Interns Tag

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.

 

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.