Job Announcement for General Accounting Manager!

We have an exciting new opportunity that has just opened on our Finance team. We'll be advertising this position in several places. Here is the actual ad:

General Accounting Manager
Pinnacol Assurance, Colorado’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance and recognized as one of America’s Best Places to Work, is seeking a General Accounting Manager to oversee all accounting activities including general ledger journal entries and account reconciliations, Accounts Payable, and Accounts Receivable. Position is responsible for developing and maintaining accounting principles, practices, and procedures to ensure accurate and timely financial statements while providing support for corporate financials. Bachelors Degree in Accounting, minimum of five years accounting experience including management responsibilities, and CPA certification is required. Insurance experience is preferred. For immediate consideration, please apply on-line at www.pinnacol.com. To see what it’s like to work at Pinnacol check out our careers blog at http://pinnacolcareers.blogspot.com/.

Please note that this position does require a CPA designation!

I also had a chance to speak with the hiring manager for this new position and get her thoughts on what this position was all about:

 
If you, or someone you know, are interested in this rare opportunity to join our Finance team please submit an expression of interest via our company website at www.pinnacol.com/careers/.

Pinnacol Launches Corporate Blog

If you've spent any time on the Pinnacol Careers Blog, you know how highly we value our people. So it's only natural that our new company blog feature employees doing what they do best: sharing their expertise in all things workers’ compensation, from risk management and workplace safety to return-to-work programs, and much more.
Since we're a Colorado native, our company blog will focus on issues and trends that are most important to the businesses and organizations in the Centennial State. So drop in and take a look at http://www.pinnacolblog.com/ - and let us know if there's a topic you'd like our people to talk about.

Have you seen it?

Pinnacol recently unveiled a new ad campaign and you'll likely be seeing it both in print and on TV. It’s themed around the concept of "Good Makes Good" which is based on the belief that when we do good for our policyholders, they do good for Colorado.

In print you'll be seeing it in publications around the State and on television you'll be able to see it on some of the more popular shows.  If you'd like a sneak peek of the TV spot click here.

Are You Ready?

For winter, that is. As I write this the view outside of our building has gone from a bright, sunny, relatively warm November day with the clear blue skies Colorado is famous for to an ominous dark cloudbank rolling in from the mountains as a harbinger of all the winter driving delights that living in this region is infamous for.

Its that time of the year to check your vehicle. We had shared some tips from our Loss Prevention staff with our employees on steps to make sure they could handle winter's worst. This year a couple of our Loss Prevention staff have volunteered to spend a couple of hours helping employees who don't know the difference between transmission and power steering fluid run their vehicles through the following checklist:

15 – Minute Winter Vehicle Checklist

Date of Inspection: _____________

Vehicle License Plate: _____________

Items marked with an asterisk (*) are recommended checked or rechecked by a qualified mechanic

Required Documents
Current Vehicle Registration? Yes ____ No ____
Expiration date: ____________

Current Proof of Insurance? Yes ____ No ____
Expiration date: ____________

My Drivers License is current? Yes ____ No ____

Expiration date: ____________

General Inspection
Vehicle is routinely serviced and the oil and filters changed per the manual? Yes ____ No ____

Is there any body damage that might affect the vehicles safe operation? Yes____ *No ____

Tires
Tires are properly inflated consistent with the manual? Yes ____ No ____

Spare tire is present, in good condition,
and properly inflated? Yes ____ No ____

Tire tread is: adequate ____ questionable ____* poor ____* unknown ____*

Lights are in working condition?

