Sundance Vacations Continues To Hire Amidst Economy

Yesterday, the Times Leader published an article that claimed “The region’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 10.3 percent in May, stretching the local streak of monthly increases to four and inching close to a level reached 18 years ago.”

Despite the increase stated in the article, it went on to say that “The jobs created in the region during the month were mostly within the service-providing sector. The leisure and hospitality category added 1,000 jobs as local restaurants and outdoor recreational businesses hired for the summer.” You can bet Sundance Vacations was a part of the companies that hired.

That’s right! June has been a busy month for the Human Resources department at Sundance Vacations. Busy because Sundance Vacations hired more than 60 people in several different offices throughout the company. On June 15th the company had a job fair at the company headquarters in Wilkes-Barre, PA, in which 57 people were interviewed for positions ranging from outbound marketers to a brand new permission marketing administrative assistant.

Bill Watkins was one of the 57 people to attend the job fair on June 15. Bill was laid off last June and has been searching for a job ever since. “I made it my ‘job’ looking for a new job. I looked in the newspaper, online, career link and anything I could think of to find work. It was a really hard time,” Bill reflected on the past year. “When I finally got hired by Sundance Vacations, it felt like I hit the Powerball. As soon as I found out, I went home to tell my family, fiancee and friends,” Bill exclaimed about being hired.   After two weeks of working at Sundance Vacations Bill said, “I felt like a member of the team on day one.”  Katelynn Warmen was also one of the 57 that came in for the job fair. She experienced much of the same struggle Bill experienced in finding a job as well. She had previous experience in telemarketing but said, “It doesn’t feel like your average telemarketing position. This is so much better. I love the friendly and fun atmosphere.”

Tina Dowd, founder, said that “We hope that the economy will keep recovering and we can steamroll straight through fall as well.” Despite being in a recession Tina added that “We did not see a reduction in desire to travel.  People still want to preserve some semblance of normalcy to their lives.  We did see an increase in the desire to save money on travel, which has been good for Sundance Vacations. As a result of that desire, we’ve been able to grow through the recession.”

Being able to have the amount of job openings in the current economy is also a testament to the hard work of all the employees. Sundance Vacations would not be able to grow and hire more people without the hard work and dedication of its employees. Alan Horro, who was hired with Bill and Katelynn, said that he “feels great talking on the phones. The support here at Sundance Vacations is incredible. I couldn’t ask for anything better.” Katie Fox, who previously worked here in 2004 and just recently came back, can agree with Alan’s statement. She said “The core values are still the same as before but the training keeps getting better. It is outstanding. I feel confident and better about my work when I have the tools to do my job.” When hiring, Sundance Vacations looks for the same type of people that have helped this company grow – hard working, passionate and dedicated.

Sundance University - Orientation/training program