One Day, One Internship » automotive

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Willy Franzen — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:06:27 +0000

I love Memorial Day because it comes with so many traditions. Obviously its initial (and most important) purpose is to honor our fallen heroes, but it’s also the official start of summer for most Americans. That’s why I took some time this morning to read up on Memorial Day traditions. In past years I’ve featured Weber-Stephen and the National Park Service, but today we’re going to focus on a late May tradition that I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t know was linked to Memorial Day Weekend—the Indy 500. I’m obviously not a race fan, but I think that you’ve gotta respect the fact that they can fill up a stadium with people who want to watch a bunch of guys (and 4 girls) in fast cars make a lot of left turns. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway plays host to the Indy 500 every year along with the Brickyard 400 and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. The facility has been around since 1909, and the Indy 500 is coming up on its centennial in 2011. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway also happens to be the “largest spectator sporting facility in the world.”

Get Up to Speed

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is just one venue, but it has to be one of the most storied sporting venues in the world. Our country has an amazing automotive tradition (that is often displayed in Memorial Day parades), and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a key part of that tradition. I’m well aware that racing doesn’t interest everyone, but it certainly has its share of fanatics. If you’re one of them, an internship with Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be quite a thrill. The Speedway doesn’t seem to advertise internships on their Jobs page, but I did come across a blog post titled The Diaries Of An IMS Intern from just under 2 weeks ago. Clearly there are internships available (although maybe not for the summer), so you should reach out to jobs@brickyard.com and inquire about what types of opportunities are available.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Happy Memorial Day!

Dealer.com

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:11:16 +0000

I know that it sounds like a place to buy illicit substances, but Dealer.com is a legal operation as far as I know. They may operate in the underworld of search engine optimization, but so do I, and I’m not a sleaze bag or spammer. Dealer.com is a Burlington, VT based company that “has become the global leader in online marketing solutions for the automotive industry.” They provide a platform for car dealers to generate leads online. I’d imagine that Dealer.com is a direct competitor with Cobalt, a company that we featured back in January. It’s no surprise that automotive online marketing is a growing industry. Most car dealerships don’t have the resources to do online marketing themselves—cheesy tv commercials don’t translate to the web. So how do they reach the masses of people who are using search engines to aid in car buying decisions? They either build an internal online marketing division, hire a local agency that doesn’t know anything about the industry, or go to Dealer.com. Which decision do you think will sell the most cars?

See What You’re Dealt

The thing that really stands out about Dealer.com is their culture. They’re aiming to be the “most sought after automotive web solutions provider in the world,” and it’s very clear that they think that treating their people well will help them get there. Their “brand-new Green Certified Corporate headquarters has a 35,000 square foot fitness facility and in-house organic cafe,” and they offer half-off ski passes at local mountains. It’s the epitome of a cool place to work, which is why they probably keep racking up awards. This attitude is also reflected in the way that Dealer.com does recruiting. I randomly came across the company’s website last night, and it turns out that they’re having a big recruiting event today at the Sheraton in Burlington. I realize that you probably won’t be able to make it, but you can watch the event live at 6 PM EST today on their Careers page. It’s a recruiting tactic that I haven’t seen before, and I really like it. You can tell that they’re serious about talent. I don’t know if it’s meant for potential interns, but I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be worth your checking out. Dealer.com doesn’t have a specific Internships page, but they do have an Accounting Internship and an Account Management Internship posted on their site. You can apply online for any of these positions, and I’d bet that there will be more internships posted in the future. There’s no word on whether or not these positions are paid.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any companies run live events for recruiting like Dealer.com?

DriveCam

Willy Franzen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:03:49 +0000

It’s every teen’s worst nightmare. You finally reach that magical age where the state says that you’re ready to drive a car. Your parents reluctantly hand over the keys to the family station wagon. You get a lecture, but you’re going to escape. You’ll finally have the freedom that you’ve been waiting for all your life. But there’s a catch. Your parents have installed a camera in the car to assess your driving and mitigate risk. It’s from a San Diego based company called DriveCam. To you it’s a terrible idea. You hate being spied on. You know you’re a good driver with your state mandated 20 hours of experience behind the wheel. What you probably don’t know is that car accidents are the leading cause of teen death. You’re too caught up in having a sense of freedom to care that this device has reduced the risk of reportable crash by 70% over the course of 2 million miles.

