We want to hire a talented artist, and we wanted to find a way to work in a photo of Bob Ross.

At Fast Horse, our designers play a critical role in bringing our work to life. Whether it’s illustration, interactive design, print, video work or even a little claymation, our design team is constantly in demand. So much so, that we’ve decided to add more talent to the stable.  

Fast Horse is looking for a design intern who’s hungry, versatile and seriously creative. We know there are designers out there who know Photoshop and InDesign inside and out and we know there are artists out there who have the ability to produce truly beautiful work. We’re looking for someone who can do both.

Our client base ranges from giants of their industries such as Coca-Cola, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, and Marvin Windows and Doors to non-profits such as the American Red Cross to a soon-to-be-famous rock band. For those brands, our designers create everything from logos, websites and print collateral to email marketing, iPhone apps and retail signage. And that’s just a sampling. Check out some of our work to see more.

If you think you have what it takes to thrive in a fast-paced, creative environment, we’d love to hear from you. Send a résumé and some work samples to info@fasthorseinc.com and we’ll be in touch. The application deadline is 5 p.m. on July 25.

Internship details:

• Starts as soon as can be arranged
• Initial internship period is for 90 days but may be extended
• Paid position, hourly
• 40 hours per week
• Location:  Minneapolis, MN
• Parking paid

Job qualifications:

• Strong proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.)
• Technical knowledge required to handle a variety of image editing and processing tasks as well as the artistic skills required to create beautiful images and/or illustrations
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office Suite, including PowerPoint (particularly creating and editing presentation templates)
• Comfortable designing for a variety of applications: websites, email marketing, digital presentations and documents, print publications, direct mail pieces, social media profiles, and more
• Bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree or equivalent
• Enough work samples to convince us you’re ready to hit the ground running

Desired attributes:

• Creative, self-motivated and reliable
• A team player who can work in a demanding yet rewarding environment
• Adaptability, resourcefulness and a positive attitude

We held our first Fast Horse Facebook Summer Intern Search last year, and it was a huge success. We hired a kick-ass intern, who’s now our newest full-time employee. We even scored some great ink in the process. So we’re making it an annual competition. Here’s the scoop:

We’re looking to hire an intern who can conceive, design and build a variety of digital assets for Fast Horse and its clients. A hybrid designer/developer. Not heavy database or application development, but the stuff our clients can use to engage their target audiences: websites, mobile-friendly apps, email marketing campaigns, social media tools, interactive product demos, and maybe the occasional add-on, plug-in or mash-up. (See additional specifications at the end of this post.)

Our clients range from Coca-Cola and Marvin Windows and Doors to Insight Schools and SweeTango apples, so our intern’s skills will be put to work in a variety of ways. We want to find a college graduate who can work full time, is as smart as he or she is creative, and fits in well in our loose, fun, fast-paced culture.

If you think you have what it takes, submit a résumé and video “cover letter” to info@fasthorseinc.com with “Fast Horse Summer Intern Search” in the subject line. (If your video is too large to attach to an email, use a large-file sharing service like YouSendIt or MediaFire to get it to us.) Be creative with the video. Use the opportunity to show off your character and tell us why you’re the right person for the job; we’ll also see your résumé, so skip those basics. Don’t worry if you can’t get a hold of your buddy who works at Industrial Light & Magic. We’re judging these videos on substance, not style. FlipCams or smart phones can do the job just fine.

The deadline for submissions is May 31 at 9 a.m., at which point we’ll begin narrowing the pack by reviewing entries and conducting interviews (in person if you’re in the area, over Skype or the phone if you’re not). The review panel will select the finalists based on qualifications (via your résumé) and creativity, personality and some measure of that indescribable not-sure-what that makes you really awesome (via your video cover letter and interviews).

Here’s where it gets really interesting: We plan to hire each of the finalists for a contract position as part of the competition. We’ll give them a creative brief, hire them on a project basis and pay them to build us something cool that helps market the agency. Once those projects are completed, we’ll put them up for a vote, letting our Facebook community choose their favorite. The person who created the winning project will become the newest Fast Horse intern.

