act together and apply by sending a cover letter and résumé  to  careers@2tor.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your thoughts on online education?

Roubini Global Economics

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:55:33 +0000

Remember that time that you predicted the walk off home run during the baseball game or the fact that your friend would get back together with his girlfriend for the 7th time? Of course you do. It was proof of your psychic abilities. Remember the time that you made a similar prediction but were wrong? Of course not. When you only count your wins and not your losses, it’s easy to have a perfect record. Politicians take advantage of this all the time. The truth is that there aren’t a lot of people out there who are good at predicting things, whether it’s weather, the economy, sports, or any number of other things. Nouriel Roubini may be an exception. He could be insanely “lucky” with the fact that his descriptions and predictions of the current financial crisis were dead on, but you have to give him credit for the amount of detail included in his predictions, like when he said “the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession.” He’s very obviously a brilliant guy, and he’s also the founder of New York City based Roubini Global Economics, a company that provides “a uniquely tailored look at the logic of the global economy” for its clients.

Working for “Dr. Doom”

Nouriel Roubini has been dubbed “Dr. Doom” by some because of his dour predictions, but you have to imagine that the demand for his company’s services is extremely high regardless of his scary nickname. Now, don’t get confused. Roubini Global Economics isn’t about looking into a crystal ball or just making predictions, it’s about taking a scientific approach to economic analysis. Here’s what the Roubini Global Economics website has to say about The RGE Approach:

Our analytical approach demands a constant probing of the important questions facing the global economy. When considered and debated, these questions lead to breakthrough economic analysis. Each question is formulated from a constellation of topic and region-specific information sources and augmented with opinion from RGE analysts and expert contributors. Together, these elements help you command the fundamentals and identify opportunities and risks throughout the world.

While heavily focused on Economics, Roubini Global Economics is also pretty focused on being a web media company. Their major website used to be RGEMonitor.com, but it appears that they’re making the move to a new site on Roubini.com over the next few weeks. Both sites have job listings (on Roubini.com and on RGEMonitor.com), and there appear to be some opportunities for new grads. All of the job postings for Economic Analysts appear to require a PhD in Econ, but positions like Editor/Web Producer (London), Web Developer (New York), and Account Manager (multiple openings in New York and London) are worth checking out depending on your background and relevant experience. None of the jobs are explicitly entry level, but Roubini Global Economics puts a heavy focus on interns, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some entry level positions that aren’t currently posted on their site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Roubini’s predictions?

Honest Beverages

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:21:20 +0000

A year or two ago I read an interesting book called Why Not?: How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big And Small (affiliate link) about invention and innovation. It was a good read, and it put all kinds of new ideas in my head. One of the stories in the book is bout how the author and Yale professor, Barry Nalebuff, and one of his students, Seth Goldman, teamed up to start Honest Tea, which now seems to go by the name Honest Beverages. They were doing a case study on Coke and Pepsi in class, and both Barry and Seth agreed that most retail beverage options were either way too sweet or way too watered down. They wanted something in between, and it happened that Barry had just returned from studying the tea industry in India when Seth e-mailed him to continue the conversation that started in class. They kept running with the idea, and soon after Honest Tea was born. In 1998 the Bethesda, MD based company had 3 employees and $250,000 in sales, and last year those numbers rose to 87 employees and $38 million in sales.

An Honest Day’s Work

The name Honest Beverages isn’t nearly as catchy as Honest Tea, but the company really means it when they use the word honest. They use real tea leaves for their teas, they’re certified USDA organic (as you can see in their logo), and they’re extremely committed to sustainability. Although we’re seeing a lot more of this in the beverage industry now, it was pretty radical back in the late 90s when it all started. If you’re an honest person who is looking for an honest job, then you need to look no further than Honest Beverages’ Jobs page to find what you’re looking for (unless you really love sweet drinks, of course). Their current postings aren’t explicitly entry level, but positions like PR Associate and Demand Planning might be worth checking out. Additionally, Honest Beverages is really big on hiring former interns, so you may want to try using an internship to get you foot in the door. To apply for a position with Honest Beverages send a résumé to jobs@honesttea.com with the job title as the subject.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Honest Beverages’ products is your favorite?

