Last night Cornell played Michigan in an ice hockey game at Madison Square Garden. Cornell came out with a 5-1 win, which I was ecstatic about. The Big Red not only surprised its fans with a great performance after two pretty terrible weekends, but they also came out for the 2nd period in camo jerseys. I’m a traditionalist, so usually I’d be upset with any change to the team’s uniforms, but this was for an amazing cause. It was part of a fund and awareness raising effort for Wounded Warrior Project, which is a Jacksonville, FL based non-profit that aims “to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history.” While I was enjoying a hockey game last night, there were men and women ten years younger than me risking life and limb to ensure my safety. The costs of war can be extreme, which is why it’s important that those of us who enjoy the safety provided by our service men and women do our best “to fulfill the needs of injured service members.” That’s what Wounded Warrior Project is about.
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defense,
development,
Florida,
Internships,
military,
nationwide,
non-profit,
program development
Sometimes it’s all about a name. How could I not take a closer look at an organization called Day One when I was browsing Idealist? Their name doesn’t tell you much about what they do, but it makes sense with a little context. Day One is a non-profit that “partners with New York City youth to end dating abuse and domestic violence through community education, supportive services, legal advocacy and leadership development.” Abuse and domestic violence are issues that affect people of all ages, but teenagers are especially susceptible. When you have little relationship and life experience, how are you supposed to know what is ok and what isn’t? Where do you go for help? How do you get out? Those are all questions that Day One helps teens answer.
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advocacy,
development,
education,
Internships,
New York,
non-profit,
program development,
social work,
unpaid
I used to get excited about Black Friday, but never to the point that I’d actually join the crowds at the retail stores. I’d much rather search for deals online (though I barely do that anymore). While Cyber Monday used to be when e-commerce sites slashed their prices, it now seems that most of them have jumped on the Black Friday bandwagon. The nice thing about shopping online is that it’s really easy to see how good of a deal you’re actually getting. Shopzilla is a Los Angeles, CA based company that helps online shoppers do exactly that. They run a number of destination websites that “help shoppers shop and sellers sell.” Their network of sites reaches more than 40 million shoppers every month and helps them learn about more than 100 million products from thousands of retailers.
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advertising,
analyst,
California,
customer service,
e-commerce,
editorial,
finance,
Internships,
marketing,
seo,
software development,
web development
I woke up this morning to smell of the donuts that my mom was baking on her new donut making machine. Usually we have waffles and kielbasa, so it was a change from our normal Thanksgiving tradition. The change continued when my mom said, “It’s Thanksgiving, you should write about Stew Leonard’s.” It’s not new for her to present me with ideas, but it is new for me to politely accept them. Stew Leonard’s is a small Norwalk, CT based chain of four grocery stores that are far more than just grocery stores. It’s a very unique place, and a wonderful place to buy all of your Thanksgiving essentials and fixings. I haven’t been there in a long time (it’s a decent drive from my parents’ house), but I have wonderful childhood memories of animatronic produce doing song and dance shows, winning a free ice cream in the checkout line, and a petting zoo.
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food,
grocery,
holiday,
Internships,
New York
I have no idea how much of the Thanksgiving story that I learned in elementary school is factual. I assumed that the whole thing about Squanto teaching the Pilgrims to fertilize corn with fish was a bunch of bunk, but Wikipedia says that it’s pretty much true. We’ve come a long way from the kind of subsistence agriculture that got our country started. Farming these days is far more science than art. Crop Quest is a perfect example. They’re a Dodge City, KS based “innovation-driven leader in crop consulting and agricultural production management and solutions with a clear focus on [their] customers’ production goals and budgets.” In a weird way, they’re kind of like the modern day Squanto.
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botany,
Colorado,
consulting,
food,
horticulture,
Internships,
Kansas,
Nebraska,
New Mexico,
Oklahoma,
paid,
Texas,
Wisconsin
An agency is only as good as its work. That’s why I look for ones whose website are light on buzzwords and heavy on showing off what they’ve done. Not surprisingly, that’s exactly what employers want from you. Less talk, more show. There aren’t many words on the 160over90 website. When you land on their home page you can either choose “Our Work” or “Our Agency.” That’s why I like the Philadelphia, PA based branding agency. They tell their story the same way that they tell their clients’ stories. They show. The only part that seems to be missing is an explanation of what 160over90 means.
