One Day, One Job » sales

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?

Scripps Networks

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:39:04 +0000

If you haven’t checked out our post on Personal Finance and the Job Search, do that now. We’ve just added a special one day offer to get our job search training course Found Your Career for free.

Exactly a month ago we featured Charm City Cakes of Food Network fame, even though they’re not hiring. It was my birthday (so today is my 1/12 birthday!), and I wanted to talk about what to do when a company has zero interest in hiring anyone. If that post didn’t work for you, we have another way to get closer to the Ace of Cakes—working for Scripps Networks. They’re the parent company behind tv networks that include HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living, and GAC. Unlike Charm City Cakes, Scripps Networks is openly hiring, and a number of their positions seem perfect for new college grads. If your tv is often tuned into one of those stations, then you need to see what Scripps Networks has to offer.

Get a Job in Lifestyle Media

Scripps Networks is all about lifestyle media. You probably could have gathered that yourself from their logo, or from the list of their TV networks. They are a part of the much larger E.W. Scripps Company, which operates in all types of media—newspapers, television, licensing, and spelling bees. Additionally, Scripps Networks is investing a lot in expanding into online media, which obviously makes a lot of sense. While I’ve heard a lot about declining ad sales on television, it seems that Scripps Networks must be doing well. They have a ton of jobs posted, and although their job search function is a bit messed up, you can just click search without entering anything and browse through the openings. You’ll find positions like Ad Sales Assistant (3 positions all in New York City), Ad Sales Marketing Coordinator (NYC), Ad Sales Planner (NYC), SEO/SEM Analyst (Los Angeles), International Business Analyst (NYC), Closed Caption Formatter (Knoxville, TN), Office Coordinator (NYC), Online Marketing Specialist (London, UK), Program Planning Assistant (NYC), Public Relations Coordinator (NYC), Quality Assurance Analyst (Knoxville, TN), and Sales Coordinator (NYC). Lots of jobs, so head over to Scripps Networks’ job search page and start browsing—you can apply online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which is your favorite of Scripps Networks’ channels?

Steiner Sports

Willy Franzen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:23:31 +0000

“Ball game over! World Series over! Yankees win! THEEEEEEEE YANKEES WINNNNNNNNN!” Although I was watching tv and not listening on the radio, I heard John Sterling’s call in my head as soon as Cano threw to Teixeira to get the 27th out and a 27th World Championship. As you can probably guess, I’m a huge Yankees fan, and I’m in a great mood. Since we’ve already covered entry level jobs with Major League Baseball teams, entry level jobs with the YES Network, and plenty of other entry level jobs in baseball, today we’re going to take a look at Steiner Sports. They’re based out of New Rochelle, NY, and consider themselves the “the leader in autographed sports memorabilia and sports collectibles.” They also happen to have a very strong partnership with the New York Yankees, so they are the place to go for your 2009 Championship collectibles. Whether you want a seat from the old stadium or an official Championship locker room t-shirt, they’ve got it. You can even buy a Derek Jeter autographed 2009 World Series ball despite the fact that he probably hasn’t had time yet to sit down and sign autographs.

Collect Your Way to a New Job

I used to be really into sports memorabilia, but now I’m happy to just watch the game. Still, sports memorabilia is a huge market that seems to be going strong despite the decline of the collectible card industry. I guess people would much rather have something that is actually scarce like a game used jersey than a piece of cardboard that can be produced en masse. I guess that’s why Steiner Sports is now a “booming, 100-plus employee, $50 million enterprise.” Beyond the memorabilia and collectibles side of the business, there’s also Steiner Sports Marketing. It seems like an awesome company for sports fans, so if you’re intrigued, check out their Jobs page. Right now they have a handful of openings posted including a B2B/Retail Sales position and a Direct to Consumer Account Executive position. The application instructions can be found on the Jobs page, so check out the full descriptions and make your job search something that you can commemorate.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Yankees win!

Wildlife Conservation Society

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

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

Jobs in the Wild

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Mars

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

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

Take a Trip to Mars

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite candy from Mars?

Brightcove

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:45:33 +0000

It took long enough, but Internet video is everywhere. Yes, we had online video 10 years ago, but now it actually looks good—and works. The main reason for this is that end users (you and me) finally have technology in their homes that can handle playing online video. This means high speed Internet connections and computers with enough processing power to not crash when a website uses a Flash video player. The issue for content creators is that delivering video still poses some challenges. Sure, I was able to produce an online job search training course that relied heavily on video with little trouble, but I wasn’t delivering video to thousands or even millions of people (I wish I had the problem). As your use base increases, the challenge of delivering video increase exponentially. Moreover, managing video content in an organized fashion is a completely different challenge than organizing text and images. Brightcove is a Cambridge, MA based company that provides an online video platform for many of the worlds biggest brands.

Are You Bright Enough?

I’ve probably said this before about other companies, but I’m not sure that I’ve seen a client list as impressive as Brightcove’s customer list. It includes names like The New York Times, Discovery Channel, Sony Music, U.S. Army, and Ticketmaster, so you know that Brightcove isn’t just some flash in the pan startup. They have top flight clients who are paying lots of money for the Brightcove platform. With that said, it will be interesting to see how online video delivery develops in the next 5 to 10 years and how Brightcove adapts to those changes. If you want to be a part of the future of online video, then you need to check out Brightcove’s Job listings. Most of their current openings are either experienced or internship positions, but there are a couple of jobs that seem suitable for new grads. These include Customer Solutions Specialist and Part-Time Training Operations Assistant. Brightcove also has a listing for applicants who can’t find a job posting that fits them. Whether you are looking for something in Software/Web Development, User Experience, Quality Assurance, Marketing, Sales, or Business Development, it’s probably worth reaching out to Brightcove to see if they might have something for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen websites that use Brightcove to deliver video?

