The answer raises more questions...

Pinnacol has covered a lot folks doing all sorts of work during our 100 years serving Colorado. Workers' Compensation insurance, as a social safety net, has made a difference in the lives of thousands of Colorado workers who have been injured on the job. Before 1915 the only real recourse available to injured workers was to sue their employer in court and just doing that was challenging enough to discourage many from exercising that right.

For those of you fortunate enough to spend this last weekend up in the high country you were treated to Fall weather at its best - warm temperatures, clear skies, and air finally clear of all the smoke from western fires. I took advantage of the exceptional weather to bike up to Columbine Mine just south of, and some 3,400 feet higher than, Twin Lakes, CO. I've ridden this route many times and have never been blessed with a day as nice as Saturday. No snow, no hail, no lightning, no wind, and a temperature that still allowed short sleeves at the top. It made the hike-a-bike sections almost fun.

It was nice to ride this route just for fun and while I missed the thousand plus fellow cyclists keeping company on events like the Leadville 100, for once I got to truly take in the beauty of this extraordinary route. For those who have never been to the Columbine Mine there isn't much remaining. Remnants of a decaying log cabin bleaching in the high altitude sun kept company most of the time only by marmots and the sigh of the usually ever present wind. Get off the bike (or out of the jeep) and walk around and you are treated to some incredible above timberline views. To the south across the valley you see Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford; to the west you gaze up at Quail Mtn. (13,461 ft.) which I've never been brave enough to challenge on two wheels. Closer to the Columbine Mine but probably overlooked by most one comes across something you wouldn't expect at 12,600 ft. What appears to be a grave ringed in small stones with white rocks laying out a cross on an east/west alignment. Flush with the sparse wind-blown grass it's hardly noticeable until you are upon it. From my first visit to the Columbine Mine years ago I've been aware of this grave and it's always raised a question as to who was buried there. There is no headstone, no monument, nothing but the grave itself. Usually I'm forced along on my journey by threatening weather or the pace of a race and my curiosity quickly evaporates as I make my way down to timberline. 

Saturday was a once in a season kind of day weather-wise so I spent some extended time sitting at 12,000 feet taking in the scenery and imagining what it might have been like to live and work and ultimately die in this beautiful but desolate place. Most would perhaps not select this exposed mountain ridge to be their eternal resting place but on this day it was hard to imagine a more peaceful spot. 

When I got back down to civilization I promised myself I'd try to find out who lies up at Columbine Mine. The only mention I could find spoke of a Theodore Knickerbocker who died in 1907 being "Buried by cabin near Columbine Mine". Pinnacol's creation was still 8 years in the future but I wondered if Mr. Knickerbocker had died in an industrial accident. Try as I might I could find no other information. So the answer of who was buried below the vast blue Colorado sky, closer to the heavens than most of us routinely visit, raised more questions than answers. If anyone out there knows more about the Columbine Mine and Mr. Theodore Knickerbocker I'd love to hear from you!

Top 10 Most In Demand Jobs...

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently sent out an article by Tony Lee describing the 10 toughest jobs to fill. Their choice of language using "toughest jobs to fill" was intentional because their audience is primarily businesses looking to hire candidates. I've titled this blog the Top 10 Most In Demand Jobs because most of my audience are job seekers. Regardless, the SHRM article highlights the fact that while 2015 has been a very challenging year for businesses to find qualified candidates 2016 is shaping up to be even more problematic. 

So without further ado, here are the positions expected to be most in demand:

