One Day, One Job » user experience

Brightcove

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

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

Are You Bright Enough?

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen websites that use Brightcove to deliver video?

SurveyMonkey

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:06:05 +0000

One of my goals with One Day, One Job is to get more interactive. I’d like to get more feedback from you, the readers, on what you want to see, and I’d also like to use the collective wisdom of thousands of college aged job seekers to develop better content. The best way to do that is through reader surveys, which is why I recently signed up with SurveyMonkey. They’re a Menlo Park, CA (formerly Portland, OR) based “startup” that has been helping people run online surveys for the last decade. While most Internet companies that started in 1999 have since flamed out and most companies started in the 2000s have relied on flashiness to bring in venture capital money, Survey Monkey and its outdated look have been laughing all the way to the bank. By providing a dead simple way for business owners (they’ve worked with more than 80% of the Fortune 100) to collect data, SuveyMonkey has built an insanely successful business.

SurveyMonkey Says…

As TechCrunch reported last month, SurveyMonkey has finally taken on some outside money and started to take growth seriously. They’ve more than doubled their staff over the last year, and they’ve revamped their management team. You won’t find a lot of information about SurveyMonkey online, but you will find a lot of people who have used their software. SurveyMonkey has never seemed to care much for flash or attention. Instead they have used the “Freemium Model” to bring in thousands of paying customers. If you’ve always wanted to work at a web startup, but were wary of the “scene,” then SurveyMonkey might be the right place for you. They have a number of job openings posted, and a few seem suitable for new grads. The most likely is Front-end Engineer, but they also have some positions in Marketing, Product Management, Technical Operations, and User Experience Design that might be work looking at. And if you don’t see anything that suits you, you can always use their online form to apply for an unlisted position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever responded to a SurveyMonkey survey?

TechSmith

Willy Franzen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:49:20 +0000

One of the more effective ways that I’ve found to teach online job search tactics is to use screencasting. I do a number of screencasts in Found Your Career, and they seem to work really well when walking people through how to use sites like Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook for job search. TechSmith is an Okemos, MI based company that is “the world’s #1 provider of screen capture and screen recording software for the individual and professional user.” They’ve been in the business since 1987—which is an insanely long time for a company in their industry, and they’ve actually been doing screen capture for most of that time. I’ve never used any of their products, but I’ve heard from a number of people who rave about Camtasia, TechSmith’s main screen recording software.

ScreenCast Your Way to a New Job

Although Michigan got some bad news last night with the Tigers’ loss, you have to like seeing tech companies that are doing their best to revitalize the state’s economy. TechSmith is doing just that. Although they may appear to be a small software company, they actually have about 200 employees and are hiring more. In fact, they even do on campus recruiting at a few select schools. Most of their entry level jobs seem to be geared toward people with a tech background; however, some of their internships are a little less techie—that may mean non-tech jobs will be available in the future. Of the jobs posted on TechSmith’s site, the following appear to be suitable for new grads: Mac Developer, Software Engineer, Software Test Engineer, User Experience Designer, and Web 2.0 Developer. They go into a lot of detail about what they’re looking for, so read the job descriptions carefully. You can apply online; however, if I were apply for a job at TechSmith, I’d probably find a way to get them to watch a screencast of why they should hire me. That’s just me, though.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used TechSmith’s software?

Memeo

Willy Franzen — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:15:59 +0000

Before I get started, I’d like to ask you all for a favor. Businessweek is seeking nominations for their list of the Best U.S. Entrepreneurs 25 and Under, and I happen to be under 25 and an entrepreneur. I’d love to be on this list, but only if you think I should be. If One Day, One Job has helped you with your job search or you just love what we’re doing, please nominate me. It won’t take more than 90 seconds. Thanks!

When I was growing up, I kept all of my most prized possessions in a small wooden box that my Dad gave me. I knew that if the house ever caught on fire, I’d grab that and run (because there was no way I’d be able to carry my entire baseball card collection). These days I still think the same way, but my laptop is definitely the first thing that I’d grab before running out of a burning building. Maybe I’m unique because I run an online business, but I think that you’d probably grab your laptop too. Our prized possessions are increasingly in the form of data—our pictures, our movies, our contacts, and many of the other things that can never be replaced. Memeo is an Aliso Viejo, CA based company that recognizes how important data is to our lives. They build products that simplify your digital life. They have backup software, syncing software, and file sharing software. Yes, there are plenty of software companies that make these kinds of products, but Memeo makes it simple and easy to manage your digital assets.

Did You Get the Memeo?

The cool thing about Memeo is that they combine simple to use desktop software with the ability to put your files “in the cloud” (that means online). Although more and more applications like the ones that Memeo produces are moving to the web, it’s nice to have the robustness of a desktop application. Sometimes working through your web browser just isn’t ideal. If you like the sound of what Memeo is doing, you should check out their Jobs page. There are quite a few opportunities available, and a few of them seem suitable for new or recent college grads. They’re all posted on the Job Listings page, so look out for the following positions: Product Manager, Mobile Wireless Application Developer, PHP Developer, Mac Software Developer, and User Interface / Graphics / User Experience Designer. Most of these jobs wouldn’t be considered entry level, but you’ll be able to tell by the technical job descriptions whether you’ll be a good fit. To apply, send a cover letter and résumé to jobs@memeo.com with the title of the position that you’re applying for in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Is your data your most prized possession?

Invention Machine

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:49:03 +0000

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.

Become a Part of the Machine

Since Invention Machine has a corporate video that goes into more detail about what they do, I’m going to give you a little break from reading.

If you head over to Invention Machine’s Jobs page, you’ll see that they have a number of job openings right now. None of them scream entry level at me, but you should certainly take a look at both the Inside Sales Representative and User Interface Designer positions to see if they might give you an idea of where you can fit in at Invention Machine. They do offer a number of internships, so they clearly value young talent. They say that you “may submit your resume for a specific position, multiple positions or general employment by emailing a resume to jobs@invention-machine.com,” so don’t be shy about reaching out to them about a job opportunity.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever invented something?

Adify

Willy Franzen — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:10:16 +0000

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.

Jobify

What Adify does may seem a little complex if you’re not familiar with the online advertising industry, but it’s actually pretty simple. Say that you have one of the most popular websites on fly fishing, and you want to sell advertising targeted to fly fishermen. Unfortunately, there’s no ad network that does the specifically, so you need to use a large ad network like Google’s that doesn’t really understand the audience as well as you do. With Adify, you can create your own ad network so that not only your site’s ad inventory can be sold, but you can also get other similar sites to join your network and sell their ad inventory. Adify provides the back end technology for all of this, while you can focus on content and selling advertising. It’s pretty cool. Right now Adify has a bunch of jobs posted, and a couple seem like they might be well suited for new grads. If you head over to their Jobs page, you should be sure to check out the QA Engineer, UI Engineer, Solutions Engineer, and Platform Solutions Associate. You can apply for any of the jobs by sending a cover letter and resume to jobs@adify.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

kgb

Willy Franzen — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:47:46 +0000

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.

