One Day, One Job » social media

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?

Laughlin Constable

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:47:48 +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.

Today’s company has nearly pushed me to plagiarism. I love their tagline so much that I want to steal it and make it my own. Instead of “Our business creates ideas. Our ideas create business.” I’d use “My job is to create ideas. My ideas create jobs.” Ok, it isn’t perfect yet, but I guess that’s why I need to stick to coming up with my own ideas. Laughlin Constable, owner of the slogan, is a Milwaukee, WI based creative agency with locations in Chicago and New York City. When you look at their client list, you won’t see the long list of huge brand names that hire some of the other agencies that we’ve featured. That’s because Laughlin Constable has a thing for the underdog—they “help brands challenge bigger brands.” For their clients execution isn’t enough. They need big ideas that can help to challenge the status quo.

Laughlin Your Way to a Job

Laughlin Constable takes a “full circle” approach to branding. They know that’s the only way to do it right. You can’t have one group doing PR, another focusing on advertising, and another on social media. Branding needs to be coherent and concerted. That’s why Laughlin Constable’s services include Advertising, Design, Digital, Media, PR, and Planning. Despite what I said about Laughlin Constable’s fondness for the underdog, they do actually work with some big names like McDonald’s, HBO (check out HBO’s jobs from yesterday), Kleenex, and Master Lock. To get a sense of what Laughlin Constable has done for these clients, you have to go no further than their Work page. So, what about jobs at Laughlin Constable? They actually don’t have any positions posted on their Jobs page, but they do have a Facebook page and a Twitter account dedicated to their “Cool Jobs.” This provides a perfect opportunity for you to reach out the people at Laughlin Constable and find a way in. It may not be as easy as applying to a job posting, but it looks like it’s worth it (you may want to look around LinkedIn to get a feel for what kind of entry level positions they have offered in the past).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Laughlin Constable?

Know Your Meme

Willy Franzen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:00:22 +0000

Today’s post came from a reader recommendation (thanks Derek!), which is awesome because I was on the company’s site a few days ago and never would have imagined that they offer jobs (or even considered them a company as opposed to a website). The reason that I was on the site was that I was reading the story of Epic Beard Man (it is tagged NSFW), which is another one of those ridiculous things that has become popular on the Internet. The term that many use to describe these phenomena is meme. Know Your Meme is a website that organizes all of the world’s memes. Let’s say that you’re looking for the story behind Rickroll because you have no idea why people think it’s so funny. Know Your Meme, which is based in New York City, will not only explain the meme to you, but it will also detail the history of how the meme became popular and how it evolved. To some Know Your Meme may seem frivolous, but in many ways it’s the Historical Society of the Interwebs.

Know Your Job

If you’re still not sure what a meme is, then use Know Your Meme’s Random Meme Generator. Try it a few times and you should get the hang of it. You may recognize some famous memes from the Weezer Pork And Beans video, the South Park episode Meet the Internet Stars, or that Super Bowl commercial that had some Internet stars in it. My favorite meme of all time has to be Numa Numa guy. Yes, this may all seem idiotic, but Know Your Meme is building a business off of Internet celebrities. In addition to the advertising angle, they are also selling meme merchandise. It must be working, because Know Your Meme is hiring. If you check out their Jobs page, you’ll see that they’re looking for a Rails Developer and a Junior Web Developer. I know that most of you aren’t developers (so far the survey results are telling me that I cover too many technical jobs—even if that’s where the action is in this economy), so you should take note that Know Your Meme’s internships are in Community Management, Merchandise, Research, and Writing. These are all areas where Know Your Meme might be hiring in the future, and if you push them enough, they might even be hiring right now. You just need to reach out to them at forthelulz@knowyourmeme.com with “any resumes, writing samples, portfolios in the body of the email or linked to file-hosting sites.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite meme?

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?

Fantazzle

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:47:34 +0000

It’s a tough time of year for fantasy sports enthusiasts. The football season is over, and it’s still a bit early to be preparing for your fantasy baseball draft. There’s hockey and basketball, but they’re right in the middle of their seasons. The excitement of the draft is long gone, and the playoffs are still too far away. You need an outlet for all of that fantasy sports energy, and Arlington, VA based Fantazzle might be the perfect outlet. They’ve only been on the scene for a couple years, but they’ve already been acknowledged by The New York Times’ Fifth Down Blog as having the most accurate preseason fantasy football rankings for the 2008 season. I haven’t played any of their games, but it appears that they run weekly games instead of full season games. It’s for players who don’t the attention span to last a whole season (or maybe players who get discouraged by being in last place after a couple weeks).

