In August 2021, I was asked by the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences – alongside two research professionals within the industry, Toni Cundy (Research Director at Student Edge) and Liz Duniec (Founding Director of ORIMA) to be a panelist for a talk on why choose a career in market research. The talk was the second episode in a series called THIS COULD BE YOU, designed to raise awareness of the alternative career paths (outside of clinical psychology & academia) that psychology grads are well suited for.
We had over 260 students register, and the talk can be found here: THIS COULD BE YOU #2 Research and Insights - YouTube
The format of the discussion was that each panelist briefly described their career path – how they fell into the research space, what they are passionate about and how they've grown within the industry.
They then explained the Market Research Industry (both locally and internationally) and encouraged an open discussion of the different types of career avenues within the industry
This was followed by advice and suggestions as to how students could pursue these careers – tips for CVs, obtaining internships, and connecting with leaders.
The event ended with a Q&A session.
Psychology has an exceptionally strong underpinning within the research, behaviour change, and strategy industry. However, many students aren't aware of the career paths that they can take – there is an assumption that if you study psychology, you'll become a psychologist. But there is so many more options than that and we aimed to showcase this. If you are good with numbers, you investigate joining an advanced quantitative analytics agency; if you love talking, maybe being a qualitative strategist in a design agency is the right step.
The key focus was to ignite students to follow their passions, interest, and strengths. In addition to how useful it is to have a specialist recruiter on your side. I placed Toni in her previous role when she relocated from London to Melbourne – a small world 😊
When you're established in your career, what's easy to forget is the foundations of what you do and what "Market Research" means from a simplistic perspective. It was a fun task to explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, social and commercial research, and what it means to work in an agency or Clientside.
I've since had the privilege of connecting with students, helping them with their CVs, applications, and job hunting. Additionally, it's fuelled Resources Group's passion for assisting graduates into the industry and encouraging clients to consider talented but inexperienced junior candidates!