Join the kgb

Now, if you want to get a job with kgb, you’re going to have to do some serious sleuthing (or maybe you could just spend 50 cents to ask via text what kind of jobs they have available). It’s not that they’re all secretive, being the kgb and all, they’re just kind of disorganized with their recruitment message. On the main kgb.com site, the only prominent link is for their work at home opportunities (they title it “become an agent”). These jobs basically entail answering questions for a cut of the 50 cents, so that’s probably not what you’re looking to do with that college degree that you just got. Hidden in this section is a link to kgb_USA’s Careers page. Here you’ll find some more interesting opportunities. They’re sorted by location, so you’ll have to check each location to see all the jobs. They have Customer Service Representative positions in San Antonio, TX; Lubbock, TX; and Hawaii. Additionally, they have jobs in Database Administration and Accounts Receivable in Bethlehem, PA. That’s not it, though. There are also jobs with kgb web in New York City posted on Startuply. These include positions like Developer of Data, Master Ruby Developer, and Usability Expert. As you can see, jobs with kgb are kind of all over the place. How you apply will depend on which positions you’re applying for, so show off your research skills if you want to land a job with kgb.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used kgb?

Wolfram Research

Willy Franzen — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:49:42 +0000

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.

Join a Powerhouse

From what I can tell, Wolfram is about as academic as a company can get. They use their expertise in computer science to create amazing tools that help smart people do their jobs and research better. Yet, Wolfram’s ambitions go beyond that. This Wolfram|Alpha thing seems to be a well received attempt at going mainstream, and it’s only in its early stages. You have to love a company that is constantly working to make people smarter and more effective, which is why you should consider jobs with Wolfram Research. They don’t have specific job openings listed, but they are constantly looking for people in the following areas:

Algorithm Development
Software Engineering
Financial Engineering
Image and Signal Processing
Control Systems
Geospatial Information Systems
Instrument Control
Experimental Data Analysis
Statistics
User Interface Development
Applications Development
Software Quality Assurance
Technical Support
Technical Marketing
Business Development
Project Management
International Business Development
Special Projects
Mathematica Programming
Information Technology
Customer Relations
Educational Outreach
Technical Writing
Sales
Scientific Business Development
Technology Licensing

There’s a single online application form for all of these positions, and it’s really in-depth. So, if Wolfram Research already has you fascinated and “you’re clear-thinking, pragmatic, and energetic about getting things done well,” then go ahead and apply ASAP. Additionally, Wolfram Research has some Science and Technology R&D Fellowships that you may want to check out. Beyond Wolfram’s headquarters in Champaign, IL, they also have locations in Boston, MA; Oxford, United Kingdom; Paris, France; and Tokyo, Japan.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Wolfram|Alpha’s capabilities?

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?

Wikinvest

Willy Franzen — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:38:50 +0000

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).

Wikinvest in Yourself

Some challenge that Wikinvest is inherently flawed because anyone can submit information. You’d think the pump-and-dumpers would be all over it, but the site still appears to be loaded with quality content (and not rife with spam). There’s also the question of why you would want to share good investing information publicly instead of keeping it for yourself and making lots of money. I certainly see the validity in those arguments, but I think that they miss the point of Wikinvest. The point is to learn key concepts and basic information that will allow you to understand more in-depth information that might not be found on the site. For instance, you can’t invest in Corn if you don’t understand the basic concepts behind Corn Prices. Since all new grads should be investing (even if it’s a small amount), Wikinvest is a great resource, but it’s also a place to consider employment. Despite their investment background, most of their jobs are actually on the software/web side. Their Jobs page shows a number of positions that seem geared towards new grads – Software Developer, Web Developer, User Interface Architect, and Flex/Flash Developer. You can apply for any of these jobs by sending a cover letter and resume to jobs@wikinvest.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you using Wikinvest to help you plan for your future?

Mozilla

Willy Franzen — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:53:19 +0000

I remember the days of browser wars. It was Netscape vs. Internet Explorer, and it was ugly – the Internet that is. Back then it was all about whether or not your browser displayed pages properly, and people were passionately in favor of one browser or the other (or maybe some weird 3rd option). Now it’s all a lot simpler (unless you’re still using Internet Explorer) – your browser probably displays most sites just fine, and you’re more worried about speed and bells and whistles. That’s where Mozilla shines with their Firefox browser. They’re absolutely dominant with web savvy users (except with me – I still use Safari), and they are constantly making their products better. The Mozilla Corporation is a Mountain View, CA based wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit, while the Corporation calls itself a “public benefit organization.” That means that they are “dedicated not to making money but to improving the way people everywhere experience the Internet” – even if by definition they’re still a for profit.

Browse Mozilla’s Jobs

Not too long ago it seemed that the browser wars were over. Microsoft had come out on top, and they had even decided that there was no need to keep working on building a better web browser. Out of nowhere an open source project started gaining traction. Internet Explorer is still an industry behemoth, but Mozilla’s Firefox continues to grow and can now claim 15% of the world market share. That means that there’s still a lot of room to grow, and with Mozilla’s focus on user experience, you can be sure that Firefox will continue eating away at Internet Explorer’s user base.

One of the coolest things about working at a company like Mozilla is how many people they reach. Most of my daily work is done on the web, and my web browser is almost like my office. Most of our computing needs are moving to the web, and Mozilla is doing everything in its power to make that experience as enjoyable as possible. So, how can you become a part of Mozilla and their awesome projects? You can start by checking out their Careers page. It’s really well done, and includes information on the company, the team, life at Mozilla, first person experiences, and – obviously – job listings. Their jobs are posted in a number of sections that include College Recruiting, Engineering, Engineering Operations, Finance, Labs, Legal, Marketing, Quality Assurance, and User Experience. We obviously want to take a look at College Recruiting which includes jobs like Firefox Engineer, Platform Engineer, and Web Developer. Don’t just focus on those jobs though, there’s the chance that some of the other jobs might be suitable for some entry level candidates too. You can apply online (through your web browser, obviously), so get to it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which web browser do you use?

Meetup

Willy Franzen — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:22:48 +0000

One thing the Internet has done for us that doesn’t get talked about a lot is that it has made it so much easier to organize real-life events. You can send a meeting request, create an event on Facebook, organize a Tweetup, or a Meetup. It’s amazing that phone calls and invitations are nearly obsolete when it comes to organizing an event. With that said, there’s still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to online tools to getting people together. That’s what Meetup, which is based in New York City, is all about. They provide a place for people to organize meetups and to share them with the rest of the world. Whether you want to join The Chicago English as a Second Language Meetup Group or The NYC Cranium Meetup Group, you can do so with the help of Meetup.

Meetup with a New Job

Meetup is a pretty simple idea – make it easy for people with similar interests to find each other. It’s put well in The Meetup Manifesto:

Let’s be fearless. Let’s exercise our human right of assembly. Let’s exploit it big-time. Let’s use the Internet to get people off the Internet. Let’s bring back the handshake. The verbal debate. The smile. You know, some good ol’ face-to-face, eye-to-eye contact. When people get together amazing things happen. They advocate, argue, learn, laugh and share. Let’s be a group. Let’s be a real group. Groups have a history of making history. People unite, motivate, activate and mobilize. Groups give us the power to face a health crisis, start a political movement, pursue a passion, launch a business, and turn strangers into friends. To be bigger than ourselves. Let’s step away from our screens for a moment. Do without the PC, the TV and the phone. People are more powerful than pixels. A real group can beat up a virtual group any day of the week. Let’s find the others. The ones that want the same thing. Let’s meet in real time, in real places, and make a real difference.

Let’s Meetup.

Meetup’s business model is also simple. They charge Meetup organizers a monthly subscription fee to use the site. Meetup has been around since 2001, and they moved to this revenue model in 2005. They’re still around, and they’re still hiring, so it must be working. Current entry level opportunities at Meetup include Software Engineer, User Interface Engineers, Quality Assurance Engineers, and Bilingual Customer Service Specialists. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to jobs@meetup.com, but be sure to check out the individual job descriptions first.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to an event organized on Meetup?

