by Willy Franzen on July 1, 2009
We all have at least one friend who “has a band.” He’s the one that sends you a Facebook Event invitation for his “gigs” every other week. He’s also still on MySpace (because it’s awesome for bands, of course). It may just so happen that you friend is actually is really good, but he’s still waiting for his big break. Regardless of your friend’s talent level, there’s a good chance that he’s struggling with marketing his band. (That’s why that big break hasn’t come yet.) Your friend may think that MySpace is advanced as band marketing gets, but it’s not. There’s a new game in town, and it’s called Topspin. They haven’t launched yet, but they’ve already put a lot of work into achieving their mission “to provide artists the tools they need to build successful businesses.”
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business development,
California,
entry-level jobs,
music,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 23, 2009
When we were developing Found Your Career (our entry level job search prep course that we guarantee will help you get a job faster), we spent a lot of time figuring out how we were going to host all of the video content. Once your video hosting needs go beyond YouTube and the other free sites out there, things start getting a little complicated. Had we known about Ooyala, we might have tried using them to host our videos. They’re a Mountain View, CA based startup that provides “an end-to-end solution for content owners to transcode, manage, deliver, analyze, and monetize their video assets.”
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account management,
California,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
information technology,
sales,
software development,
video,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 22, 2009
All of the cool new websites are built on the Software as a Service model these days. How often do you actually go out and buy a box with software CDs/DVDs in it and install it on your computer? How often do you download something and install it on your computer? Probably not nearly as often as you use a website like Google Docs, Flickr, LinkedIn, or even Facebook. It makes so much more sense for the company to run the software and hold the data on their servers, while all that you have to do is login from an Internet enabled web browser. Project SaaSure is a San Francisco based startup that “was started on the premise that businesses need an easier, more cost-efective way to manage their web applications.”
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California,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 18, 2009
In my opinion one of the coolest features of the first generation iPhone was its ability to accurately give you your location despite its lacking a GPS chip. The technology is based on using Wi-Fi access points and cellular tower triangulation to determine your coordinates. Obviously a GPS chip is a better alternative (at least as long as you don’t have a roof blocking your satellite signal), but there are plenty of applications where Wi-Fi location comes in pretty handy. That’s why Boston based Skyhook Wireless is a growing company. They’re behind the technology that provides location to non-GPS equipped iPhones (as the New York Times covered quite well), and they’re also using their technology for geotagging, device recovery, social networking, and much more.
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advertising,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
product management,
software development,
telephony,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 17, 2009
Try 5 lessons from One Day, One Job’s Job Search Prep Course Found Your Career for free. It will help you get a job faster.
Nobody likes getting spam in their inbox, but a well-crafted, beautifully designed marketing message from one of your favorite brands isn’t always that bad—especially if it includes a special offer (kind of like the one above). We’ve already talked about Aweber and Constant Contact in terms of e-mail marketing, but today we’re going to talk about a company that does it on a much bigger scale. Burlington, MA based e-Dialog “is the proven provider of advanced e-mail marketing and database technologies, products, strategies, and services for permission-based e-mail marketers,” and they can back that up with a client list that includes the NFL, Nintendo, the NHL, OfficeMax, Harvard Business School Publishing, and many more serious brands.
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administrative,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 11, 2009
Since you’re looking for your first job, it’s probably a safe assumption that you are not familiar with “expensing” things. Hopefully you will be one day (soon). Many companies (especially consulting firms) allow their employees to pay for travel, lodging, and food, and then submit receipts to the company to get reimbursed. It can be pretty sweet if you’re getting $30 a night to spend on dinner, while racking up credit card points and frequent flier miles at no expense to you, but the downside is that submitting expense reports to get reimbursed is time consuming and quite annoying. Concur, a Redmond, WA based company that I learned about in Sramana Mitra’s Entrepreneur Journeys
, solves this problem through their “on-demand Employee Spend Management business services.” Put simply, they have a suite of solutions that enables companies to automate the expensing process.
