The four companies I choose to conduct research on are the following.
PayPal, HP, California Water Company and Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. I choose these companies because of the cutting-edge technologies they use as well as many other attributes. I currently work in the IT field and feel after graduating with my degree in Networking and Telecommunications my chances will only increase to work for one of these companies or others.
Employer Contact Information:
2211 N 1st St.
SAN JOSE, CA
95131-2021
United States
+1.408.9671000
https://www.paypal.com/
Contact job recruiter/HR- employeecentralcases@paypal.com
General Information about the company:
PayPal Holdings, Inc. is a technology platform and digital payments company that enables digital and mobile payments on behalf of consumers and merchants. The Company’s combined payment solutions, including its PayPal, PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, Xoom and Paydiant products, compose its Payments Platform. It operates a two-sided global technology platform that links its customers, both merchants and consumers, around the globe to facilitate the processing of payment transactions, allowing it to connect merchants and consumers. It allows its customers to use their account for both purchase and paying for goods, as well as to transfer and withdraw funds. It enables consumers to exchange funds with merchants using funding sources, which include bank account, PayPal account balance, PayPal Credit account, credit and debit card or other stored value products. It offers consumers person-to-person payment solutions through its PayPal Website and mobile application, Venmo and Xoom.
My interest in the employer:
My interest in this company increased because of mass hiring that they have been doing. The mass hiring was in response to the company’s growth which is one of the primary things is I look for in a company. I also liked the fact that they pledged 500 million to help minority owed business.
Questions for employer:
Do you plan on increasing wages for H-1b visa holders?
Do you offer Tuition reimbursement for Industry certifications and College level courses?
Do encouraged and support career advancement?
Do you encourage technical cross training in other technical departments if a current employee desires to pursue another career path such as software development?
Employer Contact Information: 
Hewlett Packard
1501 Page Mill Road Palo Alto
CA 94304
United States
PHONE
1-650-857-1501
WEBSITE
www.hp.com
Contact job recruiter/HR- https://content.ext.hpe.com/sites/CountrySupport/USA_External_HRSupport.page
General Information about the company:
HP Inc. provides imaging and printing systems, computing systems, mobile devices, solutions, and services for business and home. The Company offers products which includes laser and inkjet printers, scanners, copiers and faxes, personal computers, workstations, storage solutions, and other computing and printing systems. HP sells its products worldwide.
My interest in the employer:
My interest in this company increased after I found out the company that split into 2 different entities. Normally when this occurs job growth is the result which gives me and other graduates more chances of getting hired when we graduate. Sometimes you get the opposite and growth is stagnated but from what I researched about the split that occurred in 2015 that is not the case.
Questions for employer:
Where do you see the company going in the next decade regarding growth and hiring?
Do you offer Tuition reimbursement for Industry certifications and College level courses?
Do encouraged and support career advancement?
Do you encourage cross training in other technical disciplines if a current employee desires to pursue another career path such as database administration?
Employer Contact Information: 
California Water Service Group
1720 N 1st St,
San Jose
CA 95112
408-367-8200
www.calwater.com
Contact job recruiter/HR-Talent Acquisition Manager in Human Resources at (408) 367-8304
General Information about the company:
California Water Service Group provides regulated and non-regulated water services. It engages in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection.
My Interest in the employer:
I did some in depth research on California Water and they have grown from where they were 10 years ago, but I have my concerns about how diversified they are because of a complaint by Congress woman Maxine Waters. She and other Government officials have been focusing on diversification in Silicon Valley companies. With that said I would not turn down a job opportunity there.
Questions for employer:
How long does it take to become a vested employee in your company?
Do you offer Tuition reimbursement for Industry certifications and College level courses?
Do encouraged and support career advancement?
Do you encourage diversity when it comes to hiring?
Employer Contact Information: 
Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health
400 Hamilton Avenue
Suite 340
Palo Alto
California
94301
(650) 497-8365
https://www.stanfordchildrens.org
Contact job recruiter/HR-Dawn Freeman Senior Employee Relations Specialist 725-8608 dawn.freeman@stanford.edu
General Information about the company:
California Water Service Group provides regulated and non-regulated water services. It engages in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection.
My Interest in the employer:
I did some good research on this nonprofit company and I discovered that they are considered one of the best Children’s Hospitals in the US remarkably similar to St. Jude’s. They operate the same way providing cutting edge health care for under privileged children for are extremely sick. I am a big supporter of any services that helps kids and their families especially since health is so expensive.
Questions for employer:
What types of technologies do you use in your environment?
Do you offer tuition reimbursement for Industry certifications and College level courses?
Do encouraged and support career advancement?
Do you encourage diversity when it comes to hiring?
Citied References:
https://www.reuters.com/companies/PYPL.O
https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/HPQ:US
https://www.annualreports.com/Company/california-water-service-group
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/28/California-Water-Service-Group.html
https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/ca/lucile-salter-packard-childrens-hospital-at-stanford-6933605
Daryl,
I found what you posted about the employer California Water service to be interesting. I think its great their going to make it better and I wouldn’t turn down a job from them either. I also think any organization that is helping kids would be great to work for. Healthcare is so expensive and these organizations are so helpful to so many families.
It is impressive that your companies seem so diverse, Daryl. I hadn’t really considered this before, but with an IT degree, one person could potentially work in many different fields. Jobs in every industry are simplified with information technology, and the IT field is becoming increasingly essential in all industries.
When my father was in college, he majored in Chemistry and got a minor in Computer Science. The head of the Chemistry department (this was in 1990) thought that his Computer Science minor would be useless to a chemist. Yet, in 1991, my father received his first offer of a position as a chemist because of his computer expertise. He has needed that computer knowledge with every position since then, and other chemists relied on him for help with chemistry-related technology. It’s great to know that this degree can open so many doors.