Salesforce.com

Willy Franzen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:55:30 +0000

Managing relationships is hard. Even with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, e-mail, text messages, cell phones, and every other tool that we have to stay in touch with people, it’s just not that easy to actively maintain a lot of relationships. Now, imagine that your job is all about managing relationships with people who pay your company money. Welcome to a job in Sales. It’s not easy, and managing all of your relationships with an address book, rolodex, or your cell phone’s saved numbers isn’t going to cut it. You need help with customer relationship management (CRM), and Salesforce.com is CRM (seriously, their stock ticker symbol is CRM). Salesforce’s big tagline is “No software” (their phone number is actually 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE), but they don’t really mean it. Their business is all about providing software, but it’s software as a service. That means that Salesforce eliminates most of the headaches of traditional CRM software by being really easy to use. It may be software, but the goal is for the end user (the guy or girl working in Sales) not to realize it.

Join the Salesforce

Despite the fact that Salesforce sounds like it’s all about Sales and has nothing to do with software, the opposite seems to be true when it comes to their jobs. Ok, that’s not quite true, they have plenty of Sales related jobs too. They really have all kinds of jobs that are located all across the country. They also have specific jobs for new grads and a great section of their website devoted to University Recruiting. The good news is that Salesforce appears to be doing a ton of hiring, but their entry level hiring is relatively slim. If you check out their job listings and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see that their entry level openings (in San Francisco at their headquarters) are for Usability Analysts and User Researcher. You may be able to find more jobs by scanning the rest of the job postings. You should also check out Salesforce’s University Recruiting Brochure and their University Recruiting Calendar (they’re still visiting campuses this spring).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you manage your relationships?

New York Magazine

Willy Franzen — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:05:35 +0000

These days a magazine’s website is absolutely essential to its success. Many are saying that there’s a day not too far off when most of the magazines that we know and love won’t be published in hard (soft?) copy and will only be found online. Things are changing, but some magazines seem better suited to weather the changes than others. New York Magazine is one of those that seems to be keeping up with where the industry is going. NYMag.com gets well over a million unique visitors per month, and that’s excluding the month that they published nude photos of Lindsey Lohan when their traffic increased by 2,000%. (No, we’re not going to link to them. You can find them yourself). New York Magazine “covers, analyzes, comments on and defines the news, culture, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion and personalities that drive New York City” on a weekly basis. Basically it’s everything New York.

Do You Love New York… Magazine?

If you want to work for New York Magazine, you should probably start reading. I can’t think of a better way to prepare for a job with a content publisher than knowing the content that they publish. You might also want to check out Wikipedia’s page on New York Magazine since New York Magazine, like most magazines, doesn’t provide much information about themselves on their website. One thing that seems to be unique about New York Magazine is that they’re not part of a huge media conglomerate (as far as I can tell). There are so many magazines that are owned by companies that publish dozens and dozens of magazines, but New York Magazine doesn’t appear to be one of them.

Once you’re familiar with what New York Magazine is all about, you can check out their Jobs page. Their listings are kind of sparse right now, but they do have freelance opportunities for Web/Interaction Designers and Copy Editors. These job postings may be a bit outdated, but they’re still posted, so it’s worth inquiring about them. At the very least it’s a chance to learn about other jobs that they might have available right now. The application details depend on which position you’re applying for, so head over to New York Magazine’s Jobs page for al of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read New York Magazine?

Tiny Prints

Willy Franzen — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:22:36 +0000

I don’t recall having any friends in college who sent out their own holiday cards, but if you’re planning on sending out cards, you better get on it. Christmas is 31 days away. My family always tried to send out Christmas cards, but it usually resulted in a fight between my sister and me over which picture to use – if we could even get along long enough for a picture to be taken (yes, we were both in college at this point). With my sister’s and my being difficult and my mom’s procrastinating ability, Christmas cards almost inevitably became New Year’s cards, which typically arrived well after New Year’s. I’m not sure that Mountain View, CA based Tiny Prints could have helped with conflict resolution between my sister and me, but they can make it ridiculously easy to produce a beautiful holiday card.

What’s So Tiny About Them?

Tiny Prints is an interesting name for a Stationery 2.0 company that makes normal sized stationery. The reasoning behind the name, I think, is that they started out by targeting the birth announcement market. That’s why they’ve hired designers who “have created birth announcements and related baby stationery for many celebrity parents, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Gwen Stefani, Jaime Pressly, Reese Witherspoon, Debra Messing, Maria Shriver, Adam Sandler, Al Roker, Charles Schwab and Harry Connick Jr.” As a company based in Silicon Valley, Tiny Prints has been influenced significantly by technology, which is why we’re excited about them. Although the cards that they produce are top notch, it’s not what makes Tiny Prints stand out. It’s their simple web-based interface for creating custom stationery that is game changing. Seriously. Go try it out.

Once you take a look at Tiny Prints’ Jobs page, you’ll really start to appreciate how much technology is behind what they do. They don’t seem to have a lot to say about what it’s like working for them – all they offer is a list of their job openings with links to descriptions. The job descriptions aren’t as clear as we’d like them to be, so it’s hard to determine which jobs can be considered entry level, but we’ve done our best to identify them for you. The most likely fits for new grads include Office Manager, Web Application Developer, Data Production Specialist, and Production QA, while jobs like Merchandising Account Manager, Product Manager, Website Programmer, User Interaction Designer, and Customer Order Processor should be considered stretches. All of the jobs appear to be located in Mountain View, CA, and how you apply will vary depending on the position, so look at the descriptions carefully.

Beyond the jobs that we’ve mentioned, we’ve also noticed that Tiny Prints has mentioned that they hire very young designers. We haven’t found any mention of how designers can score their jobs, but you might want to contact Tiny Prints directly if you dream of being a stationery designer.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you send out holiday cards?

Hesketh

Willy Franzen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:49:56 +0000

As you may or may not know, every weekend we feature two non-profit organizations and their jobs. That means that in addition to looking at corporate websites all week, we also spend a considerable amount of time looking at non-profit sites. Since companies are usually trying to sell someone something, their websites tend to be both nice to look at and easy to navigate/use (with a big exception for many of the Careers sections of these corporate sites). With the non-profits there’s more variability – some sites are stunning and easy to use, while others could use a lot of work. Non-profits may not be selling a product or service, but they still need to sell themselves to donors, volunteers, job seekers, and even the people whom they’re aiming to serve. That means that design and usability isn’t something that they can ignore, and that’s why Hesketh, a user experience agency, “has developed practices and services that are specifically attuned to challenges faced by non-profits, higher education, member-based associations, and other organizations committed to socioeconomic development.” They serve corporate clients too, but Hesketh seems to be carving out a pretty cool niche for themselves (they’ve also literally carved out a new, old niche for themselves recently).

Be the Power of the Web

It’s funny how narrowing the market that you focus on can lead to immense business growth, but it works. As Hesketh’s offerings have become more focused over the past few years, they’ve experienced what seems to be some pretty solid growth. They attribute it to excellent customer service, and we believe them. Right now that growth has led to the opening of a new position – Interaction Designer. It’s only one job, but the description looks fantastic. You’ll need a background in web design, but other than that it looks to be solidly entry level. The job is based at Hesketh’s office in Raleigh, NC, so if that sounds like a place that you’d like to be and you’re excited at the prospect of working to improve the websites of non-profit clients (in addition to many other clients), then send your cover letter, resume, and portfolio to careers@hesketh.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are the best and worst non-profit websites that you’ve seen?

