Who doesn’t love taxes? Why would you want your full paycheck when you can only get a part of it? Why would you want to pay the advertised price when you can pay it plus a percentage (it’s like a reverse sale every time—especially here in Chicago where we have the country’s highest sales tax of 10.25% and sometimes higher)? Obviously, paying taxes is part of being a good citizen, but that doesn’t mean it’s not terribly frustrating. Before you get a job (thank god internships are often unpaid), you should know that you’ll probably spend anywhere from 3-7 months of the year working just to pay your taxes. And by the time you’re in your prime and actually making a decent salary, it’ll be even more since our generation is going to have to pay off all of the debt that our country is accruing right now. Paying tax is bad enough, but imagine being the one responsible for collecting taxes. That’s the case for many business owners, and now that the Internet lets you do business in any state or country, collecting the right taxes can be an enormous headache. Luckily, there’s Avalara, a Bainbridge Island, WA based company that has developed software to “automate statutory tax compliance.” Continue reading about Avalara…
Everybody acts like social media and social networking is a new development, but it really isn’t. Even 15 years ago there was a web service that enabled you to create profiles, connect with friends, engage with communities, and communicate instantly or asynchronously. It was called Aol, and there’s a good chance that you used it. I feel bad for Aol. They had it all. They were the behemoth of the social web before anyone knew what the social web was, but they were too big and not agile enough. They continued to act like an ISP, and their market share eroded as people transitioned to high-speed connections. Today most people think of Aol as irrelevant, but the NYC based company is doing their best to make a comeback. The good news is that they aren’t living in the past. They’re not trying to win at social networking or being an ISP—they’ve repositioned. They now describe themselves as “a leading-edge web services company, with an offering of premium and niche content sites, world-class tools and platforms.” The focus is on content, and in some ways that’s what Aol was always about—making great content easy to access for the masses. The tough thing for Aol is that they’re already a huge company, so they’re going to have to swing for the fences if they want their new business model to work. Continue reading about Aol…
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. Continue reading about MITRE…
It’s a tough time of year for fantasy sports enthusiasts. The football season is over, and it’s still a bit early to be preparing for your fantasy baseball draft. There’s hockey and basketball, but they’re right in the middle of their seasons. The excitement of the draft is long gone, and the playoffs are still too far away. You need an outlet for all of that fantasy sports energy, and Arlington, VA based Fantazzle might be the perfect outlet. They’ve only been on the scene for a couple years, but they’ve already been acknowledged by The New York Times’ Fifth Down Blog as having the most accurate preseason fantasy football rankings for the 2008 season. I haven’t played any of their games, but it appears that they run weekly games instead of full season games. It’s for players who don’t the attention span to last a whole season (or maybe players who get discouraged by being in last place after a couple weeks). Continue reading about Fantazzle…
I have to admit that the “jobs” that I’m most concerned with today is Steve Jobs. I can’t wait to find out what Apple is announcing today, and I wish that I had some relevant internships to bring you. I don’t, but I did come across a really cool list yesterday called 5 Butt Kicking Companies You (Probably) Never Heard Of. The list is exactly what it promises, as it features 5 later stage startups that are growing rapidly and hiring lots of people. The first company on that list is Palantir, a Palo Alto, CA based company (with another office in McLean, VA) that “is working to radically change how groups analyze information.” They were founded by former PayPal employees and Stanford computer scientists. Right now the company is focused on two verticals: Government and Finance. Both areas deal with massive amount of data and information, so it makes sense that Palantir is starting with them. Continue reading about Palantir…
Design matters. It’s the reason that Apple can sell devices that essentially do the same thing as those of their competitors for a significant premium. It’s the reason that you choose to trust one website over another. It’s the reason that you buy brands. Yes, functionality matters too, but that’s a given. Grafik gets it. They’re an Alexandria, VA based integrated marketing agency that appears to put a heavy focus on visual design. Their main service offerings are brand strategy, integrated communications, and interactive marketing, but it’s very obvious from looking at their website (and their name) that graphic design is a key part of what makes Grafik successful. Browsing through a gallery of their work only confirms this. Continue reading about Grafik…
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. Continue reading about Mars…
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. Continue reading about Tandberg…
While the Inc. 5000 is filled with exciting companies that you’ve probably never heard of, there are also some familiar names on the list. Rosetta Stone is a popular brand with college students, because so many students want to learn new languages but can’t fit foreign languages into their schedules. Rosetta Stone is far and away the biggest brand name when it comes to learning new languages, so it’s no big surprise that the Arlington, VA based company has grown from $48.4 million in revenue to $209.4 million over the past three years. In fact, the growth has been so strong that they recently held an IPO that was considered very successful. Continue reading about Rosetta Stone…
Today is the last day to enter our Maghound Your Way to a New Job contest. With so few entries so far, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll win a one-year subscription to an awesome new magazine subscription service (3 monthly magazines for free!).