The Boston Globe

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:48:50 +0000

It feels pretty good to be talking about a Boston based newspaper today knowing that they have to report on another trip to the World Series for the Yankees; although, I’m sure they’d much rather be publishing stories on what Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon are doing during their offseason (possibly watching the World Series from their couches). Now that I’ve gotten in my dig at Red Sox fans, we can take a look at The Boston Globe, Boston’s most widely read newspaper. The paper is owned by the New York Times and has an excellent web presence at Boston.com. Much like other newspapers the Globe has had significant financial struggles, and The New York Times even threatened to shut the paper down if the paper’s union didn’t accept major concessions. Apparently those problems have been worked out, and The Boston Globe is now on more stable ground. At least that’s what the fact that they’re hiring would indicate.

Navigate The Globe

When it comes to newspapers and magazines, there’s no better way to get to know them than to read them. Luckily, you can do that online at Boston.com, which is a good example of how newspapers should use the web. I’m especially impressed with their Big Picture photoblog, which is constantly getting voted up on social media news sites. Since you’re going to have to start reading The Boston Globe to get a feel for them, let’s jump right to their jobs. If you take a look at their Job postings, you’ll see that there are only a few openings; however, a number of those jobs seem perfect for new grads. These include positions in Outbound Sales, Web Programming/Development, Technical Production, and Online Advertising Traffic Coordination. Most of the job postings don’t appear to be very fresh, but they’re still posted, so apply online and see what happens.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Boston Globe?we

College Prowler

Willy Franzen — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:00:10 +0000

Back when I was looking at colleges, I had to rely on traditional guidebooks to get relevant information like average SAT scores, whether freshmen are allowed to have cars, and what the food is like. Finding solid information online was pretty much out of the question, and none of the guidebooks that I looked at seemed to have a good read on what the campus was really like. Then along came College Prowler in 2002 (after I was already at Cornell, which turned out great). They’re a Pittsburgh, PA based company that aims “to be the most accurate, complete, and honest resource on colleges and universities across the United States.” Although those are their words, I think that a more accurate description of what they do (also in their words) is:

No university affiliations. No half-truths. No out-of-touch authors who haven’t been in school for decades. A class project turned company, College Prowler produces guidebooks that are written by actual college students and covers the things students really want to know.

College Prowler’s guides are what college guidebooks should have always been. Unfortunately, it took a long time for anyone to realize how big the need for “real” information was. Along with guidebooks, College Prowler has also built an awesome web resource to help high school students make informed college choices. The best part is that they’ve recently made all of their online content free.

Prowling for Jobs

The business side of College Prowler is an interesting story, as I recently learned in an Inc. Magazine article. The short of it is that College Prowler is doing a fantastic job of helping students make the right college decisions, but they’re not nearly as successful at monetizing the attention that they’re getting (I can sympathize completely). As publishing has become less necessary with user-generated content sites like Unigo.com delivering free content, College Prowler has had to reevaluate its strategy. They still have a great brand and a great idea, but there’s a reason that they’re an Inc. Magazine Case Study and not a member of the Inc. 5000. If you’re up for a challenge and want to help make a cool company become significantly profitable, you should check out College Prowler’s Jobs page. Although they only have specific internship positions posted, they do say that they “typically hire in sales, marketing, editing, and web development.” If you have skills in any of those areas, reach out to Mark Tressler at tressler@collegeprowler.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

CollegeProwler.com
Jobs at College Prowler
About College Prowler
CollegeJolt.com (College Prowler’s Blog)
College Prowler in the News

Did you use any College Prowler guides?

The Daily Beast

Willy Franzen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:51:28 +0000

Once you start interviewing for jobs, you realize how important it is to stay well informed. Whether it’s staying up on the industry that you want to work in or just keeping up with current events, you need to be able to speak (somewhat) intelligently about a wide range of topics. Chit chat and small talk play a big part in the impression that you make, so don’t try to use the fact that you “live in a bubble” at college to explain away your ignorance. Instead, you should subscribe to the The Daily Beast. It’s a cheat sheet for current events that covers a wide array of topics. Some would call it a news aggregator, but they like calling what they do “curating.” The site was created by Tina Brown, who was formerly the editor at Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. The Daily Beast, which is based out of New York City, launched just over a year ago, and has been able to garner a huge amount of traffic pretty quickly. I guess it might have something to do with their IAC backing.

Beast on These Jobs

The way we consume news is changing, and The Daily Beast is a perfect example of how smart startups can create growth in what many people deem to be a dying industry. I could go into more detail about what The Daily Beast covers, but you’re better off just checking it out for yourself. After you give it a look, be sure to read their About page, which is really a Q & A with Tina Brown, the company’s founder. It will give you a lot of insight into what the company is all about. It’s an extremely entertaining Q&A, so I’m sure that you’ll like what you see. If that’s the case, then you’ll probably want to check out jobs at The Daily Beast. Their job listings are mixed in with the job postings from other IAC companies, but it’s a pretty easy list to scan through. (It’s pretty obvious that The Daily Beast is growing well judging by how much hiring they’re doing.) You’ll see a number of intriguing entry level positions including Business Analytics Manager, Graphic Designer, Assistant Video News Editor (West Hollywood, CA), Editorial Assistant, Social Media Associate, Sales Partnership Associate, Traffic Coordinator, and Web Developer. You can apply online for any of these positions, and be sure to read The Daily Beast before your interview.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Daily Beast?

