JELLYVISION NEEDS PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPRENTICES

We here at Jellyvision are the proud parents of ALEX®, an interactive employee communications platform that happens to share some DNA (and a sense of humor) with the smash-hit trivia video game YOU DON’T KNOW JACK, created by Jellyvision's founder. ALEX makes navigating tricky decisions—like choosing and using employee benefits or improving your financial wellness—easier, faster, and more helpful, not to mention entertaining. The success of the ALEX platform has exceeded our wildest dreams, (except for the part right before we woke up where our mom was riding a giraffe), which is why we need talented folks like you to help us help ALEX take over the world…er…continue to grow and succeed.

THAT’S LOVELY, BUT WHAT’S THIS I HEAR ABOUT AN APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM?

We’re looking for a select group of apprentices for an extended apprenticeship program with our ALEX team, to learn about what we do and how we do it, and to contribute to our annual implementation process during our customers’ benefit election season. Before we get into specifics, here’s the lowdown on the program in general: 

Length: The apprenticeship will start in June and wrap up in November. Only candidates who will be available for this entire period will be considered. Apprentices work full-time, Monday through Friday. 

Who’s eligible: Students graduating in May/June 2018 or recent grads, or any awesome folks who are looking for an excellent short-term opportunity.

WHAT DOES THIS JELLYVISION EXTENDED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM OFFER?

• Competitive pay. Specifically, $600/week.
• The opportunity to contribute to Jellyvision’s award-winning interactive ALEX products through specific short-term assignments.  You’ll be doing work that matters.  You won’t be making copies all day, stuck in a back room filing papers, or fetching coffee — apprentices sit with and are valued members of the team.
• An environment voted one of Chicago’s best workplaces by Crain’s Chicago Business in 2014, 2015 and 2016. We also were on Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces List in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Lastly, Symplicity named us one of the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads in 2016 and 2017
• Training to understand the complex world of health care benefits and other communication issues employers face.
• Professional development support, mentoring and feedback from members of Jellyvision’s award-winning staff.
• Summer social events designed to give apprentices exposure to staff outside their core work area.
• Bottom line—the opportunity to do good work with fun people in a relaxed and casual environment.

ALL RIGHT…IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS? OPEN ENROLLMENT? EXPLAIN MORE!

Sure thing! Every summer, our team gears up for Open Enrollment in the fall, a time each year when companies allow their employees to review and make changes to their health care and other benefit plans. The problem is, these decisions can be tough and benefit materials can be difficult to navigate. This is where ALEX comes in. Working with our amazing customers, our Implementation Experts review the ins and outs of each customer’s benefit offerings. In a nutshell, they then implement the information into our virtual benefits counselor software and we license the software to our customers. Then, our customers can provide the experience to their employees who will, in turn, make more informed decisions about their health care benefits…without wanting to tear their hair out after wading through pages of “legalese.” If you resisted the temptation to click on http://www.meetalex.com up in the intro, check it out now to learn more.

SO WHAT EXACTLY WOULD I BE DOING FOR JELLYVISION AS A PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPRENTICE?

Project Management Apprentices are an integral part of the ALEX team. As an apprentice, you will work closely with ALEX Implementation Experts (IEs) and learn the ins and outs of product implementation and benefits communications. Every day at Jellyvision is different, but here are some things you’ll be working on:

• Entering and updating customer benefit information using Jellyvision’s online tool.
• Working with an IE to manage production schedules and meet project deadlines.
• Managing implementation and customer communication for select ALEX supporting products.
• Populating email templates and customer documents for IEs to send internally and externally.
• Taking notes during, and participating in, customer phone calls.
• Assisting with technical troubleshooting & resolving bugs.
• Taking on other ad-hoc projects to help with the production and implementation process.

The apprenticeship will provide great training for anyone interested in learning about project management. We are looking for bright-minded individuals with a thirst to learn, a can-do spirit, and the ability to be the ultimate team player.

OKAY, I COULD COME HANG OUT WITH YOU JELLYPEOPLE. WHAT SKILLS SHOULD I HAVE?

