One Day, One Job » virtual

Fantazzle

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

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

Dazzle at Fantazzle

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play fantasy sports?

The Huffington Post

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:40:01 +0000

We all know that news is changing, and jobs in journalism aren’t what they used to be. We’re in the middle of a major transitional stage that is going to determine how news is delivered for years to come. Blogs are becoming more and more reputable, and one of the companies that best exemplifies that trend is The Huffington Post. They’re a New York City based news website and blog network with an admittedly liberal slant (traditional newspapers would never position themselves in that way—even if they have the same biases). The site was launched in 2005, and since then it has grown to a $100 million valuation. While newspapers are dropping like flies, new fortunes are being made by blogging moguls. This is an exciting time to be involved in media, and it presents a ton of really exciting opportunities for new grads to grab a place in journalism’s future.

Join “The Internet Newspaper”

Who knows if blog networks and news sites like the Huffington Post will be the dominant players in 5 years? Maybe sites like Twitter will find a way to dominate the news. Or maybe traditional media companies like The New York Times and Condé Naste will get their acts together and make a resurgence. Nobody knows how this will all play out, but it will be exciting to be a part of. If you’re a big fan of The Huffington Post, and already have a background in politics, media, or journalism, then you need to check out their Jobs page. The only full time position that they have posted (all of the others are internships) is Overnight Associate News Editor. It’s certainly not an entry level job by definition, but I could see a new grad who has been doing all the right things up to graduation being a perfect fit. You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to pitney@huffingtonpost.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Huffington Post?

Agency Nil

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

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

Will Work for All It’s Worth

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of the Agency Nil concept?

Mashable

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:20:27 +0000

Our HP Magic Giveaway Contest has ended, and we will announce the winner some time tomorrow. That’s not the end of the excitement though, we have a fun 4 question quiz for you all to take to evaluate how you’re approaching your job search. And of course, we have another exciting entry level job for you today. If you love social networking and social media, then you probably already follow Mashable. It’s the “world’s largest blog focused exclusively on social networks.” They get 5 million pageviews a month, and they’re constantly breaking news on “all that’s new on the web.” They’ve even had a lot to add to the online job search. They’ve published articles like 70+ Tools for Job Hunting 2.0 and 9 Sites for Successful Job Interviews. They have seem to have missed one important site on both of those lists, but we’ll forgive them.

This Job Mashes

Journalism is changing before our eyes, and Mashable is a perfect example of how’ that’s happening. If you wanted in-depth information about a niche topic like social media, you used to have to subscribe to a magazine that would come out monthly, quarterly, or even semi-annually. Newspapers might occasionally give you something to chew on, but for the most part you’d be out of luck when it comes to getting the latest info on social networks. Now, you just subscribe to Mashable’s RSS feed, and that’s it.

So, Mashable is looking for a Day Time Social Media Blogger. They want someone who can write, meet deadlines, and is passionate about the web and social media – not necessarily in that order. If you’re going to apply, you better have a serious footprint on the web – participation in lots of social media sites and lots of Google results for your name. This job is full-time or part-time and can be located in New York City or virtually. To apply for this job with Mashable, send an e-mail to jobs@mashable.com with your “E-mail Address, Location/Time Zone, Links to 6 recent (past 4 months) writing samples, Resume or List of proof of about Criteria, and Social Media Links (Twitter, Facebook, etc).” I’m sure that the competition for this job will be fierce, so make sure that your application shows why you know more about social media than everyone else.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a Mashable reader?

Bazaarvoice

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:12:25 +0000

Shopping is supposed to be social. When you were a teenager, you probably liked to hit the mall with friends. Now, you probably lie in bed late at night surfing web sites looking for cool stuff to buy. It’s just not the same. You need social proof to back up your buying decisions. You want to hear what other people think. You want reviews, stories, and answers to questions that you may have about a product or service. Bazaarvoice is a software as a service provider that promotes social commerce by connecting customers to each other. They get their name from the word “bazaar, ” which “symbolizes the beginning of commerce – the initial marketplaces… lively centers of town, buzzing with neighbors, friends and merchants all sharing opinions and building a vibrant community.” That’s what Bazaarvoice is trying to recreate online for their clients.

Bazaar Entry Level Jobs

Bazaarvoice has a number of platforms that they use to promote social commerce. These include Ratings & Reviews, Ask & Answer, Stories, SyndicateVoice, BrandVoice, and the SearchVoice Microsite. Take a look at each of these – you’ll get a much better idea of how a company that uses Bazaarvoice has a huge advantage when it comes to getting consumers engaged online. They have an amazing client list, so if you want to see Bazaarvoice’s software in action, just visiting one of their clients’ sites.

In the interest of full disclosure, Bazaarvoice is offering a referral bonus for all of their jobs and we’d be happy to receive a check from them. With that said, we think that they have some great product offerings, an amazing careers site, cool corporate culture, and jobs that look really exciting – that’s why we’re featuring them. We’ve identified a ton of jobs that look well suited for new college grads on Bazaarvoice’s Jobs site (which is seriously one of the top 10 of companies that we’ve featured). Before you look at the specific jobs, you should check out all of the media that they offer – YouTube videos, Flickr photos, a blog, and lots of text on what it’s like to work for them. They’ve been voted one of Austin’s Best Places to Work, and the image that they put forward on their site certainly backs that up.

