As the manager of GEICO’s National College Recruiting team, one of the best parts of my job is being involved with our annual GEICO Achievement Award Program. For as long as I have been at GEICO, and way before that, we’ve given these awards to undergraduate students in recognition of their academic excellence and true dedication to their campuses and surrounding communities.
In 2012, more than 50 college students each received a $1,000 award to assist in paying for tuition, books and other school expenses. This year’s program is in full swing and the application window is quickly coming to a close. If you know any high-achieving college sophomores or juniors majoring in business, math or computer science, please encourage them to download an application and apply today!
To apply, each student must submit a completed application, resume and transcript, letter of recommendation from a faculty member or advisor, and an essay describing why he or she deserves to receive one of these awards. All of these application materials should be mailed in one envelope, so that required documents do not become separated.
The postmark deadline is Feb. 22, so get those applications in and be rewarded for your excellence. We are all very excited to receive your information and select the next group of outstanding recipients!
There’s a long history of love and marriage at GEICO. It goes way back to our earliest days; our founder, Leo Goodwin, and his wife Lillian worked side-by-side to get GEICO up and running. Today, more than 75 years later, Cupid’s arrow continues to strike, as some associates are finding more than just careers here.
Ivy & Jason, married in 2012
These newlyweds were working in different GEICO locations when they met in 2010. Ivy, who was an analyst in our Washington, D.C., corporate headquarters, was visiting our Fredericksburg, Va., regional office when she met Jason. “We loved ‘talking shop’ and bouncing ideas off each other,” said Ivy. Their first date was a Washington Wizards basketball game with some other associates, and the rest is history!
Cheryl & Todd, married in 1998
Nearly 20 years ago, Todd did not make the greatest first impression on Cheryl during an actuarial training session. She thought he was a bit of a “know-it-all,” but soon after, they became friends and occasionally played a little tennis. Four years later, he finally won her over and they married. “It is great seeing each other at work every day, albeit briefly,” says Todd. “And, it’s also nice having someone who understands completely when you describe how things are going at work. “
Joanne & Al, married in 2010
Five years ago, Joanne met Al briefly during one of GEICO’s annual golf outings. Then, while she was transitioning from our supervisor leadership program to her new role as a college recruiter, her laptop needed fixing. Systems technician Al was just the man for the job. Today, the couple is happily married, living in Virginia with their beautiful daughter … and are expecting their second child later this year!
When you spend eight or more hours a day, five days a week at work, it’s important to be with people you respect, support and care about. While we can’t guarantee you’ll find everlasting love inside our office walls, we know it’s certainly within the realm of possibility. So from all of us at GEICO … Happy Valentine’s Day!
Spring is just around the corner and you can just feel it … can’t you? The weather is going to change, the flowers are going to bloom, birds are going to sing, and soon-to-be graduates will be seeking out opportunities to put their hard-earned degrees to use.
The good news for these students is that there will be plenty of companies that will be happy to provide them the opportunities they seek. The spring recruiting season is upon us and the GEICO college recruiters, like many others, will be hitting the road searching for top talent to join the fastest-growing insurance company in the industry.
So you are probably asking yourself … why all the hoopla? Graduates need jobs and GEICO has jobs … end of story. Well, not quite. You see GEICO recruiters are not looking for just ANY graduates to fill our opportunities we are looking for the best of the best. The problem is that every other company is vying for the same talent.
The competition on campus has continued to grow from season to season and our college recruiters are constantly working hard to separate themselves from the pack. The college recruiters across the company are the brand ambassadors and the “face” of GEICO on campus. Over the next few months, you’ll find GEICO college recruiters at more than 100 schools and events to promote the opportunities that GEICO has to offer.
These events will range from the general career fair to specific events that will target diverse student populations. The recruiters’ work will make a lasting impression on the candidates they talk to on campus, and will have long-term effects on GEICO’s future talent base.
We are very excited for the spring – should be busy months for our recruiting team!
Each month, we share an image from GEICO’s past and invite you to exercise your caption-writing skills.
… and everything in its place!
