Perhaps the 2010 GBS Intern’s parents have told them about The Mama’s and The Papa’s but this coming Monday – June 7th – is a big day for all of them, as they begin their nine-week journey with us. You will be hearing from the 11 first-year intern in the Western States as well as from Tony (in Sacramento) & Rick (in Seattle) who are back for the second year of the program. They will tell you about their experiences, their backgrounds, where they go to school, why they chose the Gallagher internship program and much more.

We hope that will interest you and perhaps get you or someone you know to apply for our 2011 program – it’s never too early to start planning!

- Simon in Sacramento

It’s getting towards the end of March and most of the Gallagher branches have now selected their 2010 Summer Interns. This year we will have a record 180 first and second-year interns joining the GBS and BSD offices around the country.

For nine weeks they will be immersed in the world of insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting – which will hopefully guide them in their choice of career upon graduating. They will spend the first two weeks learning about the operations of their respective branches before heading to AJG’s corporate headquarters in Itasca, IL for a week of orientation, tours, team-building and intensive classes – plus some fun, too!

Look for comments from them throughout the summer to give you a taste of the experience.

- Simon

Hello, Hello.

Hello working world, hello senior year. After this summer, I feel better prepared going into my senior year with confidence and knowledge that no one else will have. I know I’ll be ready to jump right into the working world and hit the ground running. I think you can all read into my internship experiences my reading my other blogs but I’ll take this time to talk about the benefit of our regional project and why it makes me feel so good about saying ‘hello’.

The SalesForce project gave me intangible skills that I can carry to any new adventure in life, school, or work. I now know how to pick up the phone, do my best sales pitch, and get rejected without skipping a beat. (I can’t imagine how much this will help me recover after a bad attempt at picking up a girl on campus) I know how to deal with success and how to deal with failure. I’m confident in presenting myself and my product with a professional and personal touch. I feel prepared to meet deadlines, work as a team, and even compete in a friendly nature.

Most importantly, I’ve gained a great amount of experience in managing my time, and my resources. The SF project forced me to prioritize my projects, and use my great amount of resources around the office to get ahead. I had to find a friendly co-worker or two to assist me with the project and keep me on the right track. I had to put other, sometimes more preferable, projects aside so I could be ready and prepared to share my updates on the Thursday conference call.

These sorts of skills are transferable in so many aspects of my future and I look forward to utilizing them.

-TJ 

I encourage everyone to go back to all their posts and write a signature at the end so we can tell who wrote it. Without that some of these ambiguous posts will go unacredited. It takes 30 seconds. Do it.

-TJ

Tomorrow is the last day of the internship!  Oh how the time has flown!  I have been having the time of my life learning from and working with everybody here, and I’m very excited to have been offered the opportunity to work part time starting on Monday and throughout the school year!  Among Oxy’s many many strengths, it is also located right down the street from Gallagher!

So, even though I’ll be back on Monday, the end of this program is still a significant milestone for me.  Over the past nine weeks, I have learned so much, not only about insurance, but about myself and my future.  I was always afraid that leaving Oxy would mean leaving a nurturing community which I love, but I’ve found at Gallagher that going corporate does not have to mean leaving that community behind.

- Anna

It’s absolutely amazing that nine weeks have already flown by.  It feels like we were just in Itasca getting to know everyone!  I’ve really enjoyed working on different projects in the SF and Lafayette offices, and working on our regional intern project.  It was great working with everyone and hearing how everyone’s experiences have been similar, and how they have been different.  It’s pretty crazy that we’re at the end of this program.  I can honestly say that I have gotten a lot out of this internship, and like they told us in Itasca, this wasn’t “just another summer job”.

Best of luck to everyone!

-Melanie