I’m an unabashed Groupon fan. How can I not support the Chicago based company that started the group-buying frenzy? Moreover, I’m just flabbergasted at the amount of value that they’ve been able to build in such a short time. The only problem with creating an extremely lucrative new market when you have little or no IP is that the competitors come out in droves. There are a lot of Groupon wannabes. A lot. Many of them will fall by the wayside as they realize that they’re not capable of building out the kind of sales/business development team needed to grow a group-buying business, but there are a few competitors that seem to be doing quite well. One of them is LivingSocial, which is based in Washington, DC (maybe they should focus on group-bribing of politicians, or is that called lobbying?). They now offer daily deals in 52 cities, and they have nearly $50 million in venture funding. They weren’t profitable yet as of March, but you have to think that they’ll get there soon.

Are You LivingSocial?

LivingSocial isn’t all that different from other group-buying sites. Their biggest point of differentiation (besides the deals that they offer and the cities that they’re in) is that they you get your deal for free if you can convince three friends to buy in. I guess that’s what it means to be LivingSocial. The thing that I love about startups in the group-buying space is that they provide fantastic opportunities for young talent. They need people in a variety of areas, and they offer the ability to learn by doing. LivingSocial is no exception. Right now they only have one internship posted on their Jobs page, and it’s for a paid Design Intern. My guess is that there are plenty of other types of internship opportunities available at LivingSocial, but that they’re just not hiring for them right now because it’s the end of July.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• LivingSocial.com
• Internships at LivingSocial
• About LivingSocial
• LivingSocial in the News

Do you use LivingSocial?

It’s story time today! Let’s go back three years to when I was still job searching. I was getting extremely frustrated with the recruitment process, and I was starting to think about how I could make online job search better. Beyond my typical job searching, I was reading everything that I could about the online recruitment industry. I was generating new ideas, and trying to find a way in so that other job searchers wouldn’t have to go through what I went through. I took an especially strong interest in Indeed, not only because they provide an excellent job search engine, but also because they were an innovative and successful startup located in Stamford, CT—just 20 minutes from where I was living at the time (they also have an office in Austin, TX). They were still small, and they didn’t really have any job postings that were suitable for me, so I e-mailed the CEO. I told him why I wanted to work for him and what I thought that I could bring to the table. It worked, and I got an interview (going straight to the top is an underrated job search method). After clearing the phone screen, I got invited to the office to meet with some people on the team, and, to my surprise, that included the CEO whom I had e-mailed my initial “cover letter” to. The interview was kind of a disaster. It went well at first, but I had already started working on One Day, One Job, and telling a potential employer that you’re starting a company in the same space isn’t typically a good idea. I didn’t get offered the job (nor did they ever formally reject me), but I think it all ended up for the better.

Yes, Indeed

Indeed’s business model looks a lot like Google’s. Scour the Internet for information, organize that information in a coherent fashion, and spit it back to users in a relevant way with ads mixed in with the content. While Google does it for everything, Indeed only focuses on jobs. You probably already know all about Indeed, because if you’re job searching and not coming across Indeed at least occasionally, you’re either not searching very hard or using an ultra targeted, networking approach (which I approve of highly). If you don’t have a problem with getting meta about your internship search by looking for a position at a job search company, then take a look at internships at Indeed. They have a bunch of opportunities, and a number of them are either listed as internships or described as such. The one definitive internship is for a Sales Intern at the Stamford office, while there are a number of positions in Austin, TX with descriptions saying they’re looking for a current student. These include positions like Country Marketing Associate – Native Australian, Country Marketing Associate – Native Canadian, Country Marketing Associate – Native Spanish, and Marketing Associate. I’m still a fan of Indeed, even if they didn’t offer me a job, so go see if you can do better than I did with them. There’s no word on whether the positions are paid, but my guess is that they are.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Indeed.com
• Internships at Indeed
• About Indeed
• Indeed’s Blog
• Indeed News

Do you use Indeed?

As humans we must have some innate level of genetics knowledge. We know to look for favorable traits when we search for a reproductive partner, and once we make that choice, we know that our children are supposed to look at least a little bit like us and share some of our traits. That’s why genetic research is so mystifying. It offers the opportunity to know why we are the way we are. Yet, some think that genetic research hasn’t lived up to its billing. I have to agree that it’s extremely disappointing that with all of the genetic knowledge that we’ve gained in the past 20 or so years, it hasn’t helped us cure any major diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or any form of cancer. However, it still seems that plenty of good has come out of genetics research, and there is reason to hope that a lot more is on the way. Genetic Alliance would agree. They’re based in Washington, DC, and they’re “the world’s leading nonprofit health advocacy organization committed to transforming health through genetics and promoting an environment of openness centered on the health of individuals, families, and communities.”

Is It in Your Genes?

There are all kinds of stakeholders when it comes to genetics research—individuals, doctors, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, disease-specific advocacy organizations, government agencies, non-profits, and plenty more. Each group has its own agenda, but all will benefit from advances in genetics research. Genetic Alliance brings them all together as “the voice of advocacy in genetics” with the goal of transforming health. It’s an exciting goal, and hopefully one that will be fruitful. We can’t control how much genetics have to do with our health, but however much it is, we need to find out and learn how to use that information to our advantage. If you’d like to be a part of that mission, then you might want to consider an internship at Genetic Alliance. Right now they have paid opportunities for the fall in areas like Programs; Health Policy; Biomedical Research, Diagnostics, and Drug Development; Public Health Genomics; Events; Health Informatics and Technology Partnerships; and Human Resources. Take a look at both positions and see if you’ll be a good fit. The deadline to apply is August 1st.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• GeneticAlliance.org
• Internships at Genetic Alliance
• About Genetic Allliance
• Genetic Alliance’s Programs
• Staff at Genetic Alliance
• Genetic Alliance News
• Genetic Alliance’s Annual Reports

What have you heard about Genetic Alliance?

Consultants are typically seen as hired mercenaries. Sometimes they get a bad rap, but at least they’re compensated well for it. I have to think that those who work at The Advisory Board Company have at least a somewhat better reputation since their company’s clients are all mission driven. What does mission driven mean? Well, most of The Advisory Board Company’s clients are in the healthcare industry (think hospitals and health systems, not insurance providers), but they’ve recently moved into working with universities too. I hadn’t heard of The Advisory Board Company until a One Day, One Job reader e-mailed me (you can reach me at willy@onedayonejob.com if you want to share a tip or success story) to tell me that he recently received a job offer from them. Apparently they do a ton of entry level hiring (along with some interns), and they’re continuing to grow well beyond the 5 employees that they started with in 1979. Since then they’ve grown to more than 1,000 employes, and they’ve served “more than 2,800 leading healthcare and higher education organizations.” Additionally, they’ve grown beyond their corporate headquarters in Washington, DC to having offices in Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Austin, TX; Portland, OR; Nashville, TN; London, UK; and Chennai, India.