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account management,
arts,
copywriting,
design,
interactive media,
Internships,
marketing,
Pennsylvania,
software development,
user experience,
web development
If you’ve ever been to a trade show or big conference, you may have noticed that the people working the shows will try really hard to get your contact information. That used to mean getting your business card, but now it might be scanning your badge or getting you to fill out a form on an iPad. The branding these shows can provide is fine, but most of the businesses that attend want to come away with leads. eshots is a Chicago, IL based company that ensures their clients “get the highest possible return on [their] event marketing investments.” eshots offers a line of what they call “activation products.” These are tools that help manage the entire event lifecycle from pre-event e-mails to follow up campaigns after the event, but more importantly they offer a better way to get potential customers to allow you to communicate with them.
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account management,
data,
events,
Illinois,
Internships,
marketing,
quality assurance,
sales,
software development,
web development
I’ve written profiles of nearly 500 non-profit organizations with internships. I’ve seen all kinds of organizations, but I always find it hard to evaluate how effective they are. Data isn’t nearly as prevalent in the non-profit world as it is in business (though that’s changing), so it’s hard to get a sense of which organizations are doing the most with their dollars. Luckily, there’s an independent third party that evaluates non-profits called Charity Navigator. They’re based in Glen Rock, NJ, and you’re probably familiar with them if you’ve ever spent much time on non-profits’ websites. Charity Navigator seems to have become the gold standard for determining which charities are most suitable to donate to.
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accounting,
analyst,
finance,
Internships,
New Jersey,
non-profit,
program development
Do you know what baseball managers and presidents have in common? People think that they have way more control over what happens than they actually do. It’s easy to give someone all of the blame or credit, but it’s almost never that simple. If you’d like to learn more about just how important the President (either the office or any one of the individuals who has held the office) is, you’ll want to read up on the research put out by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. They’re a Washington, DC based nonpartisan non-profit “organization that systematically examines past successes and failures of the Presidency and relates its findings to present challenges and opportunities.” They organization started in 1965 as the Library of the Presidential Papers, and took on its current name in 1969.
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Internships,
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public policy,
research,
unpaid,
Washington DC
I can’t remember the last time that I went on a real scavenger hunt–it’s been too long. There’s something really fun about the combination of physical and mental activity. The problem is that a scavenger hunt is only fun if someone else sets it up for you. Occasionally there will be citywide events that challenge teams to trek across the city hunting for clues, but those can be kind of overwhelming and they don’t happen all that often. What if you and your friends want to do a scavenger hunt right now? You can try Stray Boots. They’re a New York, NY based company that offers scavenger hunts and interactive walking tours of a variety of cities through your mobile phone. It sounds like a pretty cool way to explore a city whether you live there or are just visiting.
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game design,
Internships,
marketing,
New York,
social media,
software development,
user experience,
video games,
web development,
writing
We’re a week away from one of the worst travel periods of the year. If you’re flying between next Wednesday and the following Sunday, good luck. Look forward to long lines, getting groped by the TSA, crying babies, no legroom, and probably a delay or a lost bag. Wouldn’t it be nice to travel without those headaches? That’s why ridiculously rich people buy their own jets. But what if you’re only really rich and can’t afford your own jet? You buy time on one. That’s what Sentient Jet does for its clients. They’re a Cleveland, OH based company that “arranges more air charter flights than any other jet charter procurement business in the country.”
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account management,
customer service,
flight,
Internships,
marketing,
Ohio,
online marketing,
paid,
sales,
sem,
seo,
transportation,
travel
I finally had to turn my heat on. I made it through October, but November got me. I like being comfortable, so I don’t worry about keeping the thermostat at 62 or buying energy efficient bulbs. When you don’t spend all that much on energy, it’s not worth putting a lot of effort into reducing your energy consumption. But for large companies and institutions, energy costs can become a huge expense–and that’s when investing in energy efficiency really becomes worthwhile. EnerNOC is a Boston, MA based company that wants “to make energy management as integral as accounting to the operation of every organization.” A few readers have landed jobs at EnerNOC recently, so I thought it would be worth a looking at a company that helps its clients “use energy more intelligently, pay less for it, and generate cash flow that benefits the bottom line through [a] complete suite of technology-enabled energy management solutions.”
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account management,
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analytics,
business development,
communications,
data,
energy,
engineering,
human resources,
international,
Internships,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
operations,
paid,
project management,
quality assurance,
research,
software development,
supply chain,
web development
There’s about a 70% chance that you found us through Google. That’s by design. I’ve learned that search is by far the best way to reach job seekers, so I’ve invested a ton of time, money, and effort into my SEO strategy. So far I’ve done it mostly on my own (with the help of a few awesome interns), but if I ever get to the point where I need to hire an agency, I’ll look for one that is aligned with the people in the industry whom I trust. SEER Interactive definitely clears that hurdle (I’ve even heard their Founder called “quite brilliant” by one of the best in the industry). SEER Interactive is a Philadelphia, PA based online marketing agency that specializes in SEO, SEM, Analytics, and Conversion Optimization. I actually decided to take a closer look at SEER after I got a link request e-mail that they sent out for one of their clients. (Honestly, I think the the request could have been better, but it stood out from most of the crap I get.)