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account management,
accounting,
Australia,
Czech Republic,
entry-level jobs,
international,
marketing,
Minnesota,
software development,
Washington
by Willy Franzen on June 10, 2009
A lot of people think inventing is easy. You see those guys like Billy Mays screaming on tv, and you think to yourself, “I could have thought of that.” Believe it or not, even those stupid infomercial products aren’t easy to come up with, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the world of invention. Inventing a new product is a long, arduous process that requires a ton of resources. Invention Machine is a Boston based software developer that “drives sustainable innovation by enabling global organizations to consistently generate breakthrough ideas that accelerate product development.” It’s hard for a non-inventor to understand how software can help the inventing process, but judging from the number of large corporations that are using Invention Machine’s software, there’s something there.
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design,
entry-level jobs,
Germany,
innovation,
international,
Massachusetts,
sales,
software development,
user experience
by Willy Franzen on June 9, 2009
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.
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California,
education,
entry-level jobs,
New York,
social media,
social networking,
software development,
teaching,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 4, 2009
I finally got around to reading a review copy of Sramana Mitra’s Entrepreneur Journeys
over the weekend, and it offered a pleasant surprise. Beyond providing an inside look at the lives of more than a dozen entrepreneurs, it also provided me with a number of ideas for companies to write about here. Today, we’re going to take a look at Adify. They’re a San Bruno, CA based company that helps media companies build vertical ad networks by combining “advanced ad serving and targeting technology together with an invaluable layer of expert human judgment and monitoring.” In other words, they make it technologically easy for content companies to monetize their websites.
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advertising,
California,
entry-level jobs,
information technology,
quality assurance,
software development,
user experience,
web development
by Willy Franzen on June 3, 2009
When I was at Cornell, working on group projects was the bane of my existence—especially when I didn’t get to choose the members of my group. It always seemed that I got stuck with a slacker or two, and there was always someone who just wanted to do the whole project by himself/herself (ok, sometimes that was me). Besides getting stuck with crappy partners, the logistics of organizing meetings, keeping edits to a document straight, and communicating with people who don’t check their e-mail drove me crazy. I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t enjoy the group project experience at Cornell, because Dana Lampert, a fellow alum, founded Wiggio, a company and web application that “makes it easy to work in groups.” They’re based out of Cambridge, MA, and they’ve moved well beyond focusing on just college students. Wiggio can help sports teams, non-profit organizations, small businesses, Greek organizations, and pretty much anyone who works with other people. They’ve already broken 100,000 users, and they seem to be growing at an awesome pace, which is why now is the time to think about working for them.
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entry-level jobs,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
sales,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 28, 2009
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.
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California,
entry-level jobs,
flash,
music,
social media,
social networking,
software development,
video games,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 22, 2009
Online dating has come a long way – from picking people up in chat rooms to having a computer find your perfect match. Considering the reaction that many people still give when you talk about online dating, it has a long way to go yet. New York City’s Ignighter might be responsible for the next big step forward. They provide a free online dating service… for groups. That means that they’ll match you and your boys with someone and her girls and vice versa or however else you want to do it. You can all go out together and see what happens. Instead of worrying about ending up on a date with a psycho killer, you have to worry about going on a date with a bunch of psycho killers – and even if that happens, you have some friends to back you up. What a relief! This idea might just be crazy enough to work.
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blogging,
entry-level jobs,
New York,
software development,
web development,
writing
by Willy Franzen on May 21, 2009
As you may or may not know, I’m an Apple guy; in fact, I’ve been an Apple guy for close to 20 years (I’m 24). I’ve watched the Microsoft vs. Apple rivalry unfold over the years, and even though the rivalry isn’t nearly as bitter as it used to be, I still enjoy taking jabs at Microsoft whenever I get a chance. You can call it a character flaw if you want. Anyway, the reason that I bring this up is that over the years, Microsoft has enabled a cottage industry (and by cottage I mean insanely huge) for people and companies who fix their products. The antivirus industry alone is worth billions of dollars, and that’s just one example. That’s where Clearwater, FL based Sunbelt Software comes in. They’re an antivirus software company that has Microsoft to thank for much of their success. They’ve been around since 1994 and they’re a member of the Inc. 5000. Seriously, they need to send Microsoft some sort of thank you gift.