Maria Health

Willy Franzen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:00:27 +0000

Typically when we feature a startup company and its jobs, the startup is at least mid-stage – they have a small but growing team, a product that has been released in some form to the public, and often have gone through multiple stages of funding. Today’s company, Maria Health, can definitely be considered early stage. They have a team of 7, an idea – not a product, and backing by one venture capital firm. They say that they’re going to change the way that you think about healthcare through “a web app which will provide users unprecedented transparency into their healthcare usage, options, and insurance coverage.” Although it’s hard to say what will actually happen down the road, you have to like the chances of a healthcare based startup in this down economy. Healthcare is an industry that just seems to keep growing and growing.

Who Is Maria?

We don’t know who Maria is, nor do we know much more about Maria Health. Early stage startups often aren’t very forthcoming with information about themselves. They want to avoid having competitors steal their ideas, and they also probably want to leave room for their ideas to evolve before they publicly announce exactly what they’re doing. What we do know is that Maria Health already has a Jobs page, and they’re hiring for a couple positions that might interest new college grads. Specifically, they’re looking for a Software Developer who has exceptional Ruby skills and a Product Manager who has user experience experience (that was not a typo). Maria Health’s jobs page has full descriptions, so check them out if you’re a web developer (front end or back end) who has a vested interest in the healthcare industry. Maria Health is located in San Mateo, CA, but they’re moving to SOMA in San Francisco in January of 2009. To apply for a job with them, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@mariahealth.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you like to see more jobs from early stage startps, or are you way to risk averse to a job like the ones we featured today?

Garmin

Willy Franzen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:43:43 +0000

Ok, it may be politically incorrect to celebrate Columbus Day, but it’s just about the only holiday that I had off in college. Maybe it just happened to be a convenient weekend for Fall Break, but I still can’t believe that I didn’t have class on Columbus Day, but did have class on Labor Day (when I went to a School of Industrial and Labor Relations). Anyway, Christopher Columbus wasn’t much of a navigator. He had no idea where he was going, and he tried to take the long way around the world. Still, his ineptitude was the reason that he “discovered” the Americas. Had Garmin been around in the 1490s, Columbus never would have ended up where he did. Then again, the existence of a company built on GPS technology would have changed a lot of things for famous explorers five centuries ago. (Much like the existence of iPods – like the one we’re giving away – would have changed the world for musicians back then.)

Find Your Way to Garmin

Since Garmin started in 1989, their goal has been to “create navigation and communication devices that can enrich their customers’ lives.” GPS has certainly enriched my life, and I’m sure it’s done the same for you. Getting lost is a thing of the past, right? Ok, maybe not yet, but we’re getting there. I can say with certainty that with a GPS system I never would have started my first drive home from college during Columbus Day Weekend by driving for 45 minutes in the wrong direction. Garmin keeps improving their navigation devices, and they rely heavily on new grads to help them do it.

Garmin has a great recruiting site for college students called GarminU, although it’s easy to miss when you visit their Careers site. It’s just a little link on the left side of the page, but it’s well worth visiting. It includes behind the scenes videos with Garmin’s entry level employees, interview preparation tips, internship testimonials, and info on why you should pick Garmin. There’s also a link to Garmin’s campus recruiting schedule. You should definitely check that before applying for a job online, since campus recruiting is usually a much more effective way to make your first contact.

If Garmin isn’t visiting your campus, or if you’ve already missed them, then you’ll have to browse Garmin’s online job listings to find the right opportunity for you. They don’t have specific listings just for entry level opportunities, but we’ve identified which jobs that we think will be good fits for new grads. The listings are easy enough to browse, but we can’t link specifically to the jobs. We’ll list the titles, but you’ll have to search for them yourselves. Most of Garmin’s job opportunities are at their Olathe, KS headquarters. These include Cartography Technician, Web Content Writer, Web/Interface Designer, Test Software Engineer, General Accountant, Component Engineer, Software Engineer – Development Tools, and Software Engineer. There are also opportunities in San Francisco, CA (Software Engineer – Web Services and Web Developer); Minneapolis, MN (Software Engineer – Information Services and Web Software Developer); Salem, OR (Aircraft Systems Engineer); Tempe, AZ (Software Quality Engineer – Applications); and Los Angeles, CA (Software Quality Engineer – Automotive OEM). Garmin accepts online applications, so you’ll have to find the jobs that interest you and apply from there.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do any of you have any embarrassing travel experiences that would have been prevented by having a Garmin GPS unit? Please share in the comments.

AnswerLab

Willy Franzen — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:00:33 +0000

What happens when you cross a traditional consulting firm with the feel of a web startup? You get AnswerLab. Studying consumer behavior is essential to increasing profitability when you’re in the business of selling products. For years there have been consultancies that have focused on how shoppers act in supermarkets or department stores, but analyzing online behavior is a completely different ball game. AnswerLab is a company of experts who “develop customized research studies that uncover key findings about our clients’ web presence through several methods including online user experience evaluations, in-person usability sessions, surveys and traffic analysis.” Their knowledge base is completely different from what you’ll find at most consulting firms, and that must be why they have such an impressive client list. When a user experience consulting firm can boast having been hired by Yahoo!, eBay, and LinkedIn, you know that they’re good. When you can add Pizza Hut, FedEx, and Honda to that list, you know that they’re one of the best.

Do You Have the Answers?

It’s hard to explain exactly the kind of work that AnswerLab does without getting into a lot of user experience terminology, so we’re going to refer you to AnswerLab’s Case Studies for a more in-depth look at what their work is all about. One thing that AnswerLab seems to have in common with traditional consultancies is their entry level recruiting philosophy. They know that they have great methods, so they’re looking for the most talented people that they can find. This becomes pretty obvious when you read the job description for their entry level position, Associate Consultant (Quantitative), Online Customer Experience and Market Research. They want to hire someone with amazing quantitative skills and the ability to learn quickly – they don’t need someone with experience in user experience research (although it’s certainly desirable). AnswerLab is based in San Francisco, CA, and boasts a fun and relaxed atmosphere akin to those that you might find at a more mature web startup. You can apply for a job at AnswerLab by sending a cover letter and resume to careers@answerlab.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Visde

Willy Franzen — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:04:21 +0000

When we review companies, we always like to look at their client lists. It’s a good way to see what a company has done and what kind of reputation they have. Visde’s client list speaks for itself. It includes Apple, Boeing, Disney, Intel, Macromedia, and Yahoo!. If Visde were an accounting firm or a waste management company, you’d probably nod your head and say something like, “Oh, that’s nice.” The reason this client list is so impressive is that Visde is a product experience design firm. They help some of the biggest names in product design with… product design. Some of their latest projects include a personal hearing aid remote control and a national ethnographic study of parents, teachers, and school administrators for online standardized testing. These are just two types of things that you might end up doing at Visde. Their main areas of expertise are Innovation Strategy, Design Strategy, Conceptual Explorations, User Research, User Experience Design, Interaction Design, Information Architecture, Visual Design, Industrial Design, Package Design, Web + Software, and Kiosks.

