One Day, One Internship » research and development

Wizards of the Coast

Willy Franzen — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:05:21 +0000

When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I played a trading card game called Magic the Gathering. Being a baseball card collector, I was more interested in what the cards were worth than actually playing the game. I occasionally played with my friends, but when they lost interest, I went back to baseball cards. Many trading card games came after (I didn’t play any of them), but apparently Magic the Gathering was the first. I had long forgotten about Wizards of the Coast, the company that was behind Magic cards, when I came across their name again. I took a look, and was surprised to see that the Renton, WA based company has grown quite a bit over the past decade and was eventually purchased by Hasbro. Wizards of the Coast is still a gaming company—the world leader in hobby games—and their brands include Dungeons & Dragons, Duel Masters, Heroscape, Axis & Allies, and Star Wars in addition to Magic the Gathering.

Are You Wizard Enough?

It’s surprising that a company can have as much success as Wizards of the Coast while still staying seemingly under the radar, but that’s exactly why the company has been so successful. Instead of expanding outside of their niche market as they’ve grown, Wizards has stayed true to themselves and grown within their market. They have an insanely loyal following, which is why the competition for internships at Wizards of the Coast can be extremely fierce. In fact, competition is the perfect word—in 2006 Wizards of the Coast launched a competition in which the winner won a paid R&D Design Internship. Unfortunately, there has been no new info on internship opportunities with Wizards of the Coast since then. I’m not sure what the deal is, but they don’t even mention internships in their Careers FAQ. I couldn’t even find any current or recent interns on LinkedIn. If you have any info on internships with Wizards of the Coast, please share it in the comments. Until then you may want to try networking your way in or submitting a résumé for general consideration here. You can also keep an eye on the company’s Job postings here to see if anything pops up.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play Magic the Gathering or any other Wizards of the Coast games?

Berry Plastics

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:51:41 +0000

A couple of days ago the blogosphere exploded (pun intended) with news about bomb proof wallpaper. The story originally came from Popular Science with a video of a wrecking ball trying to knock down a brick wall that has been reinforced with the X-Flex Blast Protection System (the video is included below). I always love news stories like this one, because it puts the spotlight on a company that you never would have otherwise. In this case it’s Berry Plastics, an Evansville, IN based plastics company. Their products range from agricultural films to plastic bottles and from drink cups to trash bags. There’s a good chance that you have dozens of items in your house/dorm/apartment that were manufactured by Berry Plastics—you just don’t know it because most people don’t care who manufactured their shampoo bottles.

Bomb Proof Your Internship Search

I’m pretty sure consumers will be much more brand conscious when it comes to buying bomb proof wallpaper. Obviously the military is talking about using the X-Flex Blast Protection System, and I can also imagine the product’s being used in areas where hurricanes or tornadoes are prevalent. You’ll see why in the video below (subscribers should click through to view):

For me the obvious question whenever I find an interesting company like Berry Plastics is are they hiring interns? Considering that Berry Plastics has more than 13,000 employees (most of them in a manufacturing setting), I’d have to imagine that they have some sort of internship program, although they don’t explicitly mention it on their Careers page. I have found evidence of a Product Development Engineering Internship (.Doc file), an Engineering Internship (.Doc file), and a Marketing Internship (no link). They also have a field to select “Office – Intern” on their online application form. Berry Plastics’ internships appear to be paid, and you should also note that one of the benefits listed on their Careers page is “Fun.” If applying online doesn’t work for you, you could try printing your résumé on Berry Plastics’ bomb proof wallpaper and send it to them. They’d have to hire you because they wouldn’t be able to destroy your résumé.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you going to use bomb proof wallpaper?

Research In Motion

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:56:19 +0000

I’m an iPhone guy, so I tend to feel sorry for people who are constantly thumbing away on their BlackBerries. That’s just my being a smug Apple user though. I realize that a lot of people love their BlackBerries and for good reason. They’re pretty remarkable devices, and they’re perfectly tailored for business use. (Although not as perfectly tailored as my iPhone! Ok, I’m done.) That’s why Research In Motion, the company that makes BlackBerries, has a 16.6% share of the smartphone market. They seem to have hit a bit of a rough spot lately (at least their stock price makes it look like they have), but their market position is still very strong. That’s why it’s no surprise that they appear to have a huge internship program; however, the real reason that I wanted to feature Research In Motion here is that they chose an unfortunate, yet inappropriately hilarious domain name for their Jobs site (it redirects now, but I think that you can figure it out).

RIM Internships

RIM’s description of what they do is pretty complex:

Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, text messaging (SMS and MMS), Internet and intranet-based applications.