Classified Ventures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:33:00 +0000

I remember being in middle school and deciding that I wanted a drum set. I already had a snare drum, but I knew that a full set would be much cooler. My mom bought me a copy of the Bargain News, a local paper full of classified ads, and helped me pore over the listings in search of a drum set. That’s certainly a relic of the past, but classified ads are far from dead. They’ve just moved online. You’re probably most familiar with Craigslist, and maybe you’ve considered using Facebook Marketplace or something like that. What you probably didn’t realize is that there is still a huge business behind classified ads. Take Chicago based Classified Ventures for instance. They’re another Inc. 5000 company, and they’ve increased their revenue from $146.7 million to $297.5 million over the past three years. They’ve done this with four distinct businesses: Apartments.com, Cars.com, HomeGain.com, and HomeFinder.com. You’ve probably noticed at least one of those sites before, which is exactly what they’re looking for.

Get Classified

Whether you’re looking for a car, an apartment, or a home, Classified Ventures is going to do its best to grab your attention and show you some ads. Since classified ads are the kind of ads that people actually seek out, Classified Ventures’ main focus is on driving traffic. As long as they can keep linking up more buyers and sellers, their business is going to grow. They’re already a pretty good sized company with “offices in Chicago, IL, Emeryville, CA, Santa Monica, CA and Austin, TX, and over 1,100 employees in 37 states,” but they’re not stopping there—their Jobs page shows 33 current openings. You might want to consider the following positions: Product Specialist – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Ad Trafficker – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Dealer Experience Advocate – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Software Engineer – ApartmentHomeLiving (Austin, TX), Software Quality Assurance Analyst – HomeFinder.com (Chicago, IL), Inside Sales Manager SBU – Cars.com (Chicago, IL), Freelance Web Designer – Cars.com (Santa Monica, CA), Account Receivables Analyst – Corporate Services (Chicago, IL), Account Manager – Apartments.com (Chicago, IL), and Technical Web Producer – Apartments.com (Chicago, IL). You can apply online directly from the job descriptions, so see which of these jobs suits you best—no need to scan the classifieds.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used classified ads in your job search?

Athletes’ Performance

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:50:25 +0000

One essential part of the job search that is rarely mentioned is working out. You won’t often read about it career advice books or have your college’s career counselor advise you to get a gym membership, but I think that it’s extremely important. The self-discipline required to stay in good shape is the same that is required to land a job. Beyond that, the gym provides a good break from job searching and can even be a decent place to do some networking. But what if you’re a professional athlete? Going to the gym has a completely different meaning in relation to your job search—it’s absolutely essential. The problem is that most gyms don’t cater to athletes. They cater to people who are trying to lose a few pounds, socialize, or watch tv while “working out.” Athletes’ Performance is a different kind of gym. They aim “to provide the finest methods, specialists and facilities seamlessly integrated to efficiently and ethically enhance [their] athletes’ performance.”

How Will You Perform?

Athletes’ Performance has taken a scientific approach to training that is built on three core principles: improving performance, decreasing injury potential, and motivating through education. They currently have locations in Phoenix, AZ; Gulf Breeze, FL; and Carson, CA with an extremely ambitious plan to “roll out 125 sites over the next five years in 25 key metropolitan areas.” Obviously that kind of growth can’t happen while only catering to pro athletes, but I’ll bet there are plenty of non-professionals who would pay a significant premium to work out and train like they’re pros. Niche gyms are a growing market, and Athletes’ Performance seems to be well positioned to take advantage of the fact that not everyone is happy with an elliptical machine and some free weights. If you’re intrigued, you should check out jobs at Athletes’ Performance. Most of their “entry level” openings are located in Frisco, TX for what must be a new location. These positions include Performance Consultant (Sales), Performance Nutritionist, Performance Physical Therapist, and Performance Specialist. You can apply online for these jobs, but you better have a background in sports.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you train at a gym like Athletes’ Performance?

ExactTarget

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:53:54 +0000

I think that e-mail is still the king of social media. We have all of these fancy social networking accounts, but they all send their notifications to our inboxes. If you want someone’s attention, e-mail is the way to go (assuming your message doesn’t look like spam). Heck, you’re probably reading this in your e-mail. That’s why e-mail marketing continues to be a rapidly growing industry. We’ve already taken a look at jobs with Constant Contact, Aweber, and e-Dialog, and now we’re going to look at an industrial strength e-mail marketing company, ExactTarget. They’re based in Indianapolis, and since 2000 they’ve been focused on “providing the most powerful on-demand software for email communications and finding the best and brightest marketers on the planet to revolutionize the way people think about email.”