Working at Visde

We’re not going to lead you on – getting an entry level job at Visde is probably a longshot. They’re a small company and it seems that they mostly hire people with significant work experience. With that said, working at Visde is just the type of opportunity that is worth taking a risk on. It’s the type where you need to forget about the resume and cover letter that you’ve been sending out to most companies, and try something new that will blow them away. It’s a potential dream job, and it’s worth shooting for if you have knowledge and/or experience in any of the ares that we mentioned at the end of the previous paragraph.

Visde doesn’t have a jobs section on their site, but they do have a Who We Are section. At the end of the page is a photo with a question mark in it, and a note asking interested candidates to send a resume to jobs@visde.com. In other words they encourage cold calling. There isn’t much more information about working at Visde, but they have locations in San Jose, CA and Evanston, IL. They also have posted two jobs on various job boards in the past month – one for an Interaction Designer and another for a Sr. User Experience Designer. The former seems like it’s probably been snapped up, and the latter is clearly not intended for new college grads, but it shows that Visde has been actively looking to hire recently. Hopefully that will encourage you to take a chance and make them want to hire you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Visde.com
Visde’s Team (Closest thing to a Jobs page)
What Visde Does
Visde’s Work
Visde Labs’ Blog

Have you heard anything about working at Visde? Leave a comment and let us know.

Meebo

Willy Franzen — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:46:01 +0000

Since you’re looking for an entry-level job and not in one, you may not be familiar with corporate policies on instant messaging. That’s ok, since they tend to be all over the place. At some companies you are required to be available by IM, since it’s the main form of communication used in the work place. At other companies instant messaging is strictly forbidden and even blocked by the IT department. We’re not trying to get you fired from the job that you don’t even have yet, but if you absolutely need 5 minutes of contact with the outside world while at work, Meebo offers an easy way to get around company filters so that you can log into your AIM, Yahoo, Gchat, MSN, icq, or Jabber accounts. In fact, IMing behind your boss’ back probably isn’t a good idea for any entry-level employee, so maybe you should just use Meebo at home for its simple web-based interface, ability to log in to multiple accounts, and ease of use. Then again, you could just get a job at Meebo so that you’ll be encouraged to have Meebo open in your web browser all day long at work.

Youbo at Meebo

Meebo’s business plan is pretty simple, get lots of users, and make money through advertising. To learn more about it, you can listen to this podcast with Meebo founder, Seth Sternberg. Some would say that IM services have lost momentum with the advent of social networking sites like Facebook, but Meebo continues to stand strong with over 35 million users. They’re also putting their $37.5 million in venture capital funding to good use by developing cool new productss like chat for communities while continuing to refine their main instant messaging service. Meebo has some serious growth potential, and that’s why they have a ton of job openings right now.

The median age of Meebo’s users is 21, and we’ll bet that the median age of their workforce isn’t too much older. All of the jobs at Meebo are located in Mountain View, CA, the job descriptions are fantastic, and the people already in jobs at Meebo look pretty darn happy. We’ve picked out the jobs at Meebo that are most likely to get new college grads excited and which we would consider to be entry-level. At Meebo, you can be a Javascript Ninja, ActionScript Assassin, Usability Researcher, Web Stylist, Web Producer, Interaction Designer, Technical Account Manager, or Account Manager – Sales (for this job you can also work in New York City).

Whether you’ve been coding since you were 7, have an amazing eye for what works for users and what doesn’t, or know how to sell, there’s a job that you’ll probably love doing at Meebo. If you’re interested in working at Meebo, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@meebo.com. Also make sure to include answers to the questions posed at the end of each job description.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Meebo for your instant messaging needs?

Zynga

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:43:48 +0000

We haven’t been able to find any hard statistics to back it up, but we’re pretty sure that a lot of people use their dog’s name for their passwords. Just look at Paris Hilton, whose cell phone supposedly got hacked because someone was able to find her dog’s name on her MySpace page. That story has since been discredited, but it can be a fable for the 21st century. Instead of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” we will tell our kids “The Girl Who Used Her Dog’s Name As Her Password.” So, if you’re trying to guess someone’s password (which you shouldn’t be), their dog’s name is a great first guess. If you don’t know their dog’s name, guess “Max.” Apparently 1% (which is a lot) of dogs in the U.S. share that name. Marc Pincus really blew it when he decided to name is social gaming network startup after his dog. Nobody would have ever guessed Zynga – he wasted a great password.

Social Gaming, Huh?

Now that you know why Zynga has its name, we should probably talk about what Zynga does. They claim to be the “#1 social gaming company on the web.” Social gaming isn’t really a new concept, but it seems like it is. If you can remember, games used to be played in-person with cards and boards. You and your family or friends would sit around a table, play a game, and have a good time. For a while the social aspect of gaming disappeared as personal gaming devices became all the rage. GameBoy, GameGear, computer games, and even many of the consoles focused on a single player experience. The Internet has gradually been bringing the social nature back through online multi-player gaming, but for a long time it seemed like it was easier to play against strangers than your own friends. Now that companies like Zynga are leveraging social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, and meebo), you can play casino games (Texas Hold ‘Em is their biggest hit), word games, board games, role playing games and party games with your friends while you’re both working at your first entry-level job. We can be sure that Zynga won’t frown on that practice, although your friend’s boss might.

Game On!

Zynga’s gaming network has 18 million players and 55 million registered users. That’s a lot of people to show ads to, and that’s what Zynga is doing. That’s why they’re already breaking even without having laid a finger on their venture capital yet. They’ve already raised a total of $39 million in VC funding and have swelled to 80 employees. You can bet that number is going to grow as they start to dip into their funding to develop games that are better suited to withstand competition from video gaming behemoths like Electronic Arts. They’ve already swiped EA’s former Chief Creative Officer, Bing Gordon.

So how can you join Zynga’s team? Take a look at their Jobs page and find an opportunity that is right for you. Currently they have a number of jobs that might be well suited to new college graduates. These include Accounting Coordinator, Application Developer, 2D Graphic Designer, UI Web / Game Designer, Flash Developer, Web Developer, and Online Ad Sales Rep. Most of these job descriptions say that the jobs require slightly more experience than a typical entry-level candidate may have, but we think that if you knock their socks off by sending a standout cover letter and resume to jobs@zynga.com, they’ll at least give you a look. Maybe instead of a job interview, they’ll challenge you to a game over Facebook – if you win, you get the job. You can add Zynga to the list of companies that do a crappy job of telling you where they’re located, so we did some Googling to determine that they’re based in San Francisco, CA.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Don’t even ask in the comments, I’m not going to tell you what my dog’s name was.

Adaptive Path

Willy Franzen — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:00:38 +0000

Does job searching ever make you feel like a total idiot? You go to a company’s website. You look for their Careers page. You can’t find it. You look all over the place. You search Google. Finally, you find it. It doesn’t do you much good, though, because their job listings are difficult to navigate, the links that you bookmark don’t work when you try to come back, and you can’t figure out how to apply online for the jobs. This is a surprisingly common experience, and it’s representative of the complete ignorance to user experience that many companies and applicant tracking system providers show. Adaptive Path is a company that is all about user experience. They help other companies provide more usable products and services through consulting, training, workshops, and thought leadership. They also have a simple Jobs page that leaves no room for confusion (although it is a bit hard to find because they call it “Work with Us.”

