Hi everyone, I’ve decided to share some of my daily responsibilities with you as well. Like most of you probably already have, I’ve gone on several meetings with the clients and a prospect last week, started some of the ongoing database projects involving benefitpoint; and soon will be introduced to the marketing project, which will be worked into a seminar in August. I don’t know if I have already mentioned this before, but Sacramento office does not concentrate on niches like most of the Gallagher branches. Here we deal with a variety of smaller groups, which allows for a lot of diversity in services and issues. Besides daily tasks, I get exposed to different proposals (medical, dental, vision, LTD, STD, life), learn how they are put together and how a little change in a plan can affect our ability to help a client in their particular problems.

Moreover, everyone in Sacramento office is very nice and helpful. I feel welcomed and happy to be at work every day.

Well, I hope ya all have a nice 4th of July weekend

Kristina @ Sacramento GBS

There are many differences from professionalism and academia. One of my favorite distinctions from the work- and academic-world is the weekends. Once Friday arrives, I do not have to spend my weekend worrying about a project or exam due on Monday. I can just leave work at the office on Friday and enjoy the weekend. Still, the weekends always pass by too quickly and it’s Monday morning before I know it. It is hard to believe we are already heading into week 4 of this internship. The experience is passing by much quicker than I anticipated. There is never a dull moment because there is always something to do. Last week, I gained a bird’s eye view of the industry in an Insurance Industry Overview Training. I also learned more about Sales and cold calling. On Wednesday, the other LA interns and I had the opportunity to discuss our experiences in Itasca during the office Sales Meeting. Like the weekends, public speaking is different in a professional environment from an academic one. While I cannot say I am a naturally gifted public speaker, I feel more comfortable with my abilities the more I practice.  As for this week, I am attending my first client meeting on Wednesday. I’ll write an update about that next week… depending on how well it goes, that is.

My favorite aspect of the internship thus far has been the weekly evaluations. I am so impressed by the level of dedication this company puts forth toward our growing and learning experience. Each week, I meet with someone in the office for a review to talk about the week and get some feedback. The evaluations illuminate my strengths and identify areas of developmental improvements to help me grow and improve as a professional and individual.  On Friday, I discovered that one of the things I struggle with the most is really putting myself out there because I am more reserved and introverted by nature.  My new challenge will be to break out of my comfort zone and get involved as much as I can.  Talking to people in the elevator with my new “elevator speech” I learned in Sales training will be step 1!

Well, it’s a short week, but I wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July! Stay “fresh”!

*Sarah

This week like many future weeks to come looks very busy. The great thing about this week is that the 4th of July is Friday and we ALL have a 3 day weekend! Until that 3 day weekend there is a lot of work that needs to get done.

So far I have been assigned to projects and tasks with different groups in the office. I was assigned with the Public Storage and Telmar groups and I’m doing whatever I can to help both teams. So far I have attended meetings and have been trying to get caught on up on the past and current information about the clients. This week we are meeting with Public Storage to go over a few things and update them on their renewal. I am looking forward to this meeting because I feel that I understand what’s going on with this account.

I also was assigned to the Private Equity niche here in the office. Currently I have been calling other AJG offices and asking other members of the Private Equity niche to answer a few questions so that I can help put together a survey and see how much potential we have throughout the US.

This week Evan and I volunteered to speak in the office “Cheers” meeting. Cheers is a public speaking group that ranges from interns to the top producers in the office. I am speaking for 5-7 minutes about why to be an intern for Gallagher. I am excited for this opportunity and want to nail the speech!

One last project that all of us LA interns have been assigned is to do research and put together information for the Wellness Programs that company’s are implementing. We are trying to find facts and numbers to show the ROI (return on investment) for the companies that have been using them. I hope that the numbers show how much it pays off for these companies to have the programs because it also is encourage corporate America to stay healthy. 

Things in the future…

I can only tell you about the things that I know that are ahead of us. We are just beginning to learn how to call prospects on the phone (aka cold calling). This is something that you need to have a positive and competitive attitude towards. We also are going to add on a carrier commission audit project which we will be informed about tomorrow (Tuesday). Every intern in the office will have a day dedicated to shadowing the branch manager Bill Urick. This will be a great opportunity for us to see how things are ran from the top in our office. And that’s what I know about for what I have in store for the future. 

