Research Careers Q and (US)A

MrWeb formally launches its US career clinic today. Two of the States' specialist MR recruiters, Karen Morgan of Morgan Search and Phil Reeve of Reeve & Associates, are available to answer readers' questions about careers in marketing research, and answers to ten commonly asked questions are already online.

The site's original career clinic started back in 2000, and a succession of agony aunts and uncles - all recruitment consultants with a focus on MR - have given readers the benefit of their wisdom. Recently, the service has broadened to offer separate advisors for graduate/entry level queries, Australian and Asian questions, and mainstream UK careers, as well as US questions.

At the same time, fewer questions and answers have appeared on the site as many of the new ones begin to be variations on those asked previously. With 100+ questions online and a desire to make the archive of answers more accessible, it is better to divide questions into topic areas than simply list them all in chronological order, says MrWeb MD Nick Thomas. 'What we don't want to do is just say to users: 'You can probably find the answer to your question online, so don't ask unless you've searched.' The trouble with FAQs is that they never seem to match precisely what you're looking for, and MrWeb's emphasis has always been on individual service and response'.

Getting a just reward is still tough, but it is 'an exciting time to be a researcher' according to Karen Morgan. 'So much is changing and technology has added so many new dimensions to the business... Corporations, especially large Fortune 500's, need to start paying more competitively for this kind of expertise... to invest in individuals both upfront and long term'. Morgan says that most researchers 'don't want to change jobs every few years; however, this is often the only way to move ahead both in terms of responsibility and compensation'.

The greater ease of finding suitable jobs in the first place, thanks largely to Internet searching and registration procedures, can offset the increased complexity of the application process. Phil Reeve points out that research jobseekers must now 'navigate through multiple interviews, testing, and be prepared to give writing samples, all for lacklustre offers'. Having a strategy for career progression is therefore more important: 'I have seen an explosion in the need for researchers on the supplier side and corporate side but everyone is very picky' says Reeve. 'The jobseeker must really be prepared to move for a job that will help them increase their research talents and anything else they are looking to gain out of a move but not for money'.

The American clinic launches with answers to the following questions - all things that have cropped up in informal discussions with US employers and candidates in the last two years:

The home page of the US clinic is at www.mrweb.com/usa/clinic . Questions and answers are thoroughly anonymised before posting on the site, whereas full answers are emailed to candidates separately. You can email your questions about getting into, and getting ahead in, marketing research in the USA to uscareers@mrweb.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.