Thursday, July 3, 2008

CH Robinson- the right thing for our family

I thought I would give everyone a quick recap on CH Robinson and just what I do exactly. CH Robinson is a 3rd party logistics company involved in supply chain management. We don't own any assets (trucks, planes, warehouses, etc) and so we are safely cushioned between a changing economy. We are a global company with 218 offices in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. It currently ranks 341 among the fortune 500, and has been around since 1905. We manage the transportation of products from point A to point B by air, rail, ocean, and by road. Generally most anything you see in a store, we have our fingerprints on. Most people have never heard of us, unless they've been involved in the transportation industry. We've been ranked by Fortune during the past few years among "Best managed companies," "Best places to start a career," "Best places to work," "America's most admired companies" etc.

My title is a transportation sales rep. and I will specifically work with carriers to ship truckloads of all kinds of products. It's a really exciting time for us because we've been experiencing tremendous growth and have a bright future ahead of us. The benefits here are just awesome, it feels like a family away from home, and the job itself is genuinely focused on relationships both in the office and with our customers. I'll have plenty of opportunities for promotions, raises, and bonuses.

I found CH Robinson when I went on a BYU-I internship expedition to Minneapolis. While I was there I interviewed with 3 other companies for advertising jobs. We also visited ad agencies, pr agencies, and because we had free time- we stopped by CH Robinson along with other business students. This wasn't part of what the communications department had in mind, so it was a visit I was not interested in. CH Robinson was absolutely amazing. Even though I had a love for advertising, I secretly fell in love with the company. I've had a huge passion for advertising and have been doing all that I can during the past few years to prepare myself for a career in this field. After 3 months from graduation, I got to the point where I was really disappointed, frustrated, and depressed about the job hunt. After a mighty change of heart, I refocused my efforts and humbled myself to what the Lord would want for our little family- not what I wanted (which was advertising). It's hard to explain the transformation that happened for me- only those in the same situation could understand. Following that weekend I remembered CH Robinson and how impressed I was with the company and decided to apply. Even before I applied, I not only knew it was the right decision, but I knew I'd get the job. Two weeks later, they offered me a job, and I started later that month in June.

I'm working for CH Robinson because I know it's where the Lord wants us to be. I strongly felt that the Lord had a special interest in my career and has a plan for us, even though I had a passion and was stubborn about wanting a career in advertising. If I would have just listened from day 1, we could have saved a lot of money and 3 months of a frustrating job hunt. This has been a huge learning experience for me, and we are very happy with both CH Robinson and living in Lehi, Utah. And most importantly, I think the Lord is happy with where we are at. I'm sure we'll see more reasons why we should be here as time goes by and as we try harder to listen to the Lord directing our lives.

2 comments:

Avry said...

Marshall we are so excited for you! We are glad you have found a path in life that you are happy about. :)

Snedakers said...

You guys are great, we are sure glad you found such a good job, and don't beat yourself up about it, I think it takes most of us quite a while to listen to what the Lord would have us do when it's not exactly what we have planned.