• Data Scientist. Everyone is talking 'Big Data' and finding folks with the statistical and analytical chops to translate data into meaningful and actionable information are already highly sought after and that trend will only continue as roughly 6,000 companies are expected to hire for an estimated 4.4 million IT jobs with direct ties to data analysis next year. 
• Electrical Engineers. Any type of Engineering is in high demand but the article points out that there are currently 17 openings for every electrical engineering candidate. 
• General and Operations Managers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 12.4 percent growth rate in demand through 2022 equating to more than 600,000 openings over the next seven years.
• Home Health Aide. Due to the rising number of seniors, nearly 600,000 positions will need to be filled - a 48% increase in hiring over the next seven years. 
• Information Security Analyst. With all the news about cyber threats and personal information being compromised on-line, it's probably no surprise this position makes the list. Microsoft reports that North American companies will need to hire at least 2.7 million cloud-computing workers including those doing information security work and that supply will not meet this demand.
• Marketing Managers. This one caught me by surprise as it seems that American colleges are turning out a ton of marketing majors. I would hazard a guess that most companies are looking for seasoned, experienced Marketing Managers and its the age-old dilemma - how do entry level candidates get the experience necessary to be competitive for these jobs.
• Medical Services Managers. The BLS projects 73,300 new hires will be needed in the field by 2022 due in large part to changes in Health Care and a aging population.
• Physical Therapists. Starting to recognize a pattern here with a lot of health care-related positions increasingly in demand. The American Physical Therapy Association estimates that in 2016, demand for full-time physical therapists will exceed 229,000, with a pool of candidates of around 196,000—creating a gap of 33,000 unfilled jobs.
• Registered Nurses. Again, not too much of a surprise. Pinnacol hires RN's as Medical Case Managers frequently. Fortunately, being an office environment, we offer nurses a nice alternative from the traditional nursing world of 12 hour shifts and substantial lifting of patients. The average age of working nurses is 42 so between retirements and the growth in health care more than 1 million nurses will have to be hired over the next 7 years.
• Software Engineer. You already know that computer jobs are hot right now and will continue to be so. Estimates are that in 2016 there will be three jobs available for every new college graduate from a computer science program. 

What's in a name? Bilingual Pre-Audit Field Auditor opportunity!

In workers' compensation insurance policyholders are regularly audited at the end of the policy period to 'true up' the premium the policyholder has paid. Since workers' compensation premium is based on an employer's payroll, if the business has added payroll during the policy period they may owe us additional premium; conversely, if their payroll had declined we would give money back to the policyholder.

This new position - Bilingual Pre-Audit Field Auditor - is a change in that it will interact with select policyholders during the early stages of their policy period to ensure that we are working off the right numbers and pricing the premium as accurately as possible. Many of these policyholders will be new to Pinnacol and this position will also provide a lot of education to customers who are probably not workers' compensation insurance experts. Doing this 'pre-audit' is a great touch-point that will help policyholders avoid surprises when the policy is audited at the end of the policy period and this position will be a key point of contact to have those conversations. 

The current position does require bilingual capabilities (Spanish/English). Normally when we are looking for auditors we are looking for folks having directly related experience. For this position we are willing to train the right bilingual candidate who has an aptitude for math and accounting. Candidates should bring effective verbal and written interpersonal communications skills, the ability to organize and prioritize workload while managing multiple priorities, and be detail oriented. Bachelors Degree in Business or related field is preferred (or equivalent experience on a year for year basis) as is 1-3 years experience in Auditing, Financial Analysis, Accounting, or Bookkeeping and candidates must possess and maintain a valid Colorado driver’s license and be able to provide proof of insurance.

If this sounds of interest we ask that you please apply on-line. We'd love to hear from you!

Colorado Business School Career Fair is tomorrow!

I and some of our other staff from Pinnacol Assurance will be spending Thursday afternoon (9-17-15) at Sports Authority Field. While our beloved Broncos prepare to take the field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City we'll be meeting with business school students interested in career opportunities and internships. Three schools are hosting this event - the Daniels College of Business/University of Denver, the Colorado State University College of Business, and the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business. I'm a little biased towards CU as way back in the dark ages I earned my MBA at CU Boulder. It wasn't called the Leeds School of Business back then but they still did a good job of cramming my head full of finance and accounting, business statistics, management principles etc. That said, we are looking forward to meeting with everyone who will be attending, and if you are going to be there make sure to stop by and say hello!

Will a machine take your job?

I was at the Doctor's office last week for a check-up. Inevitably I found myself cooling my heels in the waiting room. Rather than staring at the walls or at my smart phone I glanced through the magazines lying around until the receptionist called my name.

I don't honestly make a regular habit of reading Fortune magazine and was a little surprised to find a copy as one of the offerings in the waiting room. The cover story was titled "Humans are Underrated" and had a picture of a human arm wrestling that of a robot. Not really paying much attention I began to read the article. At Pinnacol I often have candidates ask me what will make them successful. I often respond with the fact that we'll see 3-5 folks who can all do the technical aspects of the job; the nod will go to the one who will be the best interpersonal fit for the team, and our company. The article brought into sharp focus much of what we have been intuitively doing for years - seeking out those who understand and can deliver on the value of human to human interaction.

I'd encourage you to read the article by Geoff Colvin, but here are some of the major points that

really hit home...

