It’s amazing how much weight a college degree holds in the job market considering that most employers have no idea what classes you took, what you learned, or how you did (unless you include your GPA). With that said, we all know that a college degree isn’t enough to land a job these days–employers want education and experience that is directly applicable to their jobs. College is only a small slice of the education that you’ll need to succeed, but it’s so nicely packaged. As we start to see education as more of a lifelong experience, we’re going to need better credentials. That’s what Degreed offers. They’re a San Francisco, CA and Salt Lake City, UT based startup that “jailbreaks degrees” by offering “a free service that scores and validates your lifelong education from both accredited (i.e. Harvard) and non-accredited (i.e. iTunesU, Lynda.com, Khan Academy, etc.) sources.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
design,
education,
Internships,
social media,
software development,
unpaid,
user experience,
Utah,
web development
I didn’t watch the Oscars last night. (I can’t stand award shows, and I rarely go to see movies in the theaters.) But I hear that advertisers are treating the event like the Super Bowl for women. Entertainment is a massive industry that only keeps growing, and what I find most interesting about it is how much attention begets attention. Argo probably wouldn’t have won Best Picture without Ben Affleck’s name attached to it, and nobody would read stories about a drug addicted mess if her name wasn’t Lindsay Lohan. That’s how Hollywood works, and that’s why marketing and advertising are so important. Trailer Park is a Hollywood, CA based “entertainment marketing agency” that serves “a broad spectrum of clients, including theatrical, television, home entertainment, videogames, publishing, music, brands and more.” They work with huge names and know how to keep the attention flowing.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
advertising,
animation,
California,
design,
editing,
entertainment,
film,
flash,
graphic design,
information technology,
Internships,
marketing,
media,
media planner,
mobile,
movies,
photography,
production,
social media,
software development,
strategy,
technical support,
unpaid,
user experience,
web development
Two weeks ago we took a look at the Better Government Association, an organization that “works for integrity, transparency, and accountability in government by exposing corruption and inefficiency; identifying and advocating effective public policy.” While shining the light on government misdeeds is one way to make things better, it won’t fix everything. We need better people working in our governments. My idea is to instate a political draft, but I’m not sure that will ever fly. City Hall Fellows offers a more reasonable approach. They’re a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that engages “diverse, talented young people in the work of cities.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
fellowship programs,
government,
Internships,
non-profit,
paid,
policy,
public policy
While there are plenty of non-profits that want to save the world in one way or another, many are content with focusing on their communities. Some focus on a specific need, and others try to do their best to offer a complete range of programs and services. The Educational Alliance is a perfect example of the latter. They’re a New York, NY based organization that “currently serves 50,000 New Yorkers annually via 39 programs, including preschools, camps, after school programs, senior centers, health & wellness programs, arts & culture classes, and addiction recovery programs.” They may only reach a small slice of New York City’s population, but anywhere else that’s a huge number.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
communications,
community development,
education,
fitness,
Internships,
marketing,
member services,
New York,
non-profit,
paid,
photography,
production,
public relations,
sales,
teaching,
video
If there’s anything that the Internet is perfect for, it’s finding hotels. Whether you’re looking for a place off the highway to stop for the night or a luxury vacation, you’re going to be better off if you use the web. Since so many people go online to find hotels, the competition for attention is getting really tough (especially now that Google has entered the market and inserted their product at the top of search results). Most hotel owners aren’t Internet marketing experts, so how do they make sure that people find them? They use buuteeq, a Seattle, WA based company and “easy-to-use web application that improves your hotel’s online marketing on the web, on mobile devices, and on Facebook.” It gives hotel owners everything they need to compete with the major chains who have huge teams dedicated to online marketing.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
accounting,
business development,
customer service,
design,
finance,
hospitality management,
human resources,
information technology,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
