Working at State Farm - Bloomington-Normal

Working at State Farm in Bloomington-Normal, IL

Why State Farm?

State Farm is one of the best and largest employers in Central Illinois and now in the whole country. Because of this, it attracts people from all over the country and towns/cities and it interests them to want to work for a company like State Farm. Today State Farm has approximately 18,000 Agents, over 65,000 employees and serve over 82 Million polices and financial accounts. State Farm currently offers nearly 100 products and services. Handling nearly 35,000 claims per day. "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." Their logo suits their company and the people that they serve and help. With that, the people also need State Farm by their side.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF POSITIONS AT STATE FARM:

State Farm has many different types of career opportunities such as:

-Claims

-Handling

-Underwriting

-Finance

-Marketing

-Customer Service

-State Farm Agent

-Positions that support the Agents who sell the Insurance

And many more.

GETTING PROMOTED:

Everyone wants to get promoted eventually and sometimes it is not easy to get a promotion so here are some advice and tips for those who are planning or wanting a promotion.

I met and sat down with Ann Jo, a Claims Manager at State Farm for about 40 years. She was very nice and willing to listen to what I asked. I asked her about ways to get promoted or what to do to get promoted. This is what Ann Jo said:

Q: Can you give us any advice or tips that would help an employee at State Farm who might be interested in wanting a promotion but do not know where to start or what to do?"

Ann Jo: "State Farm promotes mostly from within the company, which means you can work your way up. One of the most important ways to get promoted within the company is to do a really good job, and focus on your job and yourself. Show that you are serious about wanting a promotion. Researching about insurance and getting a better understanding of insurance education helps big time and it doesn't hurt to learn more about State Farm or the job position you are interested in. Make sure to talk to your boss about the opportunities within the company."

There are different level of positions:

Para-Professional position:

These are entry level jobs. Usually they have different levels for these types of jobs. As you gain more experience and knowledge, then your boss will decide if he/she, should promote you to the next level.

Technical Positions:

Include positions that require a higher level of judgement and decision making. A lot of these positions don't require a college degree at State Farm, however, to become more competitive to acquire this level position, a person usually would need a college degree. Within this category of Technicals, there are different specialty type of positions like Attorneys, which do require a law degree. Maintenance personnel, would not require a college degree, however, other skills like mechanical and electrical skills or backgrounds would not require a college degree.

Management Positions:

These positions can be a Supervisor all the way to a Vice President. Usually upper management positions decides who should or should not have the opportunities to get promoted.

THE BENEFITS:

Working at State Farm you get all of these benefits and much more.

1. Pays well

2. Vacations that range from 2 weeks to 5 weeks.

3. Paid vacation

4. Health Insurance Plans.

5. Pension which State Farm pays entirely. The employee doesn't have to pay for any of it.

6. 401K plan. They will match and pay into most years, depending on the profitability of the company.

7. Pay the employee even if it is to take care of a sick family member.

8. If the company wants you to travel they pay for your airfare, company car, gas, hotel, pay for you to eat out.

9. Provide all the office supplies.

A discount to Four Seasons Gym and Garrett Popcorn.

THE ATTIRE:

For many years at State Farm, the dress codes for men were for them to wear a suit and tie. Dresses, nice blouse and skirts for women. Then in 1997, the rules changed. State Farm switched to a "Business Casual" attire which eventually turned into a "Dress for the Day Policy." Business Casual Day for men is, no suit or tie, instead slacks and shirts, and for women, no more dresses or skirts, instead you can wear pant suits, nice blouse, dress slacks. Khakis type pants are okay to wear for both genders.

"Dress for the Day"

If you are customer facing, then you would need to wear a nice attire, but if you are not customer facing, you can wear jeans and casual clothing's. Some employees started to wear inappropriate and revealing clothes after "Casual Attire" was made available. So it became a problem for management to deal with and part of manager job was to console those employees.

THE STATE FARM PARK:

State Farm has one of the most beautiful parks that I've ever seen. It's well equipped and clean. State Farm Park has a large outdoor swimming pool, such as Olympic pool, kiddy pool, tennis courts, sand volleyball, soccer and baseball fields, several playgrounds, a miniature golf, includes a lazy river, walking trails, picnic areas with outdoor grills, a beach house with a snack bar, shuffle boarders, a basketball courts that is only for State Farm Employees.