New Job Announcement for Entry Level Claims Representative

We have several claims adjusting opportunities currently available. Some of these require substantial claims experience but this morning I'm pleased to announce we have an opening on one of our teams for an entry level candidate interested in pursuing a claims career. The Team Leader is indicating that they are more than willing to train the right individual, if they bring with them a high level of energy, enthusiasm, drive, willingness to learn and an appreciation of the unique challenges a claims career offers.

Claims is not the right position for everyone - our claims representatives deal with people at some of the lowest points in their lives as they deal with the aftermath of a work-related injury. The work can be very challenging and demanding, but also very rewarding. This entry level position does require a Bachelor's degree and the ability to pass a critical thinking test, but for those looking for a career where they can really make a difference in people's lives, this might just be the opportunity you have been waiting for. If interested in being considered, please complete an expression of interest via our company website.

Pinnacol Foundation Event Raises $200,000 for College Scholarships

On Thursday, July 28, 2011 Pinnacol Assurance hosted the Eleventh Annual Pinnacol Foundation Charity Golf Tournament at Red Sky Ranch Golf Club in Vail, Colorado.

It was a perfect Colorado day with 142 golfers participating and nearly 100 scholarship students and families present at the awards luncheon following the golf tournament. Even better, the Foundation raised over $200,000. In the past 10 years, Pinnacol has raised $2 Million in scholarship funds to help the children of Colorado workers killed or seriously injured on the job (regardless of their insurance carrier). This year, once again, sponsors and golfers came together to support these young adults with college dreams.

Karsh Hagan, one of our advertising agency partners, is also passionate about the work of the Pinnacol Foundation and supported the organization by donating agency time to the production of a Foundation video which was shown at the Golf Tournament. As you'll see in the video, the Pinnacol Foundation continues to make real differences in the lives of Colorado children.

Colorado Sees Something It Hasn't In 20+ Years...

I've mentioned before my fascination with the variety of jobs Coloradans (or is it Coloradoans?) perform on a daily basis but this weekend gave me the chance to see some folks working at something you don't regularly get to see in our great state. If you were one of the 100,000 plus folks who crowded into downtown Denver on Sunday, you were witness to the finish of the inaugural US Pro Cycling Challenge. Not since the Coors Classic has Colorado been host to this level of professional cycling, and the variety and scope of work it must have taken to put on such an event is staggering. From the planning stages, to arranging the lodging and transportation, to the drivers (both car and motorcycle, including our own Colorado State Patrol) supporting the racers during the stages, a tremendous number of people had to have been working behind the scenes.

One of my favorites, though they were probably not noticed by many, were the guys who's job  it was to drive the course and mark with spray paint all the cracks and hazards so the riders could avoid them. At the other end of the spectrum you had the announcers, the people who fed all the VIP's, and the ubiquitous podium girls who's job it is to stage manage the dignitaries and the riders when they come up to receive their awards. I'll have to check with our underwriters to see what sort of risk classification these young ladies fall under as they dutifully plant their kisses on the stage winners day after day. Congratulations to everyone who worked on this first year's event, it really was something to see.

Claims Representative Position also posted on Careerbuilder

We are still looking for great candidates with Claims Adjusting experience who are interested in joining PInnacol Assurance. We haven't had many claims openings in the last couple of years so the current openings present some nice opportunities for claims professionals to join the leader in Colorado workers' compensation. I've added our job announcement to Careerbuilder.com. Brian, our representative for Careerbuilder, is based in Phoenix, AZ, and after talking to him this morning it's a good thing to be in Colorado! They've been experiencing 100+ degree heat for weeks on end, and they've had a couple of major duststorms thrown in for good measure. I guess their duststorms, or "Haboobs" as they call them in Arizona (Youtube has some fantastic video of these storms), are their summer equivalent to our winter blizzards. As much as I'll complain about it in January I think I'll stick with the snow! If you are interested in the claims opportunity, please complete an expression of interest via our company website.

New Job Announcement for Claims Representative

We have a new opening for an experienced Claims Representative (Claims Adjuster) that just became available. It will be advertised on-line starting Monday but wanted to give our readers the heads-up immediately.

Our Claims Representatives work as part of a multi-functional team to bring claims to resolution. Assigned to specific policyholder accounts our Claims Representatives provide outstanding customer service to injured workers, policyholders, and other stakeholders. This position routinely staffs files with team nurses, RTW specialists, team leaders, claims experts and legal counsel as needed and makes use of all appropriate internal and external resources. Setting initial reserves, our Claims Representatives maintain current and accurate reserves for all assigned cases and negotiate settlements.