product management,
production,
quality assurance,
quality engineer,
sales,
seo,
social media,
software development,
travel,
user experience,
Washington,
web development
Traditionally the goal of marketing has been to get someone to take an action at some point in the future, but that has changed a lot over the past decade. The web has enabled businesses to push consumers to take immediate action, which is why online marketing has taken the best ideas from traditional marketing, direct marketing, and sales. 90octane calls it “conversion-driven marketing.” They’re a Denver, CO based agency that executes “online marketing campaigns including online advertising, email marketing, microsite and landing page development, search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.” They were founded in 2000, and have held on to many of their clients for quite a long time–that is pretty unusual in performance marketing.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
Colorado,
copywriting,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
paid,
public relations,
sem,
seo,
social media
What if I told you that the Reebok Pump, the Swiffer, and the portable ascender (it’s straight out of Batman) were all designed by the same company? You’d probably assume that there’s some giant holding company that owns Reebok, Procter and Gamble, and Atlas Devices. That’s not true. Continuum is the company in question, and they certainly don’t own any of those three companies. They’re a Boston, MA based “global innovation and design consultancy” that helps “organizations drive business innovation through the design of products, services and experiences that become part of the fabric of people’s lives.” Continuum has been at it for 30 years, and they’ve worked with some of the world’s biggest brands (PepsiCo, American Express, Johnson & Johnson, and Nestle in addition to the ones that I’ve already mentioned) to improve business outcomes through design.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
design,
engineering,
industrial design,
innovation,
Internships,
Massachusetts,
paid,
product development,
software development,
strategy,
user experience,
web development
If there’s a holiday without an identity, it has to be President’s Day. A lot of people don’t even get the day off any more, and the only other thing to get excited about is getting a deal on a car or mattress. If you know how to shop, you usually don’t have to wait for these “once a year” sales. In fact, buying a car is becoming a lot more straightforward because of companies like TrueCar. They’re based in Santa Monica, CA, and they offer a “hassle-free car-buying experience from a nationwide network of certified dealers.” By putting data to work for car buyers, they’ve information asymmetry that dealers have used to their advantage for so long. In fact, TrueCar’s data and network are so good that they’re able to guarantee savings.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
analyst,
automotive,
California,
cars,
data,
economics,
holiday,
Internships,
statistics
I had 20/12 vision until I was about fifteen. I definitely appreciated, but I didn’t realize how much until I started having trouble reading the chalk board during my Junior year in high school. Soon after I learned how life changing contact lenses (or even just glasses) can be for people with poor vision. Unfortunately, corrective lenses can’t solve all of the world’s vision problems, but there are other options. There are 36 million blind people in the world–at least one million are children in developing countries. Without treatment fifty percent of them will die within two years. SightLife is an organization that saves many of these lives. They’re based in Seattle, WA, and since 1969 they’ve been “the only non-profit global health organization solely focused on eliminating corneal blindness in the U.S. and around the world” (corneal blindness is responsible for just under a third of the world’s blindness).
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
health care,
international development,
Internships,
medicine,
non-profit,
Washington
I wonder how many great books were never published because major publishing houses didn’t think they would sell enough. Even Harry Potter may have never been published if it weren’t for an 8 year old nagging her dad to get her another chapter. But it’s not always about shortsightedness. Some books are extremely important, but don’t have mass market appeal. That’s why publishers like The New Press exist. They’re a non-profit that “publishes books that promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of the issues vital to our democracy and to a more equitable world.” The New Press is based in New York, NY and has been publishing important books since 1992.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
development,
editorial,
finance,
Internships,
marketing,
New York,
non-profit,
paid,
production,
public relations,
publishing