Dazzle at Fantazzle

When I first came across Fantazzle, I had a few hesitations about featuring them. The only games that they have available today are fantasy golf and fantasy racing. The site also doesn’t seem to be generating much traffic, which means that they’re probably not generating much revenue. They are, however, an early stage startup, and they received $352,000 in funding over the past few months. They do a charge a fee for some games and they do offer cash prizes (hopefully that’s not considered gambling by the government), so they do seem to have a business model that will scale nicely. Despite my hesitations, I think it would be pretty cool to work at a fantasy sports startup. Fantazzle’s Jobs page shows that they’re looking for a Fantasy Sports Social Media Professional. The salary is pretty low, but there you’ll get flexibility (they’ll let you work virtually) along with some perks. You can apply online, but you’ll probably want to do a little more digging to get the full read on where Fantazzle is going first.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play fantasy sports?

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?

Engadget

Willy Franzen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:49:21 +0000

I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep for the next five nights. I’m too excited for Apple’s January 27th event to announce their “latest creation.” Everybody is assuming that Apple (see Apple’s entry level jobs) is going to announce some sort of tablet computing device, but it’s hard to say whether anyone in the media actually has legitimate inside information on what this event is going to be about. Still, I love speculation, which is why I’ve been glued to Engadget for the past few weeks in hope of learning every little nugget information related to this tablet that I can. If you don’t already know, Engadget is “an online magazine (blog) focused on tech / gadget news and happenings in the world of consumer electronics.” They get millions of visitors to their site every month, and they’re actually owned by Aol. Their biggest competitor is probably Gizmodo (which is run by Gawker Media and was founded by Peter Rojas, the same guy who later founded Engadget), and the two sites appear to have very similar sized audiences. There’s also gdgt competing in the space, but they’re much smaller.

Calling All Gadget Geeks

If you love gadgets and are a great writer, there couldn’t be a better place for you to work than Engadget. The site covers everything from mobile phones to televisions and from cameras to mystery devices that are likely to be tablets. They even cover high-tech weapons. If it’s hardware (or really cool software), and it’s cool, Engadget will be all over it. Although I don’t subscribe vias RSS (they update way too often), I do visit the site often, and I recommend that you do to. It really is a great blog. Just yesterday Engadget published a blog post that said that they are hiring. They’re looking for:

Mobile editor – Part or full-time (freelance), must be based in New York City (or nearby).
HD editor – Part or full-time (freelance), must be based in New York City (or nearby).
Weekend editor – Part or full-time (freelance), must be based in New York City or the San Francisco area.
Cameras editor – Part or full-time (freelance), preferably based in New York City (or nearby).
West coast editor – Part time (freelance), based in San Francisco (or nearby).

They have a very specific application process, which makes sense since they are going to get bombarded with applications for these positions. Make sure that you follow the details closely, otherwise they’ll probably just ignore your application. These are some amazing opportunities, so act fast.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think Apple will be releasing?

Oxfam America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:56:53 +0000

Yesterday we took a look at one of the most familiar names associated with the Haiti Relief effort—the American Red Cross. This morning I came across a couple lists that shine a light on other organizations that are also putting a focus on Haiti. One is from U.S. News & World Report that discusses 10 Ways You Can Donate to Haitian Earthquake Victims, and the other is Haiti Earthquake—Best Ways to Assist in Providing Emergency Relief from the American Institute of Philanthropy, which rates charities involved with Haiti Relief. One of the organizations on both of those lists is Oxfam America, a Boston, MA based “international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice.” They already have teams delivering aid in Haiti, and you can find out all about what they’re doing their on their Haiti Earthquake page.

Relief for Your Job Search

Oxfam America’s work includes a good mix of ongoing projects and response to disasters and conflicts. The issues that they work on range from climate change to aid reform and from US public policy to indigenous & minority rights. Their recent emergency response work has focused on disasters like a flood in El Salvador and a cyclone in Bangladesh and India. The truth is that most disasters don’t get the media attention that the Haiti earthquake has, but that doesn’t stop Oxfam America from getting on the ground and providing aid. If Oxfam America sounds like the kind of organization that you’d like to join, then check out their Job postings. Current openings include Deployable Humanitarian Logistics Coordinator (Port-au-Prince, Haiti), Constituent Data Associate (Boston, MA), Administrative Assistant – Learning, Evaluation and Accountability (Boston, MA), Canvassing Organizer (Boston, MA), New Media Specialist (Boston, MA), and a number of other positions. You can apply by sending your cover letter and résumé to jobs@oxfamamerica.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you donated to Haiti relief?