Join The Board

Introducing The Advisory Board Company as a consulting firm wasn’t fully accurate. They actually operate quite differently from most consulting practices. Instead of serving clients on an engagement basis, they do most of their work as a membership organization. Hospitals or universities can become The Advisory Board Company members and gain access to the company’s different offerings, which include things like Strategy Research, Clinical Research, Leadership Development, Business Intelligence Analytics, and more. They also provide Management and Consulting services, but it seems that those aren’t the main focus. Still, if you’d consider a career in consulting, The Advisory Board Company could be a nice alternative. Their Careers page goes into a lot of detail about the company’s culture and benefits, and obviously it also has the job listings. Right now there are just over 40 jobs posted and quite a few are entry level. Oddly enough, there’s only one internship posted: Recruiting Intern (it’s paid). Usually companies have lots of internships and not many entry level jobs, but I guess it’s reversed here. If you’re interested in something more closely tied to The Advisory Board Company’s core businesses, I guess you’ll either have to keep checking their job postings or reach out to them and ask about other internships.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• AdvisoryBoardCompany.com
• Careers at The Advisory Board Company
• About The Advisory Board Company
• The Advisory Board Company’s History
• The Advisory Board Company’s Offerings
• The Advisory Board Company News
• The Advisory Board Company’s Investor Relations Page

What have you heard about The Advisory Board Company?

Not many of the companies on Fast Company’s list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” are non-profit, and not many non-profits generate over $1 billion in annual revenue, but MITRE fits both criteria. I know that many of you want to see fewer technical internships, but I’ve also noticed that most of the non-profit internships that we feature on weekends aren’t very technical. MITRE, which has headquarters in Bedford, MA and McLean, VA offers an exception. They are an “organization chartered to work in the public interest” through “expertise in systems engineering, information technology, operational concepts, and enterprise modernization.” They do this work through “four Federally Funded Research and Development Centers,” with one focused on the Department of Defense, one on the Federal Aviation Administration, one on the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and one for the Department of Homeland Security.

Give MITRE a Try

MITRE serves each of these groups by providing “a unique combination of broad operational knowledge and in-depth technical skills” while also developing new technology that can be transferred when appropriate. What is really astonishing about MITRE is its size. They have over 7,000 employees, and more than 65% of them hold an advanced degree. The organization is a hotbed for technical knowhow and creativity, and it’s great to know that they have thousands of talented people working to ensure the future of our country. On that note MITRE is constantly looking to hire smart people for both technical and non-technical positions. They have a very strong college recruiting program, which you can find out about here. There are nearly 400 positions posted right now on MITRE’s Jobs site, so browsing through everything may be a little tough. However, they do let you search for Co-ops, Non-technical Internships, and Technical Internships (and 42 of the positions fall into one of these categories). If you have any questions, you can reach out to Jessica Yu using MITRE’s employee directory or you can use the chat box on the Student Opportunities page during working hours. I’m not 100% sure, but I think all of MITRE’s internship offerings are paid

Job/Internship categories at MITRE include: Acquisitions, Artificial Intelligence, Business Analysis & Administration, Communications, Computer Operations, Contracts/Subcontracts, Database Technology Software, Defense & Space Systems, Desktop Support, Digital/Microprocessor Hardware, Domain Operation Analyst, Economics/Business, Electromagnetic & Nuclear Effects, Facilities Engineering, Financial Analysis, General Accounting, General Systems Engineer, Graphics, Human Resources Generalist, Human Factors Engineer, Industrial Security, Information Security, Information Systems Engineer, Integrated Electronics, Legal, Multi-Disciplinary Systems Development, Networking & Distributed Systems, Physical Security, Procurement, Sensor Systems, Signal Processing Engineer, Software Applications Development & Software Systems, Special Security, System Administrator, Technical Project Support, Telecommunications Specialist, and Treasury & Risk Management. There are also a variety of locations beyond MITRE’s headquarters, so you’ll have plenty of options.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• MITRE.org
• Careers at MITRE
• Student Opportunities at MITRE
• About MITRE
• Leadership at MITRE
• MITRE’s Sponsors and Clients
• MITRE History
• MITRE’s Work

What do you know about MITRE?

If you woke up this morning with a sore throat, what would you do? I bet many of you would get on the computer, type your symptoms into Google, and probably end up on WebMD trying to self-diagnose. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing (maybe we should leave the diagnosing for the doctors), but it’s how most of us operate these days. We have a remarkable amount of medical information available at our fingertips, and WebMD, which is based in NYC with a significant presence in a number of other cities, is responsible for a lot of it. They consider themselves “the leading provider of health information services, serving consumers, physicians, other healthcare professionals, employers and health plans.” If you read that closely, you probably noticed that WebMD’s business goes well beyond their consumer facing website.

A Prescription for Your Internship Search

From what I can tell, WebMD’s Consumer Network is ad supported, while they also offer paid Professional Networks, Private Portal Services, and Publishing Services that provide additional sources of revenue. I’d expect their business to continue to grow well because of their unique position. They are in the business of providing information, so they can grow as our consumption of healthcare increases, but they don’t have to worry about the threat of legislation killing their business model. One indication of this expectation for growth is the fact that they have 85 jobs posted right now—many of which are internships. These positions include Accounting/Auditing Intern (New York, NY), Accounting Intern (New York, NY), Business Analyst – Professional Media Intern (New York, NY), Campaign Marketing Intern (New York, NY), Design Intern (Portland, OR), Health Educator Intern (Indianapolis, IN), Professional Content/Editorial Intern (New York, NY), Software Development Intern (Portland, OR), and Human Resources Intern (New York, NY). There’s no mention of whether these internships are paid, but I saw at elsewhere that at least some of them are. You can apply online for any of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• WebMD.com
• Internships at WebMD
• About WebMD
• Leadership at WebMD
• WebMD’s Business
• WebMD News
• WebMD’s Investor Relations Page

How often do you use WebMD?

Over on One Day, One Job I’ve been collecting user data over the past week to help me make the site more useful. So far the survey has received hundreds of responses, and there are a number of common themes that keep coming up. It’s amazing at how well an 8 question survey can tell me about what you students want in a job search tool. For companies that need a little more than an 8 question survey, there’s Communispace, a Watertown, MA based market research company. Their name probably wouldn’t have made them too popular during the cold war, but fear of communism has been replaced with community building—which is what Communispace is all about.

Join the Communispace Community

Communispace works with some of the world’s biggest brands (like Pepsi, Hallmark, and Unilever) to build private online communities. These communities allow Communispace clients to interact directly with their customers. They can ask for insights, identify trends, test nearly anything, and build customer loyalty. As a business owner, I know how valuable all of those things are. Luckily, I already have a community of awesome users who are constantly giving me feedback. It isn’t so easy for huge brands. They need help, and Communispace offers an end to end solution. They provide the technology, the expertise, and the community management. The world of market research is changing as it gets cheaper and easier to reach customers en masse, and it seems that Communispace is at the forefront of this change. If you’d like to join them, check out their Internships page. They are offering paid opportunities in Client Services, Sales, Marketing, Design, Technology, Human Resources and Finance, and you can apply online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Communispace.com
• Internships at Communispace
• About Communispace
• Communispace’s Team
• Communispace’s Clients
• Communispace News
• Communispace’s Blog

What do you think of Communispace?

I got a tip on this one from a fellow Cornellian (which is cool because a few of my friends from Cornell work at Rosetta). If you ever find a company that you think that we should feature, e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com. We feature a lot of interactive marketing agencies because they’re usually pretty big on hiring young talent whether it be at the intern or entry level. Rosetta stands out because of their size and sophistication—they almost seem more like a consulting firm than a marketing agency, at least in the way that they present themselves. For instance, they recently become a “top ten interactive agency” by means of an acquisition. That seems so different from the image that most agencies try to portray, but it’s working. Through “dedication to client work within Consumer Products & Retail, Healthcare, Financial Services, Consumer Technology & Media, B2B, and Travel & Hospitality industries” Rosetta “has created enduring partnerships with [their] clients including Scholastic, Coach, Borders, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Nationwide, Marriott and Microsoft.” Those are huge names, so you know Rosetta, which is headquartered in Princeton with offices in New York, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, and Denver, is capable of delivering results.

