Interns

20 Nov

Posted at 07:10h in Get to Know Us, Interns, Research

This June, for the second summer in a row, I returned to Fluent for a summer internship. Excited by the opportunity to learn from such a talented group of researchers once again, I was eager to continue building on what I learned the previous summer, while also challenging myself in new ways. 

From my first day back, I hit the ground running. As always, the team at Fluent Research was incredibly welcoming and supportive, which made it easy to find my rhythm and dive right in. I joined project teams across different studies, and after brushing up on certain skills and tools, I was able to take on new responsibilities. These new assignments allowed me to see how all the pieces of a research project fit together—from project proposals to polished reports.

Extending the Internship Into My Gap Year

Originally, my internship was set to be just six weeks long; however, since I had deferred my college enrollment to take a gap year, I was thrilled when I found out I would be able to extend my time at Fluent by three months. I took a short break after my initial six week summer internship, and in that time, packed up my life and moved to Sweden, where I would live and work remotely for the next 3 months. Having found a steady rhythm in the first six weeks of the internship, I was excited to continue making strides on various projects and learning how to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research.

Despite being (at least) six hours ahead of the rest of the Fluent team, the extension in my internship made all the difference. Given the length of time, I was able to attend client meetings, manage participants in various studies, conduct in-depth interviews, analyze data, and contribute to reports in ways that I could have never imagined. While I may have had the opportunity to do similar tasks and learn similar skills the previous summer and in my initial six weeks, this portion of the internship unlocked a whole new dimension of the work Fluent does. It opened my eyes to all that goes into the research process. 

Seeing the Full Lifecycle of Research

As a member of several research teams that worked on more fast-paced projects with quick turnarounds as well as long-term studies that evolved over months, I was able to see how research unfolds over time. Through it all, I began to appreciate just how much thought, care, and collaboration goes into every study Fluent conducts as well as the impact and difference all of those things can have on any type of project or work. Whether it was learning not to put quotation marks around italicized text, refining the tone of a topline summary, or keeping participant data clean and organized, I realized that small choices add up to clarity, credibility, and quality. These tangible lessons will stay with me far beyond this internship.

Lessons in Leadership and Collaboration

Another important lesson I’m taking away is what good leadership looks like in action. Throughout the course of my internship, I saw firsthand that leadership isn’t just about leading meetings or making decisions, it’s about how people listen, communicate, and build trust with one another in a team in ways that may even seem mundane.

Watching my colleagues balance professionalism with empathy showed me how leadership can be practiced every day, in both big and small moments, and how that cultivates a positive and enjoyable work environment. 

Growing as a Researcher

While I may not have realized it in the moment, when I think about the past few months, what stands out most is how much I’ve grown not just in my skills, but in my confidence as a researcher. I’ve learned how to manage multiple responsibilities, communicate effectively, and approach challenges with curiosity rather than hesitation.

I’m incredibly grateful to everyone at Fluent for their patience, trust, and encouragement. This internship gave me the chance to truly see myself as part of a research team, and to understand what thoughtful, human-centered work looks like in practice. What began as a short summer experience turned out to be a formative start to my gap year, and I am grateful it happened here at Fluent Research. 

By Paul Jakob.

19 Jul

Posted at 11:47h in Get to Know Us, Interns

This summer, we’ve had the pleasure of working with four smart, curious interns who’ve brought fresh energy and perspective to the Fluent team.

Paul, Ava, Caitlyn, and Anna have been exploring everything from research and marketing to data and strategy, gaining hands-on experience while contributing to real projects.

We’re excited to share more about them and the interests they’ve brought to their time at Fluent.

Paul Jakob

Paul is a returning intern and recent high school graduate. He is passionate about visual art and the history and affairs of the African continent. Paul plans to attend Claremont McKenna College, where he will study Art and Economics following a gap year. He’s excited to spend another summer at Fluent focusing on growth, learning, and building new skills.

