Market Research Analysts

Employers

Approximately 903,400 market research analysts are employed in the United States. Large corporations, industrial firms, advertising agencies, data collection businesses, and private research organizations that handle local surveys for companies on a contract basis employ market research analysts. While many market research organizations offer a broad range of services, some firms subcontract parts of an overall project out to specialized companies. For example, one research firm may concentrate on product interviews, while another might focus on measuring the effectiveness of product advertising. Similarly, some marketing analysts specialize in one industry or area. For example, agricultural marketing specialists prepare sales forecasts for food businesses, which use the information in their advertising and sales programs.

Although many smaller firms located all across the country outsource studies to market research firms, these research firms, along with most large corporations that employ market research analysts, are located in such big cities as New York or Chicago. Many salaried market research analysts are employed in private industry, but opportunities also exist in government and academia, as well as at hospitals, public libraries, and a variety of other types of organizations.

Starting Out

Students with a graduate degree in marketing research and experience in quantitative techniques have the best chances of landing top-level jobs as market research analysts. Many employees without postgraduate degrees start out as research assistants, trainees, interviewers, or questionnaire editors. In such positions, those aspiring to the job of research analyst can gain valuable experience conducting interviews, analyzing data, and writing reports.

Use your college career services office, the Web, and help wanted sections of local newspapers to look for job leads. Another way to get into the market research field is through personal and professional contacts. Names and telephone numbers of potential employers may come from professors, friends, or relatives. Students who have participated in internships or have held marketing research-related jobs on a part-time basis while in school or during the summer may be able to obtain employment at these firms or at similar organizations.