• First and foremost, great communication skills. You will be responsible for communicating both internally and externally about projects (verbally and through documentation), making certain everyone involved knows what is going on and what has changed. You will be expected to keep track of customer updates and communicate ongoing developments amongst the team.
• You must be an assertive, resourceful, and creative problem solver. Things go wrong. But you should be forward-looking to anticipate areas of concern or risk for our projects. When unanticipated issues come up at exactly the wrong time (as they tend to do), you should be world-class at quickly and constructively working with members of the team to find solutions.
• Great organizational skills and impeccable attention to detail (especially with spreadsheets!). We have that annual “busy” season called “Open Enrollment.” Accordingly, much of this job involves bringing order out of chaos during a compressed, high-pressure period of time, so you need to be the kind of person who enjoys organization for organization’s sake. We’re looking for the kind of people who derive great pleasure from making their budget balance to the penny, who enjoy creating binders for their takeout menus, or who make spreadsheets when they pack for vacation. You know who you are. And we love you.
• But that kind of organization can’t make you rigid - you will need to be extremely flexible, because you will have to be comfortable jumping back and forth between customer calls, entering customer data into our system, analyzing customer’s benefits packages, working with our internal staff to resolve issues, and handling anything else that comes up in a day.
• The ability to jump in and help out. This is a “get your hands dirty” position, and you’ll need to really understand our business, process and tasks so that you can actually help others effectively do their jobs.
• Technically savvy- It’s important to have level of comfort with learning, discussing, and understanding technical issues related to our products. We’ll teach you what you need to know when you get here, but we’re looking for someone who is capable and comfortable working with IEs to grab technical information that will assist in troubleshooting any issues our customers report.
• Computer Skills- A strong proficiency in MS Office products, especially Excel and Word, is a must.
• Ability to absorb information quicklyso you know how all the pieces of a project are going to come together, and when a curve ball comes your way, be ready to work with the IEs towards a solution. And don’t worry; we’ll supply you with lots of training.
• Last but not least,a sense of humor is a must. Bizarre taste in music and/or deep knowledge of useless pop culture trivia is a plus.

SOUNDS FUN! SO WHAT DOES A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ALEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPRENTICE LOOK LIKE?

• 9:13: Start your day with some locally roasted coffee from the office kitchen. Check your email and to-do list… nothing’s on fire, so you jump into your team’s schedules and see what’s coming up for the day.
• 10:00: Time for a customer call. We’re kicking things off with this customer, so we walk them through the process and get their questions answered. You’ve helped prep the materials for this meeting, and on the call, your job is to make sure we note any important details.
• 12:04: Head to Whole Foods for lunch. Finally try tofu in your burrito, like the Director of Implementation suggested. Verdict: She IS as smart as she seems!
• 1:00: Time for another call. This time, a customer has seen their version of ALEX for the first time, and they have some questions about how things work. You make sure any requests are captured so that updates can be made.
• 2:20: Work with a production associate to figure out a tricky bug with your customer’s Benefits Sneak Peek video.
• 3:30: Another meeting, but this time, you are checking in with the IEs that you work with on a regular basis. You go through upcoming deliverables together to make sure everyone is organized, but you also take a minute to debate about the proper pronunciation for .gif.
• 4:41: Time for a round of foosball in the game room. No worries—no checklist for this part!
• 5:12: Cross things off your to-do list (Feels good, doesn’t it? We hear you.) and take a look at what’s on your calendar for tomorrow.

SIGN ME UP – HOW DO I APPLY?

If you’re interested in joining us as an apprentice, we need two things from you:

1. A cover letter that clearly indicates:

• Where you are in school.
• When you plan to graduate.
• What you think you could contribute to Jellyvision.
• How your previous experience has prepared you for this type of gig.
• Who you are. Really let your personality shine through your cover letter! (We weigh them heavily, so have some fun with it!)

2. A resume that fills us in on your experience to date - school projects and work that you've done on your own included.

You will receive an auto-reply confirming that we've received your application.

Please know that every single application we receive is read by a real live human being. However that kind of thoughtful review takes time, so it may take us a little while to get back to you (but we will, we promise). In the meantime, NO FOLLOW UP PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS, PLEASE. It’s not that we don’t love hearing from you. It’s just that time spent responding to follow ups could be spent…well…reading your application. Please rest assured that if you received a confirmation from Recruiting Robot, we’ve got your application, and will get back to you really soon. We knew you’d understand.

If you still have pressing questions in the meantime, please feel free to check out our handy-dandy FAQ page!

Thanks for your interest in Jellyvision!