Ava Leclezio

Ava is a rising senior with academic interests in business, research, and international affairs. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball, experimenting with new recipes, baking for friends and family, listening to music, and watching TV. She’s looking forward to gaining first-hand experience in the corporate world and learning from the Fluent team.

Caitlyn Powell

Caitlyn is a recent high school graduate and will be attending Northwestern University in the fall, where she plans to major in Cognitive Science. She enjoys listening to music, staying active, cooking, reading, and making jewelry. This summer, Caitlyn is excited to build on her research experiences by exploring the intersection of research and marketing at Fluent.

Anna Sandy

Anna is a rising junior with strong interests in psychology, psychiatry, and the sciences. She is active in her school community as a student ambassador and a member of the student community board. She also competes on the school swim team. At Fluent, Anna hopes to deepen her understanding of data analysis and statistics, and she is eager to explore how data can inform insights into human behavior and mental health.

We’re so glad to have Paul, Ava, Caitlyn, and Anna on board this summer, and we can’t wait to see all they’ll accomplish.

19 Jul

Posted at 15:50h in Interns, Research

My name is Emma Clarke and I am an intern at Fluent Research. In the fall, I will be a senior at Tulane University in New Orleans, where I study psychology and cognitive studies. I first interned with Fluent during the summer of 2022 and I am very grateful to be back this summer. While my workdays are always a bit different, I’d like to give you an idea of what a typical day looks like.

8:00 A.M.

I typically wake up at around 8:00 in the morning because the work day starts at 9:00. I like to start my day by driving to get some coffee. My order this summer has been a brown sugar shaken espresso! When I get home from getting coffee, I make breakfast too. Usually I’ll make an omelet or a breakfast sandwich.

9:00 A.M.

The work day begins at about 9:00 in the morning. While Fluent Research has an office in New York City, I work remotely because I live outside of Philadelphia. First, I usually like to log on to my email to check for missed notifications from the previous day. Once I have done that, I will typically have some work left to complete from the day before.

11:00 A.M.

After I have completed the previous day’s work, I will either wait for someone to reach out to me with a new task they need support on, or I will message my supervisor, Mary Meyn, and ask her what I can help with for the day. I tend to work on whatever I have been assigned or attend meetings with colleagues.

This summer, I have really enjoyed attending presentations by Fluent staff to help interns learn more about the company and how it works. For example, I recently attended a presentation led by Sofia Polo about the essentials of report writing. The week prior, Farah Brensinger presented about what it means to be a user experience (UX) researcher. As I plan for my future post graduation, these presentations have provided me with insight about potential career paths. I really appreciate how everyone at Fluent is willing to help guide and teach the interns.

12:00 P.M.

Since I tend to make a big breakfast for myself, I’m not super hungry by lunchtime. I may have a small snack at this time, though.

On Fridays, we often have a “Lunch and Learn” presentation. Different staff members will present on a topic of their choice and everyone gets to learn something new. One of my favorite presentations was Charlotte’s discussion of how reproductive justice plays into research.

1:00 P.M.

At this time on Mondays, we have a weekly staff meeting, when we take time to thank and give kudos to colleagues for jobs well done over the past week, and go over the status of the current projects we are working on. I find this meeting really helpful because I can gauge where I may be of help to people that week and learn about interesting projects.

2:00 P.M.

The weekly meeting lasts for about an hour. I will then return to what I was working on prior to the meeting. This may be something like taking notes on user experience interviews, pulling quotes from interviews for reports, testing out surveys, or something else entirely. One thing I really appreciate about interning at Fluent Research is that I get to be involved in a variety of different projects and tasks.

No day is ever the same! While I can’t give details about any current projects I am working on, the most impactful one I have worked on in the past was a report on how to help military families who had a spouse that died of suicide after their service. This was a very sensitive subject andI learned a lot from it. I went through interviews of the military spouses discussing their experiences and how they would have liked to have been helped during such a tough time. It was great to know that this work was going to contribute to improving the experiences of others suffering from the same type of loss in the future.

4:00 P.M.