-Mike

From day 1 this internship has never failed to keep me busy and continuously learning. Because this company is so involved in the process of your growth in this internship, you’re not strictly confined to typical intern tasks, such as data entry or cold calling. So far, I have gone out to 3 meetings in different areas ranging from Petaluma to Sacramento, and I will be attending one in San Jose within the next few weeks. I have also attended various in-office meetings regarding topics that I could definitely relate to (for example, the classification and workforce changes of the different generations). I am also currently working on a few presentations of my own, some of which I will be collaborating with interns outside of the GBS division. I am also putting my knowledge of powerpoint and excel to good use by helping out the account executives finish projects and presentations for which they are nearing the deadlines. Most interesting to me that I have been learning about are the benchmarking projects and stewardship reports. I have been assigned to look into the sales files and work with account exec’s to understand and work on some benchmarking in the educational services niche and look over some stewardship reports. I’m really loving the fact that the company is introducing me to the real life of what insurance brokers do, and that the information is so relevant to any field of work that you may want to pursue. More updates to come!

-Monica, GBS San Francisco

Now that the business trip is over, and all the interns are back hard at work at the individual branches- its hard not to miss our week in Chicago. But, work needs to be done and this is what I am currently working on in Utah. My first week at Gallagher, I attended a two day training on BenefitPoint. This has been quite helpful because it is a complicated system to use at first, but once you start entering data it gets easier and easier. Since we are a recently purchased company, we have been taking all of our clients’ folders, and entering their benefits, rates, and claims data into this new system, BenefitPoint.  This is basically the meat of what I’ve been doing this week. It is tedious work but time flies by when I’m entering data. I have also attended a couple of conference calls during the week as well. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and a fabulous weekend.

 - Libby in Holladay, UT

A few photos from my trip to Chicago:

Millenium Park

P S Bangkok

Enjoy…

The excitement we felt from waking up at 3:45 on a Sunday morning to visit the vacation hotspot Itasca Illinois, was only augmented by sitting on the tarmac for an hour. Even though we were off to a rough (and early) start, the trip turned out to be an amazing learning experience and we hit the ground running. Between speakers, case studies, and networking activities we had our hands full.

We listened to so many executives give valuable insights about the industry that it all seems like a blur, but one person left a crystal-clear impression in our minds. This person was Pat Gallagher. His humble demeanor and amiable attitude was immediately apparent and can be summed up in 3 words, “call me Pat”. In the first 5 minutes of his speech he verbalized his distaste to be addressed as Mr. Gallagher. He spoke about our company’s standards, growth, and direction. Above all, he stressed the importance of culture. Pat’s ability to inspire and lead others comes naturally to him, which is apparent in the company’s ability to achieve sustained growth. While speakers like Pat contributed to our learning experience, various assignments help solidify the ideas addressed in such presentations.

We applied what we learned by breaking into groups to analyze case studies. Itasca Producers coached us in our analysis to help direct our presentation of the assignments. Working through the problems encountered in the case studies helped us understand the client-carrier relationships and what services we can offer to build that relationship. Collaborating with unfamiliar peers toward a similar goal underlines the importance of teamwork and relationship in this industry.

Naturally, our leaders did not just have us sitting in rooms analyzing case studies; as we were told several times, it’s important to have fun at Gallagher. The events that brought the most entertainment were the networking activities. “Lost Dutchman’s Goldmine,” bowling, and dinner and games at Dave and Busters were among the most entertaining events. From interns to regional managers, we had the opportunity to meet other AJG team members and get to know them outside of the corporate setting. Even regional managers can cut loose at Dave and Busters.

It is hard to believe that just a week ago we were sitting in a huge, overly air conditioned room listening to Pat Gallagher pontificate about the Gallagher way. It is even stranger to think that it was only a few days ago that we met with a group of strangers to create a coherent presentation about topics and ideas that were once unfamiliar to us. There is still a lot of information to absorb; but overall we had a chance to learn, have fun, and network with Gallagher employees from all over the nation.

-The L.A. Interns