This position also serves as a technical resource to the team including the mentoring of less experienced adjusters on complex issues and closure strategies.   3+ years of adjusting experience with direct exposure to workers’ compensation preferred.

As always, if you are interested in being considered for this position please submit an expression of interest on our company website!

Pinnacol Foundation 2011: Making a Difference

Since 2000 the Pinnacol Foundation has awarded nearly $2 million in scholarships to children who's parents have been injured in work related accidents so that they can realize their dream of attending college. The Foundation, which accepts applications from January through March, is proud to present some of this year's recipients as they discuss what receiving these scholarships mean to them. As a Colorado-based, and Colorado-focused, company Pinnacol believes strongly in giving back to the communities we serve on a daily basis, and the Pinnacol Foundation is just one way in which we are pleased to be able to do this.

We still have additional Nurse Case Manager opportunities!

In June we had posted a Team Nurse Case Manager. As luck would have it we are now looking for a couple of additional Nurses to join several of our teams. Our
RN Team Nurse Case Managers provide telephonic case management handling the medical aspects of workers’ compensation claims. Our nurses perform self-directed, professional level work in a fast paced team environment as they interact with injured workers, policyholders, and providers. A broad clinical background, and experience with rehabilitation, occupational health, managed care, or emergency nursing preferred. Requires current Colorado RN license with a BSN a plus.

Back in June I had a chance to sit down and chat with Sheri, one of our Business Directors (Team leader) about what we are looking for. Sheri has a unique perspective because she herself joined Pinnacol in this position before being promoted to head up one of our multi-functional insurance teams.


We had also blogged about our nursing position a while back, and if you are interested in this type of position with us I would encourage you to also view that posting. If interested in being considered, please submit your expression of interest via our company website.

New opportunity for Advanced Web Applications Developer

We are seeking an experienced Advanced Web Applications Developer. This position utilizes Adobe FlashBuilder and Flex SDK to design and build graphical user interfaces for web applications used by internal business users. The successful candidate will have the ability to work in a team setting utilizing Agile development processes to produce software products and will have experience using modular and object oriented approaches to building Flex applications (sub-applications, custom components, custom skinning). Position also requires experience using test driven development methodologies to produce software applications which support automated unit and regression testing (FlexUnit, continuous integration) along with experience using the various forms of Flex frameworks as needed to standardize and organize code in large products (Swiz, Robotlegs).

OK, so that's the job announcement. I have to apologize for all the links embedded in the announcement, but I'll be the first to admit that I had no clue what some of these things were until I Googled them. Having done that I now have only a slightly better understanding of what things like Swiz and Robotlegs are.

If you are like me and have no clue as to how to use these different tools then this might not be the right position for you. But for those of you who are thinking "Geez, this is really pretty basic stuff" then we'd really like to hear from you. For the rest of us, feel free to browse the hyperlinks and if you can figure out what they are talking about, please let me know!

Pinnacol Again Hosting Arrupe Students

I had the privilege this morning of facilitating the orientation session for our new Arrupe student interns. This is Pinnacol's 6th year participating in the Arrupe Corporate Work Study Program and we have 4 students working with us for the 2011/2012 academic year. From all of us at Pinnacol, welcome Jessica, Dianna, Miriam and Juanita!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Arrupe program, it is a unique opportunity for companies to financially support education at a time when funding is critical while exposing students to what it is like to work in the real world. Arrupe students are placed at partner companies where they work one day a week during the school year. In speaking with our new students this morning they impressed me with their eagerness to learn and to avail themselves of new opportunities.

While at Pinnacol Jessica, Dianna, Miriam and Juanita will be assigned to specific teams and will each have assigned mentors to help them on their journey of exploring corporate life. Many companies in the Denver area participate, but I'm sure Arrupe would welcome additional organizations who, like Pinnacol, understand how critical a well-educated and well-prepared workforce will be to a successful future.

Update on Current Openings as of 08-10-11

Here is a quick update on our openings as of today. Two positions, Medical Director and Business Director, have now been filled. Our thanks to all of you who expressed an interest in these two opportunities. I had the chance to meet with many of the candidates for both of these vacancies and I am always impressed with the calibre of talent that we see.

We are still actively looking for candidates interested in our Customer Service opening which just became available, as well as for our Nurse Case Manager opportunity. And as you'll see if you visit our company website we also still have listed as active the openings for Audit Analyst (though interviews are well underway), Oracle Developer, Underwriter, and Safety Consultant. The Underwriter opening is primarily geared at experienced candidates, but the Safety Consultant opening is open to entry level graduates with related safety/occupational health degrees. We look to start scheduling interviews for both the Underwriter and Safety Consultant openings shortly as the hiring managers make decisions on who they would like to speak with.