Take an Adaptive Path to Your First Job

If lack of usability drives you nuts, a job at Adaptive Path might be a great way to stay sane. They only have one full-time position currently available, but it looks fantastic. They’re looking for an Experience Designer. If you have the right background, this is an awesome opportunity. You need to be creative, you need to love making things, and you need to be able to “mix the left-brain and right-brain.” There’s no mention of required experience (despite the job title), but you better be familiar with the field of UX design if you’re going to apply. Adaptive Path is also looking for people to join them on a contract basis. They’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in working as a Project Manager, Interaction Designer, Visual Designer, Information Architect, Brand Strategist, or User Researcher.

AdaptivePath is located in San Francisco, CA, and they put a big emphasis on work/life balance. They offer 5 weeks of vacation, and seem to have a pretty cool office atmosphere; in fact, the Adaptive Path Twitter account tells us that they sometimes have a massage day at the office. They do say that it is a “rare treat,” though. If you’re looking to get an inside look at what it’s like to work at Adaptive Path, you should follow them on Twitter and subscribe to the Adaptive Path blog. There’s no better way to learn about a company (besides actually working there) than following their social media profiles. If you think that working at Adaptive Path sounds like a great user experience, you can apply by sending your cover letter, resume, and link to your portfolio (if appropriate). Applicants for the Experience Designer position should e-mail experiencedesigner@adaptivepath.com, and potential contractors should use Adaptive Path’s Contact page (we think, they don’t specify on the Jobs page).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Love making things, but prefer to work in aluminum? Check out Alcoa’s jobs for new college grads.

Menlo Innovations

Willy Franzen — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:30:55 +0000

A company’s home page should make it instantly clear what the company is about. For many companies this is not the case. There’s all kinds of fluff that fails to give potential customers a proper brand introduction. Menlo Innovations doesn’t make this mistake. Their home page introduces a problem: “In 2004, the U.S. wasted over $55 billion on failed and poorly run software projects.” Then it identifies the cause: “These failures can be traced to a lack of understanding of the business issues being addressed and the wrong implementation methodologies being used.” Finally the home page poses their solution:

Menlo Innovations applies High-Tech Anthropology® to help our clients fully understand their business problems and opportunities. If the solution requires software, Menlo either develops the software within our Menlo Software Factory or The Menlo Institute trains your staff to use proven methodologies to develop the software themselves.

It’s clear. It’s concise, and it gets to the point. There’s no misunderstanding about what The Menlo Institute does.

A Seriously Cool Place to Work

We first came across Menlo Innovations when we were reading about 10 Seeeeeriously Cool Workplaces. We were impressed by their “software factory” setup, so we just had to check and see if they have any entry-level opportunities. What we found is that Menlo Innovation’s job postings are almost as cool and unique as their office space (which you can get a tour of). Menlo’s current openings include a short, entertaining description and then a list of “Recommended Reading.” We’ve never seen anything like it before, but being book nuts, we love it.

Menlo Innovations appears to have two types of job opportunities listed on their site, all of which are located in Ann Arbor, MI. First, there are specific job listings. Menlo is looking for a Project Manager / Camp Counselor / Customer Service Representative, a User Experience Designer / High Tech Anthropologist® / Empath, a Software developer / Perpetual Student / Mentor, and a Quality Assurance Specialist / Experiment Designer / Enabler. Second, Menlo is also always looking to hear from talented Software Developers, Business Analysts, Project Managers, and Quality Assurance Pros to work on a contract basis. Menlo’s Careers page includes a note that says, “At this time Menlo is only accepting resumes for contract positions.” We’re not sure if this also applies to the specific jobs that they have listed, but it doesn’t matter, you just want to get your foot in the door of their exceptionally cool office.

There’s no mention of required experience in any of the job descriptions, and it seems like Menlo Innovations is the type of place that focuses on talent over experience. It’s hard to tell which of these jobs are best suited for someone who is considered entry-level, but if you’re a new college grad who has the talent, we’ll bet that Menlo Innovations will give you a shot. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to Carol Sheridan, Software Factory Floor Manager at careers@menloinnovations.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Trivia Fact: Menlo Innovations is so named as a hat tip to Thomas Edison.

Sugar Inc.

Willy Franzen — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:14:57 +0000

Sugar certainly doesn’t have the cleanest reputation. It’s accused of making us fat, rotting our teeth, and causing hyperactivity. Sugar Inc. is a company that wants you to throw out those bad associations you have with sugar and just think back to when you were a kid and sugar was the essence of everything good. Sugar Inc. isn’t in the business of sweets – they run a network of websites, but their CEO is named Brian Sugar and his wife Lisa Sugar is the Editor in Chief, so they’re running with the sweet play on words. Sugar Inc. consists of 15 style/entertainment sites – PopSugar, BuzzSugar, FabSugar, BellaSugar, CasaSugar, YumSugar, FitSugar, Geek Sugar, GiggleSugar, DearSugar, PetSugar, LilSugar, SavvySugar, CitizenSugar, and TeamSugar. You can probably guess from the names what topic each of the sites covers, but you should probably check a few of the sugars out to get a better sense of Sugar Inc.’s content strategy, which is to be “the definitive online media company for trendsetting, passionate women ages 18-44.”

Sugary Sweet Jobs

There are a lot of blogs and sites for “trendsetting, passionate women ages 18-44,” but not many are part of a network that is said to be bringing in $15 million in revenue this year and doing so well selling ads that they can cancel a sales deal with NBC. Revenue growth often means job growth, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing with Sugar Inc. They have quite a few job openings right now, and a number of them look like they might be of interest to new college grads. Sugar Inc. doesn’t come right out and say that these are entry-level opportunities, but most of the experience requirements are well within the realm of possibility for a new graduate.

All of the job opportunities that we’ve picked out for you at Sugar Inc. are located in San Francisco, CA. Each has a different e-mail address to which you should send your cover letter and resume, so take notice. Sugar Inc. is currently looking for a Celebrity Style Editor (celebritystylejob@sugarinc.com), a GiggleSugar Editorial Assistant (gigglejob@sugarinc.com), a UI Design Engineer (geekjobs@sugarinc.com), a PHP Software Engineer (geekjobs@sugarinc.com), and an Executive Assistant/Receptionist (adminjobs@sugarinc.com). We haven’t found too much information on what it’s like working for Sugar Inc., but how could working at an Internet company that is making money and covering a wide range of interesting topics not be fun?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Sugar Inc. site?

ZURB

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:19:08 +0000

If you haven’t realized it yet, we’re big fans of social media. Twitter, Youtube, Blogs, etc. The better a company’s recruiting social media profile, the more likely we are to take notice of their jobs and write about them. We first found out about ZURB through one of their employees’ tweets on Twitter. We were impressed to see that they’re also blogging, Youtubing, and StandoutJobbing. What’s Standout Jobs? It’s a company that’s bringing Corporate Careers sites into the Web 2.0 world. Here’s ZURB on Standout Jobs. Before you go diving into ZURB’s social media profiles, you’ll probably want to know what they’re all about. ZURB “helps companies design better web sites, services, and products online.” They do so by helping other companies with user interface (UI) design, product strategy, identity design, SEO and SEM, team building, visual design, and grassroots un-marketing.

Get Kicked to the ZURB

ZURB has worked with over 70 startups, and their client list includes eBay, Photobucket, and NYSE. They need top performers, because they’re helping these companies launch new products, some of which are the products that define the company. The success of many of today’s startups depends on the usability of their products, and ZURB is all about helping their clients make products that wow.

The tweet that told us about ZURB says, “Hey! We’re hiring. You should check us out, if you’ve got chops, of course.” We’re not sure if they’re looking for someone who has the chops or if they just want someone with some nice facial hair. Considering that their team appears to be chops free and such a policy would exclude most women (not all, I’ve seen it!), we’re going to guess that they mean that they want talented people. They do label their Jobs page “Talent.”