I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me

I’m sure that I would have resented my parents if they had put a DriveCam in my car, but I must be getting old because now I think it would be a pretty good idea. If you’re not convinced, all you need to do is look at some of the videos on DriveCam’s website to get it. The way it works is pretty cool—DriveCam is only triggered by “fairly aggressive or inattentive driving.” It is constantly recording so that it can catch the moments before a triggering event, but any data collected that is not immediately before a triggering event is deleted. By setting the goal of not triggering the camera, DriveCam forces drivers to slow down and pay more attention. It’s not just for teens, many companies use it to monitor fleet drivers as well. The way it works is that DriveCam uploads video via a cellular network to DriveCam’s servers, and then there’s a Software as a Service subscription that allows the parents or business owners to analyze the data uploaded by DriveCam. The software even provides coaching advice and risk scores. There was a lot of resistance to seat belts when they first came out, but now nearly everyone uses them. I see the potential for the same to be said about DriveCam in 10 or 20 years. That’s why they’re one of the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies. They have a ton of potential for growth, and they’d be a great place to start a career. Their Careers page shows that they’re looking for a paid Marketing Intern. You can apply by sending a résumé and cover letter to jobs@drivecam.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did your parents install a DriveCam?

Cobalt

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:14:06 +0000

When I last bought a car in 2001, the best way to go about it was to stop by dealerships to see what they had in their inventory. I remember using the Internet to some extent, but it wasn’t all that helpful. Although I haven’t purchased a car since, I’m pretty sure that the web is playing a much larger role in the car buying decision process these days. That’s why Cobalt, a Seattle based company, is doing so well. They’re in the business of automotive marketing, and they made the Inc. 5000 last year with 134.0% three-year revenue growth to $168.4 million. Cobalt works with both dealers and manufacturers to “increase their retailing effectiveness and profits.” The company has been around since 1995, and it consists of three key subsidiaries: Dealix, UsedCars.com, and IntegraLink.

Drive Your Career in the Right Direction

The big reason that Cobalt has been so successful is that they were ready for the transition to digital marketing from the start. A lot of people in the automotive industry weren’t ready for a change in their business model, but luckily they have Cobalt to rely on for marketing. More than two thirds of auto manufacturers and one half of dealers in the US use Cobalt’s services in some capacity. Cobalt is a lot like a fully-integrated marketing agency in terms of the areas in which they work, but their business doesn’t appear to be quite as client focused (for instance they run a UsedCars.com—a destination site). If you’re intrigued by what Cobalt does, then you’ll want to take a look at their Careers page. It goes into a lot of detail about what it’s like to work at Cobalt, and then it will direct you to take a look at their job postings. That’s where their internships are posted. There’s only one position posted right now—Design Intern (Redwood City, CA), but I’d recommend that you keep an eye out for more postings in the future. You may also want to reach out to Cobalt and ask about other internship opportunities, since they’re doing a ton of hiring (and that often means they’re taking on interns too).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When is the last time that you bought a car?

The Henry Ford

Willy Franzen — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:14:56 +0000

Henry Ford was one of the most ingenious men to grace our country’s history. “Fordism,” his philosophy of bringing inexpensive automobiles to the masses through cost cutting and the assembly line has truly changed the face of world history. It’s amazing to think that ideas that we now take for granted were so revolutionary back then. You can find plenty more on Henry Ford on Wikipedia, but what about The Henry Ford. It’s kind of an odd name for what it is, but it’s a place in Dearborn, MI that includes historic Greenfield Village, the Henry Ford Museum, the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, the Benson Ford Research Center, and The Henry Ford IMAX Theater. It’s something between a museum and an educational center. It’s a non-profit organization, but that doesn’t really tell us much about what it is. I guess that’s why they call it The Henry Ford.

The Internships

The Henry Ford may sound like a fun place to go on a field trip, but it’s also a place where some serious research gets done. Unlike many museums that have their interns work on the operations, membership, or development side, The Henry Ford’s internships seem to center around research and history. They have a Historical Resources Internship Program for undergraduates and graduates, a Clark Travel-to-Collections Research Grant Program that supports “research using the automotive history collections of The Henry Ford,” and a Simmons Graduate Internship Program for “graduate students pursuing careers in museums, historical agencies, conservation labs or related fields.” The application instructions vary depending on the internship, but they have Summer opportunities available with a March application deadline. The internship descriptions are pretty in-depth, so check out The Henry Ford’s Internships page for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to The Henry Ford?

Top Gear

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:02:48 +0000

Unfortunately my cable package doesn’t come with BBC America, so I can’t watch the British version of Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (it has a lot more swearing than the American version), and I can’t watch Top Gear. I’ve actually never seen Top Gear, so I don’t know a lot about it, but it seems to be a tv show about cars with quite a cult following. It’s apparently wildly popular in the UK, and it’s also one of the world’s most pirated television shows according to Wikipedia. This popularity has spawned American and Australian versions, and the word is that the American version might end up on NBC this spring.