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blogging,
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Internships,
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online marketing,
Pennsylvania,
public relations,
sem,
seo,
social media,
writing
Five years ago today I launched One Day One Job. Six months earlier I had given up on a job search that was going nowhere and decided to try to find a way to make the job search suck less for college students and grads. I knew a little about HR, a little about how to build a website, and a lot about how to fail at the job search. It took me six months to build something launch-worthy. Five years later I have a website and e-mail list that has reached millions of people. My business is profitable. And most importantly, I’ve helped people land jobs they never would have found without me. I still have a long way to go, but what I’ve done so far is all thanks to some rudimentary coding skills that I developed in middle and high school. Being able to build a website or write software opens up a world of opportunity, which is why I think Codecademy is the perfect company to feature today. They’re based in New York, NY, and they are building “a better way for anyone to teach, and learn, how to code.”
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design,
education,
engineering,
Internships,
marketing,
New York,
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software development,
web development
Now that the election is over, we know where the country stands on choosing a leader. But it’s still not all that clear what the collective wants on individual issues. There’s no doubt that polls guide policy, and that’s why the 2012 NORC Election Survey is important. It “was designed to measure public opinion about important issues the country faces – economic recovery, health care costs, and extreme partisanship,” and it is based on data collected both before and after the election. The survey is conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago (also known as the National Opinion Research Center), which is a Chicago, IL based non-profit organization that aims to “to conduct high-quality social science research in the public interest.” The organization was founded in 1941, and it has done research on a wide range of topics including Children and Youth, Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, Energy, Environment, Health, Human Development, International Development, Poverty, Security, Special Populations, Substance Abuse, and Sustainability.
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data,
Illinois,
Internships,
Maryland,
math,
non-profit,
paid,
public policy,
research,
statistics
I’m consistently amazed by the quality of free educational content online. You can learn about almost anything at a pretty high level from any place you want. Yet so many of us still spend time looking at memes and watching silly YouTube videos. Educational content needs to be entertaining if we’re going to consume it voluntarily on a regular basis, and that’s why TED has grown so dramatically over the last few years. TED is a New York, NY based non-profit “devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.” The organization got its start in 1984 as a conference series centered around technology, entertainment, and design. That description still applies, but the set of topics has broadened and so has TED’s reach. Now you can view videos all of the best TED talks online for free.
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design,
education,
events,
Internships,
media,
New York,
non-profit,
paid,
product development,
production,
science,
user experience,
video
Every website goes down at some point. Even Facebook and Google have outages. The causes can range from a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy to a mistake by an engineer to too many people trying to use the website at once. Downtime is expensive (except for startups with no revenue), and the most important way to manage downtime is to monitor it. Rigor is an Atlanta, GA based company that provides tools to monitor and improve performance for websites and apps. I use a site called Pingdom to monitor my uptime, and it’s free. For most web site owners, a free or cheap solution is good enough. But as a site gets bigger and faces more complex performance issues, the needs for monitoring and testing increase. That’s the market that Rigor serves.
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business development,
Georgia,
information technology,
Internships,
marketing,
paid,
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sales,
software development,
web development
Two competing marketing campaigns that combined for more a billion dollars in ad spend just came to an end (and the result was maintenance of the status quo). Some would say that any money spent on advertising is wasted, but as someone who makes a living off of advertising, I disagree strongly. I’ll take a wager that the folks at Direct Agents are on my side. Direct Agents is a New York, NY based “digital marketing agency specializing in performance-based digital solutions including lead generation, email marketing, search engine marketing and Facebook advertising.” They must be doing a good job, as they’ve more than doubled their revenue since 2007 (to $34.3 million).
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advertising,
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business development,
interactive media,
Internships,
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media,
media planner,
New York,
online marketing,
paid,
sem,
seo,
social media
A lot of people bounce their business or product ideas off of me. It’s fun, but it can also be frustrating because most people can’t see the obvious holes in their thinking. The one thing that I push everybody to do is to validate their ideas. That means talking to customers and getting them to either tell you what they think or, preferably, to actually commit to buying your product. Validation isn’t an easy process whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a billion dollar brand. Finding potential customers and getting them to give honest feedback is almost never easy. Qualvu is a Lakewood, CO based company that solves this problem (I found out about them from a reader who landed a job with them). They connect “you with your truth, anywhere, at any time, through the power of web and mobile video.” In other words, they’ve developed an online platform that makes the focus group way more flexible, powerful, and affordable.
