One Day, One Internship » New Jersey

TerraCycle

Willy Franzen — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:48:08 +0000

I have my big annual fishing trip coming up next week, which means that I’m starting to go through my mental gear checklist. One thing that I’ve been looking for is some sort of pack to carry all of my stuff when I’m on the river. I used to use a vest, but it’s no longer doing the job. In my search for a perfect pack, I came across a company called Recycled Waders that makes gear out of old waders (waterproof boots that go up to your chest to keep you dry while standing in the water). I’m pretty sure they’re too small to have any internship opportunities right now, but luckily I found a company (from a reader e-mail) that takes a similar approach, but with a much larger audience. They’re called TerraCycle (based in Trenton, NJ), and they turn trash into stuff. You can get an insulated cooler made out of Skittles bags. Or a kite made out of Oreo wrappers. Or a tote bag made of Capri Sun pouches. It’s all about making “affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials.”

The New Alchemy

TerraCycle got its start when Tom Szaky to pursue his passion for worm poop. Yes, that’s right. TerraCycle was founded as an organic fertilizer company that used worms to process compostable material. They’ve kept their green focus but have moved towards less crappy product offerings. Here’s a video rundown of what TerraCycle does and how it all works.

One of the things that I really like about TerraCycle is how they collect the garbage that they turn into products. They put together Brigades to collect specific types of trash. People on the brigades (you can join one) can turn in the garbage they collect to non-profits or schools, and TerraCycle makes a donation in return for the collected garbage. It’s brilliant. If you like what TerraCycle is doing, then you should give their Internships page a look. They have a number of unpaid opportunities posted including: Operations/Logistics Intern, Product Design Intern, Business Development Intern, Product and Market Development Intern, Graphic Design Intern, Licensing Intern, Video Intern, Public Relations Intern, and Sponsored Waste Intern. The application instructions vary for each position, but you can find it all on TerraCycle’s Internships page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any TerraCycle products?

MITRE

Willy Franzen — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:35:58 +0000

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

What do you know about MITRE?

Propeller

Willy Franzen — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:39:39 +0000

I’m fascinated by the field of industrial design. As much fun as it is to build virtual products like this website, I wish that I had the talent and creativity to develop something tangible. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks that, because it seems that there are more and more industrial and innovation design firms popping up lately (or maybe I’m just starting to discover more of them). It makes sense. Look at what Apple has done since it refocused and reemphasized beautiful industrial design. More and more companies are using design as their point of differentiation, yet most of them need outside help. That’s where firms like Hoboken, NJ based Propeller come in. As they put it, they “create products, packaging, and modes of visual communication that elevate human experience.”

Propel Yourself

Getting into industrial design without a background in engineering or design, is extremely tough. Even with the right background, the competition for jobs at the hottest firms can be fierce. That’s why you need to work to find the firms that are up and coming and not as widely known. That seems to be the case with Propeller, because my Google-ing didn’t turn up much additional information (although that could be because they chose to use a name that is a very common word). Their website is pretty sparse, but it’s well-design and shows off some of their work. The only problem is that it’s all in Flash, so I can’t link you to specific sections. What you’ll probably want to look for is their Careers section where they offer paid internship opportunities in Industrial Design, Graphic Design, and Mechanical Engineering. If you want to apply, you should send them an e-mail at careers@gopropeller.com. It should tell them a little bit about yourself while also showing off your best work.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

GoPropeller.com

What’s your favorite industrial design?

Rosetta

Willy Franzen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:44:44 +0000

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

Were you looking Rosetta Stone’s internships?

Appalachian Mountain Club

Willy Franzen — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:25:14 +0000

I don’t know if you’ve ever spent anytime on the Appalachian Trail, but if you haven’t, you should. The trail stretches from Georgia to Maine, while the range of mountains touches as far south as Alabama and as far north as Newfoundland. It’s 1,500 miles of natural beauty that is prime territory for naturalists and adventurers. Back in 1876 there was a club called the Appalachian Mountain Club started in Boston for people who enjoyed the range. Now the club consists of more than 12 chapters and 100,000 members—it’s the “nation’s oldest outdoor recreation and conservation organization.” They’re still based in Boston, and they’ve developed into a non-profit that promotes “the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region.”