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?

Wagstaff Worldwide

Willy Franzen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:00:39 +0000

This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.

Interested in wine and travel? Then Wagstaff Worldwide might be the public relations agency for you! Located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City, Wagstaff specializes in media relations but does offer other services such as creating customized public relations plans, setting up and executing social media strategies, event planning, tourism marketing, and editorial and copywriting expertise. Their clients include restaurants, hotels, international travel organizations, design agencies, wine and spirits, lounges and spas—and their client list is huge!

Cultivate Your Career with Top Tastemakers

Now, I realize that Wagstaff is “worldwide,” but their team isn’t really that large, and they have quite a few junior-level staff members. The company is currently seeking an Account Coordinator for its Los Angeles office. Candidates are expected to possess “excellent writing, presentation and sales skills, relevant experience in the hospitality, journalism and/or public relations industries and an outgoing personality.” Interested? Submit your cover letter, résumé and salary history to president Mary Wagstaff at mary@wagstaffworldwide.com. You might also consider following the LA office on Twitter. If you’re interested in working at one of the other offices, you should keep your eyes peeled for new job postings or use Wagstaff Worldwide’s Contact page to find the right people to reach out to.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Wagstaff Worldwide?

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?

Lunchbox

Willy Franzen — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:46:14 +0000

If you haven’t already checked out this week’s sponsor, New York City Teaching Fellows, take a look now. They’re recruiting new grads with no prior experience or education in teaching to teach in NYC public schools.

Although Twitter’s search results are getting filled with more and more junk, I’m still finding that Twitter is a pretty easy way to find jobs and internships that wouldn’t typically be on your radar. That’s how I came across Lunchbox, a Culver City, CA based “full-service agency that specializes in creating complete-branded content packages.” Since I have no idea what that actually means, I took a look at Lunchbox’s portfolio to get a better idea of what their work entails. Basically Lunchbox helps build brands by developing new ways for their clients to introduce their brands to customers. It may be creating stuffed animals for Discovery Channel or designing a magazine for CMT. Whatever the challenge is, Lunchbox brings an amazing creative team that has worked in the past with some of the world’s biggest brands.

What’s in Your Lunchbox?

My take on interactive agencies like Lunchbox is that the best way to judge whether you want to work for them is to look at their portfolio. Not only should you consider the names that they work with—Lunchbox has worked with Pepsi, Nick at Nite, Walmart, Warner Bros., and plenty more—but you should also look closely at what kind of work they put out. I’m impressed with what I see from Lunchbox, but it’s up to you to determine if you’d fit in with them. If you think you will, you should check out Lunchbox’s Jobs page. They have 7 positions open right now, and the most likely fits for new grads are Back-End Software Engineer, Front-End Software Engineer, Interactive Developer, QA Analyst, and Video Production Assistant. Lunchbox seems much more focused on talent than experience, so get ready to impress if you’re going to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Lunchbox’s portfolio?

Bozell

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:59:11 +0000

Want a crappy job? You’re in luck. Today I came across WhatACrappyJob.com, which is actually the internship site for Bozell, a Omaha, NE based full-service public relations and advertising agency. There’s nothing extraordinarily special about the site beyond the domain name, but it’s well designed and informative, which is rare when it comes to Careers websites. I guess that’s what you should expect from the agency behind the “Got Milk?” mustache campaign and the “Pork. The Other White Meat.” slogan. Bozell’s history includes quite a few mergers, acquisitions, and buybacks. As of 2001 Bozell has moved away from Wall Street and returned to it roots as “an independent, client-focused, employee-owned agency.” They have an impressive portfolio of work and seem like a pretty cool place to work.

Got Bozell?

Going back to WhatACrappyJob.com, I have to admit that Bozell doesn’t have any entry level opportunities posted right now. However, I am inclined to think that a company that gives as much attention to their internship program as Bozell does must also do a significant amount of entry level hiring. Their internships are offered in Account Services, Art Direction/Design, Copywriting, Interactive, Media, Social Media, and Public Relations, so it would make sense that any entry level hiring that they do would be in those areas. It does seem that Bozell is open to accepting unsolicited résumés, as they post the e-mail address for their Managing Principal, Administration & Business Services on their Careers page. Her name is Robin Donovan, and you can reach out to her at rdonovan@bozell.com. You may also want to do a little LinkedIn research to get a better feel for the types of positions that Bozell ofers.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Bozell?