Relationships Matter

One of Rosetta’s key offerings is their suite of Relationship Marketing Services, which are focused on helping clients segment customers and offer “intelligent, personalized interactions across all online and offline channels.” This is just one part of the story, though. To get the full story on Rosetta’s offerings, you should take a look at this diagram. It shows how Rosetta walks clients through the marketing process—from creating the top-level strategy to using analytics to measure results. This means it’s not surprising that Rosetta’s internship offerings are as varied as their service offerings—their Careers page is titled “Graphic Design Careers, SEO Jobs, and Financial Services Consulting Opportunities at Rosetta.”

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, Rosetta seems to have a strong connection with Cornell (and probably quite a few other colleges) based on campus recruiting. Interestingly enough, Rosetta doesn’t really have a campus recruiting page—just a former intern. From there you can find their job search function, which is pretty terrible. It does appear to let you search specifically for internships; however, your best bet is to look at their full list of job openings and scan for the word intern. There are currently five positions posted: Associate Consultant Intern, Account Executive Intern, Technology Associate Intern, Business Associate Intern, and Human Resources Intern. Rosetta also apparently offers co-ops, although I didn’t find anything about them. The way that Rosetta lists their jobs and internships is really a mess, so you need to take note that different internships with the same title may be in different practice areas. Additionally, single internship postings may be for multiple locations. They do have some nice pages on their Careers site like Meet Our People and Fun at Rosetta, but the whole thing is disorganized. I expect a lot better from a top ten agency. You can apply online for any of these positions, so forgive Rosetta for the lack of usability on their Careers site and see if you can help them move further up the top ten. Finally, there’s no word on whether Rosetta’s internships are paid, but it’d be a travesty if a company as big as they are didn’t pay interns.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Rosetta.com
• Careers at Rosetta
• About Rosetta
• Culture at Rosetta
• Leadership at Rosetta
• Rosetta in the News
• What Rosetta Does
• Rosetta’s Industries
• Rosetta’s Clients

Were you looking Rosetta Stone’s internships?

If I ever make a ridiculous amount of money, the first thing that I’m going to do is buy a private jet—or at least a share in one. It seems like the ultimate way to travel. I’ve been on private planes before, but they had propellers and I was sitting next to or right behind the pilot (not nearly as classy). NetJets is a company that allows wealthy individuals and businesses to buy shares in private jets (since who really needs an entire jet to himself or herself?). They also have a subscription service called MarquisJet that lets you get a guaranteed number of hours of private jet use. It may not make private air travel affordable or cost effective, but it certainly puts it within reach for a lot more people. NetJets is by far the market leader, and they’re also a Berkshire Hathaway company. You know if Warren Buffett is investing in it, it has to be pretty good. NetJets is based in Columbus, OH, but quite obviously they operate all over the world.

Be a NetJetter

Even Warren Buffett thinks that private jet travel is a ridiculous luxury, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a customer and then buying the company when the time was right. The truth is that commercial airline travel is a pain in the butt, and many people will pay exorbitant costs to avoid it. Even if energy costs get continue to grow, you have to like the future of NetJets. Assuming that you aren’t morally opposed to private air travel, you should check out NetJets’s Careers page. They don’t have a specific internships section and there aren’t any internships posted with their job postings, but I did find a LinkedIn Group for current, former, and upcoming interns. Additionally, I found this PDF about their internship program. It says that the offer opportunities in Sales, Marketing, Crew Support, Flight Operations, Contracts, Employee Services (Talent Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits, Labor & Employee Relations), Safety, Training & Standards, Compliance, and Crew Resource Planning. There’s no word on whether the positions are paid, and there are no instructions on how to apply, so I recommend that you reach out to recruiting@netjets.com with any questions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NetJets.com
• Careers at NetJets
• About NetJets
• NetJets’ History
• NetJets News
• NetJets’ Careers FAQ

Have you ever flown on a NetJet?

Even though it seems that the economy is crawling its way to recovery (I’m seeing more entry level and intern opportunities than I did last year), we have a long way to go before the finance industry gets back on its feet. Yes, the stock market is doing well, but don’t let that fool you—things are still a mess. One company that should do well during this time is Argus Information & Advisory, a company based in White Plains, NY. They “assist financial institutions in making marketing and risk management decisions.” That’s going to be a big business for years to come. I’m just hoping that bad advice from Argus wasn’t part of the reason we ended up where we are. Whether that’s the case or not, I imagine that the demand for services that help “manage the tradeoffs among price, product, risk, and customer behavior along the customer lifecycle to increase profitability” will be in high demand.

Manage Your Career Risk

Although Argus doesn’t name their clients, they can claim as clients all of the 20 top US credit card issuers and 9 of 10 top ten UK credit card issuers along with large insurance companies, top retail banks, and the largest payment processors. There isn’t much information about Argus available on the Internet, but it seems that they like it that way. Their web site is sparse, and Google barely turns up any meaningful results about them. You’ll probably want to push your research a little farther if you consider interning at Argus, and you can start by checking out their Jobs page and their College Recruiting page. Although their College Recruiting season seems to have passed, they do have some internships posted on their site. They’re looking for a Human Resources Intern along with interns in Production, IT, Accounting, and Operations. To apply for any of these positions, you should send your cover letter and résumé to resumes.Argus@hiredesk.net or resumes@argusinformation.com if you want to go through their College Recruiting people (be sure to include your Math and Verbal SAT scores and GPA). My guess is that these positions are paid, although they don’t say so.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• ArgusInformation.com
• Careers at Argus Information & Advisory
• College Recruiting at Argus
• About Argus
• Services Offered by Argus
• Management at Argus
• Argus’ Clients

The future of marketing and media is getting more results based, and that trend is going to continue as tracking technology progresses. Some people think that means that branding campaigns are a dying breed, but the folks at Undertone Networks would strongly disagree. They are a New York City based online advertising network that is helping Fortune 500 companies move their branding campaigns online. The trouble with doing this is that controlling your brand online is much more difficult than controlling it on tv, radio, or in print. That’s why Undertone Networks has developed an ad network that offers “Fortune 500 marketers an ad network where they [can] confidently and safely market their products and services without having to compromise their brand.”

Undertones of Your Career

Undertone Networks is bringing the sophistication of online advertising to branding campaigns. I’m not sure that I’d call it results oriented, but measurement is key to the success of campaigns. Instead of focusing on directly attributing sales or actions to specific campaigns, Undertone Networks is more concerned about driving brand awareness by obsessing over the quality of the audience that sees the ads that they serve. By only working with huge brands and trusted websites, Undertone Networks is able to maintain an intense focus on targeting. If they can’t deliver the audience that they think they can, they’ll happily refund the advertiser’s money. To get a better sense of how Undertone Networks works, you should check out their case studies or this interview with Alan Schanzer, their Chief Strategy Officer.