Visa

Willy Franzen — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:40:07 +0000

It’s Black Friday! And that means that it times to talk about spending money. In previous years we’ve taken a look at jobs at Amazon.com and Ernst & Young (for companies that are “in the black”). We also look at jobs with SlickDeals, one of the best websites for finding Black Friday deals, a few months ago. Today we’re gong to look at Visa, since it’s hard to do any amount of serious shopping without some sort of debit or credit card. Many people think of Visa, which is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, as a credit card company, but that’s not exactly right. Credit cards are backed by a bank or similar financial institution that actually lends you the money to make your purchases. Visa is “a global payments technology company.” That means that they provide the network for your transactions, but they aren’t actually the lending institution backing your credit card.

Swipe Your Way to A New Job

One thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that payment processors like Visa get a cut of every transaction they enable. It typically comes out to a small percentage of the purchase price—so whether you pay for your lunch or buy a huge tv, the merchant isn’t getting the full amount of the charge. Merchants would make more money per purchase if they only accepted cash, but they’d likely lose a lot of customers that way. Obviously, it’s in Visa’s interest to get as many purchases going across their network as they possibly can. That’s why they’re constantly trying to develop new technologies, products, and services to make it easier to make a purchase using your Visa.

If you’re intrigued by payment processing or just think that Visa is a great brand that you’d like to work for, you should check out both their Careers page and their Campus Recruiting page. There’s a lot of information about jobs at Visa, along with a sections specifically on opportunities for undergraduates. Typically they offer positions in Systems (IT), Operations, and Finance along with a New Graduate Development Program that provides a rotation through the areas of Product, Marketing, Sales, and Strategy. The campus recruiting season for Visa has pretty much passed for undergraduates at this point in the year, but you can use their job search function to find specific opportunities to apply for.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have a Visa?

Berry Plastics

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:39:49 +0000

A couple of days ago the blogosphere exploded (pun intended) with news about bomb proof wallpaper. The story originally came from Popular Science with a video of a wrecking ball trying to knock down a brick wall that has been reinforced with the X-Flex Blast Protection System (the video is included below). I always love news stories like this one, because it puts the spotlight on a company that you never would have otherwise. In this case it’s Berry Plastics, an Evansville, IN based plastics company. Their products range from agricultural films to plastic bottles and from drink cups to trash bags. There’s a good chance that you have dozens of items in your house/dorm/apartment that were manufactured by Berry Plastics—you just don’t know it because most people don’t care who manufactured their shampoo bottles.

Bomb Proof Your Job Search

I’m pretty sure consumers will be much more brand conscious when it comes to buying bomb proof wallpaper. Obviously the military is talking about using the X-Flex Blast Protection System, and I can also imagine the product’s being used in areas where hurricanes or tornadoes are prevalent. You’ll see why in the video below (subscribers should click through to view):

For me the obvious question whenever I find an interesting company like Berry Plastics is are they hiring? Considering that Berry Plastics has more than 13,000 employees (most of them in a manufacturing setting), I’d have to imagine that they’re always hiring at some level. Unfortunately Berry Plastics has the worst Applicant Tracking System that I’ve ever seen. It uses a Java applet, and it’s absolutely unusable. It doesn’t really make sense, since they have a pretty informative Careers page. Since I can’t get the read on specific positions, we’ll have to go by the fact that Berry Plastics says that they typically offer positions in the following areas: Accounting, Administration, Automation, Customer Service, Engineering, Graphic Arts, Human Resources, Information Technology, Production (Molding, Printing, Machine Operator, Material Handling), Maintenance, Management, Marketing, Materials Management, Purchasing, Quality Assurance, Sales, and Tool Room.

There’s no word on college recruiting, but you’d have to imagine that an Engineering focused company of 13,000 does at least some entry level hiring. You should also note that one of the benefits listed on their Careers page is “Fun.” I guess your best bet is to apply through their online application form, or if you’re really going to go for you could print your résumé on Berry Plastics’ bomb proof wallpaper and send it to them. They’d have to hire you because they wouldn’t be able to destroy your résumé.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to use bomb proof wallpaper?

