by Willy Franzen on March 4, 2009

On Sunday morning I woke up to a massive lake effect snow squawl. My first thought was, “I don’t want to go outside today.” Then I realized that everyone else was thinking the same thing and that all those brunch spots that are usually a two hour wait would probably have tables available. Then I wimped out and decided to make pancakes – chocolate chip pancakes. So, I pulled out the King Arthur Flour and searched for their pancakes recipe in Google. I was shocked to learn that this is one of their King Arthur Flour Guaranteed Recipes. If I somehow managed to screw up, they had a phone number that I could call to get someone to help me fix it. Oh yeah, and they’d send me a $5 Baker’s Catalogue gift certificate for my troubles. Luckily the pancakes were delicious, and I didn’t have to take advantage of their fantastic customer service offerings, but the idea that a flour company even offers customer service is remarkable. I always say that companies that treat their customers well make great places to work, and this appears to be true with Norwich, VT based King Arthur Flour.
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Tagged as:
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
food,
human resources,
Vermont
by Willy Franzen on December 19, 2008

Not only is it Friday, but it’s also a Snow Day here in Chicago! Judging from the map on The Weather Channel, there’s a good chance that you’re enjoying a Snow Day too. My favorite thing to do when school was cancelled was to go sledding, and I haven’t outgrown it yet. If downtown Chicago had a single decent hill, I’d be there as soon as I finish writing this. Of course, I’d have to stop and buy a sled first. In college it’s easy – you just “borrow” a tray from the dining hall, and that’s your sled for the winter, but when you’re an adult you need to take things a little more seriously. That’s why Hammerhead Sleds exists. They make sleds for big kids. Actually, that’s an understatement. They make the most bad ass sleds that I have ever seen. These sleds aren’t cheap, though. They run $349, but they sure look worth it.
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Tagged as:
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
outdoors,
product development,
research,
sales,
Vermont
by Willy Franzen on December 4, 2008

I have to admit that the first time that I noticed the Seventh Generation brand in the grocery store, I was kind of grossed out. That’s because I noticed a big display of toilet paper packages all bearing the company’s name. When I think about what I want from toilet paper, the most important thing is that it’s first generation. We can talk about softness and how many ply it is after that. I realize that my disgust was completely irrational, but I don’t ever want to think that the toilet paper that I’m buying is anything but new. After visiting Seventh Generation’s website, I found out that “the company derives its name from the Great Law of the Iroquois that states, ‘In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.’” This makes sense because Seventh Generation, which is based in Burlington, VT, is aiming to become “the world’s most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home.” They seem to be doing a good job considering that their products have saved 287,359 trees and 584,650 gallons of petroleum at last count.
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Tagged as:
consumer products,
customer service,
entry-level jobs,
green,
logistics,
product management,
Vermont
by Willy Franzen on September 25, 2008

Hopefully college hasn’t drained you of your youth, because its going to be one of your strongest assets if you want to apply for an entry level jobs with today’s company. Fuse Marketing is a youth marketing agency that focuses on offering Consulting, Event Marketing, Communications, and Creative services. They work to “connect brands with youth through sports, music, fashion and other relevant youth cultural interests.” They’ve worked with Eastern Mountain Sports to build a more youthful customer base and with the Association of Surfing Professionals to increase awareness of its World Championship Tour. These are just a couple of examples of how major brands trust Fuse Marketing to reach young people.
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Tagged as:
communications,
consulting,
design,
entry-level jobs,
events,
fashion,
marketing,
music,
New York,
public relations,
sports,
Vermont
by Willy Franzen on September 20, 2008

With the first day of fall just two days a way, you can definitely feel a chill in the air (at least if you’re in the Northeast like me). The leaves are already starting to change colors, and before you know it there will be snow on the ground. For many this is a depressing picture, but for those of you who love snowboarding, the coming of winter is filled with excitement. Snowboarding is all about seeing hope in the desolate bleakness of winter, and that’s the kind of attitude that Chill is looking for in Local Coordinators. The Chill program is a nonprofit learn–to-snowboard program for underserved youth run by Burton Snowboards.
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Tagged as:
California,
Canada,
Colorado,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
New York,
non-profit,
Oregon,
sports,
Utah,
Vermont,
Washington,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on April 14, 2008

If you consider going fishing after work and being in bed by 10 a night well spent, then working at Orvis will be perfect for you. Ditto if you enjoy helping your co-workers train their dogs on your lunch break. How do I know? I spent the summers after my sophomore and junior years as an intern in the Human Resources Department. Why did I pick Orvis? Because I am a life long fly fisherman and I love their products.
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Tagged as:
e-commerce,
entry-level jobs,
hospitality management,
merchandising,
outdoors,
software development,
Vermont,
Virginia
by Willy Franzen on December 10, 2007
“Many Burton employees will snag freshies first thing in the morning before coming in to work during the winter.” Being non “riders,” we’re not quite sure what that means, but it sounds like Burton is a place where people love what they do. As if that wasn’t enough, their logo matches our color scheme, so we had to do a post about the world’s first snowboard factory.
Burton currently has three great entry-level opportunities that are perfect for someone fresh out of college. In their Irvine, CA location there are two positions: they are hiring a PR Coordinator (preferably someone who is positive, enthusiastic – especially about snowboarding, and a great communicator) and a US Apparel Sales Manager (this time they’re looking for somebody who is independent, investigative, and into traveling a lot). At their headquarters in Burlington, VT, they have an opening in product development as an Assistant Product Manger – Burton Binding for someone with excellent Adobe Illustrator skills and basic knowledge of how plastic injected parts are manufactured. The cool thing about these postings is that the job descriptions are honestly written (one job description that is sadly not entry-level used the word “stoked”) and provide the goals they have set for their future hire. Burton wants to hire passionate people, and that is certainly reflected in the way they write their job postings.
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Tagged as:
entry-level jobs,
product management,
public relations,
sales,
sports,
Vermont