Slide

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:39:03 +0000

It looks like Yahoo! Finance has taken a page out of my book and used Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list to highlight some companies that are hiring. I found the link on Twitter, and was pleased to see that I had already featured a number of the companies. One that I haven’t yet featured (and don’t remember hearing about before) is Slide. They’re a San Francisco based startup that claims to be “the world’s leading social entertainment company.” I think that’s a bit of a stretch, but they do make social networks more fun for hundreds of millions of people. Their 40 Under 40 CEO is Max Levchin, who co-founded PayPal (which was sold for $1.5 billion to eBay). He is apparently well on his way to having built another billion dollar company, considering the fact that Slide was valued at $550 million last time that they took money.

Slide into a New Job

The basic premise behind slide is that social networks are better when you can bring outside content in—whether it’s sharing something that you’ve made like a slideshow or using an application that allows you to throw sheep. People want customization, yet they don’t have the web development skills to do it on their own. They need help, and that’s where Slide comes in. Monetizing social network traffic isn’t necessarily easy, but Slide seems to be heading in the right direction when it comes to turning their massive traffic into revenue. Not only do their investors believe in them, but so do advertisers like Starbucks, Sunkist, Activision, AT&T Wireless, Discovery Channel, Estee Lauder, McDonald’s, Lionsgate Films, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures. I guess 5 million sheep thrown a day is worth more than I thought it was. Slide is very clearly growing, and as I mentioned in the opening of this post, they’re hiring. Their Jobs page shows more than a dozen open positions, and a bunch of those are suitable for new grads. These include Product Manager, Community Manager, Flash Animator/Illustrator, Flash Social Game Engineer, Graphic Designer, Junior QA Engineer, Linux Server Engineer, OO Javascript/Front-end Engineer, Python Web Developer, and Community Support Representative. You can apply online directly from these links, so give Slide a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Slide?

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?

ZooLoo

Willy Franzen — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:48:44 +0000

I’ve never found a use for start pages and portals. Until Safari came out with a feature that allowed me to view a dozen of my most visited sties at a glance, I just set a blank page as my home page. However, I realize that many people have very different web browsing habits, and a lot of people find start pages really useful. One company that is trying to update the start page by making it social is ZooLoo. They’re a Phoenix, AZ based startup that, despite an unfortunate name that sounds like a bathroom at a wildlife park, is trying to own the market for customizable start pages. They’re competing with behemoths like Google and Facebook to be your home page, but they do have an advantage in that they’re laser focused on start pages and only start pages. They think if they can own that market, they can deliver lots of relevant advertising and make lots of money.

Do You ZooLoo?

One of the things that makes ZooLoo stand out is that you can buy your own domain name to host your start page. That means that your ZooLoo page can be more than just your home page—it can also be an online résumé, portfolio, or other type of personal website. This requires a paid upgrade, which shows that ZooLoo isn’t putting all of its eggs in the advertising basket. I guess it’s working, because ZooLoo seems to be growing pretty quickly. They’re up to 24 employees, and according to their Careers page, they’re looking to add more. They don’t get specific about which positions they have open, but a look at LinkedIn shows that Marketing, PR, Social Media, and Software Development are the areas in which they’re most likely to have jobs. To find out more you can send a cover letter and résumé to careers@zooloo.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

ZooLoo.com
Jobs at ZooLoo
About ZooLoo
What Is ZooLoo?
Why ZooLoo?
ZooLoo in the News
ZooLoo FAQs
JeffHerzog.com (ZooLoo CEO’s ZooLoo Page)

Will you create a ZooLoo page?

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?

Oceana

Willy Franzen — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:47:50 +0000

I love our oceans—everything about them. I love swimming in them, eating the food that they provide, fishing in them, watching sunsets over them, and all of the other wonderful things that they offer. However, our oceans are both blessed and cursed by the same thing—they seem infinite. That’s what makes them so great, but it’s also what has led us to abusing them nearly to the point of no return. A little pollution will disappear in the vastness of an ocean. Overfishing doesn’t matter because there are always more fish. Scraping up the bottom isn’t a big deal because we can’t see the bottom. I wish that oceans were that resilient, but they’re not. Oceana is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth.” They recognize the value of their oceans, and they’re doing something to protect them.