I’m the first person to admit that I’m not the best about energy efficiency. I may turn off the lights when I leave the house, but I still drive an SUV and use incandescent bulbs. I need someone to make it easy for me, and luckily more and more utilities are starting to do that. It’s a little odd that a company that sells you something wants you to use less, but that’s what’s happening. One of the best ways for utility companies to help their customers reduce energy consumption is through web-based software. It would be silly for every utility company to create their own custom software, which is why EnergySavvy exists. They’re a Seattle, WA based company that provides utilities with software that enables them “to engage with their customers, keep track of their data and optimize their operations.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
energy,
engineering,
green,
information technology,
Internships,
marketing,
paid,
software development,
Washington,
web development
Job searching and looking for love can be similarly painful. There’s the fear of rejection, the lack of useful feedback, and the constant pressure to make something happen from family and friends. While there’s no holiday that makes being unemployed feel like being alone on Valentine’s Day, there are plenty of day to day reminders that you need to get a job (hopefully these e-mails are a positive reminder). I think that one of the reasons that people struggle to find both love and jobs is that they try to do it alone. What if you had a few friends to help you along the way? That’s what Grouper is proposing. They’re a New York, NY based dating startup/social club “that sets up drinks between 2 groups of friends.” They don’t even use the word “dating” on their homepage, and I think that’s a brilliant branding decision–it’s all about meeting new people. I’m especially fond of Grouper because they’re running with the fish theme.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
administrative,
analytics,
communications,
community management,
copywriting,
customer service,
data,
dating,
design,
engineering,
holiday,
international,
Internships,
marketing,
mobile,
online marketing,
product development,
public relations,
sales,
social media,
social networking,
software development,
user experience,
web development
Yesterday was a big news day with the State of the Union address and the culmination of the Dormer drama. For online news outlets that means pageviews, and pageviews equal revenue. Unfortunately for journalists, they aren’t supposed to create the news (except through investigative journalism), but they’re still pushed to drive more ad revenue without jumping the “Chinese wall” between advertising and editorial. To do that, you need to know what readers are most likely to respond to. Visual Revenue is a New York, NY based company that helps editorial teams figure out what that is and react to it in real time. They do this through a “predictive analytics platform that makes human editors the most powerful force in today’s data-driven newsrooms.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
data,
editorial,
engineering,
Internships,
journalism,
New York,
sales,
software development,
web development
When I was a junior in college, I broke my wrist. It was actually a lucky break because it healed completely… and my pathetic inability to cut my own food attracted a lovely lady whom I’ll soon be marrying. Still, the medical care that I received was abysmal. It started when the orthopedist told me that he didn’t remember if he could cast me before sending me for a CAT scan (that’s your job dude), but the most frustrating part was when I went to get follow up X-rays to see if the fracture was healed. I ensured at least four times that they were sending the X-rays to my doctor at home who I felt was more qualified to look at them. After waiting a few weeks for my doctor to get back to me, I followed up and he told me that the hospital never sent the x-rays (they just put them in a file). I called the hospital, and they told me that I had to drive over to sign a release so that they could send them to my doctor. Face meet palm. A lot of people’s frustrations with the healthcare system can be solved with technology, and that’s exactly what Practice Fusion is doing. They’re a San Francisco, CA based company that provides “a free, web-based Electronic Health Record (EHR) application to physicians.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
analyst,
business development,
California,
customer service,
design,
e-mail,
engineering,
graphic design,
health care,
information technology,
Internships,
legal,
marketing,
medicine,
online marketing,
operations,
paid,
public policy,
sales,
software development,
web development