If you do that and like what you see, then you’ll probably want to take a look at internships at Undertone Networks. They’re an Inc. 5000 company and one of Crain’s Best Places to Work in NYC, so you know they’re the kind of place that you want to get your career started. Undertone Networks has a number of open positions, and a few of those are paid (stipend) internships. These positions include Business Development Intern, Online Advertising Operations Intern, Human Resources Intern, Online Advertising Intern (San Francisco), Online Advertising Sales Intern, Advertising Intern, Marketing Intern, and Media Intern . You can apply for any of these positions through Undertone Networks’ applicant tracking system.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Undertone.com
• Internships at Undertone Networks
• About Undertone Networks
• Management at Undertone Networks
• Case Studies from Undertone Networks
• Undertone Networks’ Locations
• Undertone Networks News
• Undertone Networks’ Products

What have you heard about Undertone Networks?

There are a lot of people who aren’t very thrilled with healthcare in the United States. Yes, it can be atrociously expensive, but at least we have access to pretty much any medical procedure out there. Whether it’s something very basic or something that has never been tried before, the US certainly has the medical infrastructure to get the job done. There are plenty of countries in the world where even the most basic medical care is out of reach, and there are other countries where basic medical care becomes out of reach due to a crisis. That’s where New York City based Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) comes in. They provide “aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters.” Doctors Without Borders does this by recruiting both medical and non-medical personnel to travel abroad to offer a level of medical assistance that is well beyond what is typically available.

MD Not Necessary

You don’t have to go to med school to make a difference through Doctors Without Borders. There are plenty of opportunities for lay people to get involved and make a difference. Here’s a sample of the work that Doctors Without Borders does:

In 2006, MSF medical teams gave more than 9 million outpatient consultations; hospitalized almost half a million patients; delivered 99,000 babies; treated 1.8 million people for malaria; treated 150,000 malnourished children; provided 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS with antiretroviral therapy; vaccinated 1.8 million people against meningitis; and conducted 64,000 surgeries.

If that sounds like the kind of work that you’d like to be involved with, then you should head over to Doctors Without Borders’ Work page. You can learn more about working in the field, or you can take a look at their Paid Internship opportunities. They offer internships three times a year, and the deadlines are January 8, 2010 for Spring Internships; April 15, 2010 for Summer Internships; and August 2, 2010 for Fall Internships. Their internship positions include Access Intern, Development Intern, Editorial Intern, Executive Intern, Field Human Resources Intern, Foundations and Corporations Intern, Human Resources, Systems Intern, Major Gifts Intern, Marketing Intern, Planned Giving Intern, Press Intern, Program Intern, Public Events Intern, and Web Intern. You can find full descriptions on the internships page, and you can apply by sending a résumé and cover letter to internships@newyork.msf.org with Subject line: (Internship Title – Term). They’ll even let you apply for multiple positions, so be sure to send a separate application for each if that’s what you want to do.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• DoctorsWithoutBorders.org
• Internships at Doctors Without Borders
• About Doctors Without Borders
• Doctors Without Borders News
• Doctors Without Borders’ History
• Doctors Without Borders’ Timeline

What have you heard about Doctors Without Borders?

I love boring businesses. It may not seem like it considering the fact that I’m often featuring startups that are on the cutting edge of technology, but I really do appreciate when a company is able to take an extremely simple idea and make it profitable. Uline is a perfect example. They are a Waukegan, IL based company that considers itself “the leading distributor of shipping, industrial, and packing materials to businesses throughout North America.” It all started in 1980 when Liz and Dick Uihlein identified a need for a local shipping supplies distributer. They started the business in their basement with the H-101 carton sizer, and now they have a product line that fills a 452 page catalog. That’s a lot of growth, and I expect it to continue as e-commerce and the shipping that results from it keep expanding (I have about a dozen boxes in my apartment from various holiday season shipments). And if for some reason the shipping business does slow down, Uline can always reorganize as a producer of forts for children—I always loved playing in cardboard boxes.

Box It Up

Now, if you give Uline a closer look, there are some striking similarities between their business and our favorite fictional employer, Dunder Mifflin. They’re both customer service oriented companies that provide businesses with essential supplies; however, I’m going to make a wild guess that the similarities between Uline and Dunder Mifflin end there. Companies with dysfunctional leadership don’t have sustained growth, and Uline is growing so much that they broke ground on a new Pleasant Prairie, WI corporate headquarters last Fall. With that growth comes jobs, or American jobs as Uline likes to call them, and internships too. All of Uline’s internships appear to be paid, and they are offered in areas that include “marketing/merchandising, creative, warehouse, customer service, sales, finance, administration, technology and human resources.” You can find the specific internship postings by browsing Uline’s Jobs page, and you can apply for any of those positions online—just don’t try delivering yourself in a box to their corporate headquarters. That would be weird. Uline has locations in Ontario, CA (that’s California, not Canada—I know it’s confusing); Toronto, Canada; Duluth, GA; Waukegan, IL; Tijuana, Mexico; Eagan, MN; Allentown, PA; Coppell, TX; and Seattle, WA, and most of these offices have internships, so there’s more than just internships at their corporate headquarters.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Uline.com
• Internships at Uline
• About Uline
• Uline’s History
• Uline’s Locations
• Uline’s Testimonials

What have you heard about Uline?

Although I’ve never been there, I hear that the Mall of America is great. It’s an impressive spectacle of consumerism, and it’s a must-see if you’re in the Twin Cities area. However, I’d imagine that it’s not the most educational place to take your kids. Luckily, Minnesotans have the Minnesota Children’s Museum in St. Paul. It was named by Cookie Magazine as one of “sixteen road trip-worthy museums that put the emphasis on children.” The Museum is loaded with cool exhibits like Earth World, which focuses on local habitats, and Habitot, which creates exploration opportunities for toddlers. They also play host to exciting traveling exhibits like Dinosaurs, which will be arriving in 42 days (they have a countdown on their homepage).

Get an Internship for the Children

Now, Minnesota Children’s Museum may not be record-breaking big, but it makes up for it with awesome educational opportunities. A monstrous mall just can’t compete when it comes to intellectually stimulating activities for kids. But what about intellectually stimulating internships for you? The Minnesota Children’s Museum Internships page has exactly what you’re looking for. They have more than a dozen positions for Spring 2010 including internships in Social Media and Promotions, Fundraising Events, Development, Educational Programs – Activity Facilitation, Environmental Education Programs, Exhibit Maintenance, Museum Operation, Education Programs – Museum Classes, Volunteer Recruitment, Membership, Human Resources, Marketing, Information Technology, and Corporate and Foundations Fundraising. You can find links to full descriptions on MCM’s Internships page along with information on how to apply. The deadline for applications is December 18th, and it appears that all of the positions are unpaid.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• MCM.org
• Internships at Minnesota Children’s Museum
• About Minnesota Children’s Museum
• Minnesota Children’s Museum History
• Minnesota Children’s Museum’s Annual Reports
• Minnesota Children’s Museum Information
• MCM’s Play to Learn Blog

Have you ever visited the Minnesota Children’s Museum?

I’m a nut about wildlife. I don’t watch Animal Planet all day or anything, but I get ridiculously excited when I see a new species in the wild. My hope is to one day run into a mountain lion in the wild, at least as long as I’m not being hunted. As fanatical as I am about wildlife, I bet I don’t even come close to the people at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a New York City based non-profit. They were founded in 1895 with a “clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe.” Their first major success was aiding the recovery of American Bison, and now they’re working to “protect many of the world’s iconic creatures here and abroad, including gorillas in the Congo, tigers in India, polar bears in the Arctic, and ocean giants in our world’s amazing seascapes.” Beyond doing that, they also run 5 parks in New York City—the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.

