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Gallup Careers Blog
Q&A With a Gallup Intern
Gallup Careers Blog

Q&A With a Gallup Intern

by Mary Clare Rogers

Story Highlights

We sat down with Mary Clare Rogers, a System Application Developer intern at Gallup, to learn more about her internship experience.

Mary Clare stats:

  • A sophomore at the Raikes School at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Majoring in actuarial science with a minor in computer science
  • In her third summer internship with Gallup

Mary Clare and her Top 5 Strengths

Q: What do you do as an intern at Gallup?

A: My official title is "System Application Developer intern," but my job is so much more. I work in a project management role for the high school GET HIP summer internship program, an internship program I actually participated in at Gallup when I was in high school myself! In this role, I help lead and manage the group of high school students with their projects. This summer, the high schoolers worked primarily on revamping the Gallup CliftonStrengths Coaching Blog, and I helped by overseeing the project and acting as a mentor. I also oversaw the project of standardizing titles and formats for Blogger, YouTube and Spreaker. When I'm not working directly with the interns, I am working on some of Gallup's internal projects such as revamping our internal well-being website.

Q: This is your third summer with Gallup. What was it about GET HIP that made you want to continue interning here?

A: Gallup's culture and the people I get to work with is what keeps me here to this day. I felt that Q10 effect ("I have a best friend at work") in action for the first time during my first summer with Gallup. During that summer, I made friendships and found mentors that would stick with me for all three years. They not only depended on me to do my work, but they were also there as my friends that I genuinely wanted to see and laugh with every day.

This summer I looked at other technology internships and a few business internships at other companies, but the Gallup internship always won out. I just don't want to let go of Gallup! There is no other company that I have explored where the employees consistently sing their praises and love their job the way that almost every Gallup employee I've ever meet does. I'm currently exploring Gallup's data science department and accounting department to look for jobs I might want here in the future. I want to stay at Gallup because I know that they are willing to work with me to make sure I'm engaged in whatever I'm doing and help me build my dream job.

Q: What do you enjoy most about what you're currently doing at Gallup?

A: I am currently enjoying the eclectic nature of my job. One day I might take on an indirect management role and spend time scheduling meetings and creating Jira tickets, while the next day could be more direct: I might explain a concept or task to a few of the high school interns. In between the leader role I play, I also have projects like development on internal sites or search engine optimization for YouTube. My job has little downtime, and my Achiever talent loves keeping busy and filling in even the smallest gaps with a variety of projects.

Q: How has knowing and understanding your strengths changed the way you view life, school or work?

A: At Gallup, we talk a lot about our individual strengths and how we use them to be our best. Being able to fully leverage my strengths, or what I naturally do best, changes the way I think about things that are difficult for me. For example, if an assignment at school seems extra tricky to me, it is usually because my Achiever is not engaged or I don't believe I can do it well, so I use my Learner and Analytical talents to gather more information and begin plotting a plausible path to completing the assignment. The assignment that originally felt difficult suddenly becomes far more straightforward. Similarly, if I am having a communication issue or having trouble collaborating on a project, I have to remind myself to not to lead with Competition and Achiever but instead with Individualization. Knowing how to play to my strengths has definitely changed the way I interact with people and projects for the better!

Q: How have your experiences at Gallup changed your life?

A: Being at Gallup completely changed the course of my professional life. All I knew before Gallup was that I wanted to do something with math. Computer programming was not love at first sight for me, and I didn't grow to truly enjoy it until college, but Gallup exposed me to it. At Gallup, I found an appreciation for the power and importance of the field. Gallup also exposed me to the Raikes School at UNL, and it ended up being the perfect program for me because I can emphasize actuarial science but still study computer science. I'm beginning to consider places where I want to work after college, and Gallup is at the very top of my list because I cannot imagine finding a better culture fit anywhere else.


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