Big Ten Network

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:46:03 +0000

I love Ivy League sports. I really do. Although I think the league gets less respect than it deserves, I know that they’ll never be the Big Ten—even if a powerhouse like Cornell (hey, I’m biased) continues to excel at the national level in sports like Hockey, Lacrosse, Wrestling, and even Basketball. I didn’t realize how big Big Ten sports were until I walked around Chicago on a Saturday afternoon in the fall. The Ohio State bar is packed with Ohio State fans, and the Michigan bar is packed with Michigan fans. Everyone is dressed in their school’s colors—and these are people hundreds of miles away from their schools and many years away from graduation. I guess that’s why there’s the Chicago based Big Ten Network, a television station devoted to everything Big Ten. While I’m watching grainy online streaming video of Cornell Hockey with my laptop hooked up to my tv, Big Ten fans can watch their favorite team—often in HD.

Network Yourself in the Big Ten

The Big Ten Network was launched just over 2 years ago as “a joint venture between subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks,” and it’s allowed the Big Ten to gain significant control and leverage in terms of media distribution. Not only do they now have more control over their advertising revenue (they prohibit alcohol and gambling ads), but they also get to bring more attention to Women’s sports and sports other than basketball and football. As they put it:

Eleven schools, 252 varsity teams, one great network to cover it all. Welcome to the Big Ten Network, your ultimate source for Big Ten sports, featuring the games, passion and tradition of the nation’s foremost athletic conference.

Obviously the Big Ten is the first to make a move like this, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more athletic conferences take more control over the moneymaker that is televised college sports. If you’d like to get on board and be part of the Big Ten Network, you need to check out their Careers page—or you can just skip ahead to the Fox job search function where the Big Ten Network’s jobs are listed. If you select Big Ten Network as the company, you’ll see all of the job openings that they have available. Right now there’s only one non-internship position, but it’s perfect for a new grad—Integrated Sales Associate (Advertising and Marketing). You can apply online for the job, and you should keep your eye out for more job postings from the Big Ten Network.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your team?

Flat World Knowledge

Willy Franzen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:53:35 +0000

Today’s post comes with a big announcement. I’m writing a book! A textbook on Career Development to be precise. The best part of that news is that the textbook is going to be available online for free because I’m working with an awesome publisher named Flat World Knowledge. They’re a Nyack, NY based startup that is aiming to revolutionize the textbook industry. I’m sure many have you have been forced into spending thousands of dollars over the course of your college career on textbooks (and how many of them remained in their shrink wrap?). Flat World Knowledge is building a business by providing you with better, more affordable options. Textbooks from Flat World can be read online for free. You can pay to print a chapter (or the whole book) at home. You can buy a softcover copy in black and white—or color. You can even get an audio book version. When my book comes out, you can read it however you want to read it—and you’ll never be forced to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Navigating a Flat World

Here’s a quick video introduction to Flat World Knowledge:

I’m sure that there has been plenty of outcry on your campus about how expensive textbooks are, and you’ve probably noticed that the mainstream media is starting to pick up on this story. Flat World is tackling this problem head on by making a bet that they can sell more textbooks at a lower price. It may seem crazy for a publisher to give away full textbooks for free, but Flat World knows that a lot of students can’t bear to read an entire textbook online. Some students will want to pay for hard copies of the book, and that will leave enough profit for Flat World. They’ve raised $8 million in funding to get started, but hopefully a certain Career Development text will be so popular that they won’t need to take on any more money in the future.

Now, I do have a vested interest in the success of Flat World Knowledge, but that’s because I believe that they’re doing something great for students. If you’d like to have a vested interest in Flat World, then you should check out their Jobs page. The positions that they have posted are for more experienced individuals, but Flat World does have this posted on their Jobs page: “If you are a product manager, salesperson, web marketing guru, or acquisitions editor who feels passionate about our business, send a resume and tell us a bit about yourself to jobs@flatworldknowledge.com.” There’s no guarantee that they’ll have a position for you, but they’re growing quickly… so you might just get the chance to work with me.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Will you read my book?