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And the survey says... The world's most famous polling company started in 1935, when George Gallup began spending time apart from his job at a New York ad agency. Now the Gallup Poll registers the pulse of the nation on everything from President Clinton's infidelities to favorite pizza brands. While the Gallup Poll remains the company's flagship, the bulk of Gallup's revenues comes from providing marketing and management research for corporate clients from all over the world. Gallup's research tracks demographic trends, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction. Employee-owned, Gallup also offers public releases, special reports, archive resources, and courses via its School of Management. By its own calculations, the company grows by about 30% annually. A worldwide polling force The company conducted its first international study before World War II (on the influence of Nazi Germany in Europe). More recently, in early 1999, Gallup was busy asking Americans if they endorsed Hillary Clinton's bid for the Senate and whether they condone the death penalty. Gallup is the only market research company licensed to operate in China, and it has recently unveiled pioneer studies of consumers in India. With an unparalleled reputation - and an iron hold on the international market - Gallup operates offices in 25 countries. How did they figure that out? How does Gallup assess the opinion of an entire nation based on the responses of only a small percentage of representatives? The company admits, "the process of polling is often mysterious, particularly to those who don't see how the views of 1000 people can represent those of hundreds of millions." Yet, to the skeptical outsider, Gallup insists that "a randomly selected, small percentage of a population of people can represent the attitudes, opinions, or projected behavior of all of the people, if the sample is selected correctly." Gallop has the laws of probability on its side; its successful history is also a reflection of its statistical prowess. The Princeton-based company conducts the majority of its interviews by phone - an easy thing to do given that 95% of all American households have at least one line. The company had a minor scare in March 2000 when an unknown hacker vandalized Gallup's web site. The attack brought to light the potential risks to Gallup's credibility if poll data is altered on the web site. Thankfully, no poll data was compromised. Gallup's web site is scheduled to be connected to internal computers that store polling results starting in September 2000.
Gallup's employment Web page, located at www.gallup.com/jobs.htm, describes positions available at the company's U.S. and international offices. The Web page provides specific job descriptions as well as contact names and appropriate E-mail addresses. Named one of the top 100 companies in America for employed moms by Working Mothers magazine, Gallup also hires interviewers for full- and part-time positions.
Cutting edge technology and constant growth "The environment and culture here are quite open," decrees one insider. "There are many personal freedoms and very little hierarchy." Some informants say that they have "access to the CEO of the company through direct contact." Others cite "flexible schedules, profit-sharing, and a generous pay scale as key factors" in their "total satisfaction." Few can deny Gallup's "worldwide" reputation among the "giants of industry," as well as the company's ability to employ "cutting-edge technology" to fuel "constant" national and international growth. Productivity alert One source declares that there is "no dress code. We are all pretty casual. Most will, however, dress on the 'professional' side if they have clients who are visiting." On the subject of schedule, an insider says, "work hours vary. Generally, each person sets his/her own schedule. There are some positions that do require more specific work hours. As long as you are productive, getting your work done, you are on your own!" The majority of employees "are paid for their productivity," and most everyone has "pay plans customized to fit their job responsibilities." Watching out for the little ones "Gallup, in the past three years, has been rated in the top 100 by Working Women's magazine," brags one source. "This is due in part to the population of women in our company and women in executive level positions." An insider in Lincoln, Nebraska (home of the company's executive offices and central client service center) reveals: "We have a beautiful day care for 'our' kids. This makes it very easy on the parents!" United Nations in miniature As far as diversity, contacts insist that "everyone is on a first name basis and treated equally." Gallup furthermore "matches or exceeds minority percentages, at all locations, of the percentages available within the community." Vouches another: "I personally think of our company as a little United Nations." Are there any problems in this bastion of babysitting? "We've grown rapidly in the late 90s," one person replies. "And yes, we have experienced our share of growing pains."
Jacques Murphy Human Resources
Marketing research;Management training;Sales training
Nielsen Media Research;Yankelovich Partners More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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