Ahhh! Springtime in Colorado!

Springtime in Colorado. Beautiful sunny skies, flowers coming up, warm breezes... Today we woke up to the major snowstorm the weather folks were predicting. At least our offices look kind of nice in the snow!

9 Health Fair coming April 21st

Pinnacol is pleased to again be one of the locations for this year's 9Health Fair. We have hosted the 9Health Fair at our company headquarters for several years now, and it is one of our major volunteer activities for our employees.

Most of you are already familiar with the annual 9Health Fair but here's some information you may not have known:

In the late 1970's John F. Brensike, a physician conducting heart disease research at the National Institutes of Health in Washington , D.C. , became involved in cholesterol screenings. As he traveled the country, he observed a high level of interest from communities to provide screening services. However, he noted that few screenings were available and the quality varied. But more importantly, he noted that there was no mechanism to provide health education and medical follow-up to the community. From there, Dr. Brensike started the National Health Screening Council for Volunteer Organizations (NHSCVO) as a means of promoting preventative health maintenance. Through this organization, the health fair concept was born. The idea was presented by NHSCVO to interested communities across the country. In Colorado , NHSCVO approached Al Flanagan, then president of KBTV Channel 9 in Denver , now 9NEWS. The television station recognized this effort's value to the community and agreed to provide both financial and media support to help launch the first health fair.

In 1980, along with support from hundreds of medical and non-medical volunteers, the Lions Clubs of Colorado and the Colorado National Guard, the first 9Health Fair was staged. To this day, all three groups remain steadfast in their important roles with the 9Health Fair as important in-kind sponsors.

In 1987, 9Health Fair became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. With the sole mission of promoting health awareness and encouraging individuals to assume responsibility for their own health, and because of the support of 19,000 statewide volunteers, 9Health Fair has helped save thousands of lives by providing free and low-cost health awareness and educational screenings. To date, 9Health Fair is the only program of its magnitude and that has become a community institution as a result of the NHSCVO initiative. Since inception, 9Health Fair has impacted over 1.7 million individuals.

The program's proven history and consistent quality has earned us unique endorsements from the Colorado Medical Society, Colorado Nurses Association and the Colorado Hospital Association.

Anyone 18 and older can participate in a 9Health Fair. With over 25 screenings available, your 9Health Fair results, along with an explanation on how to read your results, are delivered directly to you within three to six weeks of your visit. Our team of volunteer registered nurses and physicians will contact you within 72 hours of your 9Health Fair visit and, if necessary, provide you with local follow up resources if your results indicate that a critical or alert health situation is occurring.

Attending a 9Health Fair does not replace your regular check-ups with your physician, and you are encouraged to share your results with your primary care physician for further diagnosis and treatment.

If you can't attend the event held at Pinnacol's headquarters, there are plenty of other sites available. Here's the link to find a location near you:

http://www.9healthfair.org/default.aspx

Underwriting as a career choice?

I had a chance this afternoon to sit down and talk with Vickie who is one of our Senior Underwriters on one of our Associations teams (an Association is a group of similarly situated businesses that pools its risks and safety efforts in the hope of lower premiums through better risk management). I wanted to get her thoughts about underwriting as a career choice and to share her insights with you.

Vickie has been with Pinnacol for twenty years having joined our company when it was still the State Compensation Insurance Fund. Her first job in insurance was as a Reporting Form Posting Clerk with another insurance company. She then made the move into auditing, and from there into underwriting where she has remained ever since.

So Vickie, what does an underwriter actually do?

Underwriting involves gathering information about a business from a variety of sources, evaulating that information to determine exposures (risk), and then to price that risk. After a policy is created, underwriters monitor all of their policies (their 'book of business') to monitor the results of their decisions.

That sounds like a lot of work! What do you enjoy most about what you do?

Learning about new businesses and new risks. I also really enjoy my contacts with policyholders, agents and other stakeholders. Also, working with complex and large accounts is very interesting. Underwriting workers' comp is a little more straightforward than some other commercial lines and I like that aspect as well.

There's no such thing as a perfect job; what would you say you enjoy least about this type of work?

Underwriting can be redundant at times as you see some of the same risks over and over again. As in any company there is also a certain amount of inevitable red tape that doesn't add value. There are also times of the year that are exceptionally busy  with renewals and new business where there is more work to do than time to do it.

You've stayed with Underwriting the majority of your career. What has kept you in it? Where do you get your job satisfaction from?

Handling difficult customer situations and having a positive outcome. Also, meeting with my agents, policyholders, and associations members. Getting to hand out dividends to groups that have earned it through positive risk management is always a thrill!

Can you tell me about the learning curve for someone new to underwriting?

Underwriting is not for everyone. Coming from an auditing background where things are pretty black and white, underwriting has a lot more grey areas. Its going to take at least a year for a new underwriter to get up to speed. With Pinnacol there's a lot to learn from the Workers' Comp Act, classification rules, and all the terminology and lingo that are part of this field.

Job descriptions sometimes go on for page after page. What's the most important thing you try to accomplish every day?

Customer service excellence every single day. And for me, managing my associations groups to help ensure they receive a dividend for good performance.