However, I think that you can put it pretty simply by saying that they make BlackBerries. I’m sure that there’s a lot more that they do on the technology side, but it seems that smartphones are their bread and butter. They’re a big company, so it’s no surprise that their Careers site has a special section for students, which is further broken down into a section for Internships and Co-ops. They do a nice job of sharing details about their internships on pages like Co-ops and Interns in Action and the specific pages for Canadian, American, and EMEA Students. After you’ve checked all of this out, you can take a look at RIM’s internship and co-op listings.

Don’t get overwhelmed though, there are 238 listings right now. You can narrow down the listings by using the search function, because I’m not wading through those for you. Positions in the US (Irving, Texas; Sunrise, Florida; Rolling Meadows, Illinois; Redwood City, California; and Bellevue, Washington) are typically offered in Software Development, Database Development, Software Testing, Mechanical Design, and Project Management. While in Canada (Waterloo, Ontario; Mississauga, Ontario; Ottawa, Ontario; and Halifax, Nova Scotia) positions are typically offered in Research and Development, Enterprise Marketing, Technical Support (Client Support Operations), Manufacturing, Finance, Legal, Human Resources/Organizational Development, Retail Marketing, Sales and Information Technology. Finally, in Europe (Slough, UK; Egham, UK; Birmingham, UK; and Bochum, Germany) they offer positions in BlackBerry Support Operations, New Handheld Testing, Carrier Product Marketing, Research & Response, BlackBerry Systems Engineering, System Integration, Intellectual Property – Legal, and Sales. Whoa, that’s a lot of internships!

All of the internships/co-ops appear to be paid, and you can apply for them online from the internship listings that you’ll find through the search function. Be wary though, because when you view a listing and then hit the back button to get back to your search, you’ll have to reenter your search to get the results that you want.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have a BlackBerry?

Droog

Willy Franzen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:40:05 +0000

Today’s company might not have the sweetest sounding name, but they’re Dutch, so we’ll give them a break. Droog is “an enterprise based in Amsterdam and set up in 1993 as a statement on design.” They “operate worldwide together with partners, clients and manufacturers, designers, artists and architects in all areas of design.” So, what exactly do they do? First of all, they design their own products, but they also seem to take on client work. Droog doesn’t seem to be so much concerned with what it is they actually do as they are concerned with the science and the art of design. Droog Lab is where much of the company’s creativity comes from, as “the Lab’s research and design results find their way into Droog stores, publications, exhibitions or client proposals in collaboration with the Creative agency.”

Just Say Yes to Droog

Although the internships with Droog Lab are based in Amsterdam (with a stopover in Dubai to work on the Droog al Arab project), they look so cool that we just had to feature them here. Here’s the description of the internship:

As a Lab intern, you will work closely with the content & project manager in researching global urgencies and producing research material. You will join the interdisciplinary team of experts, students, known and unknown designers from all over the world for the Lab’s first project, Droog al Arab, where you will have the opportunity to develop design concepts, research material and presentations to the public.

The internships start in March and they last 6 months. There’s no mention of whether or not the internships are paid, but this is one of the few instances where I don’t care. This opportunity sounds way too cool to pass up. If you want to apply, send a resume and portfolio to agata@droog.com with the subject line “Droog lab potential intern.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

More international internships? Yes or no? Vote in the comments.

vSpring Capital

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:01:38 +0000

I don’t think that we’ve featured any internships in Venture Capital yet, but today that’s going to change. From what I’ve heard, it seems like there just aren’t that many internships in VC to start with, and when there are, they get snapped up almost immediately. That’s why I was pretty interested when I got word that vSpring Capital is now recruiting for their Summer Internship Program. They’re based out of Salt Lake City, UT, and they’ve funded a portfolio of companies that work in the Software, Communications, Internet, and Life Sciences industries. I don’t recognize any of their portfolio companies by name, but some of them look pretty cool, so you should check them out.

Summer Internships with vSpring

vSpring is currently looking for 8-12 MBA or undergraduate business students to intern with them for the summer. Each intern will be placed with a vSpring portfolio company and given a project that the company would likely not be able to complete without the help of interns. Projects will typically be in areas like market research and quantification, competitor analysis, marketing, product and project management, R&D, and finance. Interns will be matched specifically with projects, so you don’t have to worry about getting put on marketing at a software company, when you’d be a much better fit for finance and a life sciences company. Beyond that, it seems that you’ll also get some time at vSpring to get a feel for VC world. These aren’t 100% venture capital internships (since you’re working mostly with the portfolio companies), but they’re probably as close as you’ll get. There’s no word on whether the internships are paid, and you can find all of the details on the internships here. To apply send a resume and cover letter to Dennis Wood at Dennis@vspring.com. We’re assuming that all of the internships will be in the Salt Lake City area, but there’s no definitive word on that.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you want to see more VC internships?