By about this time in the afternoon, I tend to be in need of a little break from the computer. I usually do this by taking my dog on a walk around the neighborhood. It’s nice to be outside and get a little exercise after working inside all day. I like to listen to a podcast while I walk, too. One of my favorites is “You’re Wrong About,” which discusses how events in the past have been misrepresented in society and how these events truly played out.

5:00 P.M.

When I return from my walk, I will typically continue working until around 5:00. Of course, sometimes the work day goes a little longer or ends a little earlier for me, but this is the general cutoff point.

I hope you enjoyed reading about a day in my life as an intern at Fluent Research! As I stated earlier, no day is ever the same in terms of what tasks or projects I will be working on. However, I think this portrait of a day in my life as a summer intern at Fluent Research will give a general overview of how my days are typically structured.

13 Jun

Posted at 05:21h in Get to Know Us, Interns, Research

At Fluent, we have a deep commitment to uncovering and fostering emerging talent. This summer, we are thrilled to welcome three exceptional interns to our team. Learn more below about Emma Clarke, Halley Robbins, and Marko Stroumbakis – their backgrounds and plans for the future…

 

Emma Clarke

Emma Clarke is returning to Fluent Research as an intern for the second consecutive summer. Emma will continue assisting research teams with both qualitative and quantitative projects. In the past, Emma has found research concerning education and family relations to be the most rewarding. Her interest in this type of work stems from her previous experience as a volunteer and tutor for young children in high school.

Emma will be entering her final year of college as a psychology and cognitive studies major at Tulane University in the fall. Over the last three years she has helped conduct undergraduate academic research in social psychology and will continue to do so during her final year. After graduation, Emma hopes to pursue a graduate degree in social psychology.

 

Halley Robbins

Halley Robbins is a summer intern at Fluent Research. In her internship search, Halley was looking for a company where she could do quantitative data analysis for an organization whose mission strives to better the lives of others. Halley is excited to apply her experiences as a teacher’s assistant, president of a 60-person tutoring program, camp counselor, and more to add her unique voice to Fluent Research.

Halley grew up in New York City and is a rising senior at Washington University in St. Louis. She is majoring in economics and math with minors in psychology and computer science. After college, Halley is interested in going to graduate school for business or computer science. She is excited about working in her hometown and joining Fluent Research to put her data analytics skills into practice.

 

Marko Stroumbakis

Marko Stroumbakis, who has been an invaluable intern at Fluent Research since June 2022, will be continuing his work at Fluent this summer. As an intern who has worked with everyone on the Fluent staff over the past year, Marko has gained a breadth of knowledge and experience in market research. Verifying both qualitative and quantitative data, working on survey testing, and translating subject responses from Spanish to English have all been valuable for his understanding of how data is used to inform insights.

Marko would like to gain more experience and knowledge in the field of marketing, with a particular emphasis on brand management. He will be a junior at Baruch College in New York City this fall.

 

24 Aug

Posted at 19:08h in Education, Employee News, Interns, Market Research

This summer, we have been working with three talented interns, offering them the chance to learn more about the world of data and insights-driven strategic consulting and helping them to hone their research skills.

We’ve also been sharing short interviews with each intern where we’ve chatted about their experiences working with us and what they’ve learned. In this third and final interview, we’re speaking with psychology major Emma Clarke who is studying at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Fluent: What made you want to intern at Fluent Research?

Emma: As a psychology major, there are many different paths that I could take after graduation. I was really interested in figuring out what path I’d like to take, so I wanted to explore what doing a type of research would be like. I also have a relative who is a client of Fluent Research. Seeing how well respected Fluent is by them and the research Fluent has done for them made me very interested as well.

Fluent: What have you learned so far?

Emma: I have learned many different skills so far! I think the most important thing that I have learned is that it is crucial to be firm and confident in your findings for a client. I also have learned the many different ways that research can be conducted and how to guide an interview through observing projects.

Fluent: What has been the most interesting thing you have done?

