We'll be attending the DU Spring Job Fair this afternoon...

Last night Megan and I had the opportunity to attend a get together for campus organizations at DU (the University of Denver) ahead of today's Spring Job Fair. DU really does a nice job with these events and last night's session was no different. Interacting with the students is always a lot of fun and reinforces my faith in the next generation of graduates coming into the job market. While at last night's festivities we had a chance to catch up with two students - Kishan and Elvia who have an interesting product (FirstSynch.com) that helps employers and students connect through short video segments. We had first met Kishan at last Fall's Job Fair so we were excited to have another chance to get in front of the camera for a short segment about Pinnacol.

Our Vice President of Insurance Operations, Mark Isakson, was gracious enough to attend with us last night and I think he too came away excited about the prospect of bringing some of these upcoming graduates into our organization. I had hired Mark back in 2001 as an Underwriter and his journey with Pinnacol has taken him through several positions before assuming his current role. I'll always remember one particular interview Mark had when he was interested in becoming a Business Director of one of our multi-functional teams. The panel asked him what he had done to prepare himself for the role to which he was applying. Without skipping a beat Mark detailed how he had actually started preparing himself for this position years before. His detailed answer left a strong impression with the panel and helped Mark continue on his career path.

We'll be meeting today with candidates just starting their professional journeys and hopefully Pinnacol will be able to be a part of some of them!

Two new opportunities to join Pinnacol!

We have two new opportunities to join our company. We are looking for an experienced IS Security Administrator and for an Assistant Controller. 

The IS Security Administrator will serve as a Cybersecurity subject matter expert for our company and ensure the secure operation of our computer systems, servers, and network connections. A Bachelor’s Degree is strongly preferred for this position although relevant work experience (similar kind of work at a similar level of work as described in the essential duties) may be substituted for the  degree.  Two years cyber security experience coupled with 5 years system, network or development  experience is required and candidates must have experience in an incident-driven environment, and a solid understanding of security architecture for multiple operating systems, including Windows, Unix and Linux. IT forensics experience preferred along with one or more of the following certifications: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); SANS/GIAC; Cisco CCIE Security; CISM; Checkpoint Certified Security Expert.

If all that technical computer stuff overwhelms you like it does me perhaps our Assistant Controller opportunity is something you'd be interested in. This position will manage our internal accounting team, analyze results, and develop and maintain accounting principles, practices and procedures to ensure accurate and timely financial statements. The Assistant Controller also leads our annual budget and planning process. For this role a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting or Finance is strongly preferred. Relevant work experience (similar kind of work at a similar level of work as described in the essential duties) may be substituted for the bachelor's degree. A minimum of seven years accounting/finance experience is required with an emphasis on insurance preferred. Statutory and GAAP accounting strongly preferred. Candidates must have strong attention to detail and the ability to perform analyses while focusing on the big picture and must be able to manage priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment. Strong presentation and written communication skills are also a necessity for this position. CPA certification and public accounting experience a plus. 

If either of these two roles sounds of interest we would love to hear from you! Please complete an expression of interest via our company website.

Love is in the air...

Tis' the season for love, although if Tuesday's downtown celebration is any indication the color for this year's Valentine's Day should be perhaps more of an orange hue than red. Staying more with the traditional rather than the pigskin our Pinnacol In Action volunteers this week made 100 Valentine's cards for the kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver.

Christine and Marie, two of our volunteer coordinators, hosted the event and supplied everything you could ever need to bedazzle a card. About 30 Pinnacol employees demonstrated their card making skills and wowed the kids with their creations. It's good to know we have some very creative card makers but fortunately they were smart enough to keep me far away from the glue and glitter. This was the first time we've done this event and it was so successful they're already planning for next year. Thanks Christine and Marie for arranging this great event and thanks to all the Pinnacol volunteers who made it a success! Maybe some of them can give me card making lessons ahead of next year's celebration...

Business Director opportunity now open!