As I see it, there are two kinds of jewelry. The expensive kind that a guy might buy for a girl (reminder: Valentine’s Day is in three days), and the kind a girl might buy for herself. I realize that is an arbitrary distinction that doesn’t cover a lot of jewelry buying activity, but it’s a quick mental model that works for me. (I believe the more formal distinction is fine jewelry vs. fashion jewelry.) BaubleBar sells jewelry that falls into the latter category. They’re a New York, NY based company that was started by two friends who realized that “fashion jewelry was the one accessory that had yet to capture meaningful space in [their] closets.” They identified a number of things that were wrong with the market, and decided to build a business where women can “buy high quality pieces without a high price tag.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
community management,
customer service,
e-commerce,
fashion,
Internships,
jewelry,
marketing,
New York,
online marketing,
retail,
social media,
software development,
sourcing,
style,
unpaid,
web development
Nearly every culture has its own take on bread. From tortillas to bialys to focaccias to baguettes to naan, there are innumerable ways to turn a grain into something a little easier to eat. There is evidence of rudimentary flatbreads from over 30,000 years ago, but we’ve come a long way since then. What I find interesting is that the staple breads from across the world are becoming luxury items here in the U.S. A non-profit that is taking advantage of this trend is Hot Bread Kitchen. They’re based in New York, NY, and they increase “economic security for foreign-born and low-income women and men by opening access to the billion dollar specialty food industry.” How? They sell a multi-ethnic line of breads that are inspired by the people whom they are training for jobs.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
administrative,
bilingual,
culinary,
customer service,
development,
education,
events,
food,
food merchandising,
information technology,
Internships,
marketing,
New York,
non-profit,
research,
retail,
sales,
teaching,
unpaid,
writing
This morning I read an article called Lawmakers Gone Wild in Chicago magazine. It’s about how many Illinois politicians are using their campaign funds as a tax free slush fund for personal expenses. The abuses are rampant, but only the most egregious offenders are prosecuted (and it’s often by the federal government). Much of the research for the article came from the Better Government Association, a Chicago, IL based non-profit that “works for integrity, transparency, and accountability in government by exposing corruption and inefficiency; identifying and advocating effective public policy; and engaging and mobilizing the electorate to achieve authentic and responsible reform.” Considering that the BGA has been around since 1923, you really have to wonder how bad things would be if they never existed.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
advocacy,
blogging,
community management,
editing,
editorial,
Illinois,
Internships,
journalism,
non-profit,
public policy,
social media,
unpaid,
web development,
writing
Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, there was a car alarm going off for at least half an hour. I don’t know if it stopped or I fell asleep first, but I’m now convinced that car alarms cost society more in annoyance than they benefit it through prevented thefts. Why can’t there be a theft deterrent that creates positive externalities? Oh, wait, there is. It’s called LoJack. They’re a Canton, MA based company that offers “recovery systems for cars, trucks, motorcycles, equipment, cargo, and laptops.” LoJack is based on radio transmitters that are activated when something is reported stolen (I assumed they used GPS, but here’s how it works). Police are able to find the frequency through special hardware, and recover it (and hopefully arrest the thieves at the same time). LoJack not only helps customers get their things back, but it also increases the overall risk of stealing stuff–that makes us all better off, even if we don’t use LoJack.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
automotive,
cars,
customer service,
engineering,
human resources,
Internships,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
online marketing,
social media
As you’ve probably noticed, we cover non-profit internships on the weekends. Occasionally I come across a company that feels like it should be on the weekend, but rules are rules (even if I’ve created them arbitrarily). Social Impact is one of those companies. They’re an Arlington, VA based management consulting firm and “global social enterprise dedicated to helping international agencies, civil society and governments become more effective agents of positive social and economic change.” Social Impact was founded in 1996 has grown to serve five regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia & Pacific, Latin America & Caribbean, Europ & Central Aisa, and Middle East & North Africa.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
business development,
consulting,
economics,
education,
environmental,
events,
international development,
Internships,
paid,
program development,
public health,
recruiting,
social entrepreneurship,
social venture,
training,
Virginia
Want to intern at a startup? Check out our latest article: Hustle 101: How to Make Any Startup Want to Hire You.