I’m still on my Inc. 5000 kick, and today we’re looking at a company whose name immediately caught my eye. They’re called College Hunks Hauling Junk, and that’s exactly what they are. Omar Soliman wanted to make some money during the summer, so he borrowed his mom’s cargo van to start hauling away people’s junk. He then entered his business plan in the Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition and won the $10,000 first prize. He realized that he had a business that he could grow, and now College Hunks Hauling Junk is doing $2.9 million in revenue. Guess that’s why Omar and his co-founder Nick were named (also by Inc.) as Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. College Hunks Hauling Junk is headquartered in Tampa, FL, but through expansion and franchising they now operate in Anne Arundel, MD; Baltimore/Howard County, MD; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; San Francisco/San Jose, CA; Tampa Bay, FL; and Washington, DC Metro. Continue reading about College Hunks Hauling Junk…
Don’t get freaked out, but imagine an earthquake. Part of the building that you’re in collapses and you’re injured. There’s no way for you to get out, and there’s no safe way in for a rescue team. It’s too dangerous to send people in to get you out, but your injuries are life threatening. You need medical attention ASAP. Luckily, there’s a BEAR. No, not a trained wild animal (although that’s almost a good idea), but a “versatile, humanoid robot capable of lifting
and carrying humans and other items over 600 lbs.” This isn’t some fantasy. It’s a reality because of Vecna Technologies, a high-tech startup whose corporate mandate is “Better Technology, Better World.” They’re based in Greenbelt, MD, but they also have offices in Skyline, VA; Cambridge, MA; and Silicon Valley, CA. Robotics like those found in the BEAR is just one sliver of the things they’re doing to put technology to amazing uses. Continue reading about Vecna Technologies…
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
Usually when I’m looking at the job and internship requirements to get a feel for what a company is looking for, I’m looking at things like education, experience, skills, and job functions. It’s not often that I’m thinking about security clearance, but at today’s company, SPARTA, it’s essential for most of their jobs and even some of their internships. (Now, don’t worry if you don’t already have Top Secret Clearance, they still might have jobs for you as long as you didn’t get into too much trouble during your college years or before.) The reason that there’s all this talk about clearance is that SPARTA is a company whose “core business areas include strategic defense and offense systems, tactical weapons systems, and space systems” and whose “major intelligence credentials include intelligence production, computer network operations, and information assurance.” Continue reading about SPARTA…
I like adventures. I enjoy heading into the woods and going fishing or, perhaps, going skiing for a weekend when I’ve never skied before (please don’t let me hurt myself); however, I’m not sure that going into space is for me. Yes, it would be really cool, but I have to admit that it would make me a little nervous. I also can’t afford a trip to space. Maybe in the future traveling to space will be as normal as flying in airplanes and it’ll cost just about as much too, but until then you’ll have to rely on companies like Space Adventures to get you to space. They are a Vienna, VA based company that claims to be the “only company currently providing opportunities for actual private spaceflight and space tourism today.” I’m sure it’s not cheap, but if you have the cash, they can put you in space. Continue reading about Space Adventures…
How’s the relationship between your college or university and the town or city that it’s in? Let me guess. Not so hot. It always seems that students and “townies” don’t get along too well. Beyond that, there can also be situations like at Yale in New Haven, CT where the students are generally much wealthier than the people who live in the surrounding neighborhood. This just exacerbates the fundamental gap between the university and the community. National Student Partnerships is a non-profit organization that was started in New Haven by two Yale students who wanted to close this gap. They “designed a program where college student volunteers work one-on-one with community residents, coordinating access to employment opportunities and social services, including job training, housing, health care, child care, and transportation.” It’s a wonderful idea, and it’s working – look at the success stories. Continue reading about National Student Partnerships…
Maybe it’ll sound sad to you, but web analytics are a big part of my life. When your job is running websites, it’s often the best feed back that you can get. I have to admit that it makes me feel better about myself when I get more visitors, more subscribers, and more comments. And I really like it when people sign up to learn more about a job search training course that I’m releasing in the next few days. I’d imagine that employees at large corporations aren’t nearly as emotionally tied to web analytics as I am, but maybe they are – they often hold titles like Web Analytics Manager. While I’m happy with the information that Google Analytics provides me, many companies have much greater needs when it comes to tracking users on their websites. That’s why the big boys like Apple, Adobe, NBC, Chevrolet, Gap, Neiman Marcus, The New York Times, PayPal and Target use Omniture, a Utah based web analytics company. If those names trust Omniture for analytics, then you can be pretty sure that Omniture is the best out there. Continue reading about Omniture…
