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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Gallagher was selected as a 2023 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent, their emphasis on diversity & inclusion, and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Demonstrated Investment in Early Career Hiring
Gallagher has a legacy of investing in the next generation of talent. This summer will mark the 58th year of the Gallagher Sales Internship, the longest-standing internship in insurance. Even Gallagher’s CEO began as an intern — but he’s not the exception! There are countless Executive, Branch Leaders & Managers who started as interns too. Gallagher mentors and empowers early talent to bring fresh perspectives and an entrepreneurial spirit to the workplace, resulting in accelerated career paths. The company continues to innovate ways to attract students to its industry and retain talent through robust early career programs.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
Gallagher has capitalized on the changing campus recruiting marketplace to innovate personal marketing and facilitate informal access to its team. As the company develops a strategy to personalize communications and meet students where they’re at, it has evaluated key characteristics of Gallagher most appealing to students. Its intention is to share compelling information about the organization that resonates with the students of today. Gallagher has leveraged the hybrid environment by conducting weekly, informal virtual sessions for students to meet and connect with the team. These multipurpose sessions can be used for interview prep, information about the job, or organic exploration of the company culture and values. Students are free to join “as they are” for 5 minutes or a full hour, in a suit or sweatpants, in their dorm room or walking to class. The hope is to create access to the Gallagher team outside of the formal recruitment process (career fairs, presentations, and interviews).
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Gallagher is committed to ensuring its internal hiring practices reflect the diverse marketplace it serves. Gallagher has cultivated strong, sustainable relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Women’s Colleges, and schools with diverse student populations — with the aim of strategically expanding and diversifying the talent pool for the internship and entry-level hires. Gallagher also partners with national nonprofits and local community organizations that support career exploration and professional development for young students. Gallagher contributes to the mission of its clients, public school districts, charter schools, and local non-profits by developing professional skills and introducing corporate career opportunities — like its internship — to their students. Gallagher strives to instill a strong sense of purpose in its people by building an environment that helps them face their future with confidence.
Impactful Internship Program
The Gallagher internship showcases career opportunities within the insurance industry and identifies future leaders for Gallagher. The program is designed around job shadowing producers and consultants for an inside look at the career. Plus, Gallagher incorporates experiential learning to practice skills they're building on-the-job. Interns are encouraged to explore resources such as industry leading knowledge experts and proprietary tools. They practice taking initiative to seek answers — a necessary skill in this dynamic industry. Interns practice synthesizing input and needs from various perspectives, which can later be applied to managing prospect and client relationships. The internship culminates with the Intern Sales Challenge, a prospect role play competition. Interns compete as teams in an elimination style bracket for the chance to present to Executive Leaders. These learning opportunities provide hands-on experience with skills needed for an insurance broker. Interns conclude the summer with a secure understanding of the career opportunities and expectations at Gallagher.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Every year, Gallagher welcomes a class of entry-level sales talent to the Gallagher Career Associate Program (GCAP), a multi-year phased training and development program. The primary objectives are to provide talent with the sales and insurance knowledge they need to ignite performance, and cultivate professional relationships to fulfill career ambitions. GCAP is designed to complement on-the-job training with traditional curriculum combined with experiential competitions and coaching. Participants are challenged to apply their learning across team projects, prospecting competitions, client strategy plans, and more. Consistent feedback and coaching is provided across milestones of the competitions from Executive and Branch Leadership. In addition to experiential learning, Gallagher hosts four, in-person conferences across the 2.5 years to facilitate networking among the concurrent cohorts and leadership representatives across the organization. GCAPs hear from Gallagher Executives, learn foundational sales techniques, and develop professional skills. GCAP launches dynamic careers for Gallagher sales talent.