DreamWorks

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:00:26 +0000

Unless you go to see fewer movies than I do, then you know about Dreamworks. On the animation side they’ve done Shrek, Antz, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar and more. On the film side they’ve done Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, American Beauty, Gladiator, Old School, Transformers, and many more. They make great movies, and they’ve been very successful. It’s no surprise considering they were started by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. If you don’t recognize their logo, then you probably shouldn’t be looking for a internship in the entertainment industry. An internship at DreamWorks is a dream come true for many college students, so let’s look at how you can land one.

Work Your Way to a Dream Internship

DreamWorks is separated into two somewhat separate businesses – DreamWorks Studios and DreamWorks Animation. They’re both recruiting interns right now, and they both have Flash websites that make it impossible for us to link to their Internships pages. On the DreamWorks Animation site, you need to click the “Company” button at the bottom of the page, and then select “Careers” to find information on internship. Here you will have two options – DWA Internships and PDI Internships. The DWA Internships are located in Glendale, CA and they have opportunities that were posted just a few weeks ago for Spring internships in Business Affairs, Consumer Products, Production, Production Tech, and R&D Software. If you’re applying for an artistic position, you should apply by mail to:

DreamWorks Animation
Recruiting Department
1000 Flower Street
Glendale, CA 91201
ATTN: Position name (or code if applicable)

To apply for a non-artistic position, you can send your resume and cover letter to internships@dreamworks.com.

The PDI Internship are located in Redwood City, CA and they have Spring offerings in HR and R&D Software. All of the internships are paid, and they require 16-24 hours per week of time commitment (40 hours per week in the summer). If you’re applying for an artistic position, you should apply by mail to:

PDI/DreamWorks
Recruiting Department
1800 Seaport Boulevard
Redwood City, CA 94063
ATTN: Position name (or code if applicable)

To apply for a non-artistic position, you can send your resume and cover letter to internships@pdi.com.

In addition to these internships, there are internships that appear to be with DreamWorks Studios. They actually have a Jobs site that we can link to, so it should be a little easier to find out the details. Right now they have a Spring Theatrical Marketing Internship in New York City posted, but they will be accepting applications for Summer internships during the month of March. You can apply for these internships by e-mailing dwinterns@dreamworks.com (we’ve received word from a reader that this e-mail address is dead, so snail mail might be the only way to go) or by sending mail to:

DreamWorks
Human Resources
1000 Flower Street
Glendale, CA 91201
ATTN: Internship Coordinator

These internships are offered both on an Academic basis (unpaid) and paid Summer internships. All internships require a 10 week commitment, and Summer internships require 40 hours per week while Spring/Fall internships require 12-24 hours per week.

Yes, it’s a little confusing, but DreamWorks looks like an awesome place to intern, so spend some time on research to find the your dream opportunity.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have any more info on interning at DreamWorks? Leave a comment.

Project for Public Spaces

Willy Franzen — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:02:11 +0000

What’s your favorite public place? Where would you most rather be than sitting in front of a computer searching for internships? I guess that with wifi you could actually be in your favorite public place while searching for internships, but that’s a relatively new development. The odds are that your favorite public place is somewhere that you feel like a part of the community. Project for Public Spaces is a non-profit organization that works to increase the number of “people-friendly settings that build local value and serve community needs.” In other words they want to make it easier for people to get out of the house and interact by providing better places to do so.

People, Places, and Internships

Project for Public Spaces was founded in 1975, and since then they have worked in over 2,000 communities across 26 countries. Their main focuses are Parks, Transportation, Civic Centers, Public Markets, Downtowns, Mixed Use Development, Campuses, Squares, and Waterfronts – areas with the most potential to be revitalized into great community centers. Having trouble grasping what exactly Project for Public Spaces does to promote public places? Look no further than their Greatest Hits – a list of their 10 most successful projects, which includes Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park for starters. They call what they do “placemaking,” and they base their work on the thought that the people make the place. Project for Public Spaces works in two capacities – first, they offer planning and design services to communities that are in need of improving their public spaces – second, they offer training for community leaders on how they can “placemake” on their own.

Project for Public Spaces appears to be a thriving organization, so it’s no surprise that they have quite a few Fall internship opportunities. They list all of their opportunities on their Jobs and Internships page, so you can get all of the details there. Right now they are looking for a Communications Intern, two Project Assistant Interns, a Development Intern, and a Research & Development Intern. Each internship has a thorough description on PPS’s site, so check those out if you’re interested in any of the opportunities. PPS is located in New York City in a pretty cool office, so that’s where the internships are. There’s no mention of pay in the internship listings, so we’re going to guess that they are unpaid. Each position has a different e-mail address to send your cover letter and resume to, so be sure to pay attention when reading over the descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Honda R&D

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

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

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

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

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

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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