Headlights: High beam Yes ____ No ____*

Low beam Yes ____ No ____*

Turn Signals: Front Yes ____ No ____*
note left and right ________________

Rear Yes ____ No ____*
note left and right ________________

Taillights Yes ____ No ____*
note left and right ________________

Brake Lights Yes ____ No ____*
note left and right ________________

Reverse / backup lights Yes ____ No ____*
note left and right ________________

Hazard Lights (front / rear) Yes ____ No ____*
note left and right ________________

Mirrors & Glass
Rear view mirror and side mirrors are present, operable, and unobstructed? Yes ____ No ____

Windshield and window glass is unbroken, clean and unobstructed?
Yes ____ No ____

Under the Hood*
Engine and Fluid Levels

Battery is in good condition (posts and connections are not corroded)
Yes ____ No ____

Coolant OK ____ Not OK ____*

Oil Level OK ____ Not OK ____*

Transmission OK ____ Not OK ____*

Power Steering OK ____ Not OK ____*

Brake Fluid OK ____ Not OK ____*

Window Washer OK ____ Not OK ____

Last service date: _____________________

Accessories
Wipers are operable and blades are in good condition? Yes ____ No ____

Horn is operational? Yes ____ No ____

Owner’s safety manual is accessible? Yes ____ No ____

Seatbelts are operable and in good condition Yes ____ No ____

Door locks are operable Yes ____ No ____

The tire jack and wrench are present and accessible? Yes ____ No ____

Emergency Kit is present and accessible? Yes ____ No ____
Jumper cables 
Tire gauge 
Can of tire sealer-inflator 
Flashlight 
Winter gloves, hat, blanket 
Basic took kit with screwdrivers and pliers 
2 bottles of drinking water and energy bars 

Other items to consider if you travel frequently: spare headlamp bulb, extra fuses, engine oil, washer fluid, emergency triangle or flares, antifreeze, duct tape, spare ignition key, etc.

Repairs Needed:
____________________________________________________________________________________

Repair / Inspection Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________________

Employees who took advantage of the free vehicle checks also had the chance to win a fully stocked Vehicle Emergency kit. Don't wait until the "Check Engine" light comes on in the middle of a blizzard. Check your vehicle now so that you can handle what's bound to come our way over the next couple of months!

Do you bother to submit a cover letter?

There is some debate among candidates and Human Resources professionals about the value of a cover letter. With the move to web-based electronic application systems, has the cover letter outlived its usefulness? Not in my humble opinion.

Do I read every candidate's cover letter? No. Do I read every cover letter of candidates who's resumes have piqued my interest? The answer is absolutely yes.

In other words, when a candidate  applies to Pinnacol for an opening the first thing I look at is the resume, not the cover letter, because I want to know what the candidate has done (or at least professes to have done!). If the resume doesn't look like a fit for the position I honestly don't spend the time reading the cover letter. On the other hand, if the resume makes the candidate appear to be a potentially good fit for our opening, then I read the cover letter. And I read it carefully.

I look to the cover letter for supplemental information. The resume tells me about accomplishments and work experience. The cover letter helps tell me about who this person is. The way the letter is written, the information it contains, whether there are any typos, who its addressed to (I actually receive all sorts of cover letters addressed to companies other than Pinnacol), all form a deeper impression than what I can gain by only reviewing the resume.

I look to the cover letter to confirm my initial positive impression of the candidate that was formed by their resume. Sometimes it does this, but if its poorly written it usually changes my mind to the point where I'll no longer consider the candidate.

Our system allows candidates to attach, or copy and paste, both a cover letter and a resume. Sometimes candidates don't submit any cover letter at all. There are occasions where I am uncertain about my interest in the candidate after reviewing their resume and a solid, well-written cover letter can convince me to further consider them. In these instances if there is no cover letter to supplement the resume, the odds are that the candidate, whom I had only mild interest in to begin with, is not going to proceed in the process.

So what does all this boil down to? Here are my thoughts...

• A well composed, well-written cover letter can get you over the hump when your resume alone fails to convince the person reviewing it
• No cover letter at all hurts your chances of getting into the "further consideration" pile
• A poorly composed, poorly written (typos! mis-addressed!) cover letter is worse than no cover letter at all

Ask 10 Human Resources people about this and you'll likely get 10 different opinions but if you want the odds to be in your favor, a well-written cover letter certainly helps.

