I am Kalpana Singh. I have 6 years+ of experience in B2B (Business to Business) Market Research. I did my graduation in B.Sc. Maths (Hons.) and MBA in Marketing.

Who is a Consulting Analyst?

A consulting analyst understands the client’s requirement, studies market through primary (discussion with industry experts and stakeholders) and secondary sources (internet, websites, past studies, annual reports, etc), collates data, analysis data, drive inferences and finally suggests solutions to the client.

Note: B2B research is very different from B2C research. B2B is business research which involves research on industrial products and services. Whereas, B2C research is consumer research and mostly deals with consumer behaviour.

What did you want to be when you were in higher secondary school?

When I was in school, I had no idea about different career options. All I knew was, I loved Maths.

What is your typical day like as a Consulting Analyst?

We typically work on 2-3 projects simultaneously. Conduct primary and secondary research for relevant data, analyse data, work on excel (basic functions), draw inference and prepare powerpoint presentations.

What steps did you take to land in your present job?

I created contacts in the market research (B2B) industry. References do wonders in an industry, I guess.

What do you wish you knew before you started preparing for this career?

I had almost no knowledge about this or any other career when I was a student. I had thought that B2B research is all about analysing data, but there is more to this.

What do you love about your job?

I get to learn about different products and its market (precision tubes, structural steel, gearboxes, special steel, etc) with every new project. It feels good that through our studies we help giant companies to take their critical decisions..

What are the challenges you face in your career?

There are very few good companies in this domain. Plus, if in future I wish to switch my vertical (currently I am in industrial automation and if I wish to go for Automotive or consumer research vertical) many companies won’t count my experience relevant and will not offer a package that I would be deserving. But, the fact is the research methodologies remains same across all the verticals. It’s only the product that changes with every project, even if you are in the same vertical.

What are your future aspirations?

I want to work with OEMs(original equipment manufacturers) and be the part of their internal market research/marketing services team.

Can you please summarise your career journey?

• +2 – Science (PCMB)
• Under Graduation – B.Sc. Maths
• Post Graduation – MBA Marketing

Science(PCMB) in 12th (I opted bio as I had no idea of what I wanted to be, so by opting bio I wanted to keep more options for future. It was very late when I realised that I should have not opted bio. I was good at bio though)

B.Sc Maths (I had nobody to guide me about different courses available after 12th. I ended up doing B.Sc Maths only because of my love for Maths. And gradation level maths was very different; from the maths I knew till 12th. So, I didn’t go for M.Sc Maths)

MBA Marketing (I wanted to do MBA-Finance as after consulting many people, I came to a conclusion that if I am good at Maths I should go for finance. After first year of MBA I realised that finance and maths have nothing in common)

My love for Maths helped me crack the written tests and storytelling ability helped to clear the interviews.

What are the skills and education required to be a Market Researcher?

Skills:

1. Read newspaper daily (important)
2. Basic Excel and Powerpoint knowledge

Education:

1. Nowadays, companies prefer to hire MBA graduates for this role. Engineering plus MBA degree is loved in our industry.

What do you think potential recruiters look for in a Market Researcher?

Recruiters preferrer MBA graduates and more over graduation in Science would be an added advantage.

Frost hired me as I was an employee at Feedback Business Consulting and many Frost employees knew about my excellent performance at Feedback.

Feedback hired me as I held a degree in Maths and in spite of having 2.9 years of experience in market research (B2C though) I was ready to accept their offer as a fresher.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I design and stitch dresses during free time. Teaching Maths to school going children and reading mythological books are also part of my leisure time activities.

How do I know if a career in Market Research is for me?

This career is excellent for those who want to be industry consultants (in the field of oil and gas, power, metals, cement, automation, automobile, etc).

This career is for you, if you like and want to:

• know about different products and their market
• be master of an industry
• interact with industry experts

Any recommended resources for aspiring Market Researchers?

All my answers are with respect to B2B research. The content of the reports we submit to our clients is sometimes similar to the reports of IBEF reports. But our reports are much focused on products that our client wants us to study about.

The websites of following companies may be visited for any clarification regarding our work and services:

B2B research: Frost & Sullivan, KPMG, PwC, BCG, EY research, CRU analysis, Feedback Business Consulting.
B2C research: Nielsen, IMRB, Hansa Research, Ipsos, Millward Brown, TNS

What do you think everyone leaving higher secondary school should know?

• general knowledge
• public speaking skills
• basic excel and powerpoint presentation
• good english communication skills (both written and verbal)

These skills are needed to excel in most of the careers.

Any final thoughts or messages?

Message to schools (teachers and principals):

• Work towards the development of every student.
• Encourage students to participate in debates, poem reciting, storytelling, etc., so that they can over come their stage fear.
• During my school days only the best students were chosen for all the competitions. Because, the goal was to win a house-competition and not the development of the students.
• Encourage them to play out-door games. Don’t pressurise them for only studies. This makes them a team player and sports make them develop sporty-spirit towards life’s ups and downs.
• Help students to develop a habit of reading books other than the course.

I wish:

• schools paid attention towards creating children’s interest in general knowledge, economics and reading newspaper regularly.
• there were newsletters/newspapers for children.
• the favoritisms ends at school.

Thanks for reading! 🙂 If you enjoyed this article, leaving your comment below would mean a lot to me and it helps other people see the story.

If any of your friend is considering a career in a similar area share this with him/her.

You can read more real career stories here.