Therese was getting restless. She’d been unemployed (due to COVID) for over a year, all while caregiving for her mother after a cancer diagnosis. She missed working, and it was time to get back on the market—but the job she found didn’t seem real.
“When I first saw the post, I wasn’t even sure if it was a real company,” Therese described, noting how the ad portrayed America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) with a caring and community-driven work atmosphere. “It sounded too good to be true, but I went ahead and applied—and within half an hour I had a call from HR.”
Getting started
The interview was enough to tell Therese that APHW would be an awesome place to work. “The first thing that drew me in the charity work APHW does,” she explained. “Specifically with Relay for Life, because fighting cancer is very near and dear to my heart. I also love how APHW gives back to the community, and their employee appreciation efforts—they really treat you like you’re family.”
Therese started as an Accounts Receivable Clerk in November 2021, not knowing anything about home warranties or how to use NetSuite, the primary ERP software at APHW: “But I had some pretty excellent training, so I was able to pick things up very quickly,” she said.
“Everyone was super supportive, Heather especially. She always had her door open for conversations, and she did everything she could to help me understand things, and make sure that I’m comfortable and happy. I definitely attribute some of my success to her.”
And Therese’s journey at APHW can certainly be defined as successful: APHW has a standard requirement of six months minimum between roles, yet she earned a transfer from Accounts Receivable to Accounts Payable in just four months! “They had posted the position internally, and I immediately knew that was where I wanted to end up,” she shared. “So I worked on my resume and applied the very next morning, and they had an interview set up for me the very next day.”
Moving on up
Therese says her selection for the position was a complete privilege and honor. “I’m still kind of surprised about it. It made me feel good that this company—especially Amanda, Heather, and Kathrin—all trusted me enough to take on that role in only four months here.”
It seems that trust was well-placed, because in only ten months total of working for APHW, Therese earned the company’s recognition as Employee of the Month for September 2022.
“I was just in total disbelief,” Therese stated. “Why was I chosen out of all these employees? I mean, I work hard when I come to work, but I attribute a lot of my success here to my team and the support I have from the Accounting department. Everyone always has my back, and I feel just supported and cared about.”
Support beyond expectations
Feeling supported in your work is one thing; feeling supported outside of work is another. Therese’s mother passed away in July, and the viewing was scheduled on the same day as the Relay for Life main event, a focal point of the year for APHW—but that didn’t stop her colleagues from showing up.
“They were stopping by the viewing to see me and hug me and offer their support,” she recalled. “They allowed me to work from home on days when I was having a really hard time, and Amanda was there if I needed to talk.”
This sort of support has given Therese every reason to want to stay with APHW for the rest of her career. “I love our Accounting department, so you’ll probably never get me to leave,” she said with a smile. “If I could sum up APHW in one word, it would be ‘family’: I’m telling you, besides my husband, they’ve been there for me more than anyone else in my life.”
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