In conjunction with this issue’s focus on research education, training and employment, I had a brief phone chat with Erika Weinstein, Marc Rentzer and Tom Hull of Stephen-Bradford Search, a New York executive-search firm that has marketing research placements (client- side and research vendor-side) as one of its areas of specialization, for a look at the current state of hiring in the MR field.

As with many industries, the ranks of unemployed researchers have grown lately, meaning there is fierce competition for the open positions that are out there. Still, as I learned in my conversation, researchers with the right skill sets (got sales experience?) may be able to pick and choose. And as companies focus on data analysis and data gathering as drivers of growth, are researchers suddenly gaining a little sex appeal in the eyes of corporate America?

Q: What are some of the trends you are seeing in MR hiring?

Marc Rentzer, director: Advanced analytics professionals [at research companies] have added more client-facing duties in the last few years, so there is a huge demand right now for people like that. I have one [research company] client who has a marketing science staff of exclusively client-facing individuals - that is really unusual.

The reason this is a trend is that this is what the end users, the client side, has been responding to the most. They want to work with people like that. They want them in the process early, helping to conceptualize what the research should look like, speaking to them throughout the process and at the end as well to give strategic advice. The [research] companies that are doing this the best have a huge competitive advantage because this is what the clients want.

I think the job candidates are aware of this because their salaries have jumped. If they are very analytic, can do things like structural equation modeling and market mix modeling, and have client-facing experience, they are very much in demand. Senior-level talent that can bring in business, and can mentor well, and can maybe one day take over the company, those people are hard to find.

Q: Are certain industries showing more interest in adding MR-type positions lately?

Marc Rentzer: One of the things we have seen changing is that a lot of the [client] companies are utilizing data and data analytics and market research as key drivers of business across the enterprise. So [research] is getting executive-level buy-in, it’s getting a lot of visibility. More importantly, these companies are putting in place a program that is going to take years to implement. To understand the customer you need to know their behavior, their transaction information, their lifestyles. So companies recognize the need for market research but they are not necessarily bringing those needs in-house. So we see more and more instances where research services organizations are being asked to supplement the clients’ internal capabilities.

Erika Weinstein, president: I am working with companies in the digital world, what we call interactive marketing companies, that used to not rely on marketing research. They are now coming to me to help put together internal market research teams.

Q: Have you noticed a change in the types of qualifications or levels of experience that companies are requiring their MR hires to have? Do applicants need more experience in certain areas, different educational backgrounds, etc.?

Marc Rentzer: Well, from a capability perspective there are two things. Client companies are bringing in people to do CRM. With the way that the market is becoming more channel-agnostic, you need to be able to use the right channel to get the message to the customer. So whether it’s e-mail or a traditional mail piece, an online promotion or an in-store program, you really need to understand your customer and research is part of that CRM process.

The other area is strategy. Research professionals, especially those with client-facing responsibilities, are being looked at to interface with an internal or external client and provide solutions to the complex problems that are eating away at the client’s core business. In many cases the client really doesn’t have a clue about the best way to do it, so the person coming in has to know how to analyze the problem, internalize it and go back and develop a solution and then implement these programs through cross-functional teams. That’s a lot to ask of someone but that strategic perspective and presence is becoming more and more critical [for job seekers to have].

Tom Hull, director: The only way to get that kind of experience is to do it, to have trial by fire. Hopefully there is someone who can guide you, who is the right mentor, who can help you drive or lead that type of initiative.

The other thing that we are seeing, with the market getting tighter - and it is a client-driven market at this point - is that clients are demanding more and more from each candidate. Salaries could potentially go lower even for someone with more experience, because there are so many people on the street now, through no fault of their own.

Q: Has the economic downturn impacted the hiring of researchers about the same as other types of professionals? Since marketing and marketing research are often areas that companies look to cut costs in when times are tough, are companies are looking to fill fewer MR positions these days?

Tom Hull: Marc and I struggle with that. Research has been impacted like a lot of industries have been. However, if a research department experiences layoffs, that doesn’t mean that they are not going to hire. What tends to happen is they look at their current personnel and spread out responsibilities and if it gets to be too much, they could find themselves needing to bring in someone from outside.

Erika Weinstein: I also think a down market like this is an opportunity for [research companies] to look in-house and say, “How can we improve?” There are a lot of [research companies] that just freeze and hide and wait for things to get better, but then there are some that look at it as an opportunity to gain more business. They say, “How do I clean house and hire better talent?”

Q: Any advice for researchers who may be looking for a new opportunity?

Marc Rentzer: On the research vendor side, the more client-facing you are, the more you are going to make. If you don’t have sales experience, get it. Don’t hide in the back room. Get out there with the clients; you’ll be of more value to everybody.

Erika Weinstein: It’s hard because typically those who go into research don’t have personalities that lend themselves to business development and sales. So it is really over time that someone develops that type of what I would call armor.

I find that most business development people within the MR arena are older. They are more experienced and they have a number of years under their belt doing different kinds of analytics in the back room and have moved themselves up to feel comfortable with the clients. And I wouldn’t even say they do a lot of client interfacing - it’s more showing them what they know.

Tom Hull: If it’s not going to be the sales route or the consultative route, there are different ways that a research professional can impact a business. And the more that they are able to speak to impacting that business through quantifiable results, the more they benefit. If it’s an initiative that was income–saving or one that they implemented that was able to increase workflow - things like that that go to the bottom line - those things show their value to the business.

Marc Rentzer: That’s what our clients want to see on résumés: results. How did you impact the business?

Q: So, with companies beefing up their analytics capabilities and wanting to find out more and more about their customers, is this a good time to be a researcher?

Marc Rentzer: It’s certainly gotten sexier. Marketing research has a completely different image nowadays.

Tom Hull: Especially with the prevalence of companies going toward a data-driven business, people are looking at data as a center of excellence for the whole organization. If you can position yourself, not necessarily as market research but perhaps market intelligence, as the one who is going to be behind all of the initiatives as they relate to marketing, that’s pretty impressive. That’s not an adjunct piece of the business, it’s a core offering.