Outdoor Enthusiasts Wanted

The work that the Appalachian Mountain Club varies greatly. They fight for conservation, educate people on safe outdoors practices, maintain trails, and put on more than 8,000 trips a year. It’s a great organization that spans many different interest groups—it’s not just the hikers or the birdwatchers or the fisherman. It’s for everybody who loves being outdoors in the Appalachians. The scope of their work is really impressive, and if you want to be a part of it, you should check out the AMC’s Internships page. They have a ton of opportunities that include Massachusetts based internships in Publishing, Membership, Magazine, Major Excursions Adventure Travel, Outdoor Leadership, Volunteer Relations, Youth Opportunities Program, Editorial, Web Development, Development, and Education; New Hampshire based internships in Interpretive Naturalism, Research, Trails, and Volunteer Coordination; and a New Jersey based internship in Education. The internships are typically unpaid, but there may be a small stipend available. The application instructions vary, so check out the AMC Internships page for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you spent any time in the Appalachians?

National Football Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:52:12 +0000

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, which means that it’s time to talk about internships in football (we’ve featured NFL internship in addition to a few other cool opportunities). Since it’s our practice to feature non-profits on the weekend, I started browsing around the NFL’s Join the Team site, which features all of the league’s charitable work. One of the things that I came across was the Play It Smart program, which partners “academic coaches with student-athletes in order to, ‘take a student-athlete’s passion for sports and intense dedication to their team and transform it into a force for greater good in their lives.’” It’s a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and the National Football Foundation. I decided to focus on the latter, as they’re exactly what I was looking for—a football related non-profit. The organization’s full name is The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. The Foundation is located in Irving, TX, while the Hall of Fame is located in South Bend Indiana. The organization’s mission is “to promote and develop the power of amateur football in developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic excellence in America’s young people.”

Touchdown at National Football Foundation

Although the National Football Foundation occasionally works with the NFL, they’re an independent organization that is really focused on amateur football. I’m a big fan of organizations like this and National Coaching Fellows that work to improve achievement at the intersection of athletics and academics. Unfortunately, the National Football Foundation’s About page, so you should probably rely on their Wikipedia page for more info. You’ll see that the organization was founded in 1947 “by General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army Black Knights football coach Earl “Red” Blaik and journalist Grantland Rice.” You’ll also find that their current chairman is Archie Manning, the father of Colts’ QB Peyton Manning. Just as it’s hard to find information about the organization, it’s nearly impossible to find information on their internships. I did find a note about an internship program in Morristown, NJ with the College Football Hall of Fame that runs year round and focuses on communications, public relations, media, marketing, and journalism. Unfortunately this blurb links to the NFF’s main Internships page, which no longer exists. As of now you’re not going to find and current internship postings, so you should try using their LinkedIn Company Profile to do some research, and then use the Foundation’s Contact page to reach out to them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Whom are you taking? Colts or Saints?

Educational Testing Service

Willy Franzen — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:14:05 +0000

You thought that you were done with standardized tests. No more #2 pencils and filling in bubbles for you. Guess again. An internship with the Princeton, NJ based Educational Testing Service would take you right back to Junior year in high school with all the standardized tests. They are “a private, nonprofit organization devoted to educational measurement and research, primarily through testing.” They’re behind AP Tests, the PSAT, the SAT, the TOEFL, the GRE, and plenty of other tests that you may have taken during your academic career. Their aim is to “advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research,” and I’d say they’re doing a pretty good job. A lot of people have a strong distaste for standardized tests, but it seems that we are yet to find a better way to measure and compare achievement across groups. I was surprised to learn that the ETS is a non-profit organization, but it’s probably better for the people who take the 50 million tests that the organization administers annually.

Put Yourself to the Test

Few people realize how important assessment is, at least until they get into the job search process. Standardized tests are a great source of feedback for students—even though most student just seem them as a measurement of whether they’re good enough to get into this college or that program. I bet most internship seekers would willingly take another standardized test if it gave them an idea of where they stood in comparison to other applicants. If you’re intrigued by what the ETS does, you should check out their Careers site. It has good information on a day in the the life at ETS, along with a section on their internships. They take interns at their locations in Princeton, NJ; Ewing, NJ; San Antonio, TX; and Sacramento, CA; however, there aren’t any internships posted yet. The deadline for applying for their Summer program is 4/02/2010, so I’d expect there to be positions posted soon. There is one Government Relations Internship posted on Idealist right now, but if that doesn’t do it for you, you should use the ETS résumé submission form to indicate your interest.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your feelings on standardized tests?