Target Your Job Search Exactly

ExactTarget offers a wide array of e-mail Products, Services, and Solutions that are used by clients like CarMax, Expedia, The Home Depot, and other huge brands. If you’d like to join ExactTarget at the forefront of e-mail marketing, then you should check out their entry level Catapult Rotational Program. Here’s an introductory video on the program (e-mail readers click through to watch):

If you like what you just saw, then there are two tracks that you can take. The ExactTarget Business Track will allow you to gain experience across departments like Marketing, Accounting, Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Account Management, Deliverability Services, Strategic Services, Training, SMB/Renewals, Partnerships, Human Resources, and Sales, while the ExactTarget Technical Track will have you working in Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Customer Support, Integration, Product, Quality Assurance, Deliverability Services, Training, Implementation, Design and Deployment. You may be able to meet up with ExactTarget recruiters on your campus, but if they’re not recruiting at your school you can get the run down on how to apply for the program here. ExactTarget has done a fantastic job with their entry level recruiting program, and I bet that reflects how much they value young talent.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of the Catapult Rotational Program?

Tandberg

Willy Franzen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:57:54 +0000

I think that I’ve mentioned before that my first experience with video chat was was with CU-SeeMe in an Internet cafe in the mid 90s. Back then the potential for social interaction over online video seemed pretty promising, but the potential for business uses (not that I thought about that when I was 13) was even greater. Real-time video has been slower to take hold on both the social and business fronts than I expected, but now that the quality is so good, we’re seeing more and more businesses embrace video conferencing. Tandberg is a company that is at the forefront of this movement. They have dual headquarters in Oslo, Norway and New York City, and they are both “the market share leader and the fastest growing company in the video conferencing industry.” Their 30% annualized revenue growth for the past 10 years may not be Inc. 5000 material, but it’s still hugely impressive.

I Wonder If They Use Video Interviews

While video conferencing can be as simple as opening up iChat and using the built-in iSight in your Mac, Tandberg offers a higher end experience. They offer products and services that offer superior a superior user experience with a focus on business uses. I remember using video conferencing in a class in college, and I was amazed at how effective it was for presenting to the company that we were working with on our project. It’s all about changing the way people communicate, and if that’s something that gets you excited, then you should check out Jobs at Tandberg. They have opportunities in the United States, Asia Pacific, and Europe. We’re going to focus on the US where they have entry level opportunities like Service Sales Account Manager – Western US, Service Sales Account Manager – Eastern US, Training Operations Supervisor (Reston, VA), Regional Support Specialist Chicago, IL or Reston, VA/Atlanta, GA, and Global Marketing Writer (Reston, VA). You can apply for any of the positions by sending a cover letter and résumé to hr@tandberg.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you ever use video conferencing?

Smart Destinations

Willy Franzen — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:45:42 +0000

Let’s say that you wanted to come visit me in Chicago. You’re not afraid to do touristy things, because you’re willing to accept the fact that you are a tourist. You’re going to visit the Art Institute, the Hancock Observatory, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Sears (now Willis) Tower. Then you want to take a ride on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel followed by an Architecture Boat Tour. That’s a lot of separate admission fees (and an exhausting day). With a Go Chicago Card from Boston, MA based Smart Destinations, you can pay once and do all these things and more. The card will even get you a discount on your Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza. Smart Destinations offers the same service in quite a few other cities, and it seems to be pretty popular. While the Travel industry is struggling with the economy, Smart Destinations has managed 424.7% revenue growth over the past 3 years and #652 on the Inc. 5000.

Take a Trip to Smart Destinations

What Smart Destinations is doing isn’t all that complex, but it’s really… err… smart. By developing relationships with all of these individual destinations and trading lead generation for a substantial discount, Smart Destinations is able to make everyone happy while hauling in the cash. Or at least that’s what their 94% customer satisfaction rate seems to say. It’s a very cool business that has the potential for a lot more growth. If you’d like to be a part of that growth, you should consider Jobs at Smart Destinations. They don’t list specific opportunities, but if you use our “Do I Know Anyone at Smart Destinations?” feature below, you should be able to get an idea of what types of entry level jobs they have. I’d imagine Sales, Marketing, Engineering/Software Development, and Business Development are some of the most likely areas. You can reach out to Smart Destinations at careers@smartdestinations.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried using one of Smart Destinations’ products?

College Hunks Hauling Junk

Willy Franzen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:52:17 +0000

Today is the last day to enter our Maghound Your Way to a New Job contest. With so few entries so far, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll win a one-year subscription to an awesome new magazine subscription service (3 monthly magazines for free!).

I’m still on my Inc. 5000 kick, and today we’re looking at a company whose name immediately caught my eye. They’re called College Hunks Hauling Junk, and that’s exactly what they are. Omar Soliman wanted to make some money during the summer, so he borrowed his mom’s cargo van to start hauling away people’s junk. He then entered his business plan in the Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition and won the $10,000 first prize. He realized that he had a business that he could grow, and now College Hunks Hauling Junk is doing $2.9 million in revenue. Guess that’s why Omar and his co-founder Nick were named (also by Inc.) as Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. College Hunks Hauling Junk is headquartered in Tampa, FL, but through expansion and franchising they now operate in Anne Arundel, MD; Baltimore/Howard County, MD; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; San Francisco/San Jose, CA; Tampa Bay, FL; and Washington, DC Metro.

Are You Hunky Enough?

