Progressive Insurance

Established in 1937, two good friends named Joseph Lewis and Jack Green started Progressive Mutual Insurance Company to provide security and protection most auto insurance companies lacked. Since then the company has worked hard to earn its reputation as a fair, fast, and reliable insurance company in the US. The initial introduction of the company led thousands in the right direction by managing their auto insurance with integrity. Progressive’s beginning is just as intriguing as its current workforce with over 250,000 employees in over 450 offices across the nation. Entry level jobs and internships are the tip of the iceberg for recent graduates; training, advancement, and learning are required to establish oneself in this organization. Progressive’s unique work environment is only one aspect used to engage current students and recent grads.
Progressive is built on integrity, the Golden Rule, objectives, excellence, and profit. Future prospects, recent graduates, and current college students must function under these same terms. The opportunities emerging from Progressive’s expansion calls for more students and highly talented candidates to fill entry level positions in every office across the nation. This alone drives the need for employees with open minds and customer service oriented personalities to consider Progressive a starting point in their careers. At this time, new grads are entering internships to learn more about this company to grow into functional roles that assist in accomplishing Progressive’s mission of service.
Interested in working with a leading insurance company? Progressive offers multiple internship opportunities for first-year MBA students that demonstrate initiative, responsive to challenges, and open to learn the operations of an insurance firm based on service to the community. Current information technology (IT) students can gain exposure in a Fortune 500 firm by applying for one of the many IT internships available at Colorado Springs, Colorado and outside of Cleveland locations. The openings include:

• Application Development
• Enterprise Operations Services
• Quality Assurance

If computers are not your forte, you can learn more about the Claims Adjuster Trainee program that teaches students how to examine policies to determine coverage, review police and hospital records, call and interview claimants pertaining to a claim, and learn to appraise, investigate, and settle both vehicle and personal injury claims. The extent of learning moves out of the classroom with real world experience. Students with the drive to succeed in a true learning environment call Progressive Insurance home.
Career Opportunities
Recent grads and current students interested in applying to Progressive can find entry level positions in:

• Corporate and Executive
• Claims
• Information Technology (IT)
• Sales and Service

Each position offers amazing benefits including tuition assistance, 401(k) plans, Identity Theft Insurance, Aflac, base salary, and gain sharing. The connection between Progressive and its employees has built a strong foundation for recent grads to consider. The entry level jobs and internships offered through this company peak interest like never before. Ironically, Progressive considers these benefits necessities to keeping highly-talented employees happy and productive. The founders worked off of core values that continue to stream through all 450 offices across the nation. As soon as you decide Progressive insurance is the best place to start your career, you can access the many perks available to their employees.

What is the biggest job mistake you’ve made?

Not finishing my B.S. degree when I was in my 20′s and 30′s

– Submitted by W. K. from Tustin, California, United States through the CollegeRecruiter.com Career Blog Application on Facebook.com.

Integration With Broadbean

I’m pleased to announce that we just completed our integration with Broadbean Technology, which provides global job ad distribution and response tracking solutions to many of the world’s largest staffing companies, recruitment advertising agencies, technology vendors, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) businesses and major employers. Broadbean’s success has been built on technical innovation, great customer service and a culture that rewards hard work and entrepreneurial spirit.
30,000 recruiters use Broadbean’s flagship AdCourier system, which distributes in excess of 1.5 million job ads and processes up to 3 million candidate applications every month. The technology records the source of every application providing clients with management information that allows them to monitor return on investment from their online spend. This facilitates better buying decisions and is proven to save users money.

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More Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs From Sramana Mitra

As college students continue to choose opening franchises over internships and graduates opt to open their own businesses rather than compete for entry level jobs, the need for guidance and advice also increases. That’s why entrepreneur and Forbes columnist, Sramana Mitra, conducts her regular Strategy Roundtables.
The latest in the series is scheduled for June 3, 2009 at 8 a.m. PST (11 a.m. EST). For more information or to register, click here.
For those with a passion for sales, Mitra will host an additional Webinar, Sales Strategy Roundtable, on June 9, 2009 at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST). For information about this new Webinar or to register, click here.
During this 60-minute session, attendees are invited to review their current sales and marketing models with Mitra in a 3-minute presentation and ask her questions around the specific challenges related to their prospecting, account planning and territory planning strategies. With an eye on both effective sales methodologies and new sales productivity technologies, Mitra will provide feedback on each model and respond to the questions in real-time. Afterwards, she will take questions about sales challenges from other participants.
As with her other roundtables, the session is open to 1000 attendees but only the first five people to sign up will have the opportunity to review their sales models with Sramana and discuss their specific sales challenges.
There’s no fee to attend either roundtable discussion and once registration is complete, an email will be sent out confirming registration and providing instructions for logging in to the Webinar.

Will Your Network Be There When You Need Them?

I moderated a networking panel recently where the first question during the Q&A period came from a woman in the audience who said, “I’ve been looking for a job for a while and trying to improve my computer skills in the meantime, but I haven’t been able to find anything. What should I do?”
One of my fellow panelists said something I generally agree with, which is to find people who know you and your work and ask them for help, either in getting the word out about your need or helping to connect with you with others you should know.
None of us were prepared for her response: “They’re all dead.”
They’re all dead
Okay, next question….Anyone? Anyone?
Yes, the woman was well into middle age, but could ALL the people she knew be dead, or were maybe some just avoiding her?