Waterford

Willy Franzen — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:52:26 +0000

Dropping the ball usually isn’t a good thing—especially in the job search; however, tonight the ball is going to drop in Times Square, and hopefully it will be a good thing for your job search. It will get you acting towards achieving your New Year’s resolution of landing a great job, and it might even give you some ideas of places to look for a job. Take Waterford for example. They’re the company that builds the ball that drops in Times Square. The ball was aluminum up until 1999 (before Waterford was involved), but there was an obvious need to do something a little fancier for the new millennium. Waterford, which is headquartered in Ireland but has offices in New York/New Jersey, is known as one of the finest crystal manufacturers in the world, so it makes sense that they were the choice to build a half-ton, six-foot wide, crystal paned ball. They’re also probably the company that made that crystal vase that you almost broke when you were roughhousing as a kid.

Look into Your Crystal Ball

If you’ve been reading for a while, you have probably noticed that I’m a proponent of using your surrounding to generate ideas for the job search. I got an e-mail the other day from someone who didn’t seem to care too much for jobs relating to Christmas trees. He was missing the point. The idea is that by being aware of your surrounding, you’ll open yourself up to ideas that you never considered before. Maybe Waterford won’t be right for you, but maybe an internship at Times Square Alliance will catch your eye. Or maybe you will decided that you love crystal and that you want to intern for Waterford. You’ll be disappointed to see that their jobs page doesn’t include internships right now, but you’ll persevere and find a way to get your foot in the door. Maybe you’ll reach out to them on Twitter or see if you can connect with anyone through LinkedIn. Yes, you’ll have to go above and beyond clicking a few buttons and filling in a few forms to submit your résumé, but that’s the attitude that you’ll need to get an awesome internship in 2010.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Waterford crystal?

Online Computer Library Center

Willy Franzen — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:00:11 +0000

Libraries used to be their own little kingdoms of knowledge. If you needed to research something, you’d go to the library and hope that they had what you were looking for. If they didn’t, you were out of luck. The Internet has changed everything. Now we live in a world where our libraries are interconnected and information resources can be shared instantly between institutions. And even there is a resource that can’t be shared electronically, you can track it down instantly. A big reason that this is possible is Dublin, OH based Online Computer Library Center. They started in 1967 as “a regional computer system for 54 Ohio colleges;” however, they have since grown to serving “more than 71,000 libraries of all types in the U.S. and 112 countries and territories around the world.” They’re better known as the OCLC, and they’ve very much an Information Technology focused non-profit.

You Down with OCLC?

OCLC’s vision is very simple: “The world’s libraries. Connected.” They do this through WorldCat (a global network of library content and services), a Membership Association, a wide array of Products and Services, Support and Training, and Programs and Research. Basically anything that helps libraries do their job better by networking with other libraries is OCLC’s realm. If you’re into Information Science, then this is the place to be. That’s also true because OCLC has been named by Computerworld as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT for the past 4 years, which is why you should check out their Careers page and internship postings. Specific opportunities include Harvesting Intern (San Mateo, CA), Technical Intern (Dublin, OH), and Cataloging in Publication Intern (Blackwood, NJ). There’s also a Corporate Library Practicum that isn’t an internship, but it’s kind of internship-like. There’s no mention of whether these positions are paid, and you can apply for any of these positions online, so get to it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How thankful are you for OCLC?

Polaris Project

Willy Franzen — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:40:43 +0000

I know that most of us were taught in school that slavery ended nearly 150 years ago, but, unfortunately, that’s not really true. Slavery and human trafficking continue to plague our world, even though most of us aren’t really aware of it. Polaris Project is a non-profit organization is not only bringing awareness to the issues surrounding human trafficking and modern-day slavery, but also combatting them. They do this by “conducting direct outreach and victim identification, providing social services and transitional housing to victims, operating the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) serving as the central national hotline on human trafficking, advocating for stronger state and Federal anti-trafficking legislation, and engaging community members in local and national grassroots efforts.” They’ve been at it since 2002 with offices in Washington, DC; Newark, NJ; Denver, CO; and Tokyo, Japan.