Internships in the Wild

According to Wildlife Conservation Society’s About page, they’re committed to protecting 25% of the world’s biodiversity. I’m not sure where that number came from, how it’s measured, or what exactly it means, but it sounds like an ambitious goal for a passionate organization. The way that pursues this goal is by focusing on 4 key issues: “climate change; natural resource exploitation; the connection between wildlife health and human health; and the sustainable development of human livelihoods.” With so much on their plate, Wildlife Conservation Society has a lot of internship opportunities. You can find all of the information on their Jobs page, where they separate opportunities into New York City Full Time, New York City Seasonal, Opportunities in the Field, and Interns and Volunteers. The Internships section will give you a quick overview of their Internship program, but most of the information can be found by using the WCS job search function. There you’ll find positions like Animal Intern, Development Intern, Human Resources Intern, and Information Technology Intern. There’s no mention whether the positions are paid or unpaid, but they do list them as Non-Exempt, which should mean that they are paid. You can apply for any of the positions online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• WCS.org
• About Wildlife Conservation Society
• Internships at Wildlife Conservation Society
• Wildlife Conservation Society in the Press
• Wildlife Conservation Society Multimedia
• Wildlife Conservation Society’s Annual Report

Have you ever been to any of Wildlife Conservation Society’s parks?

Tomorrow is Halloween, which means that we need to talk about candy today. We’ve already looked at companies like Jelly Belly, The Hershey Company, Charles Chocolates, Vosges, and Just Born Quality Confections. We’ve also discussed jobs at Mars & Co., which is a consulting firm, and not to be confused with Mars, the CPG and candy company. You probably know them best for M&M’s, Snickers, Dove, Milky Way, Twix, and Mars bar; however, they’re also behind Pedigree, Whiskas, Uncle Ben’s, and quite a few other brands. For your sake I hope you only run into the good stuff and not Whiskas or Pedigree during your trick-or-treating. While headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars has locations all across the world. They’re a huge company with a ton of international business, which makes for a great place to gain some experience.

Take a Trip to Mars

It all started in 1911 with butter cream candies in a kitchen in Tacoma, WA. Frank C. Mars and his wife started selling these candies, and now you’d be hard pressed to find a person who has never tasted one of his company’s confections. If you’d like to be part of this true American success story, then you need to check out Mars’ Careers page. They offer a lot of information about their company and what it’s like to work for them, and they even have a separate section for students. There doesn’t seem to be much information on internships, but Mars’ job search function does have a selection for internships. And since you’re in the trick-or-treating mood, I’m going to leave finding more details up to you—but just so you know, they should have job opportunities in areas including Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Logisitcs, Manufacturing, Marketing, Purchasing, Research & Development, & Sales.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Mars.com
• Careers at Mars
• About Mars
• Leadership at Mars
• Mars’ History
• Mars News
• Mars Company Overview

What’s your favorite candy from Mars?

I think that e-mail is still the king of social media. We have all of these fancy social networking accounts, but they all send their notifications to our inboxes. If you want someone’s attention, e-mail is the way to go (assuming your message doesn’t look like spam). Heck, you’re probably reading this in your e-mail. That’s why e-mail marketing continues to be a rapidly growing industry. Over on One Day, One Job we’ve already taken a look at jobs with Constant Contact, Aweber, and e-Dialog, and now we’re going to look at an industrial strength e-mail marketing company, ExactTarget. They’re based in Indianapolis, and since 2000 they’ve been focused on “providing the most powerful on-demand software for email communications and finding the best and brightest marketers on the planet to revolutionize the way people think about email.”

Target Your Internship Search Exactly

ExactTarget offers a wide array of e-mail Products, Services, and Solutions that are used by clients like CarMax, Expedia, The Home Depot, and other huge brands. If you’d like to join ExactTarget at the forefront of e-mail marketing, then you should check out their Slingshot Internship Program, which is “a 3-5 month paid internship program that provides driven students with at least two ‘resume-worthy’ job experiences.” Here’s an introductory video on the program (e-mail readers click through to watch):

If you like what you just saw, then there are two tracks that you can take. The ExactTarget Business Track will allow you to gain experience across departments like Marketing, Accounting, Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Account Management, Deliverability Services, Strategic Services, Training, SMB/Renewals, Partnerships, Human Resources, and Sales, while the ExactTarget Technical Track will have you working in Solutions Consulting (SolCon), Customer Support, Integration, Product, Quality Assurance, Deliverability Services, Training, Implementation, Design and Deployment. You may be able to meet up with ExactTarget recruiters on your campus, but if they’re not recruiting at your school you can get the run down on how to apply for the program here. ExactTarget has done a fantastic job with their internship recruiting program, and I bet that reflects how much they value young talent.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• ExactTarget.com
• Careers at ExactTarget
• ExactTarget’s Slingshot Internship Program
• About ExactTarget
• ExactTarget’s Blog
• Leadership at ExactTarget
• ExactTarget’s Case Studies
• ExactTarget News
• ExactTarget in the Press

What do you think of the Slingshot Internship Program?

I think that I’ve mentioned before that my first experience with video chat was was with CU-SeeMe in an Internet cafe in the mid 90s. Back then the potential for social interaction over online video seemed pretty promising, but the potential for business uses (not that I thought about that when I was 13) was even greater. Real-time video has been slower to take hold on both the social and business fronts than I expected, but now that the quality is so good, we’re seeing more and more businesses embrace video conferencing. Tandberg is a company that is at the forefront of this movement. They have dual headquarters in Oslo, Norway and New York City, and they are both “the market share leader and the fastest growing company in the video conferencing industry.” Their 30% annualized revenue growth for the past 10 years may not be Inc. 5000 material, but it’s still hugely impressive.

I Wonder If They Use Video Interviews

While video conferencing can be as simple as opening up iChat and using the built-in iSight in your Mac, Tandberg offers a higher end experience. They offer products and services that offer superior a superior user experience with a focus on business uses. I remember using video conferencing in a class in college, and I was amazed at how effective it was for presenting to the company that we were working with on our project. It’s all about changing the way people communicate, and if that’s something that gets you excited, then you should check out Internships at Tandberg. They have opportunities in the United States, Asia Pacific, and Europe. We’re going to focus on the US where they have Reston, VA based paid internships posted in Corporate Communications and Technical Support along with a General Posting that mentions internships in Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Sales, and Logistics/Operations. You can apply for any of the positions by sending a cover letter and résumé to hr@tandberg.com.

• Tandberg.com
• Internships at Tandberg
• About Tandberg
• Management at Tandberg
• Tandberg’s Customers
• Tandberg in the News
• Tandberg’s Blog

Do you ever use video conferencing?

Having graduated from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, I spent a lot of time learning about work, employment, and labor issues during my undergraduate days. While most people think that Labor Day is all about the end of summer (sorry!) and not being able to wear white anymore, my school ensured that I was made more aware of the history of Labor Day. Oddly enough, ILR didn’t give us the day off from classes, but they did excuse us from classes if we went to a big Labor Day celebration with speakers from major unions. If that sounds like something that would interest you, then maybe you’ll want to check out internships with the U.S. Department of Labor. There isn’t a more suitable employer to feature on Labor Day than our Federal Government’s Cabinet department responsible for promoting “the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States.”