How do you know if you are doing a good job?

There are a lot of internal measures available to monitor performance. I can monitor at the book level, at the associations level, and also at the policy level. Feedback from customers, my team leader, and my peers is also very valuable.

What are some of the daily frustrations you face in this line of work?

Sometimes we have a lot of meetings and outside activities that can pull me away. But I get to generally deal with a very professional group of people, from my agents to my policyholders.

What kinds of special skills have you made you successful as an underwriter?

Flexibility is key, as is being personable and outgoing. Also nerves of steel for some of the more challenging situations. A willingness to learn and to accept constructive criticism and be able to roll on is critical.

What keeps you excited about coming in to work every day?

Learning new things all the time. Learning about businesses and agents. Also learning about and interacting with my team members, my 'work family'.

It sounds like you hadn't necessarily started out your career wanting to work in insurance or specifically as an underwriter. Why did you ultimately choose underwriting?

I moved from a clerk into auditing and then into underwriting. I think they saw I was doing a very good job in my earlier positions and they thought I could be a good underwriter and it sort of evolved from there.

As someone in the industry and in the position, what kind of advice and tips can you share for someone interested in getting into this type of work?

Probably getting a degree is important as is being very fluent in technology. Once in the industry, in whatever role, pursue professional insurance designations (AIC, ARM, CPCU etc.) to learn as much as you can. Learn the terminology or you'll be lost at some of the meetings you'll be attending!

Thanks Vickie for sharing these insights, and congratulations on your twenty year anniversary with Pinnacol this month!

Readers, if you have a question about underwriting please leave a comment and we'll follow up with Vickie for a response.

The World... Its'a changin...

Several years ago our Chief Information Officer had shared with all employees a short video documenting how rapidly change was occurring. The original version was developed by a local High School teacher (Arapahoe High School) and quickly was watched by millions. Since then they periodically update the video to incorporate all the stuff that's new since the last version. So I thought I'd share the video with those of you interested in careers with Pinnacol. Businesses like Pinnacol Assurance are constantly faced with the challenge of keeping up with change, and that means having staff on board who can help us accomplish this. Let us know your thoughts, and enjoy the short video!   Did You Know?

The dreaded math test...

Probably the title alone scared half of you away. Just the mention of "math" and "test" in the same sentence can send shivers down the spine of the average American. The reality is that Pinnacol does test candidates on their basic math skills for many of its positions. An additional reality is that not everyone passes the exercise. The math exercise probably causes candidates more consternation (a nice word for fear) than anything else we put them through so we thought we'd share some of the gruesome details!

So what does basic math mean? To Einstein it might mean things like calculus and quantum physics. At Pinnacol we only go as high as algebra and trigonometry... Not really! Just kidding! However, being an insurance company, much of what we deal with are numbers and we need folks who have a good understanding of things like:

• addition and subtraction
• multiplication and division
• percentages, decimals, and fractions (really all the same thing)
• and most importantly.... the ability to apply these basic skills to the types of business problems we face every day

Want some really good news? You get to use a calculator on the test! What matters to us is whether you can arrive at the right answer, not so much how you got there. So, are you ready? Want to give it a try? Here are some examples of what you might get asked on our math exercise:

294 + 1201 + 33 - 12 = ?

.9045 - .32 = ?

83.45 X 2.96 = ?

93.2 / 1.7 = ?

5% of 8,942 = ?

Sally made $465 in her first week on the job. The second week she made twice as much. The third week she made $312. What was the average amount she made per week for the three weeks?

A high school has a strange principal. On the first day, he has his students perform an odd opening day ceremony:
There are one thousand lockers and one thousand students in the school. The principal asks the first student to go to every locker and open it. Then he has the second student go to every second locker and close it. The third goes to every third locker and, if it is closed, he opens it, and if it is open, he closes it. The fourth student does this to every fourth locker, and so on. After the process is completed with the thousandth student, how many lockers are open?

That last one is for the math geniuses out there and is not representative of what we ask on our math test! If you want to see the solution, click on the comments for this post. However, I make no representation as to whether the answer is actually correct!

So now you have an idea of what our "dreaded math test" is like.

What happens when I complete my expression of interest?

Every company handles candidates differently and you might wonder what happens after you submit an expression of interest with Pinnacol on www.pinnacol.com/careers. Once you click the submit button two things happen. You'll immediately see a screen pop up confirming that your expression of interest has been received. Additionally, you'll be sent an e-mail from our system saying the same thing. Sometimes people don't get this e-mail due to their spam filter settings on their computer or because they made a mistake in typing in their e-mail address on the expression of interest. Either way, we did receive your expression of interest into our system.

With some companies not every applicant is screened by a person. Software exists that can filter out candidates based on key word searches and other criteria. Some companies simply get too many expressions of interest for their open positions so after say, the first 50-100 candidates who have responded, the remainder are simply archived in the system for a future look if needed. At Pinnacol I'm proud to say that every candidate's expression of interest is reviewed by a real person. We look to see whether the skills and experience match the current vacancy, and if not, what other types of positions we may have that are a closer fit. Information on candidates that are a close match for the vacancy are generally forwarded to the hiring manager for their review as well. The HR team at Pinnacol doesn't "tell" the manager who they have to interview - we partner with them and solicit their input as to whom they think is the closest match for their open position.