Find Polaris

When you look at some of the accomplishments that Polaris Project posts on its website, you start to understand what it is that they actually do. For instance just last year in the DC area, they “provided 28 emergency responses serving 40 girls and women ages 13-42,” “provided individual mental health therapy for 4 survivors,” and “launched a Job Training Program for survivors” among many other things. It’s still hard to believe that human trafficking is going on so close to home, but it is. That’s why the Polaris Project exists, and that’s why you should consider interning with them. Right now they have one internship openings in Newark, NJ posted: Development Intern. Additionally, they have quite a few openings in their unpaid Fellowship Program. These are based in Washington, DC and include Executive Assistant Fellowship, National Advocacy Fellowship, Communications Fellowship, Legal and Policy Fellowship, Outreach and Client Services Fellowship, Client Services Operations Fellowship, Client Services Research Assistant Fellowship, NHTRC Fellowship, Information Technology (IT) Fellowship, , Operations Fellowship, Development Fellowship, and Foundation and Grants Fellowship. You can find the specific application instructions at the end of each job description.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Polaris Project?

Scottrade

Willy Franzen — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:21:53 +0000

After I graduated from college, I decided to take a responsible approach to my personal finances (and I wish I had done it sooner, so all of you current students listen up). It took me a while to get my act together, but once I did I started investing in the stock market through Scottrade, an online discount brokerage company that is headquartered in St. Louis, MO. (And before I go on with more information about Scottrade’s jobs, I need to give Ramit Sethi’s book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, a plug because it just came out and is the best personal finance resource for young people that I’ve come across.) So, Scottrade allows me to buy and sell stocks at 7 bucks a pop. They also have a solid web interface that gives you access to all kinds of information, and they have 399 branches with helpful employees to answer you questions and get your accounts opened. If you’re interested in opening an account with Scottrade, let me know at willy@onedayonejob.com and I can give you a link that gets us both free trades. If you’re interested in interning with Scottrade, keep reading, duh!

Trade Up to an Internship with Scottrade

Now, you may be thinking, “Ummm… Willy, the stock market sucks right now, why would I want to get involved with that business?” There are quite a few reasons. First of all, Scottrade is growing at an excellent rate, which is why they were included in the Inc. 5000. Second of all, they’re not one of these big banks that is on the edge of failure. They’re a discount brokerage that focuses on customer satisfaction, not playing with money in risky ways. Third of all, they’ve been named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. Oh yeah, and the 4th reason is that their internships were named by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s Coolest Internships. Yeah, so they have awesome internships.

Scottrade’s Internships page is very nicely done, and it gives a clear picture of what the program is all about. It then feeds right into their Internship listings, which are extensive. There are internships at their St. Louis headquarters in Internal Audit, Public Relations, and Infrastructure Technical Writing. Additionally they have internships at many of their branch offices for Finance/Economics students. Right now those listings are in locations that include: Birmingham, AL; Hoover, AL; Pasadena, CA; Woodland Hills, CA; Stamford, CT; Naples, FL; Ft. Wayne, IN; Overland Park, KS; Louisville, KY; Rockville, MD; Bethesda, MD; Minneapolis, MN; Kansas City, MO; Las Vegas, NV; Milburn, NJ; Rochester, NY; Valley Stream, NY; York, PA; Chattanooga, TN; Austin, TX; Burlington, VT; Arlington, VA; Williamsburg, VA; Richmond, VA; Green Bay, WI; Thousand Oaks, CA; Redding, CA; Folsom, CA; Oviedo, FL; and Huntington Beach, CA.

It’s pretty cool that Scottrade offers internships in so many locations that typically wouldn’t have many internship opportunities available. The internships all appear to be paid, and you can apply for them all online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you invest? Do you use Scottrade?

Savvy Auntie

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:36:38 +0000

Sorry for the delayed post today. For some reason the Internet connection in our office wouldn’t connect to our server, which meant that we couldn’t publish today’s post this morning. I trudged across town through the snow in 12 degree weather to make sure that you got your internships today.

Niche communities have always been a big part of what the Internet is all about. In the olden days if you lived in a small town and had eclectic interests, you’d have a really tough time meeting people with the same interests. Those days are over. Now you can find an online community for anything – anything. Although today’s company isn’t all that odd in the market that they target, they’re certainly focusing on a group that has been forgotten until now. Savvy Auntie is “the first community for cool aunts, great aunts, godmothers, and all women who love kids.” We’re not sure whether they’ve sided on the pronunciation “ant” or “awnt,” but either way they’ve decided to own the market for enthusiastic aunts.