A Labor of Love

Maybe I’m unique in being fascinated by the world of work, but I think that the issues surrounding employment and labor are going to continue to play a huge role in our economic (and quite possibly cultural) history. The Federal Government has built itself a significant role in these issues through the Department of Labor, and with nearly 20,000 employees I don’t think the DOL is going anywhere in the near future. The scope of what the DOL does for our country’s workers includes:

improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits, helping employers find workers, strengthening free collective bargaining, and tracking changes in employment, prices, and other national economic measurements.

This creates all kinds of cool opportunities for people who are interested in employment issues. Unfortunately the DOL isn’t accepting applications for internships at the moment, but you can check out the different agencies with which you can intern here. You should also periodically check the DOL’s Internships page to see when they do post new opportunities. Since the DOL probably respects the laws that they enforce, I’m sure that they do pay their interns and avoid illegal unpaid internships. It’s surprising that I can’t find a list of the types of internships that they offer, but I guess I’ll leave that to you for your Labor Day homework.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• DOL.gov
• Internships at the U.S. Department of Labor
• About the U.S. Department of Labor
• Starting Your Career at the U.S. Department of Labor
• The DOL’s FAQs

How are you celebrating Labor Day?

Today we’re kicking off our Back to School, Back to Work contest (on One Day, One Job) where we’re giving away an HP dv6 Laptop, an HP Mini 110 Netbook, a customized Timbuk2 bag, and Syncables software to one lucky winner. Last December when we did another HP giveaway we took a look at internships with HP, so this time we’re going to check out Timbuk2 (since they were kind enough to provide a prize for one of you). They’re a San Francisco born and bred company that builds “bags and accessories for urban adventures with a simple philosophy—create good-looking, tough-as-Hell bags you can truly make your own.” I already had one that I stole from my girlfriend, and I just got another to check out for this promotion (the bag goes with me everywhere now).

All the Way to Timbuk2

Timbuk2 does one thing—make bags—and they do it really well. They stand behind their products with an awesome guarantee, and they offer a recycling program (you get a coupon code in return) for people who beat the living snot out of their bags. If you take a look at those two pages, you’ll learn a lot about Timbuk2′s culture. They seem pretty loose, but they’re also deadly serious about being the best at what they do and doing it the right way (check their manufacturing policy). Beyond that, Timbuk2 takes a fun approach with their Jobs and Internships page. Although there’s not a lot of content, you’ll get the idea of what working at Timbuk2 is like pretty quickly. Just last year they didn’t even offer internships, but they opened up to the idea on their Get Satisfaction page. Now they do have an Internships page, but all it says is “Coming Soon!” A little more research turned up that they have offered a Winter Intersession Program project in Human Resources and Design through my alma mater (the ILR School at Cornell). The time when a company hasn’t yet listed their internship positions (but you know they’re coming) can be the best to apply, so reach out to Timbuk2 at jobs@timbuk2.com and see what’s up.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Timbuk2.com
• Internships at Timbuk2
• About TImbuk2
• Timbuk2′s History
• Timbuk2′s Timeline
• Timbuk2 Blog
• Timbuk2 on Facebook
• Timbuk2 on Twitter

Dont’ forget to enter our Back to School, Back to Work contest to win prizes from HP, Timbuk2, and Microsoft.

Three months ago when I featured the American Lung Association’s Jobs, I mentioned a good friend who is battling lung cancer. From what I’ve heard, he continues to be doing well and fighting for his life. Unfortunately, I recently learned that my grandmother is also facing a battle with lung cancer despite the fact that she stopped smoking before I was born. It’s obviously very upsetting for my family, and we’re going to do our best to get her through this. I don’t usually like getting too personal with these posts, but there’s no better way for me to introduce the American Legacy Foundation. They are a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit.” I’ve seen what tobacco can do to people, and it absolutely amazes me that anyone chooses to smoke these days, but many do. It may be their right to do what they want with their bodies but I’m glad that the American Legacy Foundation is working hard to push them towards a smarter, healthier decision.

Where Rejection Is Good

You’re most likely to have seen the American Legacy Foundation’s truth ads; however, I’m sure that you’ve also noticed some of the other things that they do. They’re working to keep smoking out of movies and to help current smokers break their addictions. They’re also supporting a ton of research. It may seem a little pushy. It may be annoying. But it’s important. We as a society need to reject tobacco—for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for our friends. If you agree, then you may want to purse a Fall internship with the American Legacy Foundation. Right now the positions that they have posted on their Internships page are in Communications, Collaboration and Outreach, Government Affairs, Human Resources, Marketing, Research and Evaluation, and with the Schroeder Institute. The internship are paid $9.75 an hour and run from September 14-December 11, 2009.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• AmericanLegacy.org
• Internships at the American Legacy Foundation
• About the American Legacy Foundation
• Legacy’s Staff
• What Legacy Does
• American Legacy Foundation News

How has smoking affected your life?

Next March I’m going to regret not saving this one for my St. Patrick’s Day holiday themed post, but today we’re going to take a look at Lucky Brand. They’re a clothing manufacturer and retailer that is “rooted in rock ‘n ‘roll with a signature sense of humor.” Their About page will tell you that they stand for “independent thinking, individual style and a feeling as authentic as love” and that they’re known for “great-fitting, vintage-inspired jeans;” however, I think it’s much simpler than that. One of their founders came up with the idea to put the phrase “Lucky You” behind the flies of every pair of pants that they made. It was an instant point of differentiation, and I think that it has a lot to do with why Lucky Brand is going strong 19 years after they started. It really is pure, politically incorrect genius. Lucky you…

Get Lucky

The best way to get a feel for Lucky Brand is to check out their clothes online or visit one of their retail stores. If you don’t get what the brand is about, you’re not going to get an internship with them. I think that’s true of any brand, but it’s especially pertinent in industries like apparel where brand is everything. So, what about internships at Lucky Brand? There are quite a few of them available for this fall. They’re located in either Vernon, CA or New York, NY, and there’s no mention of whether they’re paid or not. The internships are available in Design, Human Resources, Wholesale Sales & Planning, Accessory Jewelry Design, Accessory Design, eCommerce, and Marketing. You can find all of the details on Lucky Brand’s Jobs page, and you should also note that:

The Lucky Brand Fall 2009 Internship Program is intended to help acclimate Junior and Senior level university/college students to our company culture, build on their creativity, and allow them the best opportunity to get to know Lucky Brand. This program is designed to identify, develop and potentially hire top entry level talent.

If you’re trying to land a job at Lucky Brand, an internship might be the best way to get your foot in the door.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• LuckyBrand.com
• Internships at Lucky Brand
• About Lucky Brand
• Lucky Brand’s Hiring FAQ
• Social Responsibility at Lucky Brand
• Lucky Brand on Facebook

Do you consider yourself lucky?

In the environmentalist’s ideal world there would be no such thing as hazardous waste. Everything would be pure and natural and “green.” Unfortunately, that will never happen (partially because every living thing is its own little hazardous waste factory). How we deal with this hazardous waste is what truly determines the future of our environment. Triumvirate Environmental has figured this out, and they’ve spent the last 21 years building a business that provides “turnkey environmental and hazardous waste management services to clients across four niche sectors; Education, Healthcare, Industrial, and Life Sciences.” They’re based in Somerville, MA with locations across New England, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic, and they also appear to be masters of social media.

