Customer Experience Transformist, Temkin Group

What has your career/education path been like since graduating?

I have built a successful career over the past 10+ years as a customer experience practitioner and market research professional. My areas of expertise include customer insight, voice of the customer, text analytics, and all facets of market research. After graduating from COM, I worked for a market research consultancy, managed voice of the customer programs at Bose and Constant Contact, and I currently am a Customer Experience Transformist at Temkin Group. In my current role I work as a researcher and consultant in the customer experience field.

Why did you choose your particular field of study at COM?

Prior to attending the graduate program in Applied Communication Research at COM, I had worked in a variety of non-profit communications roles. I became intrigued with better understanding what motivated different audiences to support environmental causes. I had realized that it was very difficult to “sell” a concept using the values and jargon of the organization rather than focusing on what appealed to the audience doing the “buying”   By attending COM I knew I would develop the research skills needed to segment audiences and measure the impact of different types of communications.

What skills from the program have you found most valuable?

The quantitative analysis skills I gained from Dr. Michael Elasmar’s research classes have proved invaluable throughout my career. Being able to turn data into actionable insights has been critical to my success, and I credit my COM classes with helping me to learn and develop these skills.

This article first appeared on http://www.bu.edu/com/2016/02/01/jen-rodstrom-02-temkin-group/

Associate Manager of Advertising Insights, ESPN

After graduating from Boston University in December 2011, I immediately accepted a position at ESPN in New York City as a Senior Analyst of Advertiser Insights. I report to Ad Sales through ideating and executing cross-platform effectiveness research, utilizing a variety of methodologies, from traditional surveys and insights communities to employing more scientific capabilities, such as Eye Gaze and Biometrics, in our Media Lab. Within two years, I was promoted to an Associate Manager role and whether it’s learning a new piece of software or how to use certain syndicated media research tools, honing my presentation skills or improving my collaboration with internal teams, I have never stopped learning on the job.

Why did you choose your particular field of study at COM?

Communication Research gave me the unique opportunity to combine my natural strengths with numbers, stats and analysis with the writing skills that I honed from my undergraduate Liberal Arts degree. I was also completely sold on the field of study after meeting Professor Michael Elasmar for the first time. He inevitably guided me on my COM journey and enabled me to succeed in both this field and my eventual career path.

What skills from the program have you found most valuable?

The most valuable skills and training I received from the Communication Research program were in Survey writing, SPSS analysis, and Storytelling. The ability to construct a proper questionnaire, to analyze its results using statistical software and to cull down all of the data into a series of key insights are skills that are not only essential to my role within ESPN but are also extremely valued in the research industry as a whole.

This article first appeared on http://www.bu.edu/com/2015/11/30/dave-blumberg-12-associate-manager-advertiser-insights-at-espn/

Program Management of Market Research and Consumer Insights, Fidelity 

What has your career/education path been like since graduating?

Upon graduation, I started my career at Nielsen as a Methodological Research Analyst providing research solutions, driving innovation and digital measurement. Five years at Nielsen provided me a solid background of different methodologies, client interaction and performing research on research. I moved to Dallas to be closer to my family and started working at Instantly to support their Operations and Research team. In a very short time frame, I was promoted as a Panel Manager and eventually ended up formulating a new Department that focused on Insights & Strategy serving clients from different verticals and developing MR solutions, survey platforms and data collection Apps. Having had solid research background, I wanted to shift gears and focus on consulting and Business Intelligence. Therefore, I began working for a start-up – ResearchFidelity, where I am managing research operations and using data science to project quarterly market share for major Telecom client and spearhead custom market research projects. The experience of working at a Global organization to a mid but fast faced Market Research vendor to a start-up has made a well rounded professional that uses Market Research as a means to solve business problems.

Why did you choose your particular field of study at COM?

I had completed my Master’s from India in Media Research and wanted to further my research and analytical skills. In addition, I wanted to get into a holistic program that gave me the tools to thrive in a Corporate environment. The program in Applied Communication Research was indeed tailored to develop professionals who could use their core skills to adapt into organizations need to offer methodical solutions, make sense of numbers and provide valuable insights to drive growth and change.

What skills from the program have you found most valuable?

Exposure to different research methods, ability to crunch data and communicate them effectively were the most valuable.

This article first appeared on http://www.bu.edu/com/2015/11/19/dinaz-kachhi-jiwani-06-lead-researcher-at-research-fidelity-inc/

Senior Analyst, Forrester Research

I’ve approached my career opportunistically since graduating from COM — trying to sponge up as much information as possible at each stop I’ve made. When I left the master’s program, I landed a job at a new product development consultancy, which taught me a lot about the challenges companies face when they are building product and services strategy. When I transitioned to Forrester, I approached it as an opportunity to expand my knowledge of how businesses apply technology to their business challenges. In my time with the firm, I’ve had a chance to develop expertise in gamification, business productivity and collaboration technology, cloud services and customer experience. I’ve been able to do this by never turning down an opportunity to expand my understanding of the business world.

Why did you choose your particular field of study at COM?

When I matriculated in 1999, I was a print journalism major. I switched to public relations because I was fascinated by the concept of crisis communication. I then went on to pursue a graduate degree in Applied Communication Research because I believed that a market research foundation would make me a stronger public relations candidate.

What skills from the program have you found most valuable?

In my current role, I think the analytical skills I picked up in COM have been very useful. Throughout my career, though, I think what I’ve benefited most from was how my professors helped me be a better thinker. Being able to construct thoughts and make arguments that are logically consistent has been essential to my professional achievements.

This article first appeared on  http://www.bu.edu/com/2015/11/23/tj-keitt-03-05-senior-analyst-at-forrester-research/