Interns Are Like Nieces and Nephews…

In a lot of ways having an internship is like having a savvy auntie. If you want to have both, then you’re in luck. Savvy Auntie is currently looking for a number of interns. They have internships available in Video Production, Content, Gifts, and Community. The internships are unpaid, require 10-20 hours of work per week, and are located somewhere in New York/Northern New Jersey (they don’t make it very clear). They also require that their interns own a laptop. There isn’t a whole lot of information available on these internships; however, you can check out the profiles of Savvy Auntie’s current interns. If you think it would be cool to work with a former Fortune 500 executive to build a community of savvy aunts, then send a cover letter and resume to Jobs@savvyauntie.com. If you’re apply for the Content internship, be sure to include 3 writing samples.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think a community for aunts and other women who love children is a sustainable business idea?

MWW Group

Willy Franzen — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:59:38 +0000

When we landed upon the MWW Group’s About Us page, we were a little bit skeptical. How can any company claim to be “one of the nation’s top 10 PR agencies?” How do you rank something like that? Who does the ranking? Can’t any company make that kind of claim? We still don’t know who dubbed the MWW Group as one of the top 10 PR agencies in the country, but we’re not going to challenge them. Why not? Because the MWW Group was behind Amazon.com’s launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which resulted in 1.5 million preorders. Any PR agency that is trusted with a launch like that, and then able to exceed expectations for the most hyped book launch ever can be in our top 10 too. Maybe they can help us promote our iPod Touch giveaway – there are only a few entries so far, and it’s ridiculously easy to enter.

Getting a Start at MWW

As we looked more closely at MWW Group’s client list and case studies, we became more and more impressed. The firm has an amazing range of expertise and looks like an amazing place to start a career in public relations. Their Internships page offers a general overview of what their internship program looks like, and from what we can tell, it looks great. You can search for specific internships through MWW Group’s job search, which is quite simple to use. All you need to do is run a search for all jobs and then browse the listings for anything with “Intern” in the title.

Right now there are six internships listed on the MWW Group’s Jobs site. Many of these are described as Fall internships, so it’s unclear whether they are still hiring for these positions. At MMW Group’s headquarters in East Rutherford, NJ they are looking for interns in Public Relations – Dialogue Media, Creative Services – Web Development, Public Relations, Information Technology (IT), and Human Resources (HR). There is also a Public Relations internship in New York City. All of these internships are paid, and you can apply for these internships online directly from the postings that we just linked to.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of MWW Group’s case studies do you find the most impressive?

Rago Arts and Auction Center

Willy Franzen — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:28:53 +0000

A week from tomorrow I will be leaving Connecticut and making a move to Chicago. First I’ll be stopping in Ithaca, NY for Cornell’s homecoming (any readers want to meet up?), but then it’s on to the Windy City. I have an apartment leased and furniture ordered. It’s a big move, and I’m really excited about it. You’ve probably envisioned your first apartment after college, and I can almost guarantee that you envision yourself buying furniture online or at a store like Crate & Barrel – just like I did. Well, doing that won’t make Miriam Tucker too happy. She’s the CEO and Partner in charge of all staff and internal business affairs at Rago Arts and Auction Center, an auction house that specializes in the sale of 20th and 21st century art and design, and she’s trying to figure out how to build a larger client base of 20 and 30 somethings. This is a challenging problem because most young people are intimidated by auctions and would never even think of them as offering a better value than a retail store. I have to admit that I’m intimidated by the idea of buying my furniture at auction, but I’d love to try it. Ms. Tucker is looking for creative ways to solve this problem, and she thinks that interns are the answer. That’s why she came to us for help finding some.