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analyst,
Colorado,
customer service,
design,
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Internships,
market research,
marketing,
media,
project management,
recruiting,
research,
user experience,
video
I did a lot of my most valuable learning outside of school. I attended plenty of camps and after school activities, but I also dug holes in my backyard searching for historical artifacts and learned to build websites on my own. Not only were the out of school activities more fun, but many of them helped me develop skills that I still use today. School shouldn’t be the only educational outlet for children, which is why non-profits like Edventure More are so important. They’re based in San Francisco, CA, and they “inspire the playful pursuit of enrichment for the next generation” through summer camps, enrichment programming, motivational tutoring, and mentoring.
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animation,
arts,
Caliofrnia,
copywriting,
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Internships,
marketing,
non-profit,
paid,
program development,
recruiting,
science,
tutoring
Helping people find jobs is pretty cool. There’s a reason that I’ve been doing it for the past 5 years. I’ve built a nice list of success stories, but there’s no way that I “created over 218,000 hours of employment and generated $2.5 million in wages” in 2010 like Chrysalis did. They’re a Los Angeles, CA based non-profit that is “dedicated to creating a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the resources and support needed to find and retain employment.” Employment solves all kinds of societal and individual problems, but creating jobs isn’t nearly as easy as politicians make it sound. Luckily, Chrysalis has developed programs that help people turn themselves into desirable employees. It’s the next best thing.
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California,
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data,
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education,
Internships,
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Blogging is a great way to grow your personal brand to help you land an internship. WordPress is the best blogging platform and WP Engine is the best WordPress host out there (we use them for ODOJ and ODOI). Right now AppSumo has an unbelievable deal for a year of WP Engine hosting for $99 (usually $348, and worth it).
Yesterday I went shopping at Whole Foods. I bought a bunch of produce that I’m sure was shipped in from all over the world–they aren’t growing strawberries around here this time of year. While I love being able to eat out of season fruits and vegetables, I realize that I’m often paying more to get lower quality food. We’ve certainly seen a movement towards more locally grown food, but even a Michigan cherry has to travel 100s of miles to get to me in Chicago. What if food only had to moved downstairs to get to you at the supermarket? That’s what BrightFarms is a New York, NY based company that is trying to accomplish this. They design, finance, build, and operate “hydroponic greenhouse farms at, or near, supermarkets, eliminating time, distance and cost from the food supply chain.” They take on almost all of the risk and only require the supermarket to guarantee that they’ll buy the output.
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gardening,
green,
horticulture,
Internships,
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New Jersey,
New York,
otany,
Pennsylvania,
supply chain,
unpaid
I hear from a lot of you that you want a career that makes the world a better place, but I know that some of you just want to make money (even if you’re afraid to admit it). If one were to design a business to generate profits as efficiently as possible, it would probably look a lot like a proprietary trading firm. A prop firm is one that doesn’t have any outside investors, so it can focus entirely on generating profits for itself without the worry that investors might want to pull their money out. Belvedere Trading is one of these firms (others that we’ve featured include Wolverine Trading and Jump Trading). They’re based in Chicago, IL, and they’ve been specializing “in equity index and commodity derivatives” since 2002. Basically, they find inefficiencies in the market, and profit from them through superior strategy and technology.
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Illinois,
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rotation program,
software development,
systems administration,
trading
Sandy brought Mischief Night a night early, and now a lot of towns and cities on the East Coast are postponing Halloween for a few days, but I’m sure most of you are still celebrating today. I kind of hate adult Halloween–when you take away the trick-or-treating, it loses its allure. And since 28 year olds get the police called on them if they go door to door asking for candy, I haven’t dressed up in years. But I still love seeing what other people dress up as, so I’m hoping you bought something from Rubie’s Costume Co.. They’re a Richmond Hill, NY based company that considers itself “the leading innovator in the Halloween industry.” For the last 60 years they’ve been designing and manufacturing all kinds of awesome costumes. (And if you want to see our past Halloween posts, check out Trick or Vote, Tootsie Roll Industries, and the Children’s Dental Health Project. If you just have candy on your mind, you may want to take a look at these posts: Russell Stover, Mars, The Hershey Company, NECCO, Charles Chocolates, Jelly Belly, Just Born Quality Confections, Vosges, and the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Confectioners’ Association.)