I suppose we have to lay out some rules:

• Entrants must be a college graduate as of July 25 (when we expect the hired intern to start working)
• Videos must be no more than three minutes long
• All submissions become the property of Fast Horse (so we can share them if you become a finalist)
• You can only enter once
• Submissions must include both a résumé and a video
• Submissions must be received no later than 9 a.m. Central Time on May 31
• Entrants must be creative and have fun
• Must be a fan of the Fast Horse Experience on Facebook to apply

Internship details (not for the contract/project position, but for the ultimately hired intern):

• Starts on or near July 25, depending on the duration of the contract/project phase of the competition
• Initial internship period is for 90 days but may be extended
• Paid position, hourly
• 40 hours per week
• Location:  Minneapolis, MN
• Parking paid

Job qualifications:

• Knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Actionscript, AJAX and similar languages
• Strong proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Flash)
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including PowerPoint
• Familiarity with designing, building and editing websites with popular content management systems such as WordPress or Joomla
• Ability to develop websites and other assets that marry aesthetic value with accessible user experience
• Bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree or equivalent

Desired attributes:

• Self-motivated, creative and reliable
• A team player who can work in a fast-paced, demanding, yet rewarding environment
• Adaptability, resourcefulness and a positive attitude

Questions? Post them to the discussion tab at the Fast Horse Experience or email us at info@fasthorseinc.com.

We’re pleased to announce a great new program for fans of The Fast Horse Experience.

Quick background: We introduced our Facebook page last year to offer opportunities for a  “digital informational interview.” Our goal was to provide a resource for aspiring professionals seeking internships or entry-level positions in advertising, graphic design, marketing, PR, interactive, etc.

Since then, we’ve gotten to know a lot of talented people. We even hired a few of them. And we certainly hope we brought value to those who “liked” the page. Now that it’s been a year, we thought we’d mix it up a little. So we give you: The Fast Horse Experience Intern for a Day program.

Here’s the deal:

During the next year, we’ll put out calls for guest posts for this blog, The Idea Peepshow. You’ll see calls once every two months. Applicants will then have two weeks to send us a post. We’ll pick our favorite and publish it here. We’ll also hire that person for a one-day paid internship.

Along with the guest blogging gig and one-day (eight hours, $12/hour) contract to work at Fast Horse, each intern will get an office tour, free lunch at one of several fine North Loop establishments and, most importantly, the opportunity to showcase his or her creativity, do real client work and get a sense of what agency life is like.

This goes out to anyone. Any age with any set of interests or skills. You just have to be a member of our Facebook community. After we select the intern-for-a-day, we’ll tailor the work day to fit the winner’s interests. And we’re flexible: winners can pick their day — and if they aren’t based in the Twin Cities or able to make the trip, they can hot-desk, or work outside of Fast Horse walls for the day and keep in touch via phone/email/Skype, etc.

Here are the application instructions for the first open call - which starts today:

• Write a blog post on the broad subject of your reaction to a marketing campaign or message that caught your attention recently. Whether you found it to be effective or poorly done, just make sure to tell us why.
• Send the post to info@fasthorseinc.com by 5 p.m. Oct. 4
• Keep the posts to about 400 words
• If you’d rather submit a video, MP3 of a podcast, collection of photos telling a story, or whatever else, feel free to do so

Each of the following open calls will be made on Facebook, so please ‘like’ the page and visit the ‘Discussions’ tab for questions about this program.

We look forward to getting to know our next six interns – are you one of them?

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Keegan Shoutz, a senior at St. Cloud State and one of our Fast Horse Experience Facebook friends, who paid us a visit and shadowed George a couple weeks back. Keegan is at left with George.

As an upcoming college graduate, come May I will be thrown out into the real world with hopes not much unlike any other college graduate. Find a job I like, in an area I want to live in, near people I want to be around. Although our economy is struggling and jobs are hard to find, I have been privileged with the opportunity to get an inside look at the public relations field on many occasions.

My advice to any college student is this: Get involved! Become active in student organizations and events you are interested in. Doing so will open doors you may have never thought possible. Don’t believe me? Feeling like it’s too much work? Well, take me for example. I joined the Public Relations Student Society of America my sophomore year in college. I was an average member; helped out when I could but never really took advantage of the opportunities I was provided.

