Marketing research is a multi-discipline field which melds statistical analasys with sociological and psychological observations. In other words if a company sells red beads but their sales are dropping, it is to find out if consumers purchase blue beads instead of red beads in order to make a better bead one that satisfies the consumer. If 75% of the target market group says that blue beads are better than blue beads then they can take that information to the production and marketing department who can then produce a bead that is perceived as better by the consumer. Sometimes product packaging is as important as the contents. In pharma market research jobs the consumer may consist of hospitals, doctors, patients, and medical equipment suppliers. They may have jobs that consist of contacting suppliers of medical equipment or pharmaceuticals.
What Kind of Education Is Needed for Pharma market research jobs?
Though most companies will require a Bachelor Degree an advanced degree with a focus in market research is very desirable. Included is the need for an understanding of the pharmaceutical industry this usually equates to employers asking for one to two years experience. With strong qualifications this can be waived in some instances. Jobs in pharma market research will require not only a social science portion (understanding consumers) but strong math and statistical abilities. Naturally a person searching for pharma market research jobs also will want to be very computer literate as many marketing research projects use specialized software to help collate data.
Further requirements are excellent communication skills - that is both in speaking and in listening. The ability to see logical sequences in strings of data is required in order to fully make use of the marketing research data. Skills used in composing questionnaires for market surveys might be those of communication as well as how to pose a question in a neutral fashion as opposed to a leading question.
Jobs within the marketing research industry are predicted to grow at a very fast rate and jobs in pharma market research will keep up with that trend. Job seekers should prepare themselves to conduct a thorough search with a professional resume designed to highlight their skills and talents for potential employers.This will help them to find the best job possible and most suited for their talents.
Where to Find Pharma market research jobs
Jobs in pharma marketing research can be found either with consulting firms or with the pharmaceutical company itself. A lot of effort goes into marketing by pharmaceutical companies and the marketing researchers suggest new products, changes in older products and sometimes even names that can help a company’s product succeed or become more popular.
Senior pharma market research jobs may have several roles or they may help direct research into new drugs if there is a demand for it. They still do the same job as the marketing researcher but use a good many more tools.
There are also marketing research companies that act as consultants to pharmaceutical companies and jobs within these can be challenging.
Personal contacts are still a very good way to find pharma market research jobs however not many graduates who want to specialize in that field know someone who can let them know when jobs come open. The internet is still one of the most thorough job search tools for any field.
One way is to register with a career site that specializes in marketing researcher jobs. This cuts down the likelihood of your resume being lost in 1000s of profiles of persons in unrelated fields as might happen on generic job search sites.
In most cases a search with a popular search engine will turn up a lot of job sites and few jobs, the person determined to land jobs in pharma market research should instead try career sites where employers post their jobs and the qualifications they desire. A professional resume on the right site and regular searches of the newly posted pharma market research jobs will yield results to the dedicated seeker.