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costumes,
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Internships,
New York,
sales,
toys
I’m hoping that all of you made it through Sandy safely and with minimal property damage. It appears to have been quite a storm, and it’s not even done yet. We’re easily looking at billions of dollars of damage, which means that recovery and rebuilding is going to dominate the coming weeks and months for many people and businesses. While this will be an especially difficult time for those who have been directly affected, it will also have a significant effect on businesses and, as a result, job seekers. I don’t have much to base this on, but I predict that it will be slow going for the next few weeks if you’re looking to get hired in any of the affected areas (NYC has already lost two full work days and will probably lose a few more). And then it will be Thanksgiving… and then Christmas (the naturally slow time of year). This won’t affect the internship market as much as it will affect the job market, but it’s still going to be really tough if you’re looking for something now. But out of destruction comes opportunity. Today’s post isn’t as much about The Home Depot, as about what the Atlanta, GA based company represents. For many people they will be the hub of the rebuilding process. The business is positioned to help people in both the best and worst times, and by doing so consistently they’ve grown into one of the biggest companies in the world.
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Georgia,
information technology,
Internships,
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retail,
supply chain
The majority of my Facebook friends are on the East coast, so I’m feeling a little left out right now. Everyone seems to be having fun preparing for Hurricane Sandy, even though the storm will likely cause billions in damage and cost some people their lives. Hurricanes and blizzards tend to generally more enjoyable than things like earthquakes, tornadoes, and riots. It all has to do with predictability and control. When you know a storm is coming a few days ahead of time, it’s pretty easy to prepare. But in reality we should all be prepared for emergency situations whether they’re expected or not. There may be a time when running to the store won’t be an option, and that’s why Emergency Essentials exists. They’re an Orem, UT based company that has been “helping people prepare for emergencies” for the last 25 years through their catalog, website, and retail stores. (I was tempted to write about weather related careers today, but we’ve already done a bunch of those.)
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ccounting,
e-commerce,
Internships,
retail,
software development,
Utah,
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Some may describe the non-profit world as slow moving. It’s funny to think that a world filled with progressives isn’t really all that progressive when it comes to its own practices. Things are changing, and more and more organizations being run like startups, but there are bigger picture issues that need to be addressed to help the non-profit world move forward. That’s what the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy does and has been doing for more than 35 years. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit that serves “as the country’s independent watchdog of foundations.” In other words, they promote “philanthropy that serves the public good, is responsive to people and communities with the least wealth and opportunity, and is held accountable to the highest standards of integrity and openness.”
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Internships,
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Washington DC
I was a total wimp when I was a kid. Despite many opportunities to do ropes courses and other similar challenges, I always sat on the sidelines. To be completely honest, it was because I was chubby and figured that I couldn’t actually complete the courses. I’m now more adventurous, but I still prefer adventure with a functional goal (like climbing down into a gorge to go fly fishing). Project Adventure is a Beverly, MA non-profit organization that offers adventure with a goal, but it’s all about personal and group development. They “seek to expand Adventure-based experiential programming, with the goal of developing responsible individuals, productive organizations and sustainable communities.” They’ve been doing it since 1971, and they keep growing their ability to advance active learning.
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customer service,
development,
education,
finance,
Internships,
leadership development,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
non-profit,
outdoors,
program development,
public relations,
research,
sales,
teaching
There’s no doubt that we’re in the middle of the second phase of e-commerce. The first stage was all about helping you find and buy the stuff that you want or need online. Amazon has that mostly covered, and there are plenty of retailers who fill in the gaps. But what if you want shopping to be fun? It’s all about discovery, which is why sites and companies that help you find interesting products are so popular right now. The term “curation” is being used a lot, and I think it’s appropriate. Stitch Fix is a San Francisco, CA based company that is using strong curatorial talent to sell clothing and accessories to women. They’re like a Trunk Club for women in that they send you a box of stuff (as often as you’d like) based on your response to style survey questions, and you can choose to keep as much or as little of it as you like.
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apparel,
California,
e-commerce,
fashion,
Internships,
merchandising,
retail,
software development,
style,
unpaid,
web development
I have about six lightbulbs out in my house that are in impossible to reach places. If one more goes out, I’m going to have to break out the ladder and risk my life for the sake of lighting. Since I don’t own the place, I’m probably not going to invest in a more expensive energy-efficent bulb that takes years to pay itself off. But if I did own a place, that would probably be the best decision, which is why TCP is worth taking a look at it–energy efficient lightning is a huge growth industry. The Aurora, OH based company (their world headquarters is in Cham, Switzerland) calls itself “the home of lighting innovation.” They “offer one of the largest selections of ENERGY STAR-approved products” and “distribute them throughout North America and abroad.”
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energy,
Internships,
marketing,
Ohio,
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technical support