Dive in to a Job at Oceana

From what I can tell, most of what Oceana does is based on advocacy and creating awareness. They do this through a number of campaigns including Stop Climate Change, Stop Dirty Fishing, Stop Destructive Trawling, Stop Seafood Contamination, Cut the Bait, Save Seat Turtles, Safeguard Sharks, Dive Into Ocean Conservation, Surf Into Ocean Conservation, Stop Cruise Ship Pollution, Advocating for Ocean Change, and Protect Prey. This approach makes sense because our everyday choices impact the future of the ocean, and until we understand that, we’re not going to take a collective action for positive change. Here’s what Oceana has to say about their campaigns:

To achieve real benefits for the oceans, Oceana conducts focused, strategic campaigns. Each campaign has a specific timeframe and objective that will make a significant difference to the oceans. Each campaign combines scientific, legal, policy and advocacy approaches to reach its goal. Saving the oceans may take decades, but in each of our campaigns we aim to accomplish an important milestone in that effort within two to five years.

If you love the oceans as much as I do, you might want to consider Jobs at Oceana. Right now they have a couple of opportunities that seem suitable for recent grads. These include Grantwriter and E-Activism Fellow. You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to resumes@oceana.org with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you love about the oceans?

Do Something

Willy Franzen — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:06:13 +0000

Whether you’re trying to land a job, start a business, get in shape, figure out your personal finances, or get a date, there’s one piece of advice that I’ve found to be the most appropriate. It’s really simple and a little disappointing, but it just works. Do something! Get off your butt and take action. It will get you 80% of the way to accomplishing your goal. I’m not the only one who thinks this. Do Something, a New York City based non-profit, has adopted this two word phrase as their name. They’re focused on encouraging teenagers to take positive ideas and turn them into action. Instead of focusing on a specific cause, Do Something is all about getting teens to do something about the issues that matter to them—whatever they may be.

Umm… Do Something!

What impresses me most about Do Something is how they’re harnessing the power of the Internet to reach teens with their message. In fact, Do Something has created an online platform that gives teens the tools and resources that they need to take action. Everything that Do Something does is based on 5 guidelines:

Believe in teenagers. Teenagers can lead today. We don’t require adults.
Trust teenagers. We provide reliable, easy to access information and activation strategies, but teens decide for themselves what to do.
Celebrate teenagers. We think all measurable contributions from teens are valuable.
Respect teenagers. We understand that teenagers have diverse abilities and constraints.
Value teenagers. Our programs and products are free. We’re not after teens’ money; we want their passion, time and creativity.

The result of following these guidelines is a website that encourages teenagers to Act Now by using a search engine to find a project that they can join. Or students can start their own club or apply for a grant. Teens are completely empowered to take action on their own. How can you take action? You can check out jobs at Do Something. They’re a young non-profit, and they have what look to be two awesome jobs. You won’t find the word “experience” in either of the job descriptions, so as a new grad you should definitely consider their Clubs Associate and Digital Media Associate positions. The application instructions vary, so pay attention… and DO SOMETHING!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Want to get a job? Do something!

Slickdeals

Willy Franzen — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:43:02 +0000

We all learn at an early age that we can’t have our cake and eat it too. Everything has a trade off. You can have money or you can have stuff. You can’t have both. Right? Wrong. Since 1999 Las Vegas based Slickdeals has been proving that you can have your cake and eat it too. Or as they put it, “Slickdeals.net is a free, user-driven deal sharing site with a mission to provide consumers an avenue to collaborate and share information in order to make the best shopping decisions.” That’s a fancy way of saying that they are a community of people who help each other find the best deals, so you can buy stuff and have some money left over. In fact, a lot of Slickdeals users find deals so good that they get paid to buy something (after rebate). Seriously. It’s all about free and open sharing of information, and it’s amazingly powerful. The amount of money that people have saved through Slickdeals has to be staggering.

Are You Slick Enough?

Slickdeals doesn’t have a monopoly on “community driven bargain hunting,” but their “thousands of free discounts, promo codes, reviews and price comparisons” have resulted in an insanely successful website and business. From what I can tell, most of Slickdeals’ revenue comes through advertising and affiliate links. They’ve found that giving away a lot of high quality free content can be very profitable. Maybe newspapers could learn a thing or two from Slickdeals. Even though Slickdeals is all about being cheap and frugal, they appear to be willing to spend some of their profits on hiring top talent. Their Jobs page shows a number of listings that include potential entry level positions like Creative Web Developer, Community Relations Manager, Business Development Manager, and Blog Columnist. The application instructions vary, so be sure to check out the specific postings for all of the details. And be sure to enjoy the “employee discount” that is being allowed to read Slickdeals at work.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used Slickdeals beore?

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?

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?