College Hunks Hauling Junk certainly has a provocative name, but that’s part of their success. Finding someone to haul away your junk isn’t that hard, but it’s really easy to go with the brand you recognize. College Hunks Hauling Junk is all about grabbing attention so that they’re the company that you choose when you need to get rid of some junk. It doesn’t hurt that they can call themselves green, as they recycle 60% of the junk that they collect. Now, College Hunks Hauling Junk obviously has plenty of jobs available. If you want to get in the business of hauling junk to pay your way through college, they can help, but they’re also a growing company with growing needs. They have a bunch of corporate job postings that consist solely of titles. Since they’re a college startup, it’s hard to say how much experience they’re looking for with each position, but you’ll have to apply to find out. The posted job titles include Truck Captain/ Wingman, VP – Franchise Development, Client Loyalty Associate (Inside Sales Rep), Operations Manager, VP – Marketing, VP – Public Relations, VP – Finance, VP – Business Development, and VP – Information Technology.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used College Hunks Hauling Junk?

Revel Consulting

Willy Franzen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:51:40 +0000

When I was a freshman at Cornell, a bunch of my friends decided to form a group called the Red Revelers. We would go to sporting events and act rowdy. We had t-shirts and everything. I guess that’s why Revel Consulting caught my eye when I was browsing through the Inc. 5000 (expect to be hearing a lot about that list in the next few weeks—it’s my favorite resource for finding cool companies). They’re a Kirkland, WA based consulting firm that has expertise in Product Management, Program & Project Management, Change Management, Process Engineering, Sales and Marketing Management, Strategy Development & Measurement, and Cloud Computing. They’re also the 34th fastest growing private company in the United States. Beyond an awesome growth rate, they were also “named to the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For by Seattle Business magazine based on job satisfaction, work environment, and professional growth opportunities.”

Revel in Consulting

The problem with consulting companies is that most people don’t know what they do. Sometimes even the consultants can’t tell you exactly what they do. Part of the reason for that is that consulting is a very flexible field—at least in terms of subject matter. It’s often more about the process than the specifics of the project. Revel Consulting seems to have a good mix of specific areas of expertise—Cloud Computing for example—and more general practice areas such as Program & Project Management. You can’t even take a look at Revel Consulting’s portfolio or client list, because consulting firms usually try to keep that stuff under wraps. What you can look at is the fact that they went from less than $400k in revenue to $13.2 million in revenue in just three years. That tells you that Revel is a place that you want to be. Revel’s Careers page has information on Culture, Consultant Experiences, and Campus Recruiting. The latter focuses mostly on internships, but that’s ok because Revel has one application form for all jobs. They’ll take a look at you and figure out where you’ll fit in best—no need to apply for a specific position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Revel Consulting?

LightWedge

Willy Franzen — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:29:21 +0000

The other night I wanted to read a book before bed, but I had moved the lamp from my bedroom into my living room because our hard to reach light fixture’s lights burnt out. It took all of 30 seconds to move the lamp back to my bedroom, but it was a pain in the butt. If only I had a LightWedge—a product made by the company of the same name that will illuminate your book for you. It’s a stupid simple idea that beats the heck out of wearing a headlamp in bed. Oh yeah, and the Newton, MA based company is making a ton of money. Inc. magazine recently came out with their list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the US, and Lightwedge came in at #1,609. That may not sound great, but when you see that they increased from $3.9 million in revenue in 2005 to $11.6 million last year, you have to be impressed. I always say that the best way to job search during a recession is to look for the companies that are growing, and there’s no better way to find those than Inc. magazine’s list.

Illuminate Your Job Search

One of the key contributors to LightWedge’s growth was getting featured on Oprah, but that doesn’t come without having developed a great product. LightWedge continues to expand on their business of developing illumination devices. One of their smartest plays is the Harry Potter LUMOS Book Light, which is currently backordered. It really is a perfect tie-in. Obviously I’m impressed by LightWedge, which is why I think you should check out their Jobs page. Right now they have a number of job openings that seem like possibilities for new grads. These include Web Site Customer Service Representative, Sales/Marketing Account Manager, Web Design Engineer, and Sales Analyst. Some of these jobs require prior work experience or in-depth knowledge of certain areas, but they’re all worth looking at. You can apply for any of these jobs by sending a cover letter and résumé to work@lightwedge.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried the LightWedge?

Burberry

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:22:55 +0000

It’s funny how well respected brands that have been around forever will get swept up in a fad. Some, like Abercrombie & Fitch, will make it part of a new identity, while others like Burberry will enjoy the popularity but maintain their core image. Burberry is a British company that has been making quality garments since 1856, but they became especially trendy in the early 2000s, if I remember correctly. While most brands are recognized for their logo or a specific product, Burberry is known for their plaid. In fact, unless you’re a tartan freak, “Burberry Check” is probably the only plaid that you recognize by name. Over their 150 years Burberry has moved more towards luxury goods than outdoor garments, which is best evidenced by their new ad campaigns with Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.

Check Out Burberry

Although Burberry is a British based company, they happen to have a significant presence in the United States. That means that they also have quite a few job opportunities on this side of the pond. Their Careers page doesn’t offer much information about what it’s like to work for them, but you can get a listing of job openings here in the US. You should be sure to check out jobs at their New York office like Account Specialist, Allocator, Assistant Buyer, Assistant Buyer – Outlets, Planning Analyst, and Planning Analyst – Wholesale. There are also a number of retail and in-store positions in places like Chicago, Boston, Beverly Hills, Palo Alto, Scottsdale, and other cities with high end retail stores, but we’ve focused on their corporate positions. Additionally, there are positions with Burberry in the United Kingdom (obviously), elsewhere in Europe, and in Asia. You can apply for any of these jobs online directly from the job descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of when you see the “Burberry Check?”