Join the Triumvirate

I’m surprised that I hadn’t heard of Triumvirate Environmental until today. They’re totally on top of employment branding and social media use, so you’d think they’d be on my radar screen (I actually have an internship radar that gives me ideas for posts). This is impressive because they’re doing a great job making hazardous waste management exciting for job/internship seekers and customers alike. Triumvirate Environmental has 9 blogs on topics that include The Environment, Environmental Careers, Higher Education, Healthcare, Industrial and Manufacturing, Life Sciences and BioPharma, Engineering Blogs, National and International Environmental News, and Social Media. It almost seems like too much, but if blog readers turn into customers, employees, or interns, then it’s well worth it. Triumvirate is all over Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube as well.

Although I find Triumvirate’s social media use impressive, I’m more impressed with their customer service philosophy, which is built off of their mission to “build the most productive, long-term, customer-intimate, environmental services firm by WOWing! each employee, and each customer, every day.” It’s all about WOWs! I’ve found that companies that treat their customers well, also treat their interns well, and the same can be said for companies that have Career blogs. That’s why you should definitely check out Triumvirate’s Career Center. Right now they have two unpaid Fall internships at their Somerville, MA office posted: Human Resources Intern and Marketing/Communications Intern. Additionally, Mark Campanale from Triumvirate recently tweeted that he’s looking for Fall interns in SEO/Web Marketing. Triumvirate’s interns are very active on the blogs, so you can even get an inside look at what it’s like to intern at Triumvirate. You can apply for internships at Triumvirate online, but I’ll bet that using social media to reach out to them may be a more effective way to get noticed.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Triumvirate.com
• Internships at Triumvirate Environmental
• Triumvirate Environmental’s Career Blog
• About Triumvirate Environmental
• Triumvirate Environmental’s Blogs
• Triumvirate Environmental News

Have you heard of Triumvirate Environmental before?

A child’s first sign of teenage (pre-teenage?) rebellion often begins at the radio dial. The parent’s up-to-this-point unchallenged decision of what to listen to while in the car is called into question, and all hell breaks loose. If there are multiple kids in the family (or even just in the car), the negotiation can quickly becom more heated than a multi-lateral peace process in a war-torn nation. The parent will fight hard to maintain his or her right to National Public Radio, but the kid will persist in his or her challenge to hear something that feeds a suddenly “eclectic” taste in music. Often the parents cede this battle in hopes of winning in the future (bad idea!), which results in the parent’s driving the kids around the mini-van listening to rap music that would be a lot more offensive if the parent knew what some of the words meant. Eventually the rebellious tykes will grow up and realize that they too want to be more cultured, and they slowly, but surely come around to listening to NPR. Or maybe some kids just never speak up. They like NPR from the start. Maybe those are the ones who end up taking internships at NPR.

National Public Internships

If you don’t know, National Public Radio “is an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming.” They’re non-profit too! Since most people who will end up interning for NPR, probably listen to NPR, we’re going to jump right into their internships—because there are a ton of them. You can find all of the important information on NPR’s Internships page, but here are your options:

I told you that there were a lot of internships! There are in-depth descriptions and specific application information for most of the positions, so head over to NPR’s Internships page to get a full picture of the offerings. The deadline for applying for Fall internships is July 15th, and most of the internships appear to be paid.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NPR.org
• Jobs at NPR
• About NPR
• People at NPR

Do you listen to NPR?

Not too long ago, the only unmanned aerial vehicles were planes flown by women (yuck, yuck, yuck). Now we live in a world where planes can fly themselves. Sometimes I like to consider myself high-tech for running a business on the web, then I think about the companies that design, develop, and produce autonomous aircraft and realize that I’m not high-tech at all. Bingen, Washington’s Insitu is one of those companies. They build UAVs that have amazing reconnaissance, communications relay, and geophysical surveying capabilities. Most of their work has been with the military so far, but Insitu is operating in an infant industry with an amazing potential for growth. In fact, from 2004-2007 Insitu’s revenue grew by 1,702.4% to $50 million annually. This performance put them on Inc. Magazine’s List of the 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2006 and 2007. Insitu CEO Steve Sliwa was also named CEO of the Year for 2007 by Seattle Business Monthly. Insitu is clearly comfortable with taking off.

Unmanned Internships

Beyond the cool factor of what Insitu does, their corporate culture is also impressive. They describe themselves as “a lifestyle company with innovative and creative employees who pour as much into their personal lives as they do into their work at the office.” Insitu has a “business comfortable” dress code and is dog friendly. There is also a heavy emphasis on “Living in the Gorge” – meaning the Columbia River gorge, which offers extraordinary outdoor opportunities. You can go kite surfing, mountain climbing, steelhead fishing, or snowboarding with just a short drive. There is even a list of nearby activities on the Insitu website. The way Insitu treats its people has to be part of their amazing success.

So, what about internships? Right now Insitu is recruiting for Fall 2009 Interns and Summer 2010 Interns. Their internship offerings for both fall and summer range all over the place. They have opportunities in: Engineering (Avionics, Software, Product Development and Propulsion), Marketing, Human Resources, Production, Supply Chain, Flight Operations, Technical Writing, Accounting/Finance, Legal, Facilities, Flight Training, Material Management, Quality Control, IT, and Business Development. All internships with Insitu are paid, and you can apply for them online. Get yourself off of autopilot, and apply for an internship with Insitu now.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Insitu Home Page
• Careers at Insitu
• About Insitu
• Insitu’s Team
• The Insitu Lifestyle

Are you as impressed by UAVs as I am?

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays—not only because it signifies the start of summer, but also because I love small town patriotism. My hometown always has a fantastic parade that is often accompanied by a fighter jet fly over. Now, today’s employer may not immediately make you think of Memorial Day like last year’s did (it was Weber-Stephen, the manufacturer of my favorite charcoal grills), but you’ll realize pretty quickly why the National Park Service is a great choice for today. Not only are some of the parks that they manage great places to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, but they’re also responsible for quite a few memorials including The Marine Corps War Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, and The World War II Memorial. Memorial Day is really about our fallen heroes, and the National Park Service is constantly working to honor them by maintaining and managing our memorials.

Celebrate Memorial Day Any Time of the Year

If you love Memorial Day as much as I do, then an internship with the National Park Service might be something worth thinking about. Whether you love the outdoors and want to be at Yosemite, love history and want to be at Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, or love our country and want to be at one of the memorials, you’ll have plenty of options. The NPS is constantly working to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” So, how do you land an internship with them? You can start at the NPS Internships page. It does give you some helpful information, but the gist of it is that you need to contact individual National Parks about internships. That actually sounds kind of fun. You can decide which parks sound most interesting to you and then inquire about internships. NPS typically hires full-time people in the following areas: Administration, Health and Safety, Archeology, History, Architecture, Human Resources, Biological Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Community Planning, Maintenance and Facility Management, Concessions, Natural Resources, Contracting, Park Police, Cultural Resources, Park Ranger (Protection), Engineering, Park Ranger (Interpretation), Financial Management, Park Site Interpretation, Firefighting, Physical Sciences, and Fire Management. Those might be areas in which they’ll have internships too. Also, I’m pretty sure that the NPS pays their interns!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NPS.gov
• http://www.nps.gov/personnel/permanent.htm“>Internships at the National Park Service
• About the National Park Service
• History of the National Park Service

What’s your favorite National Park/

I’m not sure about this one, but… it definitely caught my eye. Apparently the Lingerie Football League is looking for interns. I guess professional sports is mostly about fine physical specimens (pro bowling excluded, of course), so this isn’t too far of a reach. I mean, the AVP relies on sex appeal too. Oh wait… the women and men on the AVP Tour are actually exceptional athletes. Apparently that’s not the case with the Lingerie Football League. It’s more about creating a women’s football league that the masses will want to watch. I think that it’s pretty ridiculous and that it will probably be a bust (pun intended, and I realize that the article that I just linked to made the same pun), but that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be cool to intern with them. Having that on a resume will at least be a conversation starter (or ender depending on who’s looking at your resume).