Free Press

Willy Franzen — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:18:03 +0000

I doubt many of you would disagree with the assertion that the “mainstream media” has some major issues that need to be worked out. Take the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. Yes, he was a great entertainer. Yes, the way that he lived his life was totally perplexing. Yes, people are fascinated by him. But did we really need all that coverage? It’s just one example of how our media is failing us, but I’m sure that Free Press would be willing to give you many more examples. They are a non-profit, “national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media through education, organizing and advocacy.” Free Press advocates “independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications,” and they do this through a number of campaigns: Save the Internet, Stop Big Media, No Fake News, Local Radio Now, Stamp Out Postal Rate Hikes, Save Our Spectrum, Community Internet, Public Broadcasting, Pentagon Propaganda, White Spaces, and Rate the Debates. They’re based in both Washington, DC and Florence, MA, and they’ve been working since 2002 to fix what they call a failing media system.

Help Reform the Media

Maybe you enjoyed the Michael Jackson coverage. Maybe you don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the media. If that’s you, then Free Press probably won’t be the right place for you. They have a very specific idea of what they expect from the media, and until the media improves, they’re going to keep working to change the way that media is produced and consumed in our country. If that sounds like something that you want to be a part of, then you need to check out Free Press’ Jobs page. Right now they have 3 jobs posted, and two of them seem like they might be suitable for new grads. They’re looking for an Online Campaign Coordinator and an Office Coordinator—both in Florence, MA. The job postings get really in-depth, so give them a good look to determine whether the jobs will be a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your thoughts on the state of media today?

Agency Nil

Willy Franzen — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:36:58 +0000

Considering that I do this nearly every day, I see a lot of companies and a lot of jobs, but today I came across something that I’ve never seen before. It’s called Agency Nil, and it’s an full-service advertising agency, except it’s nothing like any ad agency that you’ve ever seen. They don’t have a physical location, they don’t have a salaried staff, and they don’t have set fees. It’s almost as they don’t exist (I think that’s where the “nil” comes in), but they do. As PSFK puts it, Agency Nil “hopes to channelize the skills of experienced but laid-off talents from the advertising industry, as well as that of graduate students from advertising programs – people who just can’t seem to lay their hands on that elusive job.” In other words, they’re trying to put the glut of available talent to good use. It’s brilliant.

Will Work for All It’s Worth

The whole idea behind Agency Nil is that clients pay what they think the work they get is worth. They do have to cover any expenses, but beyond that the billing is completely discretionary. It allows them to put all of the risk on the agency, and that means the client is likely to get a lot more creativity than they would ever get in house. Ageny Nil’s slogan is “cheaper than freelance, better than interns,” and I think it’s pretty obvious why. Agency Nil was started by Hank Leber, a recent grad of the graduate program at VCU Brancenter, and he’s looking for more talent to join him at Agency Nil. If you’re interested in working in a pure meritocracy with a lot of uncertainty, send something impressive to audition@agencynil.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of the Agency Nil concept?

HotChalk

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:29:41 +0000

Last week I told you about Sramana Mitra’s book Entrepreneur Journeys and how it was loaded with cool companies that would be awesome to work for. One of those companies is HotChalk, an educational startup that provides online learning management systems for free. They enable teachers to bring their classrooms online in minutes without having to worry about administration approval or staying within a budget. HotChalk isn’t just tailored to teachers though; HotChalk also focuses on pleasing students, parents, school administrators, and tech coordinators. The simplicity of the whole thing has enabled HotChalk to gain a ton of marketshare—they have over 7 million monthly unique visitors and more than 375,000 teachers using the service. That’s what “free” will do for you.

HotJobs at HotChalk?

The most interesting thing about HotChalk is their revenue model. Instead of building a freemium product where schools can pay for premium services once they’re forced to by teachers who have adopted the free service, HotChalk has decided that advertising is the key to profitability. They offer extremely targeted advertising to each of their user bases—teachers, students, parents, administrators, and tech coordinators; however, HotChalk has strict guidelines about what kind of advertisements can be targeted towards students, and they can never be shown ads during school hours. Now, how about jobs at HotChalk? Their Jobs page says that they don’t have any current openings, but it also says that they “are always looking for talented people.” If education technology is something that gets you excited, you should send a cover letter and resume to careers@hotchalk.com. According to HotChalk’s LinkedIn profile they have 27 employees right now, and they’re split between the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used HotChalk?