Top Interns for Top Gear

So, TopGear.com America is looking for interns. If you don’t know what Top Gear is, then you’re probably not right for the internship, but if your heart is racing from reading this, then you’ll be a perfect fit. They need someone to work on the website, so web skills are absolutely essential to your landing the internship. The internship is based in New York City, so it’s probably best if you’re in school in the city if you want to intern with them (it doesn’t look to be full-time). Their description is much better than I can do, so I recommend that you check it out. If you’re dying for this internship, then send a resume and cover letter to topgear@bbc.com with “Internship” in the subject line. Be sure to tell them “where you are, what you’re doing and why they’ll love you.” There’s no mention of whether or not the internships are paid, but they say something about college credit, so it’s probably unpaid.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a Top Gear fan? Tell us more about the show.

Zipcar

Willy Franzen — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:59:48 +0000

The great thing about living in downtown Chicago is that I’m constantly bombarded with new ideas for companies to feature here. In suburban Connecticut most of what I saw when I was driving around was trees. Here in Chicago there are few trees in sight, but plenty of businesses, billboards, and buses (with advertising on the side, of course). There are also plenty of taxes. Sales tax is 10.25% and the parking tax is 28%, but likely soon to be 33%. This is on top of already outrageous monthly parking fees, so it’s no wonder that there’s a Zipcar location just a hundred yards down the street from my building. Zipcars are kind of like rental cars, but better. They’re more affordable (I think, but I haven’t done the math), they’re intended for residents instead of travelers, they’re green, and you don’t need to be 25 to take them for a ride. It’s kind of like having a friend with a car except you have to pay that friend whenever you use his car.

Zipternships

It’s probably no surprise to you that Zipcar is a growing business. They’ve located themselves in urban centers, college campuses, and other places where it’s a hassle (or absurd expense) to own a car. Although the marginal expense of driving a Zipcar is greater than owning a car, most people who live in cities don’t use their cars enough to justify the fixed costs of parking, insurance, and car payments. Zipcar’s business model is ingenious because it feels like a luxury, but it saves people money every month. That’s why we won’t be surprised to see Zipcar thrive even in a declining economy; in fact, they must be pretty confident about their future considering that their Jobs page shows more than 20 job openings. With all those jobs, you’d think that they’d have a laundry list of internships too. They actually only have one internship opportunity (for both Fall and Spring, although Fall is kind of part way over) listed, and it’s in Marketing. The Marketing internship is located in Cambridge, MA, requires 10-18 hours of commitment per week, and is unpaid. The internship description looks great, so if you’re interested, “send your resume in Word (.doc) format along with a cover letter and 3 reasons why you want to work at Zipcar in email format to internships@zipcar.com.”

Zipcar also has some part-time and full-time positions that could be considered alternatives to internships. The job titles include Fleet Associate, Campus Fleet Coordinator, Street Team Member / Promotional Rep, and Street Team Marketing Representative. These jobs vary by location, so head over to the Zipcar Jobs page to get more information about them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever used a Zipcar?

Garmin

Willy Franzen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:57:08 +0000

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

Find Your Way to an Internship at Garmin

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

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

If Garmin isn’t visiting your campus, or if you’ve already missed them, then you’ll have to browse Garmin’s online internships listings to find the right opportunity for you. They try to separate their internship listings from their regular job listings, which should make browsing a lot easier, but it seems that some full-time jobs have found their ways into the listings. Unfortunately we can’t link specifically to the internship listings because of Garmin’s applicant tracking system, but we’ll still give you a quick rundown of what they have to offer. They are looking for a Software Engineer Intern – Automotive OEM Applications in Los Angeles, CA; a Software Engineer Intern – Web Services in San Francisco, CA; and a Mechanical Engineering Intern and a Design Engineer Intern at their Olathe, KS headquarters. There are certain to be more internship opportunities posted on their site once they start recruiting for the summer, so keep watching. Garmin accepts online applications, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble applying. We’re pretty sure that Garmin pays their interns, but we couldn’t find any mention of it in the internship descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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

Local Motors

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:35:28 +0000

You may have seen it on a bumper sticker or overheard it while shopping downtown – especially in a college town – “Go Local.” It’s a movement that should stir pride in anyone who shares the small-r republican ideals of Thomas Jefferson. Farmers’ markets are back in style, artisanal cheese shops are popping up all over the place, and local, grass-fed beef is appearing on more and more restaurant menus. The yeoman farmer is back! Not only are these people making great products available, but they’re also building successful businesses by serving the demand for local food. How can this business model based on going local be extended beyond farming? One startup, Local Motors, is trying to make people “go local” when they buy cars. Yes, cars.

