As inspired by the Kansas City Business Journal’s article “How Not to Stink as a Kansas City Business Journal Intern”, The Pert Group interns decided to put together their own list of market research, life and social lessons. From the mouths of our interns, a little bit about what they’ve learned this summer while interning at The Pert Group.
Market Research Lesson
Christian: Market research starts with the client. Whether a company has a specific question about their business, or wants to keep a pulse on broader industry trends, valuable research is framed by the client’s needs first.
Andrew: Technology is your best friend, except when it’s your worst enemy. When reviewing online questionnaire text and logic, it always helps to get a second, third, or fourth opinion to root out bugs and typos. The sooner you do that the faster you can move questionnaires into the field.
Social Lesson
Paige: One of the benefits of working at The Pert Group has been the opportunity to work with many talented, unique individuals. As individuality goes, I’ve realized each of my co-workers has their own distinctive style. One person may prefer a report with straightforward data, another may like pictures and exciting graphics. As an intern, I frequently move from project to project and thus work under many different styles. As a “coping” mechanism, I’ve realized the value in asking questions.
Whether it’s as minimal as checking to make sure the font size is large enough to be visible to a client or as major as verifying the content of a PowerPoint slide, questions have made the difference between failing and succeeding as an intern.
Andrew: Show a genuine interest in the work your team is doing. Displaying interest shows your team and supervisors that they can count on you to take on increasing responsibility and that you can adapt and learn new things in the ever-changing field of market research.
Life Lesson
Paige: A friend of mine once explained to me, “At the agency, I was always waiting for the phone to ring and now I can’t get my phone to stop ringing.” Though perhaps a tad exaggerated, she brings up the point that there seems to be a fair amount of rejection at agency-like organizations. Though not often, I have witnessed my co-workers gear up, excitedly, for a potential new project only to be disappointed when a project goes another direction.
Someone not entirely accustomed to rejection might respond by protesting the decision, which would ultimately ruin relationships. The Pert Group has shown, through example that an appropriate response would be to not only respect the decisions made, but also to wish whomever the best of luck with their project. Learning to deal with rejection is an important lesson that transcends the market research industry and one I will certainly take with me after the summer has ended.
Business Lesson
Andrew: Teamwork is key and the best way to show you are a valuable team player is to actively ask team members if there is anything you can do to help. Even if there is an uncharacteristic slow period, other verticals or departments may need some help. By showing initiative you are also learning how different parts of market research work come together for the final deliverable.
Christian: Observe everyone and note what each person excels at, then make an effort to learn that skill from them. Everyone brings a distinct talent to the company.
At The Pert Group I’ve found co-workers who are great at problem solving and creative thinking, driving business and talking to clients, managing projects and coordinating teams, programming and analytics – we have a diverse group. This past week I worked with a co-worker on a project that required many calculations, and I was impressed by her ability to communicate our results clearly and confidently, even when the process was complex. Next time she’s explaining her work, I’ll be listening to make note of how she forms her words.
So there you have it – a recap of the lessons learned this summer at The Pert Group. Interested in learning more about our interns or about how to become an intern at The Pert Group? Contact us today.