Career Tips for 2010

With 2010 just a few weeks away, below are tips for those looking to make a career move or seeking to expand their market research teams.

1. Build Your Professional Network
As the saying goes, what you know is just as important as who you know. To help secure your next market research job (or to find your next MR team member), it is more important than ever to connect with current and past colleagues, managers, and clients. Using LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social networking tools, your next job could be just a referral away. And for senior level managers and sales professionals, the sheer size of your network is often a direct reflection of your ability to generate revenue.

When searching for a job or for qualified candidates, you can download and email some or all of your contacts. You may also consider Twitter-like real-time broadcasts to your network. You'll be surprised at the responses from your professional network.

2. Request Recommendations
Testimonials and recommendations are important as they reflect another perspective on your work (other than your own). While quantity is important, quality and specificity are the objective.

To build your repertoire, we suggest informally emailing your client or manager after every major initiative seeking feedback and asking if they are pleased with your work. The replies will provide powerful quotes for cover letters and in-person discussions; they also provide learning opportunities to make future projects even more successful. We have found it's best to secure quotes immediately upon the conclusion of each project as the author's memories are fresh and the resulting language tends to be more vivid and persuasive to future managers.

3. Build Your Personal Brand
Most online publications provide the ability to comment on articles. Providing insightful comments that contain your name (and personal website if available) is a powerful way to build your reputation and awareness within the industry. Be sure, however, that your responses are professional; include proper spelling and grammar; and are not written "in the heat of the moment" -- particularly in response to those who may disagree with your statements.

Your personal brand may be the reason that employers seek to hire you -- or the reason why candidates want to join your market research team.

4. Review and Update Your Resume
If you're satisfied with your current position, now is the ideal time to review and update your resume. When written at such times, more positive sentiments tend to echo through to the reader -- making you a more attractive candidate.

To ensure accuracy and avoid any breach of confidentiality concerns, we encourage every professional to write as if it is being reviewed by their manager and largest client. This will ensure a balanced approach and consistency with any discussions held with your prior managers and colleagues.

5. Prepare Samples of Your Work
Employers may ask to see a sample of your work -- and it's best to be prepared so you can respond quickly to such requests as delays often raise doubts.

You should continually monitor your work for deliverables that fully reflects your skills. And when you locate one, you should seek permission to use all or specific portions of it within your "professional portfolio." If approval cannot be secured in a timely fashion, perhaps a "sanitized" version removing logos, key findings, and all other confidential information may be adequate.

To demonstrate the breadth and depth of your abilities, it is often best to have three to five items available for potential employers to review.

6. Line Up Your References
Before providing a colleague, manager, or client as a reference, you must first acquire their approval. Failure to do so may result in a catastrophic end to the career opportunity.

We encourage every market research professional to keep an active list of five to seven professionals who are able to endorse your work. And when the time calls for references, you should select the individuals from your list who can provide the most persuasive commentary based upon the career opportunity at hand. Then, call or email them confirming their ability to support your candidacy.

 

Happy Holidays, and best wishes for 2010!

 

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