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Personal Branding Interview: Louise Weir

Today, I spoke with Louise Weir, who is the Marketing and Communications Manager for Career Services at London Business School. In this interview, Louise gives us advice about taking a job abroad, interviewing over the phone, some interview tips for MBA students, and ideas on how to use LinkedIn for job searching.
When seeking a job overseas, candidates may conduct interviews over the phone. What are some ways to communicate your value/brand when you can’t meet the interviewer face-to-face?
Although a phone interview often comes quite early in the recruitment process, it is a vital opportunity to sell your personal brand to a potential recruiter. It is also a frequent early-round method used by recruiters who are looking to hire overseas.
While not conducted in person, by no means should the interviewer or interviewee dismiss the power of the phone interview. It will almost certainly be when a recruiter asks how much you know about the company, the position or the local market – and will undeniably be when they build their first impression of you as a potential recruit. A phone interview allows you the chance to sell yourself in a well-prepared, well-structured way.

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Preparing for the Upturn

Staffing Firm Offers Checklist to Help Businesses Lay Groundwork for Economic Rebound
The economy may be showing glimmers of hope for a recovery, but are businesses positioned to capitalize on the opportunities ahead? Robert Half Management Resources, the world’s premier provider of senior-level accounting and finance professionals on a project and interim basis, offers advice for making the most of personnel resources to manage future business growth.
“The economy will eventually bounce back, and businesses must be adequately prepared or risk losing ground to competitors,” said Paul McDonald, executive director of Robert Half Management Resources.
McDonald advises that instead of waiting for an official end to the recession, companies start now to analyze every aspect of their business and determine how prepared they are to respond to improving business conditions. This is particularly true for firms that made staff cutbacks. Robert Half Management Resources offers the following checklist for determining if your business is recovery-ready:
1. Keep reassessing budgets. Financial staff must be prepared to continually modify budgets to reflect progress or setbacks. Those companies that fully leverage the expertise of financial, budget, treasury or cost analysts will be better positioned to capitalize on improving conditions.

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References Can Make or Break Your Job Search

References are golden assets as you travel your career path. Nurture them with great care.
They may be personal or professional. The personal ones can speak to your stability and character. On the professional side, references should address your qualifications to handle the job. A combination of both types is first prize.
There are six career tips that will help you make sure your referencesassets work to your advantage in your search for a job.
1. Never take for granted that a reference will be positive. Get approval from each one, no matter how solid you may think the relationship is, so that the referring person can be prepared to speak for you from first-hand knowledge. The last thing you want is for a reference to be caught off guard. This contact is best made with a face-to-face meeting.
2. Bring the potential reference up to speed on your job status. Detail the history of your career. Explain the reasons you are looking for a new position. Explain your career goals.

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Your Resume Sucks If…

In my practice, I meet the coolest, greatest, most wonderful people ever. Today, for example, I met a sales executive who started the conversation with “I think my resume sucks” and I chuckled because I’ve heard this expression several times before. I mentioned that her words would make a good title for a blog post, then we both laughed and went about our business. Thanks to her wit, I am writing this blog post. You will know your resume sucks if…
* a hiring manager can’t tell what you want to do after perusing your resume.
* you yourself want to throw it in the garbage.
* it’s loaded with buzzwords and blather.
* it sounds like someone else wrote it.
* it isn’t a rock-solid representation of you and your brand.
* it’s a boring recollection of your past.
* it looks like a template.
* it doesn’t prove to the reader why you can do what you say you’re interested in doing.
* it contains negative-sounding language, mistakes or irrelevant information.
* it gets absolutely zero responses.
Article by, Billie Sucher and courtesy of CareerHub.com. The Career Hub blog connects job seekers with experts in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.

When it comes to the background check, never assume. Part II

Another company is in the news because a former employee allegedly found it easier to take clients’ money instead of investing it as promised.
Firm pays $2M for bad hire
Man accused of rape, embezzlement
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1174955
This employee allegedly had over $400,000 in debts before he was hired, a fact easily identified within seconds after running a credit report, which costs about the same as lunch at Applebee’s.
And a more comprehensive background check, one that includes education and employment verifications, a criminal records search, a motor vehicle report plus a credit check? Roughly a single day’s pay. If the new hire is a financial advisor handling millions of dollars of client assets, a background check probably costs the same as one hour of their salary.
We have seen more stories about embezzlement these days. My colleague blogged on another example just last week. It’s saddening but not surprising to see companies get burned because they do not background checks. And while there is FAR more awareness of the need to conduct employment screening compared to 10 years ago, many organizations still have a ways to go in terms of reducing their risk and evaluating potential damage.
Consider this company. It’s not only the out of pocket cost to investors this financial services firm has to contend with. There’s the hidden expense as well. Current and potential investors who may leave track marks sprinting in the other direction. When all is said and done, this will cost far more than $2 million dollars. It’s too bad so much money could have been saved by spending so little in advance.
Article by, Kevin Bachman and courtesy of EmployeescreenIQ