Everyone knows that computers are increasingly displacing workers doing routine transaction (bank teller, checkout clerk) and production (manufacturing) types of jobs. No surprise there. Everyone also knows that Google, and an increasing number of auto manufacturers, are doing research on self-driving cars. What I had never stopped to think about was what this would mean job-wise. Do you know what the number 1 job among American men is? I had no idea but as the article points out its driving trucks (2.9 million American men drive a truck for a living). What does this have to do for future job prospects? In May of this year Daimler (the folks behind Mercedes-Benz) began testing the first self-driving semi-truck on the roads in Nevada. I had never done the brain damage of connecting the dots that the likelihood of my having a self-driving car in the near future also means that the truck driving industry (semitrucks, FedX, UPS, cement trucks, etc.) will eventually also be driver-less displacing all those currently doing this kind of work. How soon will it be before you call UBER or your local taxi service and a driver-less car shows up to whisk you to your destination? The ladies aren't immune either - the number one job among American women (3 million)? Administrative assistant. How soon before those roles completely disappear? How many managers now get along without anything other than their smart phone doing tasks on their own that they used to delegate to their assistant?

Technology displacing workers is nothing new (what did buggy makers think the first time they saw a Model T Ford?). But as the article points out, historically these technology shifts, while painful to the actual displaced worker, have actually multiplied jobs and raised living standards. Far more people have been employed, and at a higher standard of living, building cars rather than horse-drawn carriages. Economists are now wondering if that economic trend can continue.

Mr. Colvin drives home the point that the age-old question of what kind of work will a computer never be able to do is misguided because it is dangerous to claim that there are any skills computers cannot eventually acquire. He turns this question on its head and asks "What are the activities that we humans, driven by our deepest nature or by the realities of daily life, will simply insist be performed by other humans, even if computers could do them?"

The article then tackles answering this critical question. The part that resonated most with me, and that is already applicable in our company, is that "Being a great performer is becoming less about what you know and more about what you're like."

Do you particularly care about the interpersonal skills of the UPS driver who leaves a package on your front porch? Probably not, but how about your Doctor, police officers/judges, teachers and a whole list of others who's ability to interact effectively on a human to human level are critical? Relationship building, the ability to work effectively as part of a team, cultural sensitivity, empathy, are rising to prominence over the simple ability to do a given task. As the author concludes - "For the past 10 generations in the developed world... most people have succeeded by learning to do machine work better than machines could do it. Now that era is ending."

Where were you?

Fourteen years ago I know exactly where I was. I was sitting in my car at the intersection of Dartmouth and University Blvd. waiting for the light to change. I was on my way to work driving much of the same route I drive to this day. Our offices then were at Colorado and Exposition in the Galleria Towers.

I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition on the radio when the announcer said that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. At first I didn't think much of it; facts were still sketchy and the first reports weren't clear as to what had actually happened. First assumptions were that it was a tragic accident. 17 minutes later a second plane crashing into the World Trade Center's south tower made it horribly clear that this was no accident. Upon arriving at work Pinnacol employees crammed into our wellness center because that was where the only television was. Eyes were glued to the screen, there wasn't a lot of talking, and already tears were beginning to flow.

It wasn't long before management made the decision to close for the day and send people home so they could be with their families. There was also the additional impetus of no one knowing if other attacks were imminent. One of the clearer images from that day was walking outside and hearing an eerie silence - planes were already being grounded and the skies above Denver were as quiet as they have ever been in my lifetime.

Driving in to work this morning I have to admit it took the radio announcer to remind me what today was. I knew it was Friday but hadn't consciously thought about the date. So much has happened in the 5,000 days since 9-11-2001 and the world is a much different place. The ripple effects from 9-11 still impact us today; the recent image of a young refugee boy lying face down in the sand just the latest indication of the waves that still crash around us on a world-wide level. Eyes continue to be glued to screens (though more and more of those screens are not televisions), and the tears continue to flow.

Attending a Job Fair? Some tips...

