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Doing Good for the World
Hi all, this is my first post but I'm a long-time FGB follower. I'm currently in a toxic workplace that has no room for growth. And I've only just started working! I'm almost 24 with 1 year of consumer insights experience. I am caught between wanting to further my expertise in the market research field, and doing something more relevant to my passion: behavioral science and ethics. Client-facing for big businesses doesn't necessarily shout 'ethical' - but I feel like I'd be doing myself a disservice if I tossed my year of experience to head somewhere entirely different. I'm not even sure what I want to ask here! But if anyone has walked this tight rope and had success (or learned from failure) I would love to hear your story. Thanks for reading!
Barb HansenStartup Product, Growth & Strategy
9.52k
12/18/19 at 5:42PM UTC
I "tossed away" 4 years of hard-earned education and 13 years of experience to switch to a completely different industry and it was the best thing that I have ever done. I have increased my earning power, worked on amazing projects, created ground-breaking products, worked with amazing people, built and lead amazing teams and now I am a co-founder/COO of a startup.
Was the leap into a new career easy? No. Was I always certain that I did the right thing? No. Would I go back and change what I did? No.
Frankly, I did not toss anything away. You can not toss away your experiences and your education. You take your experiences and educational background with you to a new career, and you bring new ways of looking at the issues within the new career.
If you want to explore a new career path, then do it.
HINT:
If you want to create a bridge between your current job and a new career path (which I think is a great idea), search for a job in your current position in a company that works in your future-desired field (like a startup or consulting firm in the ethical business field). Startups love hiring people with passion and most are pretty good at seeing talent and moving that talent to the right position (assuming you show your talent and/or your interests)
Kim WarnerOn a mission to clean up the fashion business...
240
12/18/19 at 12:06AM UTC
Market research is such a broad term. Are you working in a particular segment or industry? Perhaps there is a particular segment where you would enjoy doing market research?
Also, behavioral science and ethics seems rather broad as well, and depending on industry or segment, could go hand in hand with marketing. For example, my background is fashion & apparel, and there is a lot of market research and behavioral science that goes into developing product: what is the consumer looking for, what does value mean to the consumer, how does price point affect value, will consumer pay for quality or is price more important? Of course these things depend on other factors as well, such as who the target consumer is.
I could also see behavioral science and ethics applied to social work: why people making certain decisions knowing either the positive or negative implications.
So I guess my question is, what kind of work you are actually looking for, and in what area?
I hope this helps, and I wish you the best!
Anonymous
12/17/19 at 9:54PM UTC
Before giving up on market research, it might be helpful to research the job market in behavioral science and/or ethics— are these fields viable?
In addition, would you feel more positive about market research if you were working in a better environment? Your unhappiness in your job might have more to do with the poor environment than with the functions you perform.
Long run, you want a workplace you enjoy and work for which there is a market.