These days it seems like more and more internships are unpaid. With the economy the way it is, people want to get their work done for free. We don’t mind it so much when it’s coming from non-profits, but areas like journalism seem to be some of the worst offenders when it comes to not paying interns who are doing valuable work. Today we’re going to at internships with The American Spectator – a journalistic publication run by a non-profit organization that actually pays their interns. The Spectator’s roots were planted in “1924 by George Nathan and Truman Newberry over a cheap domestic ale in McSorley’s Old Ale House,” but The American Spectator as we know it wasn’t started until 1967 when the Saturday Evening Club took over the defunct publication. Today The Spectator, published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation, is a monthly magazine covering news and politics with a strong conservative slant. Continue reading about The American Spectator…
Although many people don’t realize it, almost every non-profit organization spends a considerable amount of time and resources on raising money. Some call it development, and others call it fundraising. Whatever you call it, it’s time and resources that charitable organizations have to direct towards something other than their missions. Global Impact is a non-profit organization that makes it its mission to raise money and awareness for other non-profit organizations. With the money that it raises, Global Impact works directly with U.S. based international organizations to help the world’s most vulnerable people. Despite the fact that Global Impact is all about fundraising, they still think that it’s important to limit administrative costs, which is why they’re able to give away 88% of the money that they raise while only 5.3% of their spending goes to administration and fundraising. Much of Global Impact’s proficiency in fundraising comes from their participation in and promotion of workplace giving programs. Global Impact is very selective about where their money goes, so member organizations are expected to meet very specific criteria before they are able to receive funds. Global Impact has Continue reading about Global Impact…
Newspapers are dying. If you’re a college student, there’s a good chance that the only newspaper that you ever read a physical copy of is your campus’ daily. When you graduate, you probably won’t subscribe to a newspaper. Everything is moving online, and the industry is suffering financially because of it. With all of this change, there’s also a lot of opportunity. Interning in a traditional newsroom can offer some amazing learning opportunities, but the future is working in an interactive newsroom. Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive is the digital arm of The Washington Post (and we think that it may eventually be the only arm). WPNI consists of WashingtonPost.com, Newsweek.com, Slate, BudgetTravel.com, Girlfriends Getaways, Sprig, The Root, The Big Money, Loudoun, and Ad Specs and they are looking for a ridiculous number of interns. Continue reading about Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive…
Before we start, two things. Fisrt, if you’re currently doing an unpaid internship in New York City and would like to be featured in a press story, e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com. Second, if you want to win an iPod Touch with almost no effort at all, enter our contest. Ok, let’s get started. If you’ve read our article from One Day, One Job on 9 Magazine Lists That Will Find You a Job (it works for internships too), you know that we’re always looking for new lists of great companies who might be hiring interns. We recently came across the Wall Street Journal’s Top Small Workplaces 2008, so of course we’re going to poach from it. The list is alphabetical, and we didn’t even have to go past A because ATA Engineering Inc. looks like an awesome place to work, they appear to have a strong internship/co-op program, and this is just one of many awards that they’ve won. They’re an employee-owned engineering consulting firm, and they specialize in the areas of Spacecraft, Launch Vehicles, Entertainment, Electronics, Airframes, and Software. ATA Engineering is all about teamwork, and their compensation plans and hiring processes reflect that. Continue reading about ATA Engineering…
Finding a St. Patrick’s Day related internship for you was harder than finding a four leaf clover in a monsoon, but we did it. We’re not sure how you’re celebrating, considering St. Paddy’s Day falls during many Spring Breaks and Holy Week, but have a bowl of Lucky Charms for us – unless, of course, you gave them up for Lent. Many people think that mining is much like searching for a pot of gold, but Luck Stone is a company that considers the stuff you dig through to be the “pot of gold.” Continue reading about Luck Stone…