These Internships Don’t Go to the Highest Bidder

When Ms. Tucker e-mailed me the description of her internship, my ears perked up. I don’t usually get excited by the e-mails that companies send about their jobs and internships, because they usually don’t look very good, but this was an exception. The idea of an Internet / Social Marketing Intern for a traditional auction house sounds outstanding. Here’s what Ms. Tucker’s e-mail said:

We are looking for a student to help us implement online marketing initiatives, aimed at attracting new clients in their 20s and 30s. Are you a strategic thinker with a keen sense of the Internet and strong research skills? Are you proficient in social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, digg.com and YouTube? Do you read up on the latest Internet news, web application launches, and the next generation of the Web? Do you like art and design? If you answered yes to these questions, we encourage you to apply. To be considered you must thoroughly understand the blogosphere and social networking. Internship is available for Fall/Spring/Summer terms. Students should be able to work a minimum of 15-20 hours each week onsite at our location in Lambertville, NJ. (There is the potential for some work to be performed from home.) Interns should be available to work during normal business hours.

My head is already spinning with Internet marketing ideas that could help Rago Arts and Auction Center. If yours is too, you’ll be perfect for this internship. You can apply by sending Ms. Tucker a cover letter and resume at mtucker@ragoarts.com (there are opportunities in the fall, spring, and summer). Interns will be compensated with some combination of per diem and college credit (I strongly urged Ms. Tucker to make sure that the interns are paid well for their work). If you’re in the Lambertville, NJ area, this is an opportunity that you don’t want to pass up.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you have any ideas on what Rago Arts can do to attract more young people to their auctions, leave them in the comments. Show us how smart you are.

Atlantic League Baseball Teams

Willy Franzen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:25:25 +0000

In the winter of 1997, my Dad and I woke up early one morning and drove into the heart of Bridgeport, a plighted inner-city if I had ever seen one. We pulled up to a job site trailer that sat where the left field home run fence would soon stand in a half-built stadium. We were given a tour of what was built and then taken inside the trailer to select our seats for the season tickets that we had pre-ordered. We picked seats directly behind the home team dugout and just about even with the pitcher’s mound, as our excitement grew for the coming of the Bridgeport Bluefish’s inaugural season. The team was a founding member of the Atlantic League, which brings baseball to fans from Maryland to Connecticut. Although the Bridgeport Bluefish don’t currently have any internships posted on the Atlantic League’s Internships site, a number of other Atlantic League teams do.

Independent League Internships

The Atlantic League is an independent league, which means that they are not affiliated with any major league teams. They’re not classified as AA or AAA, but typically the level of play falls somewhere in the middle of those two levels. The league usually has quite a few former major leaguers, and the level of play is quite good. The games are fun to watch, and most of the teams have great stadiums. The league consists of 8 teams – the Lancaster Barnstormers, Newak Bears, Somerset Patriots, York Revolution, Bridgeport Bluefish, Camden Riversharks, Long Island Ducks, and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. Of these teams, the Long Island Ducks, Lancaster Barnstormers, and the Camden Riversharks are currently offering Fall internships.

The Atlantic League is another sports league that uses TeamWorkOnline, which means that the internship postings are easy to navigate. Here’s what each team has to offer. The Long Island Ducks of Central Islip, NY are hiring general Fall Interns. The Lancaster Barnstormers of Lancaster, PA are offering both Fall and Spring internships in Corporate Sales, Group Events, Customer Service, Marketing/Public Relations, Box Office, and Stadium Operations. The Camden Riversharks of Camden, NJ are offering Fall, Winter, and Spring internships in Finance (Fall only), Marketing, Group Sales, Box Office, and Corporate Sales. Applying for any internships can be done easily online. There is no mention of whether these internships are paid or unpaid.

Most of the action with a minor league baseball team happens in the Spring and Summer when the teams are actually playing games, but if you want to get an inside look at the operations of a baseball team, interning in the offseason can provide a great opportunity. Things will be a little less hectic, and there should be more time for learning experience. Don’t get me wrong, a Summer internship with a minor league baseball team is probably more desirable because you get to go to games, but you shouldn’t overlook offseason opportunities.

If your favorite Atlantic League team isn’t offering internships right now, or you want to wait until summer to intern with one of the teams, you can sign up for the Atlantic League’s Internship Notification list or subscribe to their RSS feed of Internship listings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have a favorite Atlantic League team?