Tennis Channel

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:07:02 +0000

Judging by what people are watching on the televisions on the cardio machines at my health club, there’s a lot of excitement about the US open right now—and we haven’t even reached the exciting part yet. There’s a decent amount of television coverage of the Open on ESPN2 (check out ESPN’s entry level jobs), but if you really want to watch a lot of tennis you need to watch the Tennis Channel. They’re a tv network that is based in Santa Monica, CA (with locations in Atlanta and New York City), and they’re “the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to the professional sport and passionate lifestyle of tennis.” Tennis Channel obviously isn’t for everyone, but that’s what niche media is all about. They own the tennis market.

Game, Set, Job

While niche networks usually don’t get coverage rights to the biggest events, in tennis there are so many matches during the course of a tournament that there’s no way that major networks could show all of the tennis. That’s why Tennis Channel has telecast rights to the Grand Slam Tournaments US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open) and the Australian Open. Beyond tournaments their content consists of “one-on-one interviews, game analysis and skills instruction” with personalities like “John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, James Blake, Andy Roddick, and Serena and Venus Williams.” If you’re interested in television and love tennis, there couldn’t be a better place to be. If you want to make that happen, check out Tennis Channel’s Jobs page. Right now they have a Traffic/Ad Sales Coordinator position in Santa Monica, CA available that looks pretty well suited to new grads. You can apply by sending a cover letter, résumé, salary history and salary requirements to HRrecruiter@tennischannel.com with “Ad Sales Coordinator” in the subject line. That’s all they have no, but keep your eyes peeled for new postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to watch the US Open?

Professional Sports Publications

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:49:07 +0000

If you haven’t already entered out Back to School, Back to Work Contest, make sure that you do before Friday. You could win two HP laptops and a Timbuk2 bag!

Be sure to scroll down for an addendum to this post.

Programs! GET YA PROGRAMS HERE! You can’t go to a major sporting event without hearing that ring across the crowd. I’m not typically one to buy a program, especially now that I can look up anything important (like up to the minute stats) on my phone, but I realize that for a lot of people it’s about having the memento. New York City’s Professional Sports Publications and University Sports Publications (different names but essentially the same company) are in the business of publishing these mementos. They are respectively the leading publisher of professional souvenir magazines and yearbooks and college souvenir magazines and yearbooks. PSP Sports is also the publisher of the official NBA magazine HOOP.

Take Home a Souvenir from PSP or USP

PSP Sports and USP Sports have pretty simple business models. They publish lots of different magazines for specific teams, and they sell targeted, local advertising in these magazines. In fact, you could argue that they are more a local advertising company than a publishing company. And that’s where their entry level jobs seem to be focused. Take this Craigslist posting for an Inside Sales Representative. They very clearly are looking for new college grads to fill this positions, and they apparently pay $50,000 base salary plus commission and health insurance. That sounds way too good to be true, but the only negative thing that I can find about PSP Sports is this post from a disgruntled employee (have to take those with a grain of salt). Selling advertising isn’t glamorous, but it can definitely pay, so give it a look. I haven’t found any information on other positions with either company (for instance on the Editorial or Publishing side), but you can inquire about job opportunities by sending a cover letter and résumé to dgerschw@pspsports.com or dgerschwer@university publications.com (obviously the same guy).

Addendum:

I had some initial concerns about PSP and USP Sports before posting about them, but I spent about an hour researching them and couldn’t find anything substantive. Only minutes after our daily e-mail sent out, I received a note from a loyal reader who told me that she had friends who worked there and had bad experiences. That led me to this link and this video:

This is a perfect lesson on how careful you need to be during your job search. Always respect your intuition. I apologize for not having done more due diligence, but I hope that we can all learn from this. I can’t say definitively that these companies should be avoided, but be sure to do your research!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you buy programs at sporting events?

eRealInvestor

Willy Franzen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:11:36 +0000

This morning I was reading a New York Times article about how some of the “super rich” are being hit hardest (at least in terms of total dollars lost) by this recession. A lot of this has to do with heavy investments in real estate. As we all know, real estate has not been the place to be lately. The good news about the bad real estate market is that it’s leading to all kinds of innovation. There are a ton of cool real estate startups, and I just came across another one called eRealInvestor. They’re based in San Francisco, and they offer a suite of tools that allow those who still have it in them to invest in real estate to be much smarter about it. Since I’m not a real estate investor, I don’t fully understand what all of the tools do. However, it’s hard to argue with a data based approach to buying and selling real estate.

eRealJobs

Since most new college grads don’t have the cash to start investing in real estate, they usually have to work their way into the world of real estate in a different way. A job at a company like eRealInvestor that is bringing innovation to the industry is a great way to do that. Their Jobs page doesn’t show much in the way of entry level jobs, but their postings on Startuply do. Current opportunities include Online Marketing Expert, Flash Developer, and Sales Executive. I’m sure they also have some Web Development positions available—even if the ones that are posted are a bit more senior. You can apply online, so get ready to invest yourself in real estate investment.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think investing in real estate is a good idea?

Charles Chocolates

Willy Franzen — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:00:45 +0000

When I’m looking for companies to feature, I spend a lot of time looking at new startups. Sometimes I hear complaints that the jobs that we feature are a little heavy on the tech side, but that’s where a lot of the exciting jobs are these days. Startups are also more likely to be companies that you’ve never heard of before (which I consider a good thing). So, imagine my surprise when I’m browsing a startup job board and come across a posting for Charles Chocolates. They’re a San Francisco based chocolate startup founded by Charles Siegel, a guy who “has been a part of the San Francisco chocolate scene since 1987.” That may sound a little odd, but he’s done this before, and now he’s doing it again. I think the timing is right for an artisanal chocolate success story—just look at what Vosges is doing with their chocolate business.