Emma: The most interesting thing that I have done is gone through interviews of military spouses who were widowed by suicide. Although the interviews were very emotional and sad, their stories were touching and they had very unique perspectives that allowed them to contribute to interesting research.

Fluent: What do you hope to do after college?

Emma: While I am still not 100% sure what I’d like to do after college, I am leaning towards doing research similar to the market research conducted by Fluent. Alternatively, I might be interested in doing more general psychology research. Either way, I will probably be going to graduate school after college to pursue a master’s or a Ph.D.

19 Aug

Posted at 18:35h in Education, Employee News, Interns, Market Research

We’re lucky enough to have three stellar interns working with us at Fluent Research who have all been impressing us with their tenacity and work ethic.

Last week, we shared an interview with Markos Stroumbakis, a rising sophomore at Hunter College in New York City. This week, we’re getting to know Elizabeth Anna Mintusova, a student at Saint Louis University in Missouri.

Fluent: What made you want to intern at Fluent Research?

One of the main reasons I dreamed about being an intern at Fluent Research is because I believe that here I can perfectly apply and combine my passion for psychology and business at the same time. In addition to that, working at this company gives me a great opportunity to collaborate with people from different backgrounds so I can learn something new all the time.

Fluent: What have you learned so far?

Elizabeth: So far, I have learned to work on completely unique projects every day, where all of them require certain skills in different areas. I have also learned how to manage my time schedule correctly, multitask, welcome clients, and be fast and efficient in terms of cooperation with the members of the Fluent Research team who work remotely.

Fluent: What has been the most interesting thing you have done? 

Elizabeth: I think that the most interesting thing that I have done so far during my internship is testing future surveys and questionnaires. It is very exciting to take the polls by yourself and try to detect any possible errors to fix them. Another awesome part of that work is applying the roles of different people to yourself so you can detect errors that show up in different scenarios.

Fluent: What do you hope to do after college? 

Elizabeth: I am not sure about what I want to do after graduating from the university, but I am definitely planning to work in a company that is related to psychology and human resources where I could work and communicate with people, while also having responsibilities that are related to business administration and finance.

 

12 Aug

Posted at 18:49h in Employee News, Interns, Market Research, Research

We’re so excited to have three talented interns working with our Fluent Research team this summer. Discovering and nurturing new talent is something we’re passionate about at Fluent, and we have no doubt that this cohort of interns will go on to do great things in their careers.

In the coming weeks, we’ll bring you brief interviews with each of our interns where they will share their background, what they’ve learned during their time with us, and what they hope to achieve in the future.

First up is Marko Stroumbakis, a rising sophomore at Hunter College in New York City.

Fluent: What made you want to intern at Fluent Research?

Marko: My initial internship search was for professional experience in the world of marketing, but being such a vast field, I quickly narrowed it to market research. As I explored my social network, I came across Fluent’s Founder and President Nellie Gregorian through a common contact. When doing research on the Fluent website, I was immediately intrigued by the variety of practice areas and services. Fluent is based in the heart of NYC, my home city, which was a huge plus for me. From there, I knew Fluent would be the best place to begin my professional career.

Fluent: What have you learned so far?

Marko: I have learned several skills during my time at Fluent. First, I have enhanced my professional communication, both verbal and non-verbal. I have also improved some technical skills in software such as Excel. Most importantly, I have gained a breadth of knowledge and experience in market research and business development. Checking both qualitative and quantitative data and working on survey testing as well as translating subject responses from Spanish to English has been valuable in understanding how data is used to inform insights.

Fluent: What has been the most interesting thing you have done? 

Marko: The assignment that has interested me the most so far was conducting secondary research in the preliminary steps of a new client project. As I uncovered more resources, I was captivated by the plethora of information and data on such a recent market trend.

Fluent: What do you hope to do after college? 

Marko: After I graduate from college, I hope to obtain my MBA in Marketing from Duke University, NYU, or USC. Throughout the rest of my academic career, I aim to gain several experiences and broad knowledge in the field of marketing, with a particular emphasis on brand management.