Working at FWI

-by Kelsey Gohn ’16

Like everyone else at CMC, by January I felt very behind in my internship search. Luckily, as a research assistant at Berger, I had already connected with one of their summer internship partners, Families and Work Institute, and it was the clear choice for my sophomore summer.

At FWI, I was able to spend the summer in NYC working on projects that continued my research CMC research while developing professional skills. The FWI team lives their research about effective workplaces, which has been a huge asset for my professional development, especially since it was one of my first real office experiences.

My main project involved working on their massive annual national award program, “When Work Works,” with a mostly remote team reviewing surveys from thousands of employees from across the nation’s best companies. While in the trenches of data entry from the paper surveys, I learned a lot about data validity and survey management, but also how to effectively communicate with a remote teammate. It was a challenge to communicate expectations over email, but it allowed me to grow and learn what I need to ask for my supervisor to gain clarity on a project.  It was a big jump for me as a student to enter the real work world, but I enjoyed learning with a supportive staff and I had a blast with them both in and outside of the workplace.

I ultimately decided that I didn’t see myself working as research psychologist, but the knowledge I gained from the research and from my experiences really helped guide me through the rest of my time at CMC.