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administrative,
customer service,
data,
entry-level jobs,
Florida,
information technology,
research,
software development
by Willy Franzen on May 20, 2009
Have you always wanted to be a secret agent? Well here’s a mission, if you choose to accept it: try to land a job with New York City based kgb. No, I’m not talking about Russia’s version of the CIA. I’m talking about “the world’s largest independent provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services.” Formerly known as INFONXX, kgb is in the business of making information easily available. If you’ve seen their commercials, then you’re probably most familiar with their “Ask Us Anything” service. I personally think it’s for lazy people, but that’s because I’m a huge advocate for developing your own research skills. If getting the answer to your question is worth 50 cents, then that’s cool, but I’m gonna Google it myself. The good news is that kgb’s business goes well beyond charging lazy people who need their stupid questions answered.
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data,
entry-level jobs,
Hawaii,
information technology,
New York,
Pennsylvania,
research,
software development,
telephony,
Texas,
user experience,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 19, 2009
If you’re an Internet geek like me, then you’ve probably noticed all of the buzz around Wolfram|Alpha. Some have dubbed it a “Google killer,” but as far as I can tell, they’re way off the mark. They’re wrong because Wolfram|Alpha isn’t a search engine – it’s a knowledge engine. The goal is “to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone.” The concept is kind of hard to grasp until you try it, but once you see how it works, I think that you’ll be impressed. So, who is behind Wolfram|Alpha? Wolfram, of course! They’re based in Champaign, IL, and they’re “one of the world’s most respected software companies–as well as a powerhouse of scientific and technical innovation.” They’re the company behind Mathematica – a software package that excels in ” computation, modeling, simulation, visualization, development, documentation, and deployment.” I’ve never had the pleasure of using it, but I know math teachers who think it’s pretty awesome.
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data,
education,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
France,
Illinois,
information technology,
international,
Japan,
Massachusetts,
math,
project management,
quality assurance,
quality engineer,
research,
sales,
science,
software development,
statistics,
United Kingdom,
user experience,
writing
by Willy Franzen on May 14, 2009
Don’t get freaked out, but imagine an earthquake. Part of the building that you’re in collapses and you’re injured. There’s no way for you to get out, and there’s no safe way in for a rescue team. It’s too dangerous to send people in to get you out, but your injuries are life threatening. You need medical attention ASAP. Luckily, there’s a BEAR. No, not a trained wild animal (although that’s almost a good idea), but a “versatile, humanoid robot capable of lifting
and carrying humans and other items over 600 lbs.” This isn’t some fantasy. It’s a reality because of Vecna Technologies, a high-tech startup whose corporate mandate is “Better Technology, Better World.” They’re based in Greenbelt, MD, but they also have offices in Skyline, VA; Cambridge, MA; and Silicon Valley, CA. Robotics like those found in the BEAR is just one sliver of the things they’re doing to put technology to amazing uses.
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California,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
robots,
software development,
Virginia,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on May 8, 2009
The other night I went to a great event called Out of Work Chicago to watch Jason Seiden speak and to get familiar with job seekers who aren’t fresh out of college. It was a great event, and I definitely enjoyed it. I didn’t need a ticket because I came with one of the featured speakers, but the thought of registering hundreds of people for an event seems pretty intimidating to me. I don’t know if the guys at Out of Work Chicago use Eventbrite, but it looks like the perfect solution for registering and ticketing people at any size event. If your event is free, Eventbrite is free. If you’re charging, they take a 2.5% cut. That sounds like a pretty decent deal to me, considering it eliminates most of the headaches of event registration.
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account management,
California,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
events,
sales,
software development
by Willy Franzen on May 6, 2009
I love cooking, but I didn’t always. I went into college barely knowing how to make myself a bowl of pasta, but when I lived off campus Sophomore year, I was left with little choice but to learn how to cook. I’ve never been one to follow recipes strictly, though. I always like trying something new and getting creative with my cooking. That’s exactly the philosophy behind America’s Test Kitchen. It’s a real kitchen (all 2,500 square feet of it) in Brookline, MA that is used to “to develop the absolute best recipes for all of your favorite foods.” They do this by testing recipes anywhere from 30-70 times until they not only get it right, but get it right to the point that it’s dead simple for the people who are consuming the products that America’s Test Kitchen puts out – magazines, cookbooks, DVDs, tv shows, and websites. To me it sounds like one of the coolest places in the world, so if there’s no post tomorrow, it’s because I quit in hopes of a career at America’s Test Kitchen (just kidding!).
