Market research interviewer Job Information | National Careers Service

The work

As a market research interviewer, you would gather information on people's attitudes and opinions by asking them questions from pre-prepared surveys. The research that you carried out could be commissioned by a wide range of organisations, including:

• advertising agencies
• businesses of all kinds
• government
• opinion polls
• charities.

The market research process starts when the commissioning organisation briefs a research agency about what they want to find out. The agency then prepares questionnaires to use with the target audience, and recruits interviewers to carry out the surveys.

As part of a market research interviewing team, you would:

• attend an agency briefing about the research project
• approach interviewees in the street, phone them or call on them at home
• explain about the research and how it will be used
• ask a series of scripted questions from the questionnaire
• record people’s answers on paper forms, a hand-held computer or video
• carry out a set number of interviews to meet a quota
• collate the results and pass them back to the market research organisation.

Hours

Part-time and short-term temporary work is much more common than full-time ongoing work. Hours can be irregular and may include evenings and weekends.

You could interview people face-to-face in the street, in shopping centres or door to door, which would involve spending a long time on your feet and in all weather conditions. As a telephone interviewer, you could work from an office base or from home.

Income

• Earnings are usually £50 to £65 a day or £5.75 to £8.50 an hour, plus expenses.
• This is the equivalent of around £11,000 to £16,000 a year in a permanent full-time job.
• Field supervisors or research assistants can earn £18,000 to £22,000 a year.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

You don't need any qualifications to become a market research interviewer. Employers will be more interested in your personality, enthusiasm and communication skills.

You will find it useful to have experience of dealing with the public, in any kind of customer service job.

Employers may prefer you to have a driving licence and your own transport.

Training and development

Your employer will provide you with training before each job, when they will brief you on the research project and may train you in interview techniques. Your interviews will regularly be observed and assessed by a fieldwork supervisor.

You may be able to take a recognised qualification from the Market Research Society (MRS), such as:

• Level 2 Certificate in Market and Social Research
• Accredited Interviewer Training Scheme (AITS) and the Certificate in Interviewing Skills for Market and Social Research, which your employer would provide in-house.

• See the MRS website for more details

You may also find it useful to take the Association for Qualitative Research (AQR) foundation course. This is a three-day introductory course for researchers who are new to qualitative research.

Skills and knowledge

• a friendly and polite approach
• good communication and ‘people skills’
• excellent listening skills
• a persuasive manner
• accuracy and attention to detail
• clear handwriting
• ability to work on your own
• patience and determination, to cope with some people refusing to take part
• basic maths and computer skills.

More information

Market Research Society (MRS)
15 Northburgh Street
London
EC1V 0JR
Tel: 020 7490 4911
www.mrs.org.uk

Association for Qualitative Research (AQR)
Davey House
31 St Neots Road
Eaton Ford
St Neots
Cambridgeshire
PE19 7BA
Tel: 01480 407227
www.aqr.org.uk

Opportunities

You would be employed on temporary contracts, either by a market research agency or directly by the commissioning organisation.

You will increase your chances of regular work by being on the books of several agencies. Jobs may also be advertised in job centres and the local press.

With experience, you could progress to become a supervisor or area fieldwork manager with an agency. Alternatively, you could become a research assistant in a market research agency or social research organisation.

You may find the following useful for job vacancies and general reading (links open in new window):

• Research
• Market Research World
• MR Web
• Datatech
• Resources Group