I swear that movies used to start on time and you had to come early to see the coming attractions. I’m probably misremembering, but we all know that what used to be a few quick previews now often lasts more than 15 minutes. There are trivia games (with sponsors of course), straight up commercials, trailers for movies that look horrible, and a few trailers that actually get you excited. Some see this as the cheapening of the moviegoing experience, and that’s exactly what it is–it keeps ticket prices down. National CineMedia is the company behind much of the pre-feature entertainment and advertising that you see in movie theaters. They’re based in Centennial, CO and publicly traded, though they’re also “owned and operated by the 3 largest theater circuits in America: Regal, AMC and Cinemark plus 36 select affiliate partners.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
administrative,
advertising,
business development,
California,
Colorado,
communications,
customer service,
entertainment,
film,
Illinois,
Internships,
media,
movies,
paid,
sales
In elementary school I had a kid in my class whose dad played Major League Baseball. He was a pretty good player, but by no means a star. I was still completely in awe of him. The day I found out that he was my basketball coach was pretty much the best day of my elementary school life. Everybody wants to be around professional athletes, and now you can be… for a price. Thuzio is a New York, NY based company that “provides an online platform that connects the public with professional athletes who have achieved the highest levels of excellence in their profession.” The company was started by Tiki Barber (of NFL fame) and Mark Gerson of Gerson Lehrman Group. If you know anything about GLG, the combination of co-founders makes perfect sense.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
entertainment,
events,
Internships,
New York,
recruiting,
sports
What was your favorite Super Bowl ad? Mine was definitely the GoDaddy spot with Bar Rafaeli and “Walter”. It was shocking, completely unforgettable, and it actually explained what GoDaddy is all about… kind of. I hear the ad took 65 takes–that poor guy. If that ad grossed you out, what did you think of the Taco Bell Viva Young ad, the Volkswagen Get In Get Happy ad, or the Morning Milk Run ad? They all came from Deutsch, a Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY based advertising agency that is “a group of hard-working, independent-minded, and passionate problem solvers who live to build brands and make businesses grow through creativity and technology.” You’ve probably seen their Chairman Donny Deutsch on tv at some point. His dad started the agency in 1969, and he took over twenty years later.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
advertising,
California,
creative,
interactive media,
Internships,
marketing,
media,
New York,
software development,
web development
I’m pretty sure that I’ve run out of football related non-profits to write about. For past Super Bowls I’ve covered the National Football Foundation, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, USA Football, and even the NFL (which is technically a non-profit). I’ve even taken the advertising angle with Common Sense Media and the Advertising Research Foundation. (We also covered World Vision which gives away the loser’s championship gear to developing countries.) So even though football is on my mind, we’re going to go in a completely different direction. When I was in college my parents and sister decided to replace me with a basketball (not football or American football) playing Italian exchange student who came through AFS. It was a wonderful experience for all of us. Youth For Understanding USA is a Bethesda, MD based non-profit foreign exchange organization similar to AFS that is “committed to preparing young people for their responsibilities and opportunities in a changing, interdependent world.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
administrative,
Colorado,
foreign relations,
information technology,
international affairs,
Internships,
Maryland,
Michigan,
non-profit,
program development,
technical support,
unpaid
Early spring! That’s what Phil says. I love Groundhog Day, so ever year I’ve highlighted it in my post. It started in 2007 with the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, and I followed with NOAA, MyPunchbowl, Toro, and Weather Underground. This is the first year for me that the holiday has fallen on a Saturday, so I went in search of something like the Groundhog Protection Fund. The closest that I could come up with was The Wildlife Center of Virginia, which is a Waynesboro, VA based organization that “was formed in 1982 to provide quality health care, often on an emergency basis, to native wildlife.” I realize that the location probably isn’t a good match for most of you, but there are similar organizations all across the country that also have career opportunities worth considering. Use the holiday as inspiration!
