If you asked a group of Kindergarteners what they wanted to be when they grow up, you’ll get a lot of answers like Doctor or Firefighter or Teacher or Athlete, but I would wager that no little boy or girl would say, “I want to be a marketing researcher”. Even if you asked a group of High School students, I don’t think a single one would state that their ambition was to become a marketing research professional. So, how do people wind up as researchers? Well, for most, it’s a combination of fate and opportunity, and the path is rarely straight.
When I was a little boy, obsessed with dinosaurs, I wanted to be an Archeologist. By the time I got to High School, growing up with the space program and watching men land on the moon, I thought I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer. Taking Physics in High School made me realize that I didn’t really want to be an Aerospace Engineer. So, instead of going to an Engineering School, I enrolled at Oneonta (NY) State and selected Statistics as my major. So, how did I wind up as a marketing research professional? Basically, I can attribute the beginnings to two Professors at Oneonta (NY) State College.
Dr. Esmat Nouri, the Head of the Statistics Department at Oneonta and my academic advisor was the first major influence on my chosen profession. Dr. Nouri was a brilliant statistician and excellent teacher (though because of his thick Egyptian accent he had difficulty pronouncing the word “statistics”). He was laid-back, easy to talk to, and he really cared about his students. At the beginning of my Junior year, it was about time that I started to think about what kind of career I could expect when I graduated with a BS in Statistics, and I set up a meeting with Dr. Nouri. During the meeting, Dr. Nouri told me that most Statistics graduates entered the field of actuarial sciences. He explained in detail the type of work that Actuaries did, the series of exams that they needed to pass, the good earnings potential, and the stability of the career path.
Let me state emphatically that I have a tremendous amount of respect for the men and women who work in the actuarial profession, and I understand that it is an excellent, important, and lucrative career. But, at the time, my 20-year-old brain could not fathom a more boring thing to do for the rest of my professional life. I left the meeting depressed and anxious. Did I need to change majors? Would it delay my graduation? Is my life ruined? (Yes, I could be very dramatic back then.)
Enter, the second person to influence my career at this early stage. I had picked up an Intro to Marketing course as an elective in my Junior year taught by George H. Webster. Mr. Webster was energetic, enthusiastic, and smart. His teaching style made Marketing fun and interesting. During one lecture, soon after my depressing meeting with Dr. Nouri, the topic of marketing research was discussed. Wow! A light bulb lit up. There was the answer. Combining the rigor and logic of statistics with the excitement and creativity of marketing was the answer to my problem. I now had a goal. Click To Tweet
Well, I graduated with my degree in Statistics and took enough business courses to earn a minor in Business Economics.
I took a year to figure things out. Then, I returned to academia and pursued an MBA in Marketing at SUNY Albany. Upon graduation from Albany, while most of my classmates were getting jobs in New York City, I decided to move to Atlanta. Although Atlanta was then a growing city, it was not a hotbed for marketing research and my degrees from Albany and Oneonta did not impress any potential employers in the South.
Through a stroke in fate, my father saw a job posting in the Wall Street Journal for Lecturer positions at my alma mater, Oneonta State. He encouraged me to apply, even though I had no interest in teaching nor felt that I had the experience or academic qualifications for the job. But, to please my father, I went ahead and applied, not believing that I had a shot.
To my surprise, I got the job and joined the faculty at Oneonta State. I enjoyed three years teaching Accounting, Intro to Business, and Marketing and, finally, in Year 3, I got to teach a course in Marketing Research. But in the back of my mind, I still had that goal of becoming a professional marketing researcher.
While teaching at Oneonta, I got a flyer in the mail from the University of Georgia promoting a new academic program leading to a Masters in Marketing Research (MMR). As a member of the business faculty, I was supposed to talk to my students about the program and encourage applications. Not only did I share the information with my students, but I decided to apply for the program myself, was accepted and enrolled.
After completing my MMR, I finally had the marketing research credentials to combine with my Statistics degree and Marketing MBA to reach my goal and I landed my first professional marketing research job in Atlanta.
So, my path wasn’t direct, but I eventually found my way. My career has had its up and downs and twists and turns, but I have worked in the marketing research profession now for more than 35 years!
I’ve got Dr. Nouri to thank for being forthright and honest with me about what careers to expect with an undergraduate degree in statistics, highlighting what I didn’t want to do. Unfortunately, Dr. Nouri passed away in 2003 and I never got the chance to thank him for his influence. I am appreciative of George H. Webster for sparking my interest in Marketing with his enthusiasm and expertise for the subject, helping me to discover what I did want to do. I don’t know what has happened to Mr. Webster, but if he’s out there and reading this… Thanks!
How about you? What was your professional path? Was it full of twists and turns? Who were the people who helped put you on the right road? What’s your story? I’d love to hear about it.
Carl Fusco is an accomplished Marketing Research Consultant who helps businesses more effectively solve problems by applying research techniques and data-based insights. For more information, email him at carl_fusco@yahoo.com or call him at 770-364-7160 .
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