Due to a recent promotion we are looking to fill a Business Director role. Leading one of our multidisciplinary insurance operations teams of direct and in-direct reports this position will establish team priorities, team goals, and expectations to facilitate coordination and delivery of team-based services resulting in best-in-class customer experience and will lead the team's strategic and operational efforts to deliver industry specific services creating customer value. Our Business Directors maintain oversight and accountability for their team's book of business to achieve financial, business and customer objectives (underwriting profitability, growth, retention, claims management and customer experience) by routinely monitoring and directing improvement efforts to drive key performance metrics.

For this position a Bachelor’s Degree is strongly preferred. Relevant work experience (similar kind of work at a similar level of work as described in the essential duties) may be substituted for the bachelor's degree.  Completion of a degree is encouraged and supported. Five years’ experience in a leadership position in insurance or related field strongly preferred.  Must have extensive and in-depth knowledge of insurance operations (claims, underwriting and risk management services) and be flexible, innovative, and have the ability to perform in a rapidly changing, fast-paced environment.

If you are interested in our Business Director opportunity we would love to hear from you! We ask candidates to please apply on-line via www.pinnacol.com/careers .

Sometimes you just gotta believe...

and sometimes it's simply unbelievable. Congratulations to the champions of Super Bowl 50 - the Denver Broncos!

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Sometimes you just gotta believe

Sometimes you just gotta believe. Some people would claim yesterday's win by the Denver Broncos as miraculous. As the underdogs in everyone's minds except for those that mattered - the players - few really expected the Broncos to beat the favored Mr. Brady and Patriots. Of course, all the hype was about the Manning/Brady showdown but yesterday's game and yesterday's win was so not about the two quarterbacks. With apologies to the pundits, I'm sure Peyton would give 100% credit to the rest of the team and actually believe what he was saying.

Doretha, who I work with in HR, and who is far wiser than I, always proclaims that the Broncos simply need to score 1 more point than whichever team they are facing. And yesterday proved her right once again. Though the final score reflects a two point difference, the game was truly determined by one point - a missed point after attempt in the first half. The rest of the game would revolve around the Patriots trying to recover from that one botched play.

After the game was over and the final agonizing seconds had ticked off the clock a reporter asked one of the Broncos players in the locker room if a week ago he had believed that they would be where they were now - Champions of the AFC and headed for Superbowl 50. Though the reporter clearly expected a different response the player without the least hesitation said that yes, absolutely, without any doubt, he believed they would win the game. And it wasn't just some canned response, some sports metaphor being spouted. It was clear that he, and the rest of the team, truly believed in themselves and in each other and that they could win. And that's the real story about yesterday's game that celebrates a team that never gave up. As another Broncos player put it, every play in a game matters, and you gotta believe that every member of the Patriots organization has now learned that lesson the hard way.

I'm pretty sure the Broncos will again be rated as underdogs going into the big game two weeks from now. And that's probably as it should be. But in the end it doesn't matter. Let the players fight it out on the field  and until proven otherwise, you gotta believe in orange and blue. Congratulations to the 2015 AFC Champion Denver Broncos.

As I get older and realize more and more how little I really know it surprises me the lessons I still need to learn. As simple as it is, sometimes you just gotta believe.

The morning after...

Oh well. I noticed some very droopy faces this morning. They like me had to come to grips with the very sad reality that none of us had picked the winning combination of numbers for last night's record Powerball jackpot of $1,600,000,000. I don't often buy a lottery or Powerball ticket but how can you resist any jackpot with that many zeros in it? So, like you, I arose this morning and dutifully came in to work. Going into the drawing I was feeling cautiously optimistic - my odds were as good as anyone's and at 1 in 292,000,000 how could I lose? Heck, I almost went out ahead of the drawing to Expedia to book my one-way ticket to Bora Bora.

The good news of course is for you and I the world hasn't dramatically changed. Unlike the winners in California, Florida and Tennessee we don't have to deal with the hassle of lining up attorneys, accountants, and bodyguards let alone the headache of having to decide what to do with all those pesky millions.

Opportunities will continue to come our way and we have openings in a number of different areas from medical case management to safety services and information technology. Just yesterday I blogged about our newest opportunity for a Continuous Improvement Coach.

If you know of someone who would be a good fit for any of our positions  please let them know about our openings. And in the spirit of continuous improvement here's hoping that everyone out there continues to hone their number picking techniques ahead of the next record-breaking jackpot!