So it all comes down to this. A final week to finish up those projects, get to know the people you always wanted to meet, and letting Gallagher know what you really think of them. The nine week interview is almost up and at taht point we’ll be given our final evaluations by our supervisors and we’ll be given the chance to evaluate our last nine weeks with the company.

In that process a lot of us will ask ourselves, could we imagine doing this for MORE than nine weeks? 52 weeks? 500 weeks?! These are realistic questions we have to think about. What distinguishes this decision for this group of interns vs. the same question facing previous years interns is the climate in which we are living. I’m sure we’ve all been told many many times to grab any job opp we can find and hold on for deal life. It effects our thought processes on the summer whether we’ll admit it or not. Coming on full-time will be a different experience than the internship. Expectations will be larger, stakes will be higher, and Act II of our lives will be just beginning.

Enjoy the last week everyone, work hard, and take a good look at the possible upcoming decision.

-TJ

Like everyone else has been saying, I can’t believe that we’re almost done with the intern program.  This week has gone by so quickly, with meetings and projects that I’ve been working on.  It’s crazy to think about the fact that we’ve almost completed 9 weeks of the intern program!

Yesterday I was able to go to a client meeting discussing their wellness program that they are hoping to pilot for this year.  They have just begun to think about things such as their slogan, and their mission statement.  I enjoyed being able to be there for one of the first meetings, to see where a client would begin to think about implementing a wellness program, and how to make it most effective.

I’ve also been working on some projects in the Lafayette office, so I’ve been out there between one and two times a week.  I went on a prospect visit earlier this week out there, and was able to see another producer’s style and how he approached the sales process.

Looking forward to talking to everyone in a few minutes!

-Melanie

Things are winding down here in Seattle but the work is still coming.  This last week my main focus has been on a bidding project for our suite of voluntary benefits (BenefitsBUFFET).  For the first time we are sending the entire buffet out to bid and we are hoping that the carriers will not only lower their rates, but that they will present us with some new offerings to add to the buffet.

Also, as I will talk about in the conference call, I have begun making calls.  After customizing my own script/survey, I have had some success obtaining  information.  In fact, I might have hit the jackpot with one prospect.  I am going to be making a follow-up call today that might result in a booked meeting.

Finally, to finish off my time here, I have been working on a presentation I will be giving to the office management next Tuesday.   It really is weird that after today I will have just SIX days left at Gallagher.  Scary how fast it has been.

- Rick

Seems like yesterday we were all in Itasca getting to know each other and learning about Gallagher, and now we’re a week away from saying goodbye.  Well hopefully some jobs come about for us, but the internship is over.  The next week and a half I have to continue making my prospect calls, present a new niche to both GBS and BSD in the Fresno office, and anything else the producers throw at me.  Lately I have been organizing files for a new client and made a powerpoint presentation for the producers to present a new option to their clients.  I am learning a lot each week and am expecting to learn a lot about the niche I am presenting on.  I have been looking into the vineyards around the central valley and noticed we don’t have very many if any.  To me that seems like a niche perfect for the central valley and a beneficial market to go after.  We are surrounded by farming and vineyards and the producers have the farming niche pretty much covered, so hopefully this will be helpful to them.  Look foward to hearing from everyone tomorrow!

- Kevin

I never thought I would be saying that we are halfway through week 8 (the 2nd to last week!) of this internship. It was so weird this week when I filled out TWO evaluations pertaining to how this summer internship was for us, which definitely gave me the feeling that this 9 week program will be coming to a close sooner than we know it.

As most of you heard, I was assigned to work in BSD last week. My anticipations were high and I was very excited to learn more about what they do; however, it was a bad week for them to have me over there because most of their producers were out the entire week for vacations, etc. As a result, there was little for me to do and help with over there. It was definitely no one’s fault, it was just bad timing. The great thing was I was able to meet some of their producers, account managers, etc. I have noticed many more people saying hi and chatting with me this week from the BSD side because they now know who I am.

I did get to go to a meeting for a client we work with on Wednesday of last week with two producers here. It was a beautiful hotel, so no complaints there obviously. The client is up for renewal soon so we sat down with the GM, CFO, Account Manager, and head of HR of the hotel to go over other options for carriers for some of their benefits. Then we had a wonderful lunch overlooking the ocean, which topped off a wonderful day.

This week I have been helping Stacy, my intern coordinator, move offices because we hired a new producer so Stacy is moving down the hall. Her and our branch manager are out the next two days to have two meetings in Northern CA with clients, so I have been assigned to help with things like contract reviews, stop loss reports, still scanning all of our paper files to make them electronic and sending those over to Iron Mountain, doing prospect calling, and many more little things here and there.

Talk to everyone tomorrow! -Lindsay

So this is a post for any of you who are working in a new city, one you didn’t grow up in or even necessarily go to college in. I am from the Midwest, born and raised, I spent time in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Chicago. I never really thought about leaving until my freshman year of college when the attraction of California finally got to me and I put all my efforts to moving here.

After almost a year in LA it still feels like I’m on vacation. No winter, attractions everywhere, celebrity sightings, and gorgeous sunsets are rarities back at home. Yet I notice myself still referring to Minnesota as just that ‘home’. Going to school in a city is much different than working full time, and paying rent. Moving to LA full time would be a major long-term change for me. I’d be the first of my family to settle in a large west-coast city, and I have a hard time imagining raising a family here. It’s something I’ll continue to think about.

I have to remind myself how lucky I am to even be able to think about these kind of decisions. I know lots of people who would love to relocate or be given choices in location and jobs, I’m one of the fortunate few that gets to deal with these tough decisions. If anyone else is thinking about these relocation questions I’d love to hear about it.

-TJ