One Day, One Job » toys

JAKKS Pacific

Willy Franzen — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:56:51 +0000

Merry Christmas! I just had a wonderful morning with plenty of presents under the tree, and I hope that you did too. Despite being 25 years old, I am still a kid at heart. I’ve spent most of the morning playing with a remote control helicopter, while my dad is about to put batteries in the EyeClops Night Vision Infared Stealth Goggles that I just bought him. Yes, I got my dad a kid’s toy. I’m hoping he’ll use it for fishing, but I’m sure he’ll find plenty of other uses for night vision goggles too. After purchasing my dad’s gift, I wanted to see which company was behind it. It turns out that Malibu, CA JAKKS Pacific is behind ton of awesome stuff. You’ve got Club Penguin, the EyeClops Mini Projector, Jakks Creepy Crawlers Bugmaker, Discovery Kids toys, Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery, and all kinds of other cool things that you’d like to find under the Christmas tree.

All You Want for Christmas… Is a Job

I love the holidays as a time for job searching, even if most hiring shuts down between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. There are so many great ideas out there. If you like something enough to ask Santa Claus for it, there’s a good chance that there’s a company with jobs behind what you’re asking for. JAKKS Pacific is a perfect example. They were founded in 1995, and since then they’ve been pumping out cool stuff for kids (and immature adults like me and my dad). They don’t have much right now in the way of entry level jobs, but you should still check out their Careers page to see what is available. They’ve grown from a handful of employees to over 500 in the past 15 years, so there’s a decent chance that if you reach out to them they’ll make your Christmas wish come true.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you get any toys for Christmas?

Mattel

Willy Franzen — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:10:29 +0000

Take a second and think of your favorite toy growing up. Was it a Barbie? Matchbox Car? American Girl Doll? View-Master? Magic 8 Ball? Rock’em Sock’em Robots? Hot Wheels? Polly Pocket? Even if it wasn’t one of those, there’s a good chance that it was made by Mattel. I’m sure that you’ve heard of the El Segundo, CA headquartered toy company before, but I bet you never realized just how many toys they actually make. Not only do they have some of the biggest toy names in the world, but they’re also behind all of Fisher-Price’s toys. If you always wanted to be like Tom Hanks in Big and work for a toy company, Mattel is your chance to live every child’s dream.

All Work and No Play Makes You a Dull Job Seeker

Usually, the problem with companies that seem really cool (especially in the fashion industry from what I hear) is that they know they’re hot stuff. That means that they treat their employees like commodities because they know that there’s always someone who wants to work for their brand. This isn’t the case with Mattel according to the FORTUNE list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Despite the fact that they did go through some layoffs last year, Mattel appears to be hiring now for quite a few positions. There is a Campus Recruiting section on the Mattel Careers site; however, it doesn’t say anything about entry level jobs.

To get the scoop on what kind of opportunities Mattel has, you’re going to have to dive into their Applicant Tracking System instead. Their are 54 jobs posted right now, and a few look suitable for new grads. They include Mechanical Engineer(New York, NY), Associate Art Director – American Girl (Middleton, WI), Key Account Coordinator – Fisher-Price (East Aurora, NY), Key Account Representative (Brondby, Denmark), and Child Testing Researcher (El Segundo, CA). Mattel’s locations El Segundo, CA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; East Aurora, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Middleton, WI; Minneapolis, MN; and New York, NY, so keep that in mind if you don’t see something posted that fits what you’re looking for. You can apply for all of the jobs directly from Mattel’s Applicant Tracking System (which isn’t all that bad compared to others that I’ve dealt with).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What was your favorite Mattel toy?

Melissa & Doug

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:30:24 +0000

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

Melissa & Doug & You

Judging from Melissa & Doug’s website, they’ve created an extremely fun place to work. The whole company started in Doug’s garage when he asked Melissa to start a business with him because he was too nervous to ask her to marry him. That was 20 years ago, and since then they’ve seen double digit growth every year. There’s no word on their website about whether they ever got married, but judging by the success of their business partnership, they clearly work well together. If you’d like to work at a place where formal attire is only required on Halloween, then you should check out Melissa & Doug’s Careers page. Their job listings are unclear about how much work experience is required for each, but they have positions in Inside Sales, Recruiting, Administrative Assistance, Office Services, and Order Processing that might interest new grads. They don’t go into a lot of detail about the jobs, but you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to Jobs@MelissaAndDoug.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever played with toys made by Melissa & Doug.