A Breath of Fresh Air

It's easy for people to be down in the dumps about the current state of the economy and the gloomy jobs front. From my perspective as someone who works in Human Resources its frustrating to see so much talent in the workforce not being put to good use. I can only imagine how frustrating it is from the job-seeker's point of view. I'm of that certain age where I sometimes catch myself looking at the younger generations wondering what they have to look forward to if things don't change. Then along comes someone to shake me up with a completely different perspective.

Penelope Trunk is a commentator on CNN, 20/20 and FOX News, and also hosts her own career advice website which sees more than half a million hits a month. Recently she wrote a piece on why young people don't fear the lousy job market. Among her observations:

• As the country moves to a knowledge-based economy, most Americans can no longer expect to earn more than the generation before them.
• When the economy rebounds it will likely not be a recovery where the traditional skills of older people come back into demand; the jobs that emerge will be in new sectors, will require different skill sets, and the financial expectations of employees will permanently shift because of the new realities.
• Young people know these things. They are not waiting around for things to change, to get back to how they used to be because that will never happen. Young people accept the realities of today and jump right in. According to Trunk this is why young people on a whole are optimistic about their ability to get a job and find their place in the world.

Though she acknowledges that the emerging generation is in horrible financial shape due to a combination of outrageous student loans and low wage entry jobs, she sees the future as bright. She's banking on the changing demographics of America favoring the younger generations in the years to come, and she may have a point. Even though their departure may be delayed, the Baby Boomers will eventually leave the job market, and when they do the younger generation will capitalize on the anticipated labor shortage.

Anyone who's been around the workforce for a while knows they've been forecasting a labor shortage for a long time now, but if it ever materializes as Trunk foresees, its certainly the Gen-Y group that will likely most benefit. According to Trunk they'll get higher paying jobs faster, move up the corporate ladder more quickly, and they'll be able to remake the workplace in their own image without much resistance. When you look at it from that perspective, why not be optimistic? She even quotes a finding from Pyschology Today that people who are optimistic are more likely to create their own luck. And she makes a point that I think most of us would agree with - a successful career is a combination of hard work and good luck.

Perhaps this optimism is in part born of the fact that the younger generation isn't yet fully invested, either financially or emotionally, in their own status quo and has less to lose when the status quo of another generation crumbles. Still, reading Ms. Trunk's piece almost makes me wish I was younger and just starting out. Almost...

Is Schmoozing a Good or Bad Thing?

I read an interesting blog by Steve Tobak, one of my favorite bloggers, on BNET this afternoon that talked about the fine art of schmoozing. To me this word usually brings with it some negative connotations but after reading the blog I changed my impression. As the article points out, business success is all about relationships, and schmoozing enables these relationships. Merriam Webster defines schmoozing as : to converse informally : chat; also : to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections. In this context I can see where the ability to schmooze appropriately might be an invaluable skillset.

The blog offers some tips on how to schmooze in an appropriate manner:

• Be credible.
• Focus on the other person, not on you. Connecting with others means finding things you have in common, not so much about what you think.
• People like to be schmoozed. Some folks go way overboard in their attempts to schmooze, but in general people like to be noticed, to connect and engage.
• Be open and genuine - in other words, be yourself. People see right through you when you're not.
• Don't overdo it. I suspect this is where most of my negative connotations with schmoozing come in. A little goes a long way, too much is not appropriate!
• Be respectful of people's time and boundaries.
• Don't talk at people. People like to be engaged, which means you're doing as much listening as talking. As the article points out, give a little, get a little.
• Let yourself be schmoozed. Its not just you who wants to develop relationships, others want to develop them with you. Give them the chance.

What I like most about the article is the emphasis on relationship building. At Pinnacol we all operate in a team environment where relationships are key to our success. And its not just internal relationships. Developing effective relationships with our customers and other stakeholders is what keeps Pinnacol a leader in our industry. So the next time someone tries to "schmooze" me, maybe I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and avoid automatically jumping to negative conclusions about what they are doing.

In a similar vein I came across the following video from the folks at AARP who have been nice enough to recognize our company as one of the best places to work for people over 50. For some of you web wizards it may be simplistic, but for the rest of us its a good synopsis of the value of networking and how do it.