Each of the bins atop this shelf was dedicated to a specific type of claims paperwork, and the slots below were each reserved for a particular claims associate. These ladies were tasked with making sure that not one single sheet wound up where it didn’t belong.
How did they do? Well, GEICO’s claim service has always earned us pretty high marks from our customers, so they must have done all right. But it sure seems like a cumbersome system compared to the speed with which claims information travels these days, via computer networks, email, instant message and smartphone.
One thing hasn’t changed, though. The job still isn’t finished until the paperwork is done!
Take a guess at what these women were thinking in the comments below.
Our new “Executive Q & A” series kicks-off with an interview with Jan Stewart, vice president of human resources. Jan joined GEICO in 2002 as the Corporate Secretary and moved into her current HR leadership role in 2006. I sat down with her to talk about GEICO, plans for 2013 and more.
What exciting things is your team working on for 2013?
Our recruiters will be increasing their visibility via social networks, and connecting with job seekers on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. We have aggressive hiring goals this year and plan on leveraging social networks to share the GEICO story and career opportunities.
We also have an extensive amount of work to do in 2013 to determine our health and wellness strategy for the next five or so years.
I hear that GEICO plans to hire 4,000 associates next year. Can you tell me more?
Yes, we’re very excited about the growth opportunities that GEICO continues to offer across the country! By virtue of our continued sales growth and the need to handle more claims because of our growth, we need to hire more associates. As we add more associates to our family, we’ll need to hire more management staff to help coach and develop them. Therefore, we’re building up our leadership programs as well.
What is the one thing that you want job seekers to know about GEICO?
The one thing I would stress is that GEICO is a place where you can achieve many careers over the course of your working life. We offer so many options – sales, customer service, claims, auto damage adjusting, our property insurance agency, IT and various staff departments. You could have six, seven or more careers … all here at GEICO.
I understand that you were once a practicing lawyer. Can you talk to me more about your career path?
I practiced law for 15 years, primarily as a benefits lawyer. For the last eight years of that time, GEICO was one of my clients. I developed relationships with several lawyers in GEICO’s Office of General Counsel including the corporate secretary, who recruited me to come to GEICO before she retired.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think it’s to be passionate about what you do. If you do not love what you do every day, then you need to find something else to do. For me, it’s staying vibrant and making sure that every day I am doing things that I love.
Do you have any advice on how to best balance career and family?
Be organized and focus on what matters, and don’t get lost in the little things that can distract you at work. Do your work as smartly and efficiently as you can, so that you can leave work at the office and really focus on your family when you are with them.
If you’re looking for a place to take children to have fun, play and learn something new at no cost, then GEICO has an answer – at least for one night a month. GEICO is sponsoring Free Family Nights at the new National Children’s Museum at the National Harbor, located just outside Washington, D.C.
Starting this Friday, each month the museum will feature a new, unique theme with hands-on and interactive exhibits that will intrigue children of all ages. The museum’s mission is to inspire children to better understand and help improve the world by teaching them about the global community and about people from different cultures.
The museum’s exhibits are not just for school-age children. There is a gallery for children 3 and under, designed (with help from the Sesame Workshop) to meet the developmental needs of these young minds through safe and creative play. Standard admission to the museum is $10 per child or adult (infants age 1 or younger get in free), but Free Family Nights make it even more affordable.
“One of our main goals at National Children’s Museum is to never deny a child an educational experience because of lack of funds,” said NCM President and CEO Willard Whitson. “Because of GEICO’s generous contribution to fund Free Family Nights, we can proudly say that every child will be allowed to experience what the museum has to offer, at no cost.”
How is a GEICO commercial made? What is it like to be the world’s most famous gecko? To answer these questions – and many more – the Gecko is taking you behind the scenes in his latest set of GEICO commercials.
Taking a break from highlighting our 97% customer satisfaction rating, the Gecko denounces the digital coffee (apparently, computer-generated beverages leave something to be desired). Would you have believed that his coffee, and even his coffee mug, aren’t real? Wonders never cease.