I realize that when all is said and done the thing that matters most to candidates is whether they receive a call asking for additional information or to set up an in-person interview. That's the only real objective of why you took the time to complete the expression of interest in the first place. Unfortunately I can't guarantee that every candidate gets a phone call or an interview. Pinnacol, though a relatively small employer (600+ employees), still receives expressions of interest from thousands of candidates every year. Some position announcements generate hundreds of candidates for one vacancy.

Sometimes timing impacts whether you might get a call from us. You may be a strong candidate for one of our open positions but might have applied late in the process at a point where we have already identified a finalist. On our website we list the positions until the position is filled. That means the finalist has accepted our position, completed our pre-employment drug testing and background check and is otherwise ready to actually start work.

I get asked whether we 'save' candidate information for future openings. The short answer is "Yes!". Our system allows us to keep candidate records almost indefinitely. That said, the reality is that we only go back a short time if we have an opening occur to see who has recently applied. I might still have on file a candidate's expression of interest from two years ago, but realistically I'm going to start by looking at those who have applied in the last month or so. Thats one reason we encourage candidates to monitor our job openings and if they see something become available that they are interested in to re-submit an expression of interest for that specific opening. This also allows the candidate to update their information on what they are currently doing.

Pinnacol Assurance is becoming known as an 'employer of choice' which is a fancy way of saying people really want to work here. Why people want to work here is a reflection of how we treat our employees. While not every candidate may actually become a Pinnacol employee, we make an effort to treat all candidates with the same level of respect and care as if they were.

What kinds of careers are there in Insurance?

Many people I speak with are at first reluctant to consider an insurance career. The first thing they think of is having to go door to door selling insurance policies to their friends and family members. That can be a very tough way to make a living! Insurance offers far more career options than this!

At its most basic, all insurance companies do two things: analyze and estimate the probability and cost of risk (which is what underwriters do), and pay out money when the risk actually materializes (the world of claims adjusters). Around those two core functions are a multitude of other types of positions that support this work. At Pinnacol our loss prevention staff works hard to minimize the risks identified by the underwriters by working with our policyholders to make sure they have the safest possible workplaces. On the claims side we have dedicated nurses and a physician adviser to help our adjusters manage the medical aspects of an injured worker's claim. Medical bills need to be be paid so we have a whole team of medical payment processors who ensure what we pay out is accurate. The payments go to Doctors and other healthcare professionals across Colorado so we have a group of Provider Relations Specialists to act as liaisons. Customers (injured workers, policyholders, healthcare professionals, attorneys, etc.) seek information from us so our customer service and administrative support staff are there to answer most of their questions.

Sometimes a claim is complicated enough that both sides may seek legal opinions so Pinnacol also has a legal team comprised of attorneys, paralegals, and legal secretaries. Occasionally something might not appear quite right with a claim or a policy so we also have investigators to help us get the facts. All of this activity generates a tremendous amount of information so we also have a very strong group of Information Technology folks (programmers, database administrators, help desk staff, web specialists, project managers) to keep the information accurate and flowing to the right people at the right time. Some of this information is still paper-based (though Pinnacol is moving towards a paperless environment as quickly as makes sense) so we also have a records, print, and mail group. Much of what they do today involves scanning paper-based files into an electronic format. Some of the work is fairly complex and requires either prior related experience or training so Pinnacol also has a training group that can facilitate learning on everything from computer software to interpersonal skills.

Millions of dollars flow into and out of most insurance companies (policy premium coming in, claims payments going out) and Pinnacol is no different. Our finance team of accountants and others handles these transactions. The flow of information throughout the organization, and between Pinnacol and the outside world, is critical and we have a communications and marketing group that we 'get the word out' through a wide variety of media.

All this work takes a lot of dedicated people and Pinnacol's human resources team makes sure we have the talent we need to get the work done. And yes, it does take a strong management team to keep all these varied efforts on track. As you can see, there is a lot more to insurance than just selling policies and for those who have the skills and apply themselves insurance can be a very rewarding and challenging career option.

I'll finish by sharing what I sometimes tell candidates in person. When your elementary school teacher  asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, you probably didn't say "I want to work in insurance!" But for many of us who have come to this industry we probably can't imagine doing anything else.

Welcome to the Pinnacol Assurance Careers blog!

Why have a Pinnacol Assurance Careers blog? Its really all about sharing information with folks interested in opportunities with Pinnacol Assurance. Many of you are not that familiar with the breadth of careers available in the insurance field so we thought it would be a fun, easy, and interactive way to give people an inside view of what life is like at Pinnacol on a daily basis. As we add to the blog we'll be interviewing members of our staff about what they do, why they like their jobs, how they got into the field, and tips for those interested in pursuing that type of work.

We'll also share insights on the application and hiring process at Pinnacol as well as field questions from you. So enjoy, and let us know your thoughts, suggestions, and questions by leaving a comment.