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
animals,
conservation,
education,
holiday,
Internships,
marketing,
non-profit,
outreach,
Virginia
Just about three years ago I was working on writing a book (never finished, and I’m glad that I didn’t). I wasn’t making much progress, so I decided that I needed a change of location. I went to some random coffee shop, checked in on Foursquare, and somehow stumbled upon a group of people who were “coworking.” The group is called Jelly Chicago, and I’ve been getting out of the house and coworking with them once a week ever since. It’s a social media success story, as is Loudpixel, a company started by two people I met at Jelly. Loudpixel is a Lansing, MI based (they moved there a couple years ago) “digital consultancy that works with companies and brands to deliver unbiased social media monitoring, measurement and insights research.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
analyst,
analytics,
communications,
Illinois,
Internships,
Michigan,
paid,
public relations,
research,
social media,
virtual
I bet I have at least 100,000 baseball cards still at my parents’ house. I hold out hope that they’ll be worth something some day, but it’s not looking good. The problem is that card manufacturers produced a ridiculous number of cards in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. At that point everybody knew that baseball cards could be valuable, so they put the best cards in protective sleeves and tucked them away. Because the only source for price information was a few price guides that were published monthly, people believed that their cards were far more valuable than they actually were. And then the manufacturers started putting out “rare” cards on purpose in the form of “inserts.” When the baseball card started to move online, the bubble burst. My cards aren’t worth all that much these days, but I still remember how much fun I had collecting them. Upper Deck is certainly part of those memories. They were the first premium card manufacturer–every card had a beautiful glossy photo and a hologram on back to protect against counterfeiting. The Carlsbad, CA based company has had to adapt a lot over the last decade, but they’re still one of the leading brands in sports and entertainment collectibles
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
entertainment,
events,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
social media,
sports
Have you ever wondered where merchandise goes when you return it to a retailer? If it’s unopened, it probably goes right back on the floor, but most stores won’t risk restocking goods that are no longer pristinely packaged. Instead they send it off to a warehouse to be tested, repackaged, and sold off in bulk. But how do you sell a pallet of returned merchandise? You use Liquidity Services Inc. (here’s a video explaining how it works). They’re a Washington, D.C. based company that enables “businesses and government agencies to manage, value, redeploy, and sell excess inventory and surplus assets using the world’s most transparent, innovative, and effective online marketplaces and integrated services.” Put a little more simply, they help clients sell stuff that is typically hard to sell. Returned merchandise is just a small part of the business.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
engineering,
information technology,
Internships,
online marketing,
social media,
systems administration
What would you do if you got $3.8 million tomorrow? If you didn’t answer “Buy a Super Bowl ad,” then I’m a little disappointed in you. That’s the going rate this year, and many of the usual suspects are expected to pay the price. The word on the street is that the E*Trade talking baby will be making another appearance. That’s good news for Grey because they’re the ones who taught the baby how to talk. Grey (also known as Grey Group) is a New York, NY based marketing and advertising agency has been “famously effective since 1917.” Their football street cred goes way beyond a talking baby–they also do work for the NFL. Want something more socially conscious? TED is a client. It’s hard to believe how many major brands hire Grey; in fact, Grey works with a quarter of the Fortune 100.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
accounting,
administrative,
advertising,
business development,
communications,
community management,
creative,
finance,
interactive media,
Internships,
marketing,
media,
media planner,
music,
New York,
production,
social media,
software development,
strategy,
web development
I’m really into fly fishing. So beyond going fishing as often as I can, I like to keep up with what’s going on in the industry. One of the latest trends is that a lot of the manufacturers are starting to sell direct to consumer over the Internet. The independent retailers who have helped these brands grow are not happy. Their toes are getting stepped on big time. This phenomenon isn’t exclusive to the fly fishing industry–it’s happening all over the place. So how does a branded manufacturer grow its business through e-commerce without losing the trust of its retailers? Shopatron is the answer. They’re a San Luis Obispo, CA based company that offers a “retail-integrated eCommerce solution for branded manufacturers, distributors and multi-channel retailers.” What does that mean? The manufacturer still sells their products online, but fulfillment is done by the retailers who can ship the product or offer it for in-store pickup.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
analyst,
California,
customer service,
data,
design,
e-commerce,
Internships,
Logistics,
market research,
marketing,
paid,
retail,
sales,
software development,
web development
My high school had an excellent community service program. We were all supposed to do at least 25 hours per year, so there was a mix of in-school and out-of-school service opportunities. One of the organizations that we worked with was AmeriCares. I can’t for the life of me remember what project we worked on, but I know that I had a t-shirt with their logo on it that ended up covered in paint (that may have been from a completely different service project). AmeriCares is a Stamford, CT based “nonprofit disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization which provides immediate response to emergency medical needs – and supports long-term humanitarian assistance programs – for all people around the world.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
AmeriCares is a Stamford,
business development,
communications,
Connecticut,
humanitarian,
international,
Internships,
marketing,
medicine,
non-profit,
online marketing,
outreach,
program development,
public relations,
publishing,
relief,
social media,
unpaid
