sunflowery's Diaryland Diary

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Employment Opportunities

Happy Birthday Mom! I won't tell anyone it's your 60th today...oops! I mean your 29th. Hee.

Bob is doing well reading his poetry on the radio in the mornings. It has given him a renewed passion for his poetry. Yesterday they asked him to create a poem specifically to kind of tease "brother Rob" and he did. He'll be reading it this morning. When he read it back to the producer, she was so excited because it was exactally what he was looking for. It is very exciting.

Along those lines, I began to research how he could freelance write for greeting card companies. The bad news is that there isn't a lot of that out there. Most of the big card companies don't accept freelance work. But the good news is there are a few companies out there that do. So we just need to find those companies, find their writing guidelines and send in some samples and see what happens.

Remember when I said I was going to start looking for employment opportunities back near where my parents live? I began to send my resume and cover letter to a few of the BIG employers in the area, not really expecting to hear anything back so soon...at least at this point. But I got an email back from one company, requesting a phone interview for next week. Wow! I am not really getting all excited...yet. This is a company that takes its time interviewing their potential employees. Time, we have. Our lease isn't up until June 1...so we aren't in a big hurry to move at this point.

But I was doing some research on the company so I would not appear to be a total dork and I came across their benefits page. If I wasn't sure about working for these guys before...reading about their benefits sure makes it tempting. Read on and see what I mean: Health Insurance
Our company offers three low-cost, high quality health insurance plans. You will be covered from your first day of employment, with no pre-existing condition clauses. Full prescription coverage, vision exams and preventive dental cleanings are among the benefits offered by our health insurance providers. We also offers a separate comprehensive dental plan with a discount vision option at a low monthly rate and we also offers free on-site flu vaccinations each year.

Life/Disability Insurance
You'll automatically receive free life insurance coverage after one month of employment. We also offer you long-term and short term disability insurance at minimal cost.

Vacation/Holiday Pay
Two weeks of paid vacation in each of your first two years. You'll get three weeks of vacation each year thereafter. Employees also receive six paid full-day holidays and three paid half-day holidays each year, and you have the option of taking unpaid leave.

401(k) Plan
Our 401(k) plan lets you defer income tax on your retirement savings. You may contribute up to 15% of your income to your choice of several investment plans. We may support your contribution with a generous match on a percentage of your deferral.

Compensation
Our staff members are bright, engaging, and committed to excellence. Bonuses are awarded on the basis of individual and company performance.

Stock Appreciation Rights
We are committed to having our employees share in the growth of our company. You become eligible for stock appreciation rights after full time employment for the majority of our fiscal year. If you received stock appreciation rights in our stock 10 years ago, you would realize the benefit of our stock price increasing by a compound annual growth rate of 47%. In comparison, Microsoft's CAGR for the same period is 26% and Intel's is 25%. While we hope to achieve similar returns in the future, there are no guarantees.

Professional Development
Your education doesn't stop when you join us. All new employees take part in our extensive four - to seven-week orientation courses. We post opportunities for professional development and contribute toward your tuition and expenses for relevant higher education course work. Our library of books and audio/video courses is a convenient resource for our employees.

Employees who become certified in more than one of our software applications receive bonuses.

Communication
We offer a work environment with minimal hierarchy. Company-wide staff meetings are held once a month in a nearby movie theater with popcorn and soda provided. Our staff is given the opportunity to offer input into our company's future direction through our annual Strategy Meeting. Our collegial atmosphere and matrix-based organizational structure encourage open dialogue and effective teamwork.

Personal Computers
We provides each employee with a state-of-the-art personal computer. Currently it is an Intel Windows workstation with a 17-inch monitor and high-speed Internet access. If you wish to purchase a home computer, we offer you interest-free loans.

Accommodations
We are housed in a beautiful, modern building with large conference rooms, fireplaces, and plenty of artwork. For snacking, coffee, tea, cocoa, milk, fruit juice, mineral water, and microwave popcorn are free. At lunchtime, we pay the delivery charges for orders from area restaurants. We also welcome pets on weekends.

Casual Dress
We believe you are most productive when you are comfortable. You define "comfortable" for yourself: jeans and sandals, business suit, etc.

Social Gatherings
We offer many social activities, including an annual anniversary dinner and a company picnic. Employees receive fine chocolates on Valentine's Day and their birthdays. We also offer a Halloween contest, a Choca-holic Challenge, and a Pi(e) Party. We also sponsors a variety of sports teams.

Noble Cause
We also make an annual donation on your behalf to a charity of your choice.

See? I think that last benefit impresses me the most. They don't say how much they will contribute, but we have a charity that I donate to through our United Way campaign every year and it would be awesome to continue that. The downside to working there would be leaving Big Bank Co. But I can transfer my 401K there and start over. Also, because of Bob's health, health insurance coverage on the 1st day of work with NO pre-exhisting conditions clauses is SUPER important. Also...full perscription coverage! Rock on! That alone tempts me beyond measure to want to work here. So, we'll see what happens.

So my tooth is still hurting. Today I need to pick up the antibiotic from the pharmacy to take over the weekend. It looks as if I will be having my first root canal next week. Gah! It is actually fine and doesn't hurt until I eat...then about a half hour later it throbs unmercilessly.

--------------------------------------- A Year Ago Today: October 01, 2003: White Rabbit and Stop Yawning!

Happy Birthday Mom! Hope It�s a good one. Your card is on the way.

I cannot stop yawning today. My 2 days of PTO time were wonderful, but getting back into the swing of things at work has been so difficult today. Thankfully it wasn�t so busy.

I talked to the gal at the rehabilitation place where Sweet Baboo will be getting his wheelchair assessment from...she said she can call MDA to see if they have any used equipment in stock that will work. Also, we can get financing from the medical supply place, so we should be fine.

SB started his classes today. He said they were wonderful. He came home all excited and so glad he has this opportunity.

The kitties got their smack on this morning. Maisey has been bolting at Daisy and chasing her into corners and under things. Poor Daisy runs and hisses, but doesn�t do much to hurt Maisey. I think Maisey needs a little world of hurt to shut her up. This morning I found Daisy huddled and shrunk into the space under the kitchen cabinets while Maisey was all puffy and queen of the apartment in front of her. Naughty girl. It�s been 2 weeks. I am hoping they will at least get to the place where they can consider one another with disdain and ignore the actions of the other. That would be nice.

Oh...we need a new computer. Or to have ours fixed. A new computer might be better because ours is over 3 years old and is as slow as molasses. Everything works except for Word. I uninstalled and reinstalled 3 times and it still won't work. I try to open a document and it either freezes up on me or says I preformed a fatal error. I am looking at computers and financing over the internet. Hopefully something will jump out at me That�s affordable.

Not much going on today. Just me not being able to stop yawning.

Thanks for reading.

6:33 a.m. - Friday, Oct. 01, 2004
2 comments

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

previous - next