Bazaarvoice has all kinds of jobs for people with all types of academic and experiential backgrounds. Not all of the jobs listed below are explicitly entry-level, but they all seem within reason for smart, high performing new college grads. Bazaarvoice is based in Austin, TX, and that’s where most of their jobs are located. These include:

Business Analyst
Client Marketing Analyst
Front End Web Developer
Online Community Manager
Operations Database Analyst
Training Team Lead
Web Support Engineer
Software Developer
Web Designer
Associate Product Manager
Market Development Associate
Content Analyst (Work from Home)
Content Analyst Foreign Language (Work from Home)

Bazaarvoice also has a number of international job opportunities that seem to be entry-level.

Implementation Project Manager (London, UK)
Online Community Manager (London, UK)
Market Development Associate (London, UK)
Market Development Associate (EU – Germany, Netherlands, France)

To apply for a job at Bazaarvoice, all you need to do is click the links above and apply through their website. They’re doing a ton of hiring, so they must be experiencing some serious growth. Check them out if you want to be part of making commerce social again.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Bazaarvoice’s services? Would you like to see more e-commerce sites hire them?b

Swift Kick

Willy Franzen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:01:07 +0000

The other day I was ranting on Twitter about how so many companies fail to list their locations on their Jobs pages and even on their websites. Kevin Prentiss replied that his company exists “in the cloud” or in other words virtually, so they purposefully don’t list location. I thought that was pretty cool, so I asked him why they don’t they advertise that, and he agreed that I had a point. This is important, because Kevin is the CEO at Swift Kick, the company that makes Red Rover, and they’re hiring.

Swift Kick? Red Rover? Huh?

Swift Kick is a company that provides technology and training to engage college students with their schools. The technology that they are talking about is Red Rover – software that integrates with MySpace and Facebook to improve the college orientation process. It’s something that I wish I had when I was going into my Freshman year, as it recommends groups and activities based on interests that you input. By merging this with Facebook and MySpace, Red Rover is using a platform that almost all incoming students are already familiar with. If you don’t entirely get it, take a tour of Red Rover and see what it’s all about. Schools love it because it gets students engaged, and students love it because it helps them acclimate to college much more quickly.

Get it? Ok, good. Swift Kick just announced that they’re hiring on their blog. They have a small team right now, so the position is only part-time as an independent contractor, but it sounds really cool. They’re looking for an Account Manger for Red Rover. They want someone who is really excited about the job because he or she is a Facebook whiz, passionate about improving education, a great problem solver, and has a bigger left hand than right (huh?). There are a few other things that they’d love to see in applicants, but we’ll let you go to the blog post to learn all about the job. It looks perfect for a new grad, so if you’re already excited about it, send a cover letter and resume to tom@redroverhq.com. This job exists “in the cloud,” so you need to be comfortable with working remotely. Even though it’s only a part-time opportunity right now, it appears to have the potential for growth. Swift Kick is going places, and if you do well in this job, there will probably be a future for you with them. And don’t forget, if you’re still in school and have a lot of free time, this is a job that you could do from your dorm room or apartment.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Red Rover? Would you have used it when you were an incoming freshman?

Gapminder

Willy Franzen — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:00:12 +0000

Statistics in college is painful. It’s dry. It’s long. It pretty much sucks. Because of our high sample size, we can say that, with a high p-value, about most college stats courses. It’s really a shame, because statistical literacy is one of the most useful things you can pick up in your undergraduate years. It’ll change the way you think about politics and sports. It’ll change the way you read a newspaper. It will even make you question whether the prescription that your campus health clinic gave you is worth filling. By the way, when will they learn their statistics and stop asking guys whether they might be pregnant? If someone could figure out a way to bring statistics to life – to present even the driest data in an entertaining way – they’d be a millionaire. Or they’d start a non-profit organization called Gapminder.

Before we go any further and get your hopes up, Gapminder doesn’t have job listings of any sort; however, we’re so in awe of what they do that we’re going to talk about them anyway. Whatever! We do what we want. At this point you’re thinking that either we are huge nerds, or Gapminder must be the second coming of Facebook. Both are probably true. So what are we so excited about? This presentation by Hans Rosling at TED (Technology, Entertainment Design) – you have to watch this! This guy not only combines humor with the amazing features of Gapminder created software Trendalyzer to put together a truly entertaining presentation, but he also breaks down misconceptions about world demographic data faster than Chuck Norris would with a roundhouse kick.

Now, Gapminder doesn’t own Trendalyzer anymore (they sold it and the developers that worked on it to Google), but they are continuing their mission to promote a fact-based world view. There’s no political agenda behind what they do, just a desire to align perceptions with the data.