JamLegend

Willy Franzen — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:08:44 +0000

I’ve already written posts on Activision (Guitar Hero), Harmonix (Rock Band), and Tapulous (Tap Tap Revenge), but can you ever really get enough of the music playing video game genre? Of course not! That’s why we’re looking at JamLegend today. How are they different from the other game makers that I just mentioned? First, JamLegend is free. Second, it offers more songs. Third, you can use your computer keyboard as a guitar. Fourth and most importantly, it’s social! You can play your friends, you can play the world, and you can even enter tournaments to win prizes. JamLegend isn’t just the name of the game, it’s also the name of the company, a small startup based out of San Francisco.

These Jobs Are Your Jam

If you’re a music loving video game junkie who is fascinated by the social web, then you really couldn’t find a better fit than JamLegend. Beyond that, it’s a good career choice. The video game industry continues to thrive through the recession, and social gaming appears to be the next big thing. That’s why you need to check out Jobs with JamLegend. You won’t find any specific postings on their Jobs page, but that’s ok because I love their philosophy. They say, “Our belief is that we should hire gifted people even before we need them, so send us an e-mail (jobs@jamlegend.com) and tell us why you are interesting.” That’s about it. Awesome. JamLegend does have some positions posted on Startuply for a Flex / AS3 Developer and a Facebook Connect / Social-Web Developer, but it’s unclear whether these are internships or full-time jobs. It really doesn’t matter though, just reach out to them and tell them how you can help them. Don’t constrain yourself by applying for a specific position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you played JamLegend?

IMRE

Willy Franzen — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:25:11 +0000

This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association. She is also the entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com, a career expert for the CAREEREALISM Twitter Advice Project, the job search expert for Campus Calm and author of the e-book “Gen Y Meets the Workforce: Launching Your Career During Economic Uncertainty.”

What do financial services, home/building and healthcare have in common? All three fields can expect good things to happen when they “converge” with IMRE, a full service digital, advertising, marketing and public relations agency in Baltimore, Maryland.

Let’s start with their financial services practice. Strategically expanded in July 2008 near the beginning of our country’s economic troubles, IMRE saw an opportunity for “financial services companies to gain market share.” Did you know you can buy wedding insurance from Travelers? IMRE won this client by proposing—no pun intended—to launch a campaign on Valentine’s Day about nuptial nightmares ranging from heart attacks to blackouts to hurricanes. They won the account and reached more than 74 million people with their messages. Like most public relations practitioners, I’m not a numbers person, but I do love weddings!

The “green” market is hot right now, so it makes sense for Arxx Corporation to be included in IMRE’s home & building practice. IMRE “moved Arxx away from a product message and positioned them as a longtime leader in energy-efficient solutions.” Despite being a midsized firm with only one office location, their client list in this practice is impressive—ranging from John Deere to The Home Depot to Target.

Their final practice area is healthcare, which is also my specialty. What I like most about healthcare PR is that you feel like you’re helping people live life to its fullest with every tactic you use to reach them. IMRE’s clients in this sector mostly are nonprofit organizations, including American Red Cross, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Shady Grove Fertility.

Interested in any one of those practice areas? IMRE is extremely open about who heads up each, providing their biographies, fun Q&A’s and e-mail addresses.

Good Things Happen When You Converge with IMRE

IMRE has two entry-level openings right now: a WOM (Word of Mouth) Associate Account Executive and another Associate Account Executive. If social networking is your thing, the WOM AAE position will be right up your alley. IMRE’s ideal candidate for this position? A “dynamic, creative and fun college graduate with a degree in communications or other related field and is an active Internet user who accesses social networks, blogs, forums and consumer reviews on a regular basis.” This person must also be a “self-motivated and detail-oriented team player and can often be found making YouTube videos just for fun.”

The other AAE position sounds a little more “structured” like you would find at a typical agency. IMRE seeks someone “with a degree in communications or related field and one to two years work or internship experience.” Candidates must also have “strong writing skills and be a team player who is results oriented, have an attention to detail, organized and able to juggle multiple priorities.”

Interested? Send your cover letter, résumé, salary requirements and writing samples to jobs@imre.com. Don’t forget to also fill out their job application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Need help with your cover letter and résumé—or your entire job search? Heather offers low-cost coaching packages specifically for students and recent graduates seeking careers in public relations. Click here to learn more.

Harvest

Willy Franzen — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:22:57 +0000

Yesterday I got an e-mail from a fellow Cornell grad named Danny Wen. He graduated a couple years before I landed on campus, but he and another Cornellian named Shawn Liu are also entrepreneurs. After graduation they started working at Internet consultancies, but eventually they decided to go into business for themselves in New York City. Just like me, they decided to solve a problem that they were facing. Unlike me (the guy who couldn’t find a job), their problem was tracking all of the money that they were making. Their response was Harvest, a web-based solution for freelancers and small business to track time and invoice clients. I know that keeping a small business organized is really hard, so it makes sense that a dead simple tool like Harvest would be in high demand.

