Who would have thought once I moved to Kansas City, I would be builidng my career in the casino business? I sure didn't. Once I got in it, I was hooked. I have been in the casino business getting close to 11 years now. It hasn't always been that easy.
I got my first job when I was in 4th grade, I believe. I was a newspaper carrier for the Omaha World Herald. It was a great learning experience, and it was nice having that little bit of money to spend at the end of the month. Unfortunately, I spent most my money on candy, particulary candy corn. I am not sure why I was obsessed with those. It had to be Brachs candy corn. It couldn't be any of that other stuff. Also, I had an experience where a big St. Bernard tackled me. I thought I was a goner but all he wanted to do was lick my face. Anyway I delivered the newspaper for about 6 years. I then get my first real job as a dishwasher at the American Legion. I remember my first day was during rodeo week in Sidney, and the dishwashing machine broke and I had to do all the dishes by hand. I can't believe I came back for day 2.
In college, I decided not to work. I wanted to concentrate on my studies. My junior year though, I decided to make a little extra money and worked at ITZA Pizza on campus at Northwest Missouri State. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed driving the golf carts around to deliver the pizzas. It sucked though when you were trying to carry 8 flimsy glasses up a bunch of stairs though.
I majored in Geography in college, and after college I got a job in Fargo, North Dakota as a geographer at a company called NAVTEC. Basically I made maps for in car navigation systems. It was a fun job, but after two horrific winters, I decided I had enough of Fargo. I remember waking up and actually could not find my car in the morning because it was buried in the snow. I also had never heard of plugging in your car???
So after receiving a job offer from Omaha, I decided to move back home to Iowa. After I got home, the company closed down. Unfortunately, there just wasn't many opportunities out there.
So in 1997, I took a job to be the Circulation Manager of the Nebraska City News-Press. I really loved that job and working with and developing those carriers. I do consider it one of the most rewarding positions I ever had. I tell people all the time if I wasn't laid off after 2 years there, I would probably still be there. Even though it was just kids, I really enjoyed the joy in their face when I would award them with "Carrier of the Month" It was at this moment that I really thought getting a job in employment would be good for me.
So after dabbling in a couple of other circulation jobs for the Omaha World Herald and the Albert Lea Tribune in Minnesota, I realized it just wasn't the same as the newspress, and I decided to get out of the newspaper business.
Then I got my favorite seasonal job of all time. They hired me as a speech/drama director at Farragut High School. Theatre is a passion of mine, so this was a great opportunity for me. I loved working with the high school kids, and we ended up going to All-State in two events. We took home All-State in Group Mime. I was so excited for those kids. I am glad we got there because when we left, we almost got sideswiped by a semi. Scary Stuff! I wish I could have stayed there longer but unfortunately it wasn't a permanent position.
In 2001, I moved to Kansas City with a friend of mine. Shortly after I interviewed here, I thought it would be cool to work at a hotel, so I interviewed at Ameristar Casino for a Front Desk Agent position, and I was offered the position on the spot. A week later, they decided to move me to Reservations which was fine because they had an opening there as well. This was just supposed to be a job I was going to have until I found a better job. The casino environment lured me in, and I worked with a great bunch of people. I loved my job at Ameristar. I was offered a lead position after a few months there. Next thing I know, I was there almost 6 years. I didn't have plans to really leave Ameristar unless it was the perfect opportunity.
That perfect opportunity came at Argosy Casino. Argosy was building a brand new hotel, and they were looking to staff it. One of the HR staff from Argosy called me to tell me that I should apply. I was torn because I was making more money at Ameristar, but the opportunity to open a brand new hotel lured me in, and I decided to interview at Argosy, and was offered a position there. It was an awesome experience opening the hotel.
After the hotel was open, I wanted to branch out, and human resources was something I was interested in every since working at the News-Press. In the summer of 2007 I was given that opportunity. I am now the HR Coordinator at Argosy. Really, it should be Employment Coordinator or Specialist because I work primarily in Employment. The joy you see when someone is offered a position. To be able to help people in their time of need. There is no better feeling. I hope to keep moving up at Argosy Casino because I honestly don't think there is a better company out there. I couldn't ask for a better team to work with.
No comments:
Post a Comment