This edition of the MarketResearchCareers' Newsletter focuses upon salaries and negotiating a new job offer.

2008 Compensation for Market Research Professionals
We'd like to begin by sharing current compensation statistics collected from more than 700 market research professionals in January, 2008. This data is, perhaps, the most current and comprehensive available anywhere.

Job Title	Average Salary	Average Annual Bonus	Average 2008 Raise
Project Director	$60,878	$8,515	3.8%
Senior Project Director	$71,423	$8,620	4.6%
Research Analyst	$51,314	$2,866	3.9%
Senior Research Analyst	$67,875	$7,428	4.0%
Research Manager/Director	$83,054	$9,726	3.7%
Senior Research Manager/Director	$104,037	$17,619	4.0%
Account Executive/Manager	$73,366	$13,640	4.7%
Senior Account Executive/Manager	$93,833	$48,571	4.5%
Statistician	$100,000	$167	4.0%
Brand Manager	$87,083	$21,312	5.4%
Assistant Vice President	$112,500	$20,833	6.5%
Vice President	$123,438	$25,901	3.9%
Senior Vice President	$126,328	$27,593	3.5%
Average (All Job Titles)	$90,650	$15,441	4.0%

Additional in-depth views of the data by client/supplier side and years of experience are available. This data can be used to benchmark your current compensation level or as an aid when making a career move—which leads us to our next topic, negotiating an offer.

 

The 5Bs of Negotiating a Market Research Job Offer

1. Be Honest: Discuss your current and desired responsibilities, hours, environment and other items of importance to you. Be transparent about your current salary, bonus and anticipated date for a raise—and be prepared to support your numbers if asked by a market research recruiter.

2. Be Prepared: Speak with your family and take time to be introspective. Identify what aspects of a job are important to you—whether it is salary, bonus opportunity, flexible hours, benefits or work environment and communicate these items.
   In being prepared, you should review current compensation data based upon your title, years of experience, and industry role (client vs. supplier).

3.  Be Flexible: Few companies will have the means or ability to meet all of your desires. Furthermore, most large firms will have guidelines into which your offer must fit. Be willing to consider tradeoffs between items of importance to you—and be ready to think out of the box.
   Opportunities to increase your salary, gain additional vacation time, advance your market research skills, etc. will be available sooner than you might expect.

4. Be Reasonable: Understand that you are negotiating with your new boss. If your initial requests are met, do not continue asking for more. Conversely, if an offer is below your expectation or industry averages, share your benchmark data with your potential future employer.
   The use of relevant data is an effective way to depersonalize negotiations and strive toward a reasonable conclusion. A sense of fairness on both sides of the desk is essential for a healthy, productive and long term relationship.

5. Be Patient: Never immediately accept or reject an offer—regardless of its level of attractiveness. Graciously thank the individual extending the offer, and ask for several days to review it with your immediate family—responding within the agreed upon timeframe.
   Changing market research jobs is a major life event and it is expected that you will confer with others. If you are expecting an offer but have yet to receive it, be patient. Don’t repeatedly email or call. Coordinating schedules to make hiring decisions always takes longer than one thinks. An over-eager job seeker raises concerns.

Once you have the job offer you want, it's time to accept it. Next month, we'll share the steps necessary to successfully accept a Market Research job offer and begin your new career—without burning any bridges! After all, the market research industry is a very close knit community!

 

Mike Carroll
800-872-5401
mcarroll@marketresearchcareers.com
www.marketresearchcareers.com