The latest commercial takes the Gecko into the acting adventure of a lifetime. We get to see his dramatic side as he tries to deal with a flat tire and truly convey the great anguish from which GEICO’s emergency roadside assistance could save you.
These are only two of the many opportunities we’ll have to get an inside look at the Gecko’s storied career. Be sure to follow the Gecko on Twitter for updates on his newest adventures.
Now that it’s 2013, there are endless lists of resolutions and “Best Of” countdowns from 2012. It’s also a chance for me to dig into our blog posts over the past year, and see which ones you liked the most.
Based on views, comments and buzz, here are the five most popular posts from the past year on the GEICO Blog. Check out these posts one last time, then join us for many more in 2013!
Back in July, we kicked off a new series of commercials called “Happier Than…”, and this post premiered the first spot, featuring the famous Gallagher at a farmers market.
Each month, we dig into the GEICO archives and pull out a picture from our history – sometimes it’s even in black and white. Your comments on these posts are always our favorites.
Our popular online magazine, GEICO Now, has even more tips and articles. This post featured a chat with a creative director behind our loveable characters.
Each month, we share an image from GEICO’s past and invite you to exercise your caption-writing skills.
Back in the Bronze Age – OK, it was 1984 – when I started at GEICO, this was a common sight. Vast expanses of floor space in our headquarters building were dedicated to policy files. Oh, we had dipped our toes into data processing in the 1970s, but large colonies of file shelves still existed. And as these ladies apparently knew, a person could almost disappear amongst the racks and rows.
Record-keeping has come a long way since those days. To the delight of trees everywhere, all the information on these shelves probably fits on a memory card the size of a postage stamp now.
What do you suppose these women were thinking as they roamed the rows?
In 13 major locations and field offices across the country, GEICO’s recruiting teams are revving up hiring for 2013! From New York to Hawaii and from Alaska to Florida, we plan to hire more than 4,000 new associates in the upcoming year.
Now, when you think of an insurance company, you probably think of jobs in sales, claims or customer service. As a leader in our industry, we absolutely have careers in those customer-centric fields. What you may not realize is that we’re also hiring in our legal department (attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries), and for business and product analysts, actuaries, and Java and .NET developers.
Know a recent or soon-to-be grad? We have a very active college recruiting program, too. Throughout the year, GEICO recruiters are on campus looking for bright, driven business and computer science majors for two management training programs. In 2013, we plan to hire more than 150 college graduates for these programs, and develop them into future IT and business leaders.
One of our senior vice presidents used to say, “Anything that you want to do in business, you can in the insurance industry.” And it’s true! Insurance companies offer a wide variety of career tracks. From time to time, we even hire graphic designers, public relations coordinators, accountants, nurses and Six Sigma black belts. (Sorry, the Gecko position has been filled.)
Interested in joining the GEICO team? Qualified job seekers are encouraged to submit an online employment application. Simply visit geico.jobs to learn more and apply. GEICO takes much pride in the training and support that we provide to our associates, as well as our promote-from-within corporate culture. We don’t just provide jobs; we give our associates the chance to build rewarding careers.
But don’t just take my word for it! Posted below is one of our most recent corporate videos. Watch and hear first-hand why it’s great to be a GEICO associate, and share your thoughts in the comments.
Ivy & Jason, married in 2012
Cheryl & Todd, married in 1998
Joanne & Al, married in 2010
By guest blogger Steve Cairns
Each month, we share an image from GEICO’s past and invite you to exercise your caption-writing skills. 
Our new “Executive Q & A” series kicks-off with an interview with Jan Stewart, vice president of human resources. Jan joined GEICO in 2002 as the Corporate Secretary and moved into her current HR leadership role in 2006. I sat down with her to talk about GEICO, plans for 2013 and more.
If you’re looking for a place to take children to have fun, play and learn something new at no cost, then GEICO has an answer – at least for one night a month. GEICO is sponsoring Free Family Nights at the new National Children’s Museum at the National Harbor, located just outside Washington, D.C.
Each month, we share an image from GEICO’s past and invite you to exercise your caption-writing skills. 
1 Comment