Chocalicious Jobs

It amazes me that there are any people out there who don’t like chocolate even a little bit. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find a food with a higher overall approval rating than good old chocolate. And if you’re going to eat chocolate, it might as well be the best. That’s what Charles Chocolates is all about. Everything that they produce “uses only the finest ingredients, including some of the world’s best chocolates, organic herbs, fruits and nuts as well as the freshest organic Straus cream and butter,” and “everything is made by hand in very small batches using traditional techniques.” If you’re a Hershey kind of guy or gal, then Charles Chocolates probably isn’t the right place for you. On the other hand, if you are salivating as you hear more about this company, then you need to check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re recruiting heavily on the sales side. They have positions that include: Charles Chocolates Sales Representative, Sales Assistant, Inside Sales Representative, and Account Representative. These all seem suitable for new grads depending on the level of prior sales experience. Yes, that’s a lot of sales job, but Charles Chocolates can’t grow until they sell lots of chocolate. If you’re hungry for more, apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to salesjobs@charleschocolates.com with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Charles Chocolates looks best to you?

Leading Authorities

Willy Franzen — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Events are all about the people. A lot of that has to do with who’s invited—or more importantly, who shows up. You can invite people like Aretha Franklin, Trent Lott, John Cleese, Terry McAuliffe, Steve Wozniak, Brad Paisley, and Darell Hammond, but they’re probably not going to come to your event (if they all did it would be quite a mix). Unless, of course, you’re using Leading Authorities. They are a Washington, DC and Chicago, IL based lecture agency that provides “top-tier speakers and nationally-recognized entertainment acts to events all over the world.” Yeah, you’ll have to pay a hefty sum, but how else will you get an impressive name to keynote your conference or sing at your party? Leading Authorities is also an “award-winning production house” and an event design firm. That means that you’ll be able to make the most of the talent that you bring in for your event—assuming that you, a recent college grad, are throwing a huge event.

Become a Leading Authority

Leading Authorities offers everything that’s necessary to put on an amazing event. They’re especially well networked in the worlds of politics and entertainment, so that’s where most of their talent comes from. If you browse through their talent roster, you’ll find a lot of familiar names and a lot of names that you haven’t heard of. Don’t overlook the people that you’ve never heard of though—they often make the most interesting speakers. To get a better idea of what Leading Authority offers, check out their video below.

If you think that a job at a lecture agency would be cool, you’re in luck because Leading Authorities is hiring. If you head over to their Jobs page, you’ll see that they have a Program Consultant opportunity in their Washington, DC office. The job appears to be suitable for new grads, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to monique@lauthorities.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Leading Authorities’ speakers do you want to see most?

National Building Museum

Willy Franzen — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:10:38 +0000

For nearly as long as humans have been around, we’ve been building shelters—places to sleep, eat, work, and play. And nearly as long as we’ve been building shelters, we’ve been doing it artistically. Function is still our primary goal—it’s the reason that we build things, but it’s amazing how development, architecture, construction and engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, and urban planning come together as an essential part of human culture. The National Building Museum in Washington, DC was started to “advance the quality of the built environment by educating the public about its impact on people’s lives.” Yes, it’s a museum filled with artifacts and objects related to the history of buildings, but it’s more than that. It’s really about “fostering lively discussion about a wide range of topics.”

Building Your Career

I’ve always had a special appreciation for buildings because they’ve fed me, clothed me, and educated me. My Dad is an architect, so artistically inspired structures pay the bills (or at least they did, now it’s helping people find jobs). If you have a passion for buildings, then a job with National Building Museum will lay the perfect foundation for your career. The National Building Museum Jobs page shows a number of opportunities that seem suitable for new grads. These include CityVision Team Leaders, Visitor Services Representative, Development Events Coordinator, and Membership Assistant. To apply for any of the jobs, send a cover letter, résumé, and salary history to recruitment@nbm.org with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited the National Building Museum?

Eduventures

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

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

Getting a Job Doesn’t Mean Leaving Higher Ed

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Vann’s

Willy Franzen — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:18:38 +0000

If you thought that we were going to be talking about skater shoes today, they you might be a little disappointed, but I think you’ll enjoy hearing about Vann’s with two n’s and an apostrophe. They are a Missoula, MT based electronics and appliances retailer that does most of its business online. Now, you may think that Missoula, MT (the setting of A River Runs Through It—my favorite book and movie) is a strange place to locate a major e-commerce outlet, but there’s a good story behind why Vann’s is located where it is. It all started with Pete Vann aka “Montana’s Last Great Cowboy.” He was the grandfather of the Pete Vann who founded Vann’s. After a family history of cowboying, ranching, and farming, Pete Vann took a job keeping an appliance store clean. It doesn’t sound like much, but within 11 years Pete owned the store that he used to keep clean. In 1996 he decided to give up some of his ownership to share it with the employees who helped him build the business to what it is today.