Get Your “Drive Local Cars” Bumper Sticker

Local Motors wants to change everything that you know about how cars are manufactured. That may be bad news for Detroit, but they’re probably used to that by now. In fact, the ideas behind Local Motors might just reinvigorate the Big 3 and force them into a fight for their lives. That’s probably a long way away, but Local Motors is already working to decentralize the automobile manufacturing process. Instead of having one factory produce 100,000 cars that are essentially identical, Local Motors wants to “build low inventory, high cash conversion, low capital intensity assembly facilities distributed across the United States.” They will base their designs on an open source model of submissions through Web 2.0 technology and will tailor car designs to the driver who is buying the car and the geography of the area that the driver intends to use the car in. They’re starting with one car in one micro-factory. This all sounds a little bit crazy, but maybe it’s just crazy enough to work. Local Motors did win the Pitch for Change competition last year.

Local Internships

Right now, Local Motors is looking for a Car Design Intern in their Wareham, MA factory. They’ve posted the opportunity on Startuply, a job board for startups, and it looks they want a real automotive design superstar. They want someone who loves collaborating, has great communication skills, and is an excellent renderer and sketcher. They’re most concerned with your portfolio, so make sure that yours is solid. You may also want to try participating on their community for design submissions before you apply. The internship is paid, and you can apply directly from the internship listing that we linked to at the beginning of this paragraph.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think that we’ll all be driving locally built cars in 20 years?

Tesla Motors

Willy Franzen — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:00:43 +0000

To be honest, I’m not totally focused on writing this post right now. I’m trying to stick it to the airlines who have responded to high fuel prices with surcharges for checked baggage. I’m already on the hook for $15 each way for my first checked bag, but I’m trying like heck to avoid the $25 each way for a second checked bag. The issue is that I’m packing for a trip that includes a Cubs game, a wedding, two days of fly fishing, a couple work related meetings, and some quality time with my girlfriend and her family. Nobody has built luggage that can keep a suit wrinkle free and hold two 4-piece fly rods yet, so I’m left scrambling. A much better way to stick it to the man is to get an electric car. That way fuel prices will just be a worry in your rearview mirror. Tesla Motors is in the business of designing and producing electric cars, and they will hopefully one day make purchasing an electric car a real possibility.

Electrifying Internships

Since I’m a bit distracted today, I’m going to give you a project. Find all you can about Tesla Motors’ internships and report back in the comments. We know that Tesla Motors offers internships, since they invite cold calls / e-mails to internshipjobs@teslamotors.com; however, they don’t seem to list internship opportunities anywhere on their website or elsewhere on the web. You might have to try contacting them to see if they have any opportunities for the Fall. Anyway, if you’re a car nut or just into alternative energy, check Tesla out and get back to us. We’d love to know more about what kind of experiences they offer college students.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think you’ll ever be driving an electric car?

Honda R&D

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:00:41 +0000

Over on One Day, One Job, we recently mentioned that Facebook now has a valuation on par with that of the Ford Motor Company. In our post about Facebook, we noted how amazing it is that so much wealth can be created seemingly out of thin air; however, we didn’t mention the contrasting point that American auto manufacturers have had a similarly amazing ability to hemorrhage money. It’s sad to say, but the reason for the decline of the Big Three has a lot to do with foreign auto companies like Honda making better cars, and often doing it with American talent!

By putting a high value on talent, Honda has created a competitive advantage for themselves, and it all starts with their internship program, or co-op as they’re often called in the world of engineering. It’s funny; not only do Honda’s internships look like they offer amazing learning experiences, but they also offer great compensation. We don’t see how other companies can shirk on intern compensation so much – maybe the premium Honda pays is merited by a greater likelihood that participants in engineering co-ops end up working for the company after graduation. So what does Honda offer? Take a look.

Interns are expected to have completed their sophomore year in a relevant engineering program. They should also have an excellent GPA and have developed the skills necessary for the position – these are outlined in the job descriptions. Honda offers co-ops in Design Engineering, Vehicle Research, Materials Research, Information Systems, with some positions having slightly more detailed titles. Finding internships on Honda R&D’s site is quite easy. You can just use this search query and you’ll get a list of all the openings. Currently those results show these co-ops: Design Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Information Systems, Materials Research, Power Equipment Design, Power Equipment Test Engineer, and Vehicle Research. All currently listed co-ops are located in Raymond, OH or Haw River, NC.

A Summer (or whenever you choose to intern – Honda also offers co-ops in Winter, Spring, and Fall) in one of these positions will give you a sense of what it’s like to be an engineer at Honda, as you’ll be working alongside experienced professionals and have access to their amazing facilities. If you’re interested in automotive design, there is no better place to be than Ohio or North Carolina this Summer. Do a good job and you might even see your work show up in the newest Honda cars.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

We blogged about entry-level jobs at Honda R&D over on One Day, One Job. Go check it out!