Startup Spotlight- Qmee

How would you like to get cash rewards for searching on your favorite websites? Welcome to Qmee, a startup based in the UK that does just that. It is a totally free app for your favorite sites like Google, Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo, and Bing that lets you get rewarded for doing the things you already do. Amy Allen, the head of user acquisition at the company, gave campus2careers the chance to find out all about the company and what Qmee looks for when hiring.

First, how Qmee works (it’s pretty easy!). Once you create a free account, continue using your usual search engines in the exact same way you normally do. Qmee works in the background so you don’t even notice it is there until the search results are shown. Sponsored links appear alongside the regular search results but each Qmee result has a cash reward attached to it. If you are interested in the page simply click and collect your reward. And don’t worry about getting spammed in the process, Qmee only shows result that they think are relevant to your searches. At any time you can cash out what you have earned through either your PayPal account or by donating it to a charity.

For the two founders, an app that would do something good for internet users, online business, and charities was the perfect business model. The idea is that as internet advertising is making money for businesses online, they could give some part of that back to those who were helping them to make it. Without the internet user clicking through to their sponsored links the company would be penniless. Qmee helps encourage them to consider alternative results. It is a win-win relationship for both the user and the businesses. While the users are getting paid to search, the advertisers are learning useful information about how effective their ads really are.

As head of user acquisition, Amy Allen looks for new ways to spread the word about Qmee and attract more members as well as look after those that are already signed up.  With only a few employees at this small startup, everyone is involved in all aspects of the business. Whether it is helping a user, using their feedback to improve or launching and spreading the word about a new technology, everyone is working together towards one goal: to keep people engaged with web advertising by allowing them to share in their online value.

For Qmee, and most startups with only a few team members, a new hire has to exemplify the core values of the company and be passionate about spreading the word. The Qmee culture involves being honest and open with the users while offering timely responses. Amy knows that in order to mesh well at Qmee the new hire must develop their own conversation with the community and have the confidence to be a real person rather than a corporate voice. The overall goal is to help users earn the rewards they deserve so making sure that they are satisfied and successful is an important part of the job.

Does it seem too good to be true? Well think again. It is as simple as earning cash for searching online. Founded and run by people who care and want to help others every single day. For more information about Qmee visit www.Qmee.com . Be sure to check out www.campus2careers.com for more information and to apply for great opportunities.

American Marketing Association

Every year the American Marketing Association (AMA), a leading organization and resource for marketers and academics, gives the Student Marketer of the Year award to one AMA Collegiate member who demonstrates superior leadership, service to AMA, academic achievement, and impact on their community. This year’s winner, beating out students from over 360 chapters in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, was Amanda Hepner, a senior marketing and management major at Texas State University.

For many college organizations, once you join, pay the twenty dollar membership fee and pick up your t-shirt, there is nothing actually done through the club. It looks good on a resume but you may have not have achieved anything. But AMA is just the opposite. “We have speaker meetings, workshops, field trips, job shadowing, community service, professional and social events, the list goes on,” Amanda says. You gain personal and professional growth while being a part of AMA and get the chance to meet a lot of cool people along the way.

Her best advice to new members (and this applies to any organization you join) is to “get involved and get hands on.” With so many ways to take advantage of the association no one should feel like they gained nothing from it during their time in college. The members got the chance to visit the offices of Dell and ADP to see what day to day work life would be like. Getting a glimpse of how their marketing degrees could be used in the real world after college is a great insight that many students do not get the chance to experience.

With such an activity filled group it is no surprise that it is comprised of “a group of students who aspire to be successful and develop our professional careers and network but also have fun” as Amanda describes them. The AMA Collegiate Chapters are there to help students become successful, like Amanda, by furthering their professional development through leadership training and involvement in the field of marketing.

Working for Mattress Firm

When you hear the words innovation and talent, you probably don’ think of mattresses.  But to the employees of Mattress Firm, the leading brand in the mattress industry, these are values used to keep them ahead of their competitors. Daja Pope, a senior talent acquisition specialist, has been working with the company for seven years and has loved her time spent with one of America’s best known brands. 

For Daja, every day is a little bit different from the next. Whether she is trying to source candidates, conducting interviews, or leading trainings online, she is definitely keeping busy. But it doesn’t always feel like work at this company. “It’s like a big family here, and that is so important if you are going to be working somewhere for a third of your day.”  

To continue being leaders in their industry, Mattress Firm has no time to rest.  They have to come up with new and creative ideas constantly.  For example, Mattress Firm was the first to let their customers try the beds at the store.  And they have lots of other firsts, some of which were suggested by students.  Interns get the chance to use their imagination as well as take on interesting assignments both for Corporate and their Retail Stores.  At the end of the summer, the interns have to give a presentation on their projects, which could be about the company’s target market or ways to improve the sleeping experience. 

 Hoping to land a job at this amazing company? The most important thing is to stand out. According to Daja, having a good energy level and something unique that differentiates you from the other candidates is imperative. “I interview several candidates for every position so you need to find a way to really be remembered” she advised. Find a name association, or bring something tangible to the interview, like Daja did when she brought a brown folder just so it would match her lucky brown suit and give her a funny anecdote to tell the interviewer. This can also help break the ice making everyone more comfortable.

The odds are your mattress is from Mattress Firm.  So if you also work for Mattress Firm, you will be spending roughly 80% of your day with one company.   But this is one company you should not mind getting into bed with.  Be sure to check out www.campus2careers.com for more information and to apply for great opportunities.

Interning at Intel

Most students would agree that they learned something new during their internship, like the quickest way to make copies or how to carry twelve coffee cups at once.   While these are probably not the most useful skills, they are developed as part of this rite of passage.  As one of the largest and most renowned tech companies in the world, one might think an intern could get lost in the crowd and stuck doing lowly jobs at a company like Intel.  But as Colon Zamora, a five-time Intern at Intel explains, it is quite the opposite.

Colon can’t get enough of the company and just keeps coming back year after year. While his typical day may not seem unbelievably exciting to an outsider he “is given a lot of freedom to go about the projects and solve the problems that need to be solved” he said. The atmosphere and culture of the company is one where “everybody pushes you to do your best while trying to help you reach your potential too.” The antisocial stereotype that many associate with engineering doesn’t apply here, where the environment is actually very friendly and collaborative.

Working for Intel is not all work, all the time. The company rewards you for hard work by giving you eight weeks off every seven years, what they call a sabbatical.  But beware when you leave that a surprise or two may be waiting for you when you return.  “One of my old mentors liked basketball a lot, so my coworkers put pieces of hardwood from a basketball court onto the floor of his office.   While he did not appreciate the remodeling at first, he ended up liking it because his chair rolls around easier” Colon remembers. Pranks and fun are all part of the job, and not just for the intern.

Hoping to land that dream job at Intel? Tiffany Peery the Recruitment, Social Media and Marketing Strategist gave some great advice about what they are looking for in interns and recent graduates. “We like it when candidates are go-getters.  I think ultimately it’s about having a solid resume demonstrating that you have gone above and beyond: doing well in school, a good GPA, but that you have also taken on some cool internships.” For a technology company like Intel, the skillset you have is a big factor in getting hired. Taking the right classes to position yourself well, reading job descriptions, and understanding what it is that they are looking for all put you ahead in the game.

Most of us know of Intel inside from all the laptops and other devices we own.  After reading this blog, hopefully you now know more about what goes on inside Intel.   If you get an internship or job at Intel, make sure you look for Colon as he definitely knows his way around after five years there.  To learn more or apply for great opportunities at Intel, go to www.campus2careers.com.