Everest Production

Willy Franzen — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:00:48 +0000

There’s a reason that the vast majority of YouTube videos don’t look nearly as good as even the simplest local news broadcast – they lack production. They’re still amusing, but YouTube content isn’t typically something that you want to sit down and watch for a couple hours on you HDTV. Now, if you’re the type of student who would make a good intern at Everest Production, you probably already know this – and you’re probably one of the few people who is putting high quality content out on YouTube. For those who don’t know what a company like Evererest Production does, they provide services such as Video Editing, Dubbing, Motion Graphics, Music, and a lot more. Oh yeah, and they’ll create the movie and shoot it too. Ok, so we don’t know much about production either, but we do know that Everest Production’s projects look pretty darn good. If you’re like us, and don’t have a clue about Production either, don’t stop reading – Everest Production has internships in Marketing and IT too.

Climb Everest or Intern at Everest?

If you’re reading this, you probably didn’t get your application submitted in time to go abroad and spend the Fall semester climbing Mt. Everest, so you’re going to have to go with your next best option – an internship. Luckily there are plenty of internships that are still available and are almost as exciting as climbing the world’s tallest mountain. An internship with Everest Production is one option.

Everest Production is seeking talented, self-motivated, and hard working interns. Every intern directly deals with producers on an one-on-one basis; our interns will see firsthand how a production company operates. The duties of our interns differ according to their assignments. In general the duties consist of but are not limited to transferring XDCAM footage archiving shoots, assisting our graphic department (learning After Effects, live-motion shooting, green screen keying, etc.), spending time with our studio crew, assisting producers with preproduction, participating on field shoots, helping with organizing general host auditions, help in post-production, assist the marketing department, work with voiceover artist and dubbing directors and help our information technology department.

If that sounds like fun to you, and you’re available 2-5 days a week from 9 AM to 2:30 PM in the Somerset, NJ area, an internship with Everest Production is worth applying for. The internships are unpaid, but you’ll get the opportunity to work directly with extremely talented professionals, so you should learn a lot. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to Mehmet Gunduz at mgunduz@everestpro.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

EverestPro.com
Internships at Everest Production (Listed on EntertainmentCareers.net)
About Everest Production
Everest Production’s Projects
Everest Production’s Services

Did you notice the new feature that we added below? It’s going to make networking to find an internship a lot easier for you.

Kenneth Cole

Willy Franzen — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:04:25 +0000

Sometimes stories are too good not to repeat. “The Birth of a Shoe Company” as told by Kenneth Cole is one of them.

Twenty years ago, I wanted to open a shoe company with limited money. From experience I knew one had to get in quickly because so often new companies run out of cash flow before they get the chance to conduct business. I also knew it was easier to get credit from factories in Europe who needed the business than from American banks that didn’t. So I lined up the factories, went to Europe, designed a collection of shoes, and returned to the states to sell them.

At the time, a shoe company had two options. You could get a room at the Hilton and become 1 of about 1100 shoe companies selling their goods. This didn’t provide the identity or image I felt necessary for a new company, and it cost a lot more money than I had to spend. The other way was to do what the big companies do and get a fancy showroom in Midtown Manhattan not far from the Hilton. More identity, much more money too.

I had an idea.

I called a friend in the trucking business and asked to borrow one of his trucks to park in Midtown Manhattan. He said sure, but good luck getting permission. I went to the Mayor’s office, Koch at the time, and asked how one gets permission to park a 40 foot trailer truck in Midtown Manhattan. He said one doesn’t. The only people the city gives parking permits to are production companies shooting full length motion pictures and utility companies like Con Ed or AT&T. So that day I went to the stationery store and changed our company letterhead from Kenneth Cole, Inc. to Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. and the next day I applied for a permit to shoot a full length film entitled “The Birth of a Shoe Company.”

With Kenneth Cole Productions painted on the side of the truck, we parked at 1370 6th Avenue, across from the New York Hilton, the day of shoe show. We opened for business with a fully furnished 40 ft trailer, a director (Sometimes there was film in the camera, sometimes there wasn’t), models as actresses, and two of New York’s finest, compliments of Mayor Koch, as our doormen. We sold 40 thousand pairs of shoes in two and a half days (the entire available production) and we were off and running.”

To this day the company is still named Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. and serves as a reminder to the importance of resourcefulness and innovative problem solving.

The Birth of a Shoe Intern

If that doesn’t tell you all that you need to know about Kenneth Cole, then we’ll let you do your own research. Here’s the skinny on Kenneth Cole’s Fall internships. They’re unpaid and can be located in New York City or New Jersey. Interns get 50% discount off merchandise at Kenneth Cole Retail and Company Stores, meals included in their corporate café, reimbursement for public transportation to and from the corporate office, and eligibility for school credit if desired.