Lund and Company Invention

Willy Franzen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:25:22 +0000

The other day, we came across an article about a toy design studio that has come up with technology to create variable-speed bullets. They’re called Lund and Company Invention, but they eerily remind us of Zevo Toys from the movie TOYS with Robin Williams and LL Cool J. Ok, they haven’t been taken over by a military general who is using child labor to fight wars through video games, but Lund and Company did create a toy rocket that is so technologically advanced that it has the Army drooling. We have no idea what kind of jobs Lund and Company offers, nor do we know if they ever hire recent graduates, but it’s Friday, and we like giving you research projects on Fridays.

Bang, Bang, You’re Dead!

Many a child has made that exclamation, whether playing cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians, although that was back when a finger to point at someone was the only toy that you needed. Lund and Company has taken children way past that with a toy rocket that is “powered by burning hydrogen obtained by electrolysing water.” Despite the fact that this technology is now being weaponized (to make guns less, not more, lethal, we should add), Lund and Company Invention is a toy company at heart. Their portfolio is full of fun things like Color Etch-A-Sketch, Luminator Sports Equipment, and Baby Alive Sip-n-Slurp. If you always dreamed of a job like Josh (Tom Hanks) had in BIG, then Lund and Company Invention would be the place to work.

Are the Jobs Top Secret Too?

Lund and Company has a section of their website that is top secret and requires a login and password to enter. Information about jobs with seems to be almost as well guarded. Their Contact page does say that they invite prospective new hires to contact them, but that’s it. We tried to do some more research on Lund and Company, but we couldn’t come up with much. One site says that they have 5 employees, while another says that they have between 250 and 1,000 employees. We did a LinkedIn search for the company name, and only found the company’s owner, Bruce Lund, listed (use that information wisely). By the way, Bruce went to Duke, and here’s an article on him from their Alumni Magazine. We’re not sure what to make of it all, but we do know that they’ve been growing for almost 25 years and they just expanded into a bigger office (photos of the move here).

Researching Lund and Company can be somewhat confusing, so you might just want to bite the bullet and contact them. You can send a general inquiry first, or you could just send them a resume with an amazing cover letter on why you want to join a company with the world’s funnest client list (don’t really use the word funnest). Lund and Company is located in the Chicago, IL area, and they’re at least open to getting cold called. We have no idea what kind of jobs they might offer, but you can probably make some guesses. We’re sorry that we don’t have specific details on jobs, but Lund and Company is way too cool of a company not to tell you about.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

LundAndCompany.com
Contact Lund and Company Invention (Essentially Their Jobs Page)
About Lund and Company
Lund and Company’s History
The Lund and Company Process

What toy from Lund and Company’s portfolio do you like the most?

Radio Flyer

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:42:45 +0000

Red wagon. Is any more explanation necessary? You’re probably already picturing Dennis the Menace pulling his Radio Flyer wagon behind his little red bike. Or maybe you’re thinking about your village’s 4th of July parade where all the kids decorate their bikes and pull wagons behind them with their younger siblings in them (ok maybe that’s just my memory). Nearly everyone has a childhood memory associated with Radio Flyer (hopefully it’s not because you have a scar from a spill you took out of a Radio Flyer wagon). What’s your Radio Flyer memory? If for some reason wagon rides and Radio Flyer weren’t part of your childhood, you can get up to speed with this video.

Get on the Wagon

When we read a tweet by Kate Fettig Hill, a PR counselor in the mom/baby/toys/food area, we were surprised to learn that Radio Flyer is hiring (hey Kate, looks like Twitter is working, huh?). She was noting her disappointment that Radio Flyer was left off Chicago Mag’s list of 20+ Local Companies That Are Hiring (which apparently isn’t available online). Well that’s ok, because Radio Flyer has been identified as having One of Chicago’s Coolest Offices. We weren’t expecting much from Radio Flyer’s Careers site, because other companies with similar brand profiles (100 years old, family owned, storied product) that we’ve checked out usually skimp on the Careers section of their sites. This is not the case with Radio Flyer, they’ve put a lot of effort into their online recruiting presence. It might do them well to create a separate section for internships, but the position that they have listed appears to be a new one, so we’ll give them a break.

