Andrew Bornhoeft

29 years old, from Sacramento, California (MSU graduate)

Andrew puts ads on the Internet that people can click on to find out about job opportunities at companies like Intel. His company also runs the CareerMosaic site, a place where you can look for jobs.


What do you do?

My official title is 'Internet Strategist' for the western region of Bernard Hodes Advertising. BHA is a recruitment advertising agency, which means that we look for employees for our clients. BHA also runs the CareerMosaic site, which is sort of an online classified ads for jobs. I am working mostly on the Intel account, but will be expanding into the Hewlitt-Packard account soon. I also do some work for our other clients, including NEC and Beverly Health & Rehab.

My job is to put advertisements on the internet to get people to click to the page we have set up for Intel. Once they have come to our page, they can read all about different job openings at Intel. Currently, I have banners on about 15 different web sites. I will add another half dozen next week. I have spent around $50,000 placing these banners in January alone.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

My favorite thing is tracking how my banners are doing. I like making charts showing how many people saw my banners, and how many clicked on them. I also like that I am so in tune with everything that happes on the internet, so I always know first any good news.

My least favorite part is when my boss (who doesn't know much at all about the net) comes up and says "I need to know about sites for people who design semicondutors in Boston, and I need it this afternoon". While I am always searching for new sites, having a sudden deadline can be frustrating since I don't have time to look at all of the sites that I should.

Where are you from?

Currently, I live in sunny Sacramento, California. I grew up in Seattle, played in the Navy for awhile, then headed out to Bozeman in '89. I went on & off to MSU. I graduated with a BS in math in '93, and a BS in marketing in '97. I also spent alot of time driving trucks (tractor-trailers) in between college.

Hobbies?

When I went back to college in '96, I started playing on the school computers a lot. MSU provides internet access for all of the students, and I spent alot of time up there just playing and learning. This helped out in classes too since I could always find more infomation on topics.

Then in spring of '97 I was in a class that was preparing an advertising campaign for Pizza Hut. One of my jobs in that class was to do internet research. I looked for things such as the history of Pizza Hut, where the best/worst markets for pizza were, trends in the restaurant industry, what Pizza Hut's competitors were doing, etc.

I had this experience on my resume. When I sent my resume to BHA they were looking for a person who understood both advertising and the internet, and that's how I got my job.

Do you have any advice for Montana 4-H'ers who are interested in computers and the Internet?

This is a great field to be in! There are a lot of jobs, especially in the cities like Seattle, Portland, San Fran / silicon valley, LA, and Boston. And these jobs pay great.

The computer industry is too large for any one person to do everything on computers, so I recommend figuring out what you like, and spending the time to master it.

The first step is to learn a little about all different aspects (hardware, programming, graphic design, telecommunications, internet, etc). Then figure out what you enjoy the most on computers, and become an expert on that specifically.

For example, I couldn't program my way out of a barn, but at least I have some idea of what programming is. I love the internet though, so I spent many hours learning everything about it, and that made me employable as an internet expert.

In short, find what you like to do, then do it better than anyone else. You will be rewarded with a great job. (This holds true for all careers, not just computer-related).

What are your hobbies? Family?

I am married to Julie. We have no kids, but we do have 4 cats and hope to soon adopt 2 puppies. So I guess pets are our hobby, or at least our lives. I enjoy skiing, hunting, relaxing, camping, and sight seeing. I am having a blast here in California because there is so much to do (San Fran is 1 1/2 hours away, Napa Valley is beautiful, Tahoe is about 2 hours, I am hoping to take a weekend to San Diego soon).

What is your e-mail address?

abornhoeft@so.hodes.com

Important Web sites?

Bernard Hodes Advertising is at: www.hodes.com

CareerMosaic is at: www.careermosaic.com

Our Intel job page is at: www.careermosaic.com/cm/intel/intel65.html