Kenneth Cole doesn’t list their internships on their own site, but on HotJobs instead (we think that’s kind of dumb). Here are all of Kenneth Cole’s internships listed on one page. In Secaucus, NJ they are offering an internship in their Finance/Internal Audit Department. The rest of the internships are located in New York City and can be found in the following departments Product Development/Footwear, Catalog & Internet, International Licensing, Graphic Design, International, Planning & Buying, Design Services, Public Relations/Marketing/Creative Service, and Marketing. To apply, you’ll have to go through HotJobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Kenneth Cole’s story?

Whole Foods Magazine

Willy Franzen — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:53:34 +0000

As we told you on Monday, it’s getting sparse for Summer internships. We’re going to finish out the week with 2 more companies and 2 non-profits and then we’re going to take a 2 week break. When we come back we’ll start looking at internships for the Fall. Today we’re going to talk about Whole Foods Magazine. They have no relation to Whole Foods Market, and they’ve been publishing continuously for 30 years. They’re all about “informing natural products retailers on dietary supplements, herbs, hbc, homeopathy, and foods.”

Whole Internships

We found out about an internship with Whole Foods Magazine on a gated job board. The listing was sparse, but it intrigued us enough to take a look at the company’s website. All the job posting said was that Whole Foods Magazine is looking for English Majors who want to “gain hands-on experience with national health/nutrition magazine. Write bylined articles, news stories, product write-ups, proofread pages, research stories, and more.” It sounds like it could be a really cool opportunity for someone who has excellent writing skills and an interest in healthy living. Unfortunately, Whole Foods Magazine doesn’t list the internship on their website; moreover, their site is sparse when it comes to content about the company.

The internship is located in South Plainfield, NJ, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to editor@wfcinc.com. If this internship sounds interesting to you, we recommend that you see what kind of information you can dig up with some in-depth research. We’ve taught you how to do it in our previous posts, now get to work and see if Whole Foods Magazine is a place you’d like to spend the summer.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you still looking for a Summer internship? Leave a comment and tell us how we can help you find a meaningful Summer experience.

Party City

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:44:49 +0000

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Now I’ve never celebrated before, but I’m pretty excited to give it a go. I did a little research (yes, those skills that we’re teaching you also help when you need to find semi-useful facts) and found that Cinco de Mayo is, in fact, a minor holiday in Mexico, but has become much celebrated in many areas north of the border. This article from the Albuquerque Tribune does a nice job of telling the history, and includes this quote from Jeffrey Candelaria, vice president of membership and marketing at the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce: “From my perspective as a marketing professional, Cinco de Mayo has morphed into a national holiday designed by Fifth Avenue to sell alcohol and excite consumership around a party-type theme.” Well, party-type themes are fun, especially if classes are over for you, so we’re going to run with it and talk about internships at Party City today.

Party On!

Party City is a party retailer that offers all the necessary accoutrements for a themed occasion. These are important because in college (and probably always after) themed parties are essential to justifying questionable behavior. Partying during the daytime is frowned upon even by some of the most hardcore partiers, but it suddenly becomes ok when you’ve purchased some of these Cinco de Mayo party favors. And don’t forget about how people dress on Halloween! A few touches from a Party City purchase can justify almost any costume idea. Yes, parties are fun, but themed parties are almost always more fun. Just remember, keep the pictures private if you put them on Facebook.

No Work Experience, But Some Partying in College

Party City has realized that college students have this partying thing figured out, so they’ve put together a college recruiting program to attract those kids with 4 years of college partying experience. They don’t list information about an internship program on their website, but we’ve found some evidence of their hiring interns in the past. We came across a posting from a Syracuse Career Services site from 2006, that said Party City was hiring 6 interns at their headquarters in Rockaway, New Jersey. The focus of the internships would be in Marketing, Logistics, Human Resources, Merchandising and Finance. We haven’t found any more recent postings, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t hire interns.

It’s May 5th, and the internships aren’t going to come to you any more. You need to seek them out. If you really love the art of throwing a great party, send your cover letter and resume to Party City at jobs@partycity.com. Tell them why they need you as an intern, and why you would love to spend a summer working for them. We can’t promise that you’ll have success, but it’s worth a try.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo? Tell us in the comments.