Gapminder work serves a purpose of filling a gap. There has been a market failure in distributing global data. A lot of people are interested in the data, but don’t get access to it (and if they manage to access the data, they need to be advanced skilled statisticians to analyze it). Gapminder wants to make data more accessible and easier to use for instant visual analysis. We believe decision makers, politicians as well as education at almost all levels lack adequate tools.

To really full enjoy what Gapminder is doing, watch that presentation and then play around with Gapminder World. You can also watch more presentations on their site or watch Gapcasts on their YouTube channel. Like we said before, Gapminder doesn’t have entry-level career opportunities. They don’t even have any jobs listed, but we really wish they did. Maybe if we wish hard enough (or you try cold calling), they’ll see the need to hire one of our talented readers. They’ve got the money from the Google purchase of Trendalyzer and grants they’ve received, why wouldn’t they want to invest it in entry-level talent? If you can get new college grads interested in stats, you can get anyone interested – and that’s the goal, isn’t it?

You should also take note that Gapminder’s FAQ says that they are looking for people to contribute. You can apply by sending along an e-mail detailing what you would like to do for Gapminder through their contact form. It’s not a job listing, but it might be a way to build a relationship towards future employment.

Note: On April 27th we revisited entry-level jobs at Gapminder.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Please leave a comment and tell us that you think Gapminder is as cool as we do, otherwise we’re going to feel like major geeks.

Automattic

Willy Franzen — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:00:05 +0000

One Day, One Job is run on blogging software called Wordpress. Wordpress is amazingly powerful, easy to use, and free. We love it. Automattic is the company that makes Wordpress. They’re hiring, and we want to thank them for giving us an amazing product for free by telling our readers about the job openings that they have. You might expect these jobs to be suckier than usual, since we’re writing about them as a thank you. If that’s what you were thinking, you’re very, very wrong. In fact, we almost didn’t tell you about Automattic’s jobs and applied for them ourselves – they look that cool.

Beyond Wordpress, Automattic also makes Wordpress.com (a hosted version of Wordpress), Akismet (spam prevention software), bbPress (forum software), Gravatar (software that gives you an avatar for blog comments), and a host of plug-ins that accentuate their software’s features. Here’s a list of Automattic’s projects in more detail. These projects are really good. How good? How about $29.5 million of Series B Venture Capital good? Automattic was also recognized as the Most Likely to Succeed and having the Best Startup CEO at the 2007 Crunchies. You get the point. They’re going somewhere, and they’re going there fast.

We first realized that Automattic was hiring after reading about them at Chief Happiness Officer. There are currently two open positions, both of which could be entry-level appropriate. Automattic founder and Chief BBQ Taste Tester, Matt Mullenweg, just turned 24 two weeks ago, so age is clearly not an issue. Automattic is currently hoping to hire a Happiness Engineer and a Systems Wrangler. Their job descriptions say it all, so we’ll defer to Automattic’s jobs page.

Note: On April 24th we revisited entry-level jobs at Automattic.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Automattic’s Home Page
Jobs at Automattic
How People at Automattic Work
About Automattic (this is an awesome page, with staff bios and links to staff members’ personal blogs)
Official Automattic Blogs
TechCrunch Posts on Automattic

We’ll say it once more. We love Wordpress!

MLB Trade Rumors

Willy Franzen — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:00:38 +0000

Typically, our daily posts focus on the best entry-level jobs for new college graduates. Occasionally we’ll talk about part-time gigs or freelance opportunities if they look especially interesting (and we’re saving internships for our next project… shhh), but we usually like to stay focused on full time jobs for new grads. Well, today we’re going to feature a “job” that is not paid, nor is it full time, but it is a great opportunity that could definitely help you pursue a passion for sports journalism.

MLB Trade Rumors is a blog filled with speculation on the baseball transaction market. It’s run by Tim Dierkes, who just quit his day job to go full time with the blog. Tim is a relatively recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a lifelong Cubs fan. He’s become the go-to-guy for when you want to find the latest on the moves your team might be making. Here’s a little more on MLB Trade Rumors.

Many of you will probably ask, “why would I want to blog for free at MLB Trade Rumors?” We’ll answer, “because blogging is quickly becoming the best way to jump start a journalism career.” Whether you’re looking to build your resume, expand your network, or get your writing in front of tens of thousands of eyeballs, MLB Trade Rumors is a great place to build a reputation as a sports writer. They get over 20,000 unique visitors per day with over 100,000 daily page views. Tim has also developed great relationships with many of the sports writers who cover local MLB teams. And there’s always the chance that with solid performance and further growth of the site, this could become a paying gig.

Tim is looking for 5-10 part-time bloggers to help him write posts and develop the site. Check out his “job posting” (this post has now been deleted) and see if you have what it takes to be a baseball rumor monger.

Although this isn’t really a job opportunity, it has the potential to help you advance your career; moreover, it’s something that you can do from your dorm room while you’re still in college. We want to know if you’d like to see more opportunities like this one or if you’d prefer that we stick to traditional job opportunities. Leave a comment and give us feedback so that we can do our best to keep bringing you intriguing jobs every day.

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at MLB Trade Rumors.