Falling into and out of research
Like plenty of us I fell into MR having left university with very little idea of what I actually wanted to do. I started out as a budding Geneticist but soon worked out that I wasn’t destined for life in the lab. An MSc followed and market research seemed like an interesting way to combine my scientific experience and interest in business. My current position in healthcare research naturally caught my attention.

Best of both worlds
I work for one of the larger, global research companies but the healthcare department pretty much comprises of a smaller company which was acquired a few years ago. Whilst I have access to all the training etc of a global company the small business atmosphere prevails giving me the best of both worlds. I’m in the Conference & Omnibus team where we do most of the faster turn-around projects, often using medical conferences around the world to access a vast number of our sample over just a few days.

Varying hours
The working day starts at 9.30 and officially finishes at 5.30 although obviously this can vary quite considerably. During conference season it’s quite common to be travelling around the world completing fieldwork for a week or so at a time and then frantically trying to process data on the odd days/ week when you’re actually in the office. Naturally late nights ensue but the travel definitely makes up for it and the major conferences are only held between April & October with August being avoided because of summer hols.

Seasonal change
Over the winter months there are far fewer conferences to attend so much of my workload is omnibus. This makes my hours much more regular. I’ve just completed a fairly sizable tracking study using our telephone omnibus panel which aimed to identify market size, attitudes to prescribing etc for a major neurological drug. I was also responsible for the last wave of the study so it’s been really interesting to see the changes in the market and watch our previous conclusions come to life (thankfully!). The only problem was the sheer volume of charts which had to be produced from a template – not the most riveting exercise.
I tend to work on two or three projects at a time, usually at different stages and there’s often additional organisation to be done for conferences later in the year. This includes booking exhibition stands from which to field the study at conference, organising flights, interviewers etc. Most of our projects last around 6 weeks or less so there’s always a new disease area to learn about.

Help from my friends
My department is split into several small teams of approx 6 – 8 people so each team tends to get on fairly well. Because of the amount of time my team spends out of the office we spend a lot of time helping on each other projects simply to get them turned around on time. We’re fairly friendly in terms of team lunches etc but friendship groups seem to form more from graduate scheme intakes. The healthcare department takes on 5 or more New Grads a year and they spend the first 6 weeks training closely together. After this training is more informal, gaining experience on projects as you go along.

Poor image of research
I have to admit some responsibility for propagating the idea that market research is dull. When anyone asks me what I do I tend to mention MR and then apologise as it’s a complete conversation killer. Best to focus on the travel – at least that sounds glam!

A future outside research
Long term I’m focussing more on acquiring skills to move out of market research and try something more challenging, perhaps more of a consultancy role. Although I enjoy market research the general attitude is not one of steep learning curves & rapid progression. There is obviously a lot to learn but much of this is experience based and that experience is not always forthcoming. I guess it’s just a very different pace from my experience at university, the upside being that it’s not overly competitive or cut-throat.

MR needs to add value in reality
My main bugbear with the market research industry is the tendency for companies to talk about ‘added value’ but do very little to actually achieve it. To add value surely market research should move a little closer to consultancy. Anyone can put a few graphs together, there’s no major value here, value comes from doing our homework (something that’s often forgotten in the rush to meet timelines), making solid recommendations which are built on an objective view and maybe even working with the client to action the outcomes of research. Without this added value becomes little more than a marketing phrase.