Harvest Yourself a Job

Now, Danny Wen didn’t just contact me to say hi. Ok, maybe he wanted to do that too, but he has a job for you guys, and he wanted me to share it with you. His company is growing, and they’re looking for young talent to help continue that growth. Right now there’s only one job opening, but it’s a good one. Harvest is looking for a Community Manager to “organize and support the growing community of Harvest users from around the world.” This job comes with all kinds of different tasks, but almost all of it boils down to communication. You need to know social media, be able to write well, engage with customers, and, obviously, manage Harvest’s community. The job sounds awesome, and Harvest also sounds like a pretty cool place to work. The position is Contract to Hire, and you can apply here.

Additionally, Harvest’s parent company (I think that’s what it is) Iridesco is also hiring an Interface Designer, so that’s another job that you might want to check out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Don’t you want to work here?

WooMe

Willy Franzen — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:33:39 +0000

My first experience with video chatting was with CU-SeeMe in an internet cafe in the mid 90s. It was insanely cool, but it was also terrible quality. Things have come a long way, and once again people are using video chat to meet random people online. I was a little creeped out when I first saw WooMe, but I think that I get it now (even if I’m still creeped out). It’s a website that allows you to meet new people through “60 second one-on-one online video sessions.” Basically, it’s speed dating on the web. I was almost too sketched out to cover them here, but I figured if TechCrunch didn’t rip on them too hard and they’re able to get $17 million in investment, there has to be the potential for a real business.

Can You Woo WooMe?

If you’re not quite getting what WooMe is all about, check out WooMe TV. It will give you a chance to watch some recorded interactions of WooMe members. It’s kind of weird, but also pretty entertaining. Ok, so remember that $17 million I mentioned 3 sentences ago? It’s important, as it looks like WooMe is ready to spend it. Their Jobs page is filled with opportunities that include: Systems Admin x 2 (London and Los Angeles), IM Engineer (London), Frontend Guru – HTML / CSS / javascript / AJAX (London), Site Operations Manager (Los Angeles), Community Manager, Site Operations Analyst (San Francisco), Senior Django Developer (London), Flash Developer (London/San Francisco), Product Manager (London/San Francisco), Online Marketing Senior Manager or Director (Los Angeles). Obviously not all of those are entry level positions, but quite a few of them are. You can head over to WooMe’s Jobs page to get all of the details including how you should apply. I wonder if their job interviews are only 60 seconds? That’d be pretty cool.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried WooMe?

Murphy-Goode Winery

Willy Franzen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:51:42 +0000

I’m not a wine drinker, but I am a sucker for a good PR stunt – especially when it’s related to jobs. I never covered “The Best Job in the World” (a job in Australia as an “island caretaker”), but I figured that you guys wouldn’t want to miss out on the chance to land “A Really Goode Job.” What am I talking about? Murphy-Goode Winery, which is based in Sonoma Wine Country, is looking for “someone (maybe you) who really knows how to use Web 2.0 and Facebook and blogs and social media and YouTube and all sorts of good stuff like that — to tell the world about our wines and the place where we live: the Sonoma County Wine Country.” I believe the official title for the job is Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. Anyway, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and even if there’s a miniscule chance that you’ll be the one selected out of thousands to get the job, it’s worth a shot, right?

Are You Goode Enough?

Let me give you the bad new first. This job is only planned to last for 6 months (unless you’re so good that they decide to keep you, of course). That’s ok, though, because the rest of the details make up for it. The biggest detail is that you get paid $10,000 per month with full accommodations. Oh yeah, and “working hours are flexible. And all you have to do is experience wine and good living, and then tell people about it.” This isn’t a joke. The real details come out in the application process. Although that’s what they call it, it’s more like a contest. The most important part of the application is a 60 second video that communicates why you’re the best fit for the job. Then there’s also a brief application form. The application deadline is June 5th. Once they get all of the applications (they reserve the right to stop accepting them if they get more than 5,000) they’ll whittle the applicant pool to 50 and then to 10, and then they’ll invite those 10 out to the winery for final interviews. On July 9th they’ll select someone and work begins on August 1st. There’s a ton of information about the job on AReallyGoodeJob.com, so make sure that you read up on everything before you apply. Oh yeah, and obviously, you need to be 21 to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to apply for A Really Goode Job?