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design,
e-commerce,
entry-level jobs,
food,
magazines,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
production,
publishing,
software development,
television,
video,
web development,
writing
by Willy Franzen on May 2, 2009
Since we’ve started, one of our most popular categories for jobs and companies has been Software Development. Despite this fact, surprisingly few of those software related jobs have been at non-profit organizations. Still, we’ve come across our fair share – mostly open-source projects – of jobs at organizations that combine the web startup feel with the do-gooder mindset. One of those organizations is Participatory Culture Foundation, a Boston, MA based organization, that “makes bottom-up economies and cultures possible by ensuring that our political, social and cultural systems are open and democratic everywhere.” They took the non-profit route because they had seen too many startups sell out of their ideals due to financial pressure – that’s not going to happen to them.
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entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
non-profit,
software development,
video,
web development
by Willy Franzen on May 1, 2009
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.
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analyst,
California,
communications,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
flash,
information technology,
international,
marketing,
social media,
social networking,
software development,
United Kingdom,
web development
by Willy Franzen on April 28, 2009
It’s been almost 6 months since I first started talking about how the video game industry is a good place to find a job during a recession, yet I continue to be amazed by how aggressively some gaming companies are hiring. I don’t know if it’s a result of the fact that people buy video games when they’re unemployed or it’s that hard to find people to fill these jobs, but I’m shocked to see a company like Bungie with 21 job openings – many of which appear to be suitable for new grads. Now, Bungie and I go way back. I’ve been using Macs since the early 90s, and Bungie was one of the premier game creators for Macs. Although I was never a serious gamer, I definitely have fond memories of Bungie’s first huge success – Marathon. Then they hit it big with Halo. Microsoft bought them out, and they picked up shop and moved (all of their employees chose to follow the company) to Kirkland, WA.
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animation,
arts,
design,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
software development,
video games,
Washington
by Willy Franzen on April 21, 2009
Who would have thought that you could build a whole startup off of a Wiki? I mean, I know that Wikipedia is wildly successful, but they’re run by a non-profit called the Wikimedia Foundation. Building a real business off of that same idea almost sounds too easy, but that didn’t stop the founders of San Francisco based Wikinvest from trying it. It all started when two Harvard students were day trading in their dorm rooms during the height of the Internet bubble. They were making money, so they thought they were smart investors. When the bubble burst, they realized that they weren’t nearly as smart as they thought they were. As they tried to educate themselves, they noticed that most financial websites leave a lot to be desired (kind of how I noticed that most job search sites leave a lot to be desired). Instead of building a team of salaried experts, the guys who started Wikinvest decided to crowdsource their content through a Wiki. So far it seems to be working well for them – they raised $2.5 million in a first round (although that was 18 months ago).
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California,
design,
entry-level jobs,
finance,
flash,
investment,
software development,
user experience,
web development
by Willy Franzen on April 19, 2009
The world of non-profits is built on fundraising. Organizations big and small take money from donors and put it to use how they see fit. The system works, but it leaves a lot to be desired. What if you want to know where your money is going and whom it is helping? What if you want to decide where your money goes? You often can’t. With San Francisco based Kiva you can. You can loan money directly to the working poor. And if you make a wise investment and the person you loan money to succeeds, you’ll get your money back and get to loan it again. You can lend money to a man who runs a food market in Togo or a woman who sells traditional coats in Tajikistan. The choice is yours. Kiva is all about “connect[ing] people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.” It’s a really simple idea that couldn’t have taken hold before the Internet. Now it’s changing the way that we think about giving through microfinance and microfunding.
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California,
entry-level jobs,
microfinance,
non-profit,
software development
by Willy Franzen on April 14, 2009
When I started this business, I focused almost entirely on the web for networking – a LinkedIn connection or an e-mail address was all that I needed. However, my mom (who is also my graphic designer) had other ideas. Right after she designed my logo, she sent away to VistaPrint to get me business cards. Although I didn’t use them right away (I was glued to the computer screen and not talking to many people in real life), eventually they became a necessity. Those business cards also came with the one and only One Day, One Job t-shirt (a free gift from VistaPrint). They are the place to go for customized stuff (there’s no better way to put it). You can get business cards, pens, checks, banners, postcards, lawn signs, rubber stamps, mouse pads, magnets, and much much more. The best part about it is that you can do it all online and get a really great price. VistaPrint is definitely achieving their goal of “making high-quality graphic design and custom printing convenient and affordable for everyone.”