Radio Flyer isn’t currently hiring at the entry-level, but we want to tell you about their jobs anyway. Their site does a great job of describing the different departments that they have – Marketing, Product Development , Sales / Customer Service, Administration, and Operations. They do have openings in Customer Service and Product Development, but they want at least 3 years of experience or more for these positions. It’s possible that you might qualify for one of these positions, but we’d recommend that you try cold calling instead. They do claim to be a great place to launch your career, so they should at least consider hiring a new college grad for an entry-level position. There are internships at Radio Flyer too, and we know that’s a good sign that a company is entry-level friendly. Maybe you’ll land a job, and get to work on a new version of the World’s Largest Wagon. Radio Flyer’s Careers Site says, “When making a hiring decision, we ask ourselves: Is this person outstanding? Will I learn from this person? Do I admire this person? Will this person live our ‘Little Red Rule?’” If you’re outstanding, admirable, and can teach the folks who make little red wagons a thing or two, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@radioflyer.com. They just might find a place to put you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We want to hear about your Radio Flyer memories in the comments.

LeapFrog

Willy Franzen — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:00:27 +0000

When we started One Day, One Job, we were only counting on writing about 365 entry-level jobs this year. Ah, what’s one more? Still, it’s a little disappointing that every 4th year the man manages to squeeze an extra day of productivity out of us. You never hear about a “leap day effect” on businesses, but one would presume that leap years are a little more productive than other years – assuming that we all don’t slack off a little more over the course of an entire Leap Year to make up for it. We wish Leap Day was a worldwide day off that would allow everyone to find time to do those things that you never get around to doing. Instead, it’s just another day, unless, of course, you’re a college senior with no Friday classes. Staying with the theme of Leap Day, we’re going to take a look at LeapFrog and their entry-level jobs.

At first glance LeapFrog looks like a toy manufacturer; however, they consider themselves “a leading designer, developer and marketer of innovative, technology-based educational products and related proprietary content.” You might be most familiar (especially if you are around children often) with their Leapster and LeapPad products. The former is a educational tool disguised as a handheld gaming system, while the latter is an interactive reading and writing system that is built into a book. We’ve never had the pleasure of using any of LeapFrog’s products, but judging by the fact that Leapster has sold over 4 million units (as of May 2007 according to Wikipedia), kids must enjoy them.

LeapFrog is a publicly traded company, which makes them a lot easier to research. A great job search tip is to use a company’s Investor Relations page to dig for dirt. We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep on repeating it: a company’s health is extremely important in your decision about whether or not to work for them. If a company’s situation scares you, it may not be worth applying for a job with them; however, companies that are going through hard times – LeapFrog falls into this category – sometimes offer unique experiences (as in: learning how not to run a company, getting an enormous amount of responsibility early on because your boss quit, or being part of the change that ends up saving the company) for a new college grad. We can’t be sure that this will be the case with LeapFrog, but it’s a lot easier to take the risk of working for a company that is struggling before you have a family and a mortgage. Still, don’t let your youthful exuberance keep you from doing your due diligence and doing some serious research.

As for jobs, LeapFrog has two openings that don’t list required experience, which we take to mean entry-level. They’re hiring a Curriculum Specialist and a Payroll Manager. Both of these positions are in their Emeryville, CA office. LeapFrog also has an RSS feed of new job openings, which we love, so stay tuned to that if neither of these positions are for you.

With LeapFrog’s struggles, we can’t vouch for whether these jobs will be a good fit for a new college graduate, but we wanted to run with the Leap Day theme. If you’re looking to work in the educational products industry, LeapFrog might be a great place to start. Just make sure you do your homework.

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at LeapFrog.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

You guessed it! We also wrote about LeapFrog’s internships at One Day, One Internship.

WowWee

Willy Franzen — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:00:31 +0000

Merry Christmas! And what’s Christmas all about? Toys! Ok, not really (we know, we know – commercialization of Christmas is evil), but there are few things better when you’re a kid than waking up in the morning and finding many of the toys that you’ve longed for all year sitting under a tree.

So today we’re going to tell you about WowWee, a toy company. Now they don’t make lame toys like dolls. They make awesome toys like animatronic Elvises, remote controlled dragon flies, and Robopandas. If you get a WowWee toy from Santa, you stop opening the rest of your presents and go play with it immediately. They’re that cool.

WowWee’s site is all flash, so we can’t link to individual pages. They do have a Careers Page, but it says there are no current openings. If you want to really take charge, send them a resume anyways at careers@wowwee.com.

We apologize for another short post, but we’ve got presents to open. We’ll be back to our usual length tomorrow. Until then, take a look at WowWee’s toys and think about a job in Santa’s Workshop (that’s what all toy companies really are).

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at WowWee.