Kory Gill

COMM 499

Career Exploration paper

I want to be a market research analysts after I graduate college. The reason why I am

interested in this career is because I want to, eventually, own a business and it would be helpful

if I have the skills to research customers’ spending behavior in the particular market I run

business in. This career will allow me to strengthen my critical thinking, communication, and

research skills.

Moving forward, the top industries that employed the most market research analysts, in

2012 were finance, insurance, and a number of consulting companies. Market research analysts

either work for a big company or they are employed by consulting firms. Most marketing

research analysts collect data on a computer alone. However, some collect data by asking people

questions (Occupational outlook handbook).

Market analysis job responsibilities are as follows:

Observe and predict marketing and sales trends

Check effectiveness of marketing programs

plan and evaluate ways to collect data

Gather data about market conditions, consumer, and competitors

Convert complex data into understandable tables, graphs, and written reports

Present results to clients and management

Market research analyst helps companies market their services by conducting research. They

collect data using a number of methods including interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups.

Market researchers helps their clients figure out their position in the market by researching all of

their competitors (occupational outlook handbook).

The skills I have that will help me in this career are analytical skills from my business

statistics class and my communication research class. I have strong communication skills from

all of my communication classes. Furthermore, I am able to interpret data and communicate to

other people what the data means. I have developed my critical thinking skills in my

communication theories class. I pay close attention to detail as well.

The skills I need to develop more to get the job is my research skills. I have not done too

much research. I have to work on making complex things simple to understand for the average

person. I need to continue to improve my public speaking skills as well. Work experiences that

would benefit me when applying for this job are business, marketing, sales, and work that

requires analyzing data and writing reports. Classes that would benefit me are math, statistics,

and marketing (occupational outlook handbook).

Market research analysts typically have a bachelor’s degree in either math, business, or

communications. A master degree is required for leadership positions and is sometimes required

to become a marketing researcher. A marketing researcher gets paid $33,280 per year to

$119,000 per year on a national level (occupational outlook quarterly).

Employment for market research analysts are expected to grow 32% from 2012 to 2022.

The increase growth is because more companies are going to start using marketing research

analysts to understand customers’ needs and wants and to ensure their marketing strategy is

effective. Jobs opportunities are there for people who have master’s degree in market research.

However, competition is high for people who only have a bachelor’s degree. (Occupational

outlook handbook). For this reason, I am considering getting a Master’s degree in marketing

research. Also, I am looking for some internships in doing research.

Additionally, people who work as market researchers in the state of Michigan makes

from $31,900 to $99,400 per year. It is unclear how much market research will increase in

Michigan (Career One Stop). What this means to me is, I should consider moving out of

Michigan because there are no guarantees that there will be any growth in marketing research

analyst jobs in the state.

Looking at all the requirements there are to become a market researcher, I am going to

evaluate how I could improve my chances to landing a job as a research analysts. According to

Jason Voss, director of behavior finance and former marketing research analyst, “People who

want to become a market research analyst have to be able to make intangible skills tangible in

some way.” For example, I could increase my chances in becoming a marketing research analyst

by working hard on my LinkedIn account and showing my best work. Also, I would benefit from

doing more student research assignments. The best thing I could do while I am still in school to

increase my chances is to ensure I am producing quality work by practicing my speeches and

proof reading my writing.

Furthermore, having a mentor in market research will increase my chances in starting a

career in this field. These are individuals who are kind enough to put time aside in order to

develop other people careers (Jason Voss). People are willing to be somebody’s mentor if they

see potential in that particular individual from my experience. I have a mentor, however, he is

not a marketing research analyst. This means I will need to get another mentor who worked in

the Marketing field for a minimum of five years. Market research analyst article outlines how

experience in business or having an internship in marketing or related fields, are good ways to

get my foot in the door to become a market research analyst. I have consumer service and sales

experience which enhances my chances to getting into the field.

Indeed, I have taken some of the speakers, from my sports COMM class, advice about

getting the job that I want. The main thing that all of them preached is build up my network by

reaching out to my teachers and professionals who could possibly help me grow my career

opportunities. Professionals can and some should come from other professions because they may

know somebody in my career field. Also, the more people I have as references the better my

chances are in getting a career in market research.