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Bermuda,
Canada,
e-commerce,
entry-level jobs,
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Jamaica,
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Massachusetts,
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quality assurance,
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software development,
Spain
by Willy Franzen on April 9, 2009
Remember The Jetsons? They were my first indication of what the future would look like – flying cars and video phones were my favorites. Apparently we aren’t much closer to flying cars, but video phones are here – sort of. We’ve had the technology for quite a while, and many of you have probably used video chat at some point, but it hasn’t caught on quite like the creators of The Jetsons thought it would. I’m sure that you can come up with a number of reasons why, but I think the big thing holding us back from more video communications is the lack of a common platform. If I want to call someone, I can pretty safely assume that they have a phone that I can call. If I want to video chat with someone, I need to make sure that they not only have the right hardware but also that they have software that is compatible with mine. TokBox is a San Francisco based startup that is using the common platform of the web browser to enable video chatting. When you want to video chat, you just go to TokBox and they’ll give you a link. You send that link to a friend, they click it, and assuming that both of you have webcams and fast enough connections, you’ll be video chatting in no time.
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California,
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entry-level jobs,
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quality engineer,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on April 7, 2009
As a new or upcoming college grad who is looking for a job, you’re entering a new lifestage. Unfortunately, it’s not a lifestage that The Knot can help you with. They’re a “lifestage media company,” but they focus on major life events related to growing your family – engagements, weddings, and births of first children. These things may seem far off to you, but within a couple years of graduating (if not sooner) you’ll have friends who are getting married and having kids. Eventually you’ll probably do the same, and when you do, there’s a good chance that you’ll come across one or many of The Knot’s media properties. They have a flagship website at TheKnot.com in addition to books, magazines, and tv programs (see all of their brands). People can get pretty crazed when they’re about to enter a new lifestage, which is why The Knot has been so successful in providing media that makes it all a little easier. Too bad they don’t have anything for the job search, but at least we do.
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accounting,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
magazines,
media,
Nebraska,
New York,
publishing,
software development,
television,
web development
by Willy Franzen on April 3, 2009
I recently ended up with a good news/bad news situation. The good news was that the traffic here, on One Day, One Internship, and on Found Your Career had exceeded what my old server was able to deliver. The bad news is that our new server costs 8x as much per month. It’s still a relatively small price to pay to reach as many people as we do, but nobody likes to have to spend more money. Luckily, we’ve been relatively happy with our hosting service, but had we wanted to change, we might have taken a look at Culver City, CA based Media Temple. Why? Because they have cool jobs. Cool jobs usually mean happy employees, and happy employees usually mean good customer service. That must be the case with Media Temple – just look at the client list that they’ve been able to score.
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California,
communications,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
social media,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on March 30, 2009
I always say that when it comes to ad agencies, marketing companies, and PR firms, the best way to evaluate the company is to check out their client list and look at the work that the company has done. It’s not going to tell you everything that you need to know, but it’ll give you a solid idea whether or not the company is a place that you might want to work. If you want to work with big brands who are willing to take big risks with their advertising campaigns, then Crispin Porter + Bogusky might be the place for you. The Subservient Chicken is one of their more successful campaigns that started out virally, while the Microsoft campaign with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld was one of their well-publicized flops. CP+B is headquartered in Miami, FL, while they also have major locations in Boulder, CO; Los Angeles, CA; and London, UK. Their client list sits at the bottom of every page on their website – probably because it is so impressive.
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account management,
advertising,
California,
Colorado,
design,
entry-level jobs,
Florida,
marketing,
media,
production,
quality assurance,
software development,
video,
web development
by Willy Franzen on March 27, 2009
If you’ve been reading every day for the past few months, you’ve probably heard me talk about the recession/video game paradox. When people are out of work, they often play lots of video games. (I also think that people who play lots of video games are often out of work.) Some might claim that video games sap productivity from our economy, but I’d argue otherwise. When a recession hits and lots of unemployed people start gaming, it actually creates jobs in game development. So, when you’re jamming to Rock Band 2 for 9 hours straight instead of job searching, don’t feel too bad, because your purchase made it possible for someone with a little more ambition, initiative, and drive to land a job at Boston based Harmonix. That’s how the economy works. Isn’t it a beautiful thing? If only your high score translated into dollars…
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music,
software development,
video games
is the funniest, most in-your-face career guide on the market.