AfterCollege maintains an exclusive network of over 1,500 partnering academic departments and student groups, as well as a proprietary database of over 19,500 faculty and student group contacts at the nation’s top colleges and universities. Through its network, AfterCollege delivers targeted job listings to a diverse audience of students who range from undergraduates to PhDs, with 84% having GPAs of 3.0 or above. AfterCollege helps the student find a part-time job or internship during school and upon graduation in their specific field.

“We’re excited about our partnership with Adicio and being able to offer their newspaper clients access to our exclusive network of exceptional students and graduates.” said Michael Dawes, Vice President of Channel Partnerships at AfterCollege. “This mutually beneficial alliance gives both parties additional visibility and exposure, enabling newspapers to target the college and university audiences while giving college job seekers more quality opportunities.”

“Aligning with AfterCollege allows us to offer our newspaper clients direct access to emerging talent that their local HR communities are eager to tap.” said Tony Lee, Chief Alliance Officer, Adicio. “We’re also working with AfterCollege to expand this program and offer these services to our broad range of non-newspaper clients as well.”

n its entry on itzbig, American Venture wrote that the company is “the technology leader in online recruiting,” adding that “itzbig is the first interactive network to allow working professionals to save time while safely exploring career opportunities. By focusing on quality and efficiency, the company’s innovative approach matches the quiet working professional with the appropriate position at the itzbig client.”

Jim McGovern, the CEO of itzbig, noted that “it is a tremendous honor to be recognized by a prestigious third party, such as American Venture. Our employees have worked very hard to create a value proposition that is unique and effective in the online recruiting industry.”

That value proposition has resonated with dozens of companies in Texas where itzbig launched in 2007.

“itzbig is different in that it allows us to find high-performing employees who would otherwise not feel comfortable exploring jobs on the Internet,” said Gary Thompson of Kimbia Software, Inc. “itzbig is attractive to these candidates because it offers privacy, security, and anonymity as well as the ability to see exactly how they match up against the specific job opportunity.”

“We were using more traditional recruiting methods for hiring a developer when we decided to go with itzbig. Immediately, we found what we were looking for. There’s no reason to go back to the old way of hiring new employees.”

Joel Cheesman, one of the most widely-read bloggers on emerging recruitment issues in the world, added that itzbig had it right from the start.

“Founders Jim Hammock and Hank Stringer are industry veterans who launched Hire.com almost a decade ago,” said Cheesman. “Add that experience with founder Asad Khan’s supply chain industry expertise and you have a winning combination that can reshape the recruiting industry.”

“This is a company that has plotted its growth in a very responsible way, expanding step-by-step out of its home state and doing its best to ensure both employers and applicants have an opportunity to connect in a meaningful way. itzbig has a sound strategy and is gaining momentum with some of the tech industry’s most dynamic employers.”

DFJ Growth Fund led the round, with partner Mark Bailey taking a board seat. Return backers Menlo Ventures and New Enterprise Associates also participated.

Additionally, this should free-up the company for further growth nationally and globally, including top U.S. markets and possible acquisitions in places like Australia.

“With close to 600 million vacation days lost by American workers each year, it’s quite likely that the number of wasted sick days is even greater,” says Andrew G.R., creator of the calendar and the founder of Jobacle. “We hope you don’t need your sick days when you’re really sick. However, with some proper planning you can get the most out of a flawed system.”

With more and more companies eliminating personal days and flextime, employees are counting more than ever on sick days to fulfill their vacation needs.

Among the calendar’s official sick days:

• Leap Year. An extra day…to work…without extra pay? Hell no! You need to call in sick on Friday, February 29 and do something out of the ordinary with the three-day weekend.
• With a little planning, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day can be connected for a mini six-day festivus.
• If you only take one fake sick day this year, make it the day after Thanksgiving. If your employer is too cheap to give it for free, you need to overeat and cry fowl.

The Official 2008 Sick Day Calendar is available in both black and printer-friendly white. Learn more at the Jobacle blog.