Fast forward to my junior year, when I became a more active member within the organization and decided to run for the presidency. Turns out I got it and quickly was given a world of opportunities and experiences not only for myself, but for all the members of the organization. I began the year with a plan: work hard, but work together to benefit our group as a whole. In doing so, each member of PRSSA has been given an opportunity to make a number of great connections within the public relations field. We have been focusing on topics such as informational interviews, tours of agencies we are interested in, social networking sites and job shadowing.

Which brings me to where I am today, sitting in the offices of Fast Horse, “a consumer marketing agency,” located in Minneapolis.  If you had asked me at the beginning of the year if I thought I would be confident enough to seek out an agency I am interested in and ask if I could go in to job shadow for a day, you would have received a simple “no.” Getting more involved throughout each year of college has truly created opportunities I never knew existed. The ability to sit in an office such as this, right next to the very people who have the job I want, is an eye opening experience.

Most of us spend four or more years in college, and although we attend class and go through the motions, many of us cannot imagine where we really want to be after graduation. It takes initiative, hard work and dedication to find a career and let’s be honest, just going through the motions is not going to cut it.

It’s important to network, get your name out there and find the answers to any questions you may have about how to get to that dream job. Use social networking sites and the Internet to your advantage. Times have drastically changed and it’s even more important today to get your voice out there. Do anything you can to distinguish yourself from the others searching for the same position, and create your own opportunities.

The time is now and graduation will come faster than you think. So get out there, find what interests you and strive for achievement. In the end it will take you places you never though possible.

As for the second opening?  Well, let’s just say we’re casting a very wide net for new talent. This would be an investment hire (or two) based solely on the need to keep our bench deep as we continue to grow.  Talented people get absorbed quickly around here, and we are always looking for marketers who bring new ideas and experiences to our shop.  Perhaps you’re an account planner looking for a new opportunity.  An interactive developer searching for more interesting projects.  A social media maven eager for a bigger stage.  A creative director ready to take it to the next level. A media relations expert ready for a new adventure. All of the above?  When can you start?  Our list of services can be found here.  Take a gander and tell us how you think you can help us continue our momentum. We’ll create a position if we can find a superstar to fill it.

We value initiative, a sense of humor and curiosity.  Our culture is loose, flexible and extremely fast-paced.  Sound like a place where you or someone you know could thrive? Please direct resumes to Jorg Pierach at info@fasthorseinc.com. In the meantime, we’ll start a discussion tab about our latest talent search at the Fast Horse Experience on facebook. Join us there if you have questions or ideas about where we might find great candidates.

If you would have told me back in December that 2009 would be a year of significant growth here at Fast Horse, I would have given you one of those patented Gary Coleman ”Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” looks.  While we felt good about our position, we were being realistic about the economic head winds and were prepared to hunker down and ride out the storm. 

So much for hunkering. Seems every agency head I encounter these days is telling me the same thing: 2009 has been a surprisingly good year, and they are looking to add staff.  And so are we. 

To that end, Fast Horse has begun the search for a Client Relationship Manager and an intern.  So what the hell is a Client Relationship Manager?  Around here that means you’ve got 2-5 years experience and you’re on the cusp of ruling the agency world. You’ve experienced enough to hold your own in brainstorms and strategy discussions, you can manage a project without some clown with a fancier title constantly peering over your shoulder, and you’re asserting your good times on the agency culture.  In short, you’ve been a dusty 1,300-pound bull in the agency chute, and you’re about to show the world why they call you Diablo.

If you’ve done some time at a fast-paced, innovative ad, PR or interactive firm you’ve got a hell of a head start on landing this gig.  We value creativity, curiosity and initiative.  Show us you’ve got all that and more and we’re likely to flip you the keys to our shop on the spot. Interested?  Send your stuff to info at fasthorseinc.com attention Jorg. Or find some other creative way to demonstrate your interest and chops.

Details on the intern position are in the Discussions tab at the Fast Horse Experience. Preference on intern hires goes to our Facebook pals.  (We’ve already hired two of them. Take a bow, Hillary and Sandra.)