Who Said Two Hand Touch Is Boring?

Actually, the Lingerie Football League is a tackle football league, but they’re trying to differentiate themselves from “the myriad of women’s tackle football leagues that nobody knows exists” according to a quote from the league founder in this article. If you want to help with that differentiation, then an internship might be worth considering. I originally found out about the internships from this article, which doesn’t contain too many details. All 10 league teams are looking for interns, and the teams are: Atlanta Steam, Chicago Bliss, Miami Caliente, New England Euphoria, Tampa Breeze, Dallas Desire, Denver Dream, Los Angeles Temptation, San Diego Seduction, and Seattle Mist. If you had any doubts about what the LFL is trying to accomplish here, I think that the team names should have cleared it up for you. The internships apparently offer “experience in a wide range of fields, including sports business, marketing, publicity, event/television production and talent management,” but there’s no mention of whether they’re paid or not. If my sarcasm hasn’t soured you on the potential for a well-rounded internship experience, then send your resume and cover letter to Talent@LFLUS.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• LFLUS.com
• Internships at the Lingerie Football League
• The LFL on Twitter

Are you going to watch any LFL games?

Nearly every t-shirt that I own, I got for free. College is a great place to amass free t-shirts, but now that I’ve been out a few years, my collection is starting to wear thin (in more ways than one). I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I don’t want to start paying for them. I’ll leave that to the customers of Michael Stars who throw down 50… 60… 100 bucks for a tee. Hey, they’re nice looking shirts, and there’s definitely a market for them. It may not be recession chic, but it works. Just look at Jessica Alba, Courteney Cox, Eva Longoria, and many more celebs wearing Michael Stars shirts. If that doesn’t impress you, then maybe you should check out the charity work that Michael Stars does. It may be hard to justify spending a lot on a t-shirt, but it definitely won’t be hard to justify taking an internship with Michael Stars in Hawthorne, CA.

Be One of Michael Stars’ Stars

As L.A. Magazine put it, “Michael Stars is the 20-year old T-shirt company many credit with giving birth to the trend for fitted T’s.” The company’s story is pretty cool, and you’d have to think that a company built on t-shirts is a fun place to work. Right now they’re looking for quite a few interns, so you have the chance to find out first hand. Their Internships page lists opportunities in Merchandising, Human Resources, Design, Public Relations/Marketing, and Corporate Retail. The internships are “for credit,” which typically means unpaid, but maybe you can get some free shirts. To apply for an internship with Michael Stars, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@michaelstars.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• MichaelStars.com
• Internships at Michael Stars
• About Michael Stars
• Michael Stars in the Press

Do you wear Michael Stars t-shirts?

When I started this business, I focused almost entirely on the web for networking – a LinkedIn connection or an e-mail address was all that I needed. However, my mom (who is also my graphic designer) had other ideas. Right after she designed my logo, she sent away to VistaPrint to get me business cards. Although I didn’t use them right away (I was glued to the computer screen and not talking to many people in real life), eventually they became a necessity. Those business cards also came with the one and only One Day, One Job t-shirt (a free gift from VistaPrint). They are the place to go for customized stuff (there’s no better way to put it). You can get business cards, pens, checks, banners, postcards, lawn signs, rubber stamps, mouse pads, magnets, and much much more. The best part about it is that you can do it all online and get a really great price. VistaPrint is definitely achieving their goal of “making high-quality graphic design and custom printing convenient and affordable for everyone.”

A New Vista for the Summer

The printing industry has been around forever, and it’s taken hundreds of years to begin its decline phase, but we’ve certainly reached it. That’s why it’s hard to believe that VistaPrint has built a $400 million printing business in less than 10 years. I guess that’s what happens when you own 90 percent of the online printing market (even if the market only makes up 1% of the total small business printing market). With such a rapidly growing business, it’s no surprise that VistaPrint continues to recruit top talent. Their Campus Recruiting page says that they focus on grads from Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, MIT, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, RIT, RPI, University of Waterloo, WPI, and Yale University. All of their events at those campuses occurred in the fall, but their site says that they have paid internship opportunities in Lexington, MA for Software Engineers and eCommerce Business Analysts and in Montego Bay, Jamaica for HR Administrative Assistants and Creative Training Assistants. Despite the fact that VistaPrint has a great Careers site, they don’t make it clear how you should apply for these internships. We don’t see them listed with their current job postings, so our recommendation is to submit a resume for general consideration and mention the internship.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• VistaPrint.com
• Internships at VistaPrint
• Campus Recruiting at VistaPrint
• About VistaPrint
• Why VistaPrint
• VistaPrint’s Management Team
• VistaPrint’s Investor Relations Page

Have you ever used VistaPrint?

How do you feel about the intersection of friendship and marketing? I know that a lot people weren’t happy when Facebook Beacon started telling their friends what they were buying from other sites, and I also know that nobody wants their friends to go salesman on them (like with Cutco knives); however, word of mouth marketing remains one of the most effective vehicles to reach people with a message. That’s because we still seem to trust our friends the most when it comes to making purchasing decisions. But can brands become our friends? According to 22squared, a marketing agency based out of Atlanta, GA and Tampa, FL, “consumers want brands that act more like helpful friends than persuasive marketers.” I think that’s right, but it still sounds a little weird to me. Maybe we should look at Facebook again for the answer. Plenty of people are “Fans” of brands (like ours), which is very much like being Facebook Friends with them.

What’s the Big Deal About 484?

I don’t know where they got the name 22squared, but Google tells me that 22 squared = 484. I’m not sure what to make of that, so let’s get back to talking about how 22squared thinks that “the consumer is your friend.” They’ve actually developed a metric to judge how friendly brands are. You can calculate it like this:

Strength of Relationship + Number of Advocates + Maturity of Relationship = Friendship Factor %

I’m not sure where you get the inputs from, but if you click “The Work” link on 22squared’s Home page (I can’t link because it’s in Flash) and click through the pages, you’ll see the scores of many well recognized brands. Usually you need to divide by something to get a percentage, so I don’t know what this is all about, but I’d love to hear the science behind it. I wonder what One Day, One Internship’s Friendship Factor % is. I’d like to think that we’re a pretty friendly brand.

Anyway, if I want to keep your friendship, I need to get to the internships. Unlike 22squared’s entry level jobs which are posted on their Jobs page, 22squared’s internships are posted on their blog. These are unpaid (yuck!) positions in both Tampa and Atlanta, and you can focus on a variety of areas including Account Management, Media, Creative, Brand Planning, Digital/Interactive (Creative and Media), Broadcast Production, Studio, Information Technology, and Human Resources. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to HR@22squared.com with INTERNSHIP/ATL for Atlanta or INTERNSHIP/TPA for Tampa in the subject line. You can find all of the details about the internships here, so be sure to give it a good read before you apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• 22squared.com
• Internships at 22squared
• The 22squared Blog
• 22squared in the Press

How do you feel about brands as friends?