Market researcher

Career path and progression

With experience, you could become a supervisor or area fieldwork manager. You could also become a research assistant in a market research agency or social research organisation.

Some market research interviewers choose to specialise in areas such as medical research. There may also be demand for interviewers who are fluent in other languages.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

• customer service skills
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to use your initiative
• to be flexible and open to change
• active listening skills
• excellent written communication skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• analytical thinking skills
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

Related subjects

Most relevant

• Mathematics - Market researchers work with numerical data every day, organising survey results and identifying patterns in responses. They need to understand percentages, averages, and basic statistics to summarise findings accurately and spot meaningful trends in what people think.
• English Language - Market researchers need strong communication skills to explain surveys clearly, ask questions effectively, and encourage people to take part. They also write survey reports that need to present findings in a way that's easy for clients and supervisors to understand.
• Psychology - Market researchers need to understand how people think, what influences their opinions, and how to ask questions without leading them to a particular answer. Knowledge of human behaviour helps them design better surveys and interpret why people respond the way they do.
• Business - Market researchers gather information that helps businesses make decisions about their products and services. Understanding how businesses operate – including marketing, customer behaviour, and competition – helps them ask the right questions and produce research that's genuinely useful.

Also relevant

• Sociology - Market researchers study the opinions and behaviours of different groups of people, which is very similar to what sociologists do. Understanding how social factors like age, income, and culture shape people's views helps researchers design surveys that reach the right audiences.
• Economics - Market researchers often investigate how people spend their money and what influences their purchasing decisions. Understanding concepts like supply, demand, and consumer behaviour helps them interpret research findings in a broader economic context.
• Modern Foreign Languages - Market researchers who speak other languages are in demand, especially for projects involving diverse communities or international markets. Being able to conduct interviews in another language opens up specialist roles and makes research more inclusive.
• Computer Science - Market researchers increasingly use online survey platforms and data tools to collect and organise large volumes of responses. Understanding how databases work and being able to handle data efficiently helps when managing and processing research results.