Yesterday Alyson, who is interning with us in Human Resources, and I attended a job fair at the Community College of Aurora. CCA has a beautiful campus and the weather was nice enough that the event took place outdoors. I've attended a lot of job fairs and usually everyone is packed into a crowded meeting room so talking to candidates outside was definitely more relaxed and informal. As you'll hear from Alyson, this was her first time attending a job fair so I asked her to share some of her impressions and recommendations:

"I have never attended a job fair before as an applicant or as a recruiter but yesterday I got to participate in my first job fair on the recruiting side, and I have to say that this experience really opened my eyes to something completely unknown to me. I was in a sorority my first go around in college, and we had to participate in the recruiting process. Sorority recruiting, to my surprise, is very similar to a job fair. It is all about getting out there, promoting your brand and culture, and getting acquainted with potential applicants.
I never realized what benefits you could gain from attending a job fair but there are many including: getting to speak with company representatives in a less formal setting, you know that these companies are hiring, you can hand a resume straight to a recruiter instead of hoping they see yours in the stack of 40+ resumes they receive every day, and there is a better chance recruiters will remember you."

"If you have not attended a job fair, you should, and if you have, keep going to them! It is a great way to network, and let’s face it, in today’s job market it’s all about networking. So here are a few tips and observations to remember if you plan on attending a job fair:
1. Look the part. You should dress like you are going to an interview, because well, you kind of are. The company is checking you out as much as you are checking out them, and while it may be somewhat of an informal setting, you are still trying to get a job.
2. Pre-register (if possible) for the job fair and ask for a list of companies that will be attending. Once you get the list you should research the companies that may be of interest to you. It will impress the recruiter if you know about the company beforehand.
3. Bring your resume, and make sure that you have plenty of copies. How often do you have the opportunity to talk to 20+ companies in the same place at the same time? Make sure your resume is updated and has correct contact information.
4. Ask questions! This is your chance to find out what you can about the company. If they are not currently hiring for your field or the type of position you are looking for inquire about other opportunities. Do not dismiss the company entirely. This is a chance to get your foot in the door, at the very least, or you could make such a great impression that when they are looking for someone they already have you in mind.
5. Don’t be rude or negative. If a recruiter stops to talk to you there is a reason why. If you have to get signatures from the recruiters for class credit, to enter a prize drawing, or for another reason, do not just ask for the signature and leave. That is rude. At least ask about the company and if it is not of interest then just let them know that while you appreciate their time you are looking for something different and ask for the signature. Do not talk negatively about your college, job, or anything else. (For example: yesterday I overheard someone ask the police department recruiters why are cops bad? The police recruiter’s response was great and he explained if the candidate wanted to make a change they should consider becoming a Police Officer.)
6. Shake hands. And say thank you before you leave a company's booth. It is professional, polite, and speaks of your character."

Alyson's observations and tips are important if you are trying to differentiate yourself from all the

other candidates who attend job fairs. Meeting with companies in a job fair environment  is usually less stressful than when you are invited in for a 'real' interview and its a great way to practice your elevator speech and the way in which your portray yourself during that key first impression. Some other hints that I've picked up over the years:

• Job fairs are no place to be shy. Make the effort to make eye contact with company representatives as you walk by their booth and don't be bashful about saying hello and introducing yourself. Have a sentence or two prepared about yourself - what you are studying, when you'll be graduating/on the job market, and some key skills you think you have that might benefit the company you are speaking to. I only had one candidate do this yesterday and they left a favorable impression. 
• The biggest mistake I see candidates make at job fairs is when they are going by a booth for a company they don't recognize they drop their eyes and simply walk on by. If you want a great ice-breaker with a recruiter there's not much better than "Hi, I'm not that familiar with your company. What do you do?" And you never know, the company you've never heard of may have your dream job. 99% of the folks Alyson and I talked with yesterday knew nothing about Pinnacol but for those who stopped and chatted they were amazed at the variety of career paths our company offers. 
• If you chat with a company representative and its a company you really are interested in, ask them for their business card or contact information. Quite candidly, if you have tried at all to sell yourself this will be a good test of how you've done. If they gladly hand you their business card they are likely really interested in you as well. Really want to set yourself apart? The day after the event call or e-mail the company representative and thank them for taking a moment to speak with you and to reinforce your interest in their company. At the very least most recruiters will respond by digging through the stack of resumes they received and giving yours a second look. This extra step may also be the touch point that actually gets you the coveted interview. 
• Alyson's point of looking the part - dressing like you are serious about exploring job opportunities - is also correct. At yesterday's event the few students who dressed up were the ones setting themselves apart. Granted this was a campus job fair, it was outdoors (it was hot), and many students stopped by between busy class schedules, but those with the forethought to dress up were again those leaving the most favorable impressions. 

I'd like to thank Barbara Lindsay and her staff at the Community College of Aurora for arranging the job fair and for letting us participate. If Alyson and I were fortunate enough to speak with you yesterday thank you for stopping by!