Question:
A mutual colleague of ours referred me to you a few days ago. I am contacting you to inquire if you know of any jobs available as a senior data analyst in the metro Atlanta area. I am attaching my CV for your consideration. As you will see, I have more than 10 years of experience with statistical analysis in SAS and SPSS. No marketing research experience yet, but I am a fast learner. I’ve done a lot of survey research projects in academia and assume that most of my skills will be transferable to a marketing research context. Can you provide some advice? I look forward to hearing from you.
Answer:
I work on market research statistics positions, but have none currently in Atlanta. From my experience, I can tell you that most companies want applied market research experience and shy away from purely academic professionals. Are you trying to make a break from academia at this point? What compensation range would are you considering?
Business resumes look much different that academic resumes and focus much more on the “what can you do for me” aspect of the relationship, or your value proposition. For example, you are clearly qualified in stats and analysis, so in a business resume, I’d be highly inclined to focus on the aspects of your work that had business application so that a hiring manager can imagine who you are and what you can do for them specifically…and whether your academic experience is close enough that they’d be willing to take “a chance” on you. It’s sad to say, but in a business resume, I often recommend downplaying the academic aspect to reduce the risk of labeling…for example, taking out most/all of the publication, honors and presentations content of a typical academic CV and replacing it with the content as specified above. Also, for a business resume, your relevant experience needs to be page #1 so that they don’t have to work too hard to figure out who you are. Hiring managers are busy and if they need to work too hard, you’ll end up in the “no” pile.
The post Career Switching From Academic Market Research to Corporate Market Research appeared first on Market Research Recruiter.