Why now is a good time to find a new job in market research

After a tricky few years in market research where jobs felt insecure and attractive job vacancies were elusive, 2014 has been a breath of fresh air.

Research agencies are once again busy with commissions and new briefs and there is a general feeling of positivity throughout the industry. Research agencies who were stretching their resources, out of fear of a headcount increase, are feeling more confident to hire and clientside research teams are expanding again. Salary levels, which have been pushed down over the past few years, are on the rise again.

As a researcher looking to rise up the career ladder, now is a very good time to start your job hunt. There are generally more vacancies to choose from than there have been for the past 5 years and all types of research teams are hiring – multi-nationals, boutiques, independents and clientside. We are also seeing a breadth of jobs in all research specialisms so whether you are a qualitative researcher or a tracking studies expert, you’re in demand!

Now is also a good time to find a new job because the demand for people is higher than the supply. Fewer people entered the market research industry over the last 5 years because of the recession hitting graduate places and redundancies forced some researchers to seek alternative careers outside of the industry. This means that in 2014 the industry is short of skilled people at all levels and at SRE and RM level in particular. Talented researchers with a classic background are now in a very strong position to get several job offers and choose the best career path for their development – this also will impact on salary levels being pushed up again.

So if you have been keeping your head down through the recession, now is the ideal time to revitalise your career 🙂