If you want to get a sense of how ZURB works, you should take a look at the extreme. They did a project called ZURBwired for Hunger, where they started and completed an entire marketing campaign for charity, from research to implementation, in a 24 hour caffeine induced blitz (Hey ZURB, the UI on this site is busted, at least in Safari, I know it’s old, but it looks bad.). This isn’t an every day occurrence, but it should give you a good idea of the processes that ZURB uses when they work. ZURB is located in Campbell, CA, and they’re currently looking for a Web Developer and a Junior Designer/Ninja/Iconographer. They’re a small company (only 8.5 people), but they are clearly ready to add to their ranks. If you are a new college grad who is looking for an entry-level job that is fun and exciting and you have an eye for design, you should definitely check out ZURB. Each of their job postings lists 17 Reasons to Work for Zurb, and the reasons are really good. You should check them out. The only tiny problem that we have with ZURB is that they claim to do SEO and SEM, but their site doesn’t even rank in the top 10 for “zurb jobs.” At least their presence on Standout Jobs does.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Know anything about ZURB? Leave a comment.

Evernote

Willy Franzen — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:18:08 +0000

I used to be that kid who would come home from college, see someone who was in my 3rd grade class, and want to say hi. “Hey, I’m Willy Franzen, you sat next to me in Mrs. Phoenix’s class while we learning about multiplication. Do you remember me?” Questions like that would typically be returned with a blank stare. At some point I realized that just because I could remember almost anything, I didn’t have to make a fool of myself like that. Now that I’ve started a business and I’m constantly thinking of new ideas to help you all find great entry-level jobs, my brain has turned into swiss cheese. I have an almost constant feeling that I’m forgetting something. I can still remember my 3rd grade classmates, but those new ideas of how to double One Day, One Job’s daily readership with 5 minutes of work seem to escape me quite quickly. I need a 2nd memory, and Evernote is a web based service/application that can provide me with one.

There’s A Reason Their Logo Includes an Elephant

I haven’t had a chance to try Evernote yet, but their demo video is fantastic. The reviews have been glowing. You can select text, clip a web page, or take a picture and have Evernote remember it for you. The coolest thing is their handwriting/text recognition software. Next time you meet someone who wants to give you a business card, ask her to hold up the card and take a picture of her with your cell phone camera. Upload it to Evernote. A couple weeks later you can search for her name and you’ll find the picture with all of her contact information. Can’t remember her name, but know the company she works for? Even if the company name is part of a logo on the card, Evernote should be able to find it for you. Are you not fully grasping this? Just watch the video below (E-mail and RSS readers need to click through to see the video). You’ll be impressed.

Cool, huh? I bet this would be an awesome job search tool. Try it and report back to us. If you write an article on how you actually used Evernote to find a job, we’ll publish it.

Evernote is Hiring

We haven’t found much information on what it’s like to work for Evernote, other than a lot of caffeine was required to get them through their launch. Still, it has to be a lot of fun to work on a product as cool as Evernote. They have two jobs listed that are prime for new college grads – User Experience Designer and HTML/CSS Designer. There’s also a Marketing Manager position that doesn’t seem to be entry-level, although they say “relevant experience in marketing and community building preferred.” Preferred is not required, so the door is open, if only cracked, for you eager youngsters who think you can do the job. Finally, there are 3 Senior Software Engineer positions (Windows, Macintosh, and Java). These probably aren’t the best fits for new college grads (notice the word “Senior”), but if you’ve been coding since you were 12, it might be worth a shot. It’s hard to believe that a software based startup would turn down someone with fantastic software development skills. To apply for any of these jobs at Evernote’s office in Sunnyvale, CA send a resume and cover letter to jobs2008@evernote.com.

There’s something else I wanted to say, and I just forgot it. When will Evernote add an API that can access my brain?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Evernote.com
Jobs at Evernote
About Evernote
Evernote’s Blog
Evernote on Twitter
TechCrunch on Evernote

Want to remember this post? Sign up for Evernote and use it to remind you to apply for a job at Evernote.

Zappos.com

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:21:35 +0000

Most people like shoes. They protect your feet, offer support, and keep you warm. Some people love shoes – love them to the point that their loved ones (not the shoes) are likely worried about them. Oddly enough, the people who deeply love shoes often seem most interested in shoes that barely protect their feet, offer little support, and provide little or no warmth. We don’t really get that. Zappos.com puts these people to shame. As a company they have a shoe obsession that is far worse than that of the most Sex and the City addicted, Daily Candy reading, New York City fashionista. Why do we say that? Because Zappos.com is obsessed with everything shoes, not just the shoes of some designer whose name you’re supposed to know.

A Shoe-in for Best Customer Service

If you asked someone at Zappos what they love more, shoes or customer service, they’d probably have a hard time coming up with an answer. That’s because the Zappos equation is something like Amazing Selection of Shoes + Unparalleled Customer Service = Profit. It seems to be working, as they’re on their way to selling $1 billion in shoes this year. That’s only 2.5% of the US shoe market, but they’ve done it in 9 years. Their growth rate is excellent, and that’s why they’re doing a ton of hiring, as you’ll soon see.

The fact that customers have a year to return any shoes that they purchased from Zappos (and get the shipping paid for) is impressive, but what really knocks our socks off is the way that Zappos trains their employees. Every new hire, no matter what they were hired for, spends 4 weeks in intense Customer Loyalty training answering phones in the Zappos call center. About a week into the training period Zappos offers their new hires an incentive – a $1,000 incentive – to quit. Yes, they bribe their newly recruited people to take their first week’s salary plus a cool $1,000 and run (hat tip to What Would Dad Say although it seems like he got a few things wrong judging from the Harvard Business Review article on Zappos’ HR practices that he linked to as the original source). Zappos figures that if someone values $1,000 now more than a future career at Zappos, they’re not the right type of person for the job. It may sound like an expensive proposition, but it’s a lot less expensive than hiring someone who is not fully committed to the company’s customer service principles.

Working at Zappos: Deal or No Deal?

Considering many people choose not to take the deal and stay with Zappos after the first week, it’s obvious that the company is offering a unique and exciting work experience. If you still need more convincing, you can read employee perspectives in the Inside Zappos Blog, look at photos and videos from Zappos’ Halloween 2007, watch Zappos YouTube videos, keep up with Zappos Employee Tweets on Twitter, follow the Zappos CEO’s Twitter account, or just look at cute pictures of the pets of Zappos customers.

Now that you’re totally convinced (if you’re not, the links at the end of the post will give you even more opportunities to research Zappos), here are the jobs at Zappos that we think might be considered entry-level or appropriate for a new college grad. In Henderson, NV you could get offered $1,000 to quit being a Financial Analytics Manager, Editing Assistant (labeled as Intern, but looks to be an entry-level job from the description), Front-End Developer, User Interface Designer, Web Content Strategist, Web Designer, Recruiting Assistant, Merchandise Planning Analyst, Merchandise Planning Coordinator, Merchandising Assistant – Clothing and Toys, Merchandising Assistant – Performance Bags, Merchandising Assistant – Private Label, Merchandising Assistant, Designer Footwear, Project Manager, Performance QA Engineer, QA Engineer, or a Software Engineer. In Shepherdsville, KY they’ll offer you $1,000 to quit being a Recruiting Assistant, Photographer Assistant, or Software Engineer. You can find more detailed information about each of these positions on Zappos’ Jobs page. Although their site is a bit cluttered looking, they do a great job of getting across information about each job. Our only complaint is that some of the items in the descriptions are a bit redundant, which can be confusing – especially in terms of what experience is required for each job.