Expanding on advice the speakers gave, Ira Childress preached the best way to get the job

you desire is to separate yourself from the crowd. I am planning to separate myself from other

people by conducting market research and giving employers the research I have done. This will

show employers that I am capable of doing the job. In order to set myself apart even more, I will

write a paper explaining to the hiring manager the things that I could improve for the company

within my job.

To tell the truth, the best option I have that would set me a part from everybody else is

showcasing my ability to sell myself. The technique that I could use to sell myself is the word of

mouth technique. I am the product that I want to sell. So, how I am going to get across that I

produce good work is by other people calling the company that I applied to before my interview

to put in a good word for me. I realize this a lone may not be that significant. So, I will send

them videos of my speeches as well.

Moreover, I will do the basic things to get the job as well. This includes creating a cover

letter, follow up letter, and a list of the reasons why I am a good candidate for the job. I realize

without the fundamental things done well I might not get a chance to “wow” the employer.

In addition to looking up facts about marketing research analyst jobs, I interviewed

Donna Green, Marketing research teacher at Ferris State University and former president of the

American Marketing Association Detroit Chapter. I interviewed her in order to know if the

information online is accurate. Also, this provided me a way to get more in depth information

about market researchers. Furthermore here is the interview and my interpretations:

Me: What Trends are currently going on in the field of Market research?

Donna: “Analyzing big data, strong analyzing skills, and capitalize on social media”

Interpretation: I might have to take another statistics class because it seems like Donna is

telling me one of the most important skills for the job is analyzing. This actually makes sense

considering market research analysts does research over and over again. Donna is talking about

more than analyzing numbers. She is talking about analyzing questions as well like, why might a

product sell well in a poor neighborhood but not in a wealthier one? Also, Donna reminds me

social media is a good tool to use for research. The best way I can think to use social media for

marketing research is to ask customers questions about their satisfaction with a product they have

recently bought by sending them an email. Marketing research analysis evaluate customers’

satisfaction surveys that is normally filled out online as well. So, I can see what Donna Green

means by market researchers capitalize on social media.

Me: How easy is it to get promoted as a market research analyst?

Donna: “Well that will depend on the company. However, you need to have the skills to get a

higher position and continually learn new things about market research.”

Interpretation: Market researchers’ jobs are always changing due to new technology coming

out. Also, to move up in the field one must have a good work ethic and willing to learn the added

on responsibilities that comes with a promotion.

Me: What is happening in market research right now?

Donna: “Companies are investing in market research to increase sales”

Interpretation: This matches to what the Occupational outlook handbook said about why there

will be a huge increase in marketing jobs.

Me: How difficult is it to become a market research analyst?

Donna: “The difficult part is showing employers that you are able to do the work. However, it is

not too hard to get a job in the field with a bachelor’s degree.”

Interpretation: This information contradicts what occupational outlook handbook said about

people with bachelor’s degrees trying to become a market research analyst. However, the

website said there will be a lot of jobs for market research analyst. This might be the reason why

it would be easy for a person who have a bachelor’s degree in statistics, business, or

communication to get a job in the field. In contrast, people who hold master’s degrees, typically,

have more skills in research than people with bachelor’s degrees. So, employers might use the

degree level somebody have as a way of knowing a person can do the job.

Me: How long research analyst typically work on a project?

Donna: “Projects can range from three weeks to a couple of years”

Interpretation: I should expect to work on different projects and have different time frames to

complete the project. Also, projects can be really complex in nature.

In conclusion- Market research work fits me well because I enjoy asking questions and

analyzing the answers to those questions. Additionally, I have strong skills in communication,

creating data, and explaining data in a simply way for people to understand. I know I need a

master degree to move up in the market research field as well. As a result of my findings on

market researchers’ job duties, I have gained a greater understanding on how important market

research jobs are to other company’s’ success.

References

Career one Stop (2015). Retrieved from the internet Feb. 7

Green, Donna personal interview. Feb. 9 2015

Market research analyst (2015). U.S. News retrieved from interment Feb. 8

Occupational outlook handbook (2014). Bureau of labor statistics retrieved from the internet

Feb. 6

Occupational outlook quarterly (2014). Bureau of labor statistics 13-1161 retrieved from the

Internet Feb.6

Voss, Jason (2013). Advice on how to become research analyst. Enterprising investor retrieved

from internet Feb. 7