Become a Part of the Vann’s Story

The Vann’s story is pretty cool, but what brought them to my attention was the hiring process that they’re using to find a Community Manager. We’ll get to that in a second, but first I want to mention two more things that impressed me about Vann’s. First is their devotion to customer service. They make it very obvious on their website that they’re customer focused, and beyond that, a quick Internet search will turn up lots of great customer reviews. Second, they’re an Inc. 5000 company, which means that they’re experiencing fantastic growth. Those are both great signs for prospective employees. Now, let’s talk about this Community Manager position. It’s not definitively entry level, but that doesn’t matter. If you follow the instructions and are what they’re looking for, then you’ve got a shot. You’ll have until Friday, August 28, 2009 to flex your social media muscles and show why you’re best for the job.

Additionally, Vann’s has a more standard Jobs page that includes positions like Product Advisor (also see here and here), Java Developer, and Sales Consultant. Vann’s also has locations in Helena, Kalispell, Bozeman, Helena, Billings and Hamilton. Vann’s looks like an awesome place to work, and that Montana location really pays off for people who love the outdoors and want a great career in a less urban setting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever bought anything from Vann’s?

GrubHub.com

Willy Franzen — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:32:26 +0000

I’m one of those people who has trouble deciding what to eat. I know it’s annoying, and I know that it reflects poorly on my character. I’m that friend that nobody likes to have, but I’m working hard to get better. It’s not easy. I don’t have a problem with normal decision making, but when it comes to food I shut down. Luckily there are serviced like GrubHub.com that make my life (and the lives of my friends) easier. They’re an online menu repository for every restaurant that delivers in your area. They started in Chicago, which is where they’re headquartered, and they also serve San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, New York, and Philadelphia. Not only do they give you all of the information that you need to make an informed ordering decision, but they also let you place your order online so that you can avoid that dreaded phone call to order food. Deciding what to eat has never been so easy—unless, of course, you’re paralyzed by choice.

Grubby Jobs

It’s amazing that ordering food online still isn’t ubiquitous. GrubHub is doing their best to change this, but developing relationships with every restaurant that delivers in an area takes a lot of time. Hopefully one day GrubHub will have the entire country covered, but they have a long way to go before that happens. Now, I’m not an unabashed GrubHub fan. It’s an extremely useful service, but there’s a ton of room for improvement—especially when it comes to restaurant discovery. If you know what you want, ordering is easy, but if you’re like me and can’t decide, it’s tough to get a good view of all of the dining options. I think that CampusFood.com (they don’t appear to be hiring anyone) does a better job in terms of usability while offering a nearly identical service. Maybe GrubHub should focus on helping me find a meal instead of asking me to share their site with friends as soon as I land on their home page.

Now that my complaints are out of the way (hopefully someone from GrubHub is reading), lets take a look at GrubHub’s jobs. They’re a small company with only about 30 employees, but they do appear to be growing. Right now they’re looking for an Advertising Sales Executive in New York City. It’s a job that will require a lot of cold calling, but it offers the opportunity to play a big part in moving GrubHub forward as a business. It’s the only job posted, but you can always try reaching out to GrubHub to see if they have anything else available in Chicago or one of the other cities in which they operate. To apply for the Advertising Sales Executive position, send an e-mail to sales@grubhub.com with your resume and cover letter.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ordered through GrubHub before?

Triumvirate Environmental

Willy Franzen — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:35:37 +0000

In the environmentalist’s ideal world there would be no such thing as hazardous waste. Everything would be pure and natural and “green.” Unfortunately, that will never happen (partially because every living thing is its own little hazardous waste factory). How we deal with this hazardous waste is what truly determines the future of our environment. Triumvirate Environmental has figured this out, and they’ve spent the last 21 years building a business that provides “turnkey environmental and hazardous waste management services to clients across four niche sectors; Education, Healthcare, Industrial, and Life Sciences.” They’re based in Somerville, MA with locations across New England, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic, and they also appear to be masters of social media.

Join the Triumvirate

I’m surprised that I hadn’t heard of Triumvirate Environmental until today. They’re totally on top of employment branding and social media use, so you’d think they’d be on my radar screen (I actually have an entry level job radar that gives me ideas for posts). This is impressive because they’re doing a great job making hazardous waste management exciting for job seekers and customers alike. Triumvirate Environmental has 9 blogs on topics that include The Environment, Environmental Careers, Higher Education, Healthcare, Industrial and Manufacturing, Life Sciences and BioPharma, Engineering Blogs, National and International Environmental News, and Social Media. It almost seems like too much, but if blog readers turn into customers or employees, then it’s well worth it. Triumvirate is all over Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube as well.

Although I find Triumvirate’s social media use impressive, I’m more impressed with their customer service philosophy, which is built off of their mission to “build the most productive, long-term, customer-intimate, environmental services firm by WOWing! each employee, and each customer, every day.” It’s all about WOWs! I’ve found that companies that treat their customers well, also treat their employees well, and the same can be said for companies that have Career blogs. That’s why you should definitely check out Triumvirate’s Career Center. Right now they have 22 job openings, and a number of them are suitable for new grads. These include Environmental Specialist (Somerville, MA; Providence, RI; Portland, CT; and Astoria, NY), Help Desk Specialist (Somerville, MA), and Environmental Service Representative (Portland, CT). There are also a number of jobs that are more “hands on” that only require a High School degree and some certifications. You can apply for all of these positions online, but I’ll bet that using social media to reach out to some people at Triumvirate Environmental may be a more effective way to get noticed.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you heard of Triumvirate Environmental before?