Now go get researching so that you can say, “I turned down $1,000 to quit my new job after a week.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Zappos.com
Jobs at Zappos
About Zappos
Zappos Blogs
Zappos on Twitter
Zappos’ Core Values
Zappos on YouTube

Get our daily jobs in your e-mail for free. Sign up now and don’t miss another day.

Google

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:45:35 +0000

If you don’t know what Google is, you have no business conducting your job search online. You should be typing your resume on a typewriter and sending it by carrier pigeon. We’ve been saying it over and over, but Google is the ultimate job search tool. They’re also the ultimate employer according to Fortune Magazine. With that said, many of you know that getting a job at Google is nearly impossible, especially now that most of their campus recruiting efforts are finished.

I’m Feeling Lucky

There’s no need to go into detail about what Google does, so we’re going to jump right into the jobs that they are offering for new college graduates. In fact, we were actually surprised to learn that Google still has some entry-level hiring left to do. One would think that they would be in the same boat as the investment banks and consulting firms – having a new recruiting class signed up and ready to go. That is the case for many of their positions; however, Google is growing so quickly that they need to keep bringing in new talent. It seems like Google is pretty good about keeping the Students section of their Careers site up to date, so you shouldn’t have to worry about getting your hopes up for positions that have already been filled.

We’re going to focus on opportunities in the United States today; however, Google does offer entry-level jobs all across the world. Here’s a list of countries where Google is hiring students. Google separates entry-level hiring into two categories: Technical and Business and General.

Jobs Google Is Famous For

When you hear that Google is hiring, you probably think that they’re only looking for the best software development minds in the world. That’s not completely true, but it appears that they are still looking for top notch entry-level talent in some of their technical departments. Open positions include: Software Engineer in Test (Irvine, CA; Kirkland, WA; Seattle, WA; Mountain View, CA; New York, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; and Santa Monica, CA), Software Engineer (Boston, MA; Boulder, CO; Chicago, IL; Irvine, CA; Kirkland, WA; Seattle, WA; Mountain View, CA, New York, NY; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; San Francisco, CA; Santa Monica, CA; and Waterloo, ON), Associate Product Manager (Kirkland, WA; Seattle, WA; Mountain View, CA; and New York, NY), and Associate Webmaster (Mountain View, CA). These are all jobs specifically tailored to college students, and they’re the best of the best when it comes to jobs in software development. We’re not sure what Google’s timetable is for hiring, but we’d imagine that they’re itching to get the process moving. Don’t dawdle.

Not a Programmer? That’s OK.

In Business and General, there is only one job title that Google is still hiring for: Associate Product Marketing Manager. We first heard about this position when were forwarded an e-mail that was sent by a former Cornell student who is currently working in this job at Google via the Cornell Career Services office. The former student had nothing but great things to say about this job, which is a two year rotational program. The word is that they are looking to get the process moving fast for this position, so you should apply as quickly as you possibly can. Also, the e-mail we got said that you should include your SAT scores and GPA, although Google’s online application doesn’t appear to require these. This may bother many of you, but SAT performance is actually a much better predictor of job performance than an interview is (no, I don’t have a citation for this, but I learned it multiple times in my college HR courses).

The Best Place to Work

For two years in a row, Google has been named Fortune Magazine’s Best Place to Work. There are many reasons for this, as you’ll find out if you browse Google’s Jobs site. There’s life at Google, amazing benefits, and employee profiles. Google offers a plethora of information about working for them on their site, but they also have a brilliantly simple layout that makes navigating their jobs a breeze. YouTube videos are integrated into job listings and job descriptions are well written and generally jargon free. Most importantly, though, Google has given students their own section of the Careers site to peruse. The #1 employer also has one of the best online recruiting presences we’ve seen, but that’s no big surprise, since it is Google.

I have fond memories of Google’s campus recruiting efforts, because they often put puzzle inserts in the campus newspaper. If I remember correctly, that’s how I was first introduced to the game of Sudoku. These were generally targeted towards engineers, but the branding still stuck with me. Many great employers ignore entry-level talent, but Google has always shown a commitment to hiring the best college students. We do know that Google can be slow when replying to job applications, but we think that they are urgent to hire for the positions that we mentioned. If you don’t hear back from them soon, you probably didn’t get the job (and that’s ok, Google turns down a lot of qualified applicants). The thing that amazes us is that these are jobs that college students dream of, and they’re still available in April!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Google.com
Jobs at Google
Jobs at Google for Students
Jobs at Google in North America for Students
Life at Google
Google’s Locations
Getting in to Google

As if we haven’t plugged it enough. Read our article How to Use Google to Find a Job.

Etsy

Willy Franzen — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:33:07 +0000

It wasn’t all that long ago when most people were afraid to buy things online. As the general public has become more comfortable with doing transactions on the net, the need for businesses to go online has obviously continued to increase. It’s easy for a large, well-known business to put together a website and start an e-commerce venture, but the transition has been much more difficult for small businesses like those that sell handmade crafts. With no brand recognition and limited resources to build a good looking website, it’s hard for mom and pops to win the trust of online consumers. For this reason, many have relied on eBay as a way to sell their wares. Unfortunately, eBay has become a hot bed for scams while continuing to raise their fees. Luckily for craft lovers, Etsy has stepped in as “a place to buy and sell all things handmade.”

eBay bad. Etsy good.

There’s not much that you need to know about Etsy that you can’t figure out by perusing their site. In fact, the best way to get to know what they’re about is to visit some of the shops that have been set up by Etsy’s 100,000+ users. The emphasis at Etsy is on community, so it makes sense that they are attracting users who were previously burned by eBay. One of our favorite Etsy features is the Alchemy section that allows users to request a certain handmade item at a specific cost. So, let’s say I want a hat with a paper mâché trout going through it like an arrow for my Dad’s birthday in July. I can offer $45 as my ideal price, and Etsy users can bid on my proposed project. It may not be turning iron into gold, but it certainly allows turning gold into paper mâché trout hats.

Handmade Recruiting

Etsy has extended the sense of community that they have created into their corporate culture as well. Etsy’s Jobs page is exactly what a company’s online recruiting presence should be. It’s warm, personal, and gives the reader a good sense of what working for Etsy is like. Larger employers might argue that it’s easy to do this when you’re a relatively small startup, but once you reach a certain size it’s impossible to maintain. We think that’s just an excuse not to try. In a way, Etsy’s Jobs page makes Etsy seem more like a club for like-minded individuals than a place to work, and that’s how we think it should be. They’re currently accepting membership (job) applications for two positions that appear to be entry-level: User Interface Designer and PHP Engineer. The job descriptions are well written, and the UI listing includes a puzzle. The PHP job is in their Brooklyn, NY office, and the UI job can be in Brooklyn or their Bay Area, CA office.

There’s an exceptional amount of information about Etsy on their website, so be sure to use the links below as a jumping off point. Even if you’re not interested in Etsy’s jobs, take a look. You should find the way that they do online recruiting to be interesting and refreshing. If you think that you’d like working for Etsy, you can contact them at work@etsy.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Want to find out about more great entry-level jobs at cool companies like Etsy? You will if you subscribe.