Kristen

As a member of the Profiles Division’s Graduate Development Program, my day-to-day responsibilities are ever-changing. The goal is for us to support the business where needed while also getting exposed to, and developing our skills in, each corner of the business. The two-year program consists of six four-month rotations and the projects I am involved in (for the most part) start and end with each rotation.

For example, we had an intense two-week initiation when we first joined, where we sat down with people from all over the business to get an overview of what everyone does and how they all interact with one another. From there, we dove into our first rotation, Sourcing & Sampling, during which we helped develop Profile’s first Approved Supplier List. In the Modern Survey Design rotation, we worked on a variety of tasks from project management training to testing new research methods to designing and launching our own engagement surveys. In the Data Solutions rotation, we played an active role in collecting information surrounding our new—and quickly growing—data offerings and we are currently working to package all of that information in a way that can be helpful to employees throughout Profiles. I am about to start year two of the program and I am excited to see what projects I will be working on next!

One project I am working on now is a research project called How To Catch Liars Before They Lie. Essentially, we conducted several experiments on a variety of client surveys to test the effectiveness of calling out unwanted and dishonest respondent behaviors before respondents were presented with survey questions. The priming messages and images were inspired by memes, so we call it Meme Honesty Priming. It has proven to be a very effective way to encourage honest responses, which increases overall data quality for our clients. I had the opportunity to present this research at the 2019 ESOMAR Congress in September and I was awarded the YES Award for best pitch! This was the first project I took full ownership of during the grad program and it has been very rewarding to see it impact the business so positively. I chose Kantar for the people and the work/life balance. It was evident when I came in for my interview that each and every person was invested in my development and I still feel that every single day I go to work. My support system is strong and my managers do everything they can to help me achieve my goals.

I also love working for a company that acknowledges that happy employees are more productive employees! Using vacation days and enjoying time out of office is strongly encouraged. I also never have to worry about a personal event interfering with my job because Kantar understands that I am a person with a life outside of work. That type of flexibility and understanding is hard to come by and I value it immensely. My biggest fear coming out of college was that I was going to end up at a job that I dreaded going to everyday. I am VERY happy to say that is NOT the case for me and I could not be more satisfied with the path I am on right now. The Graduate Development Program is an amazing way to ease into your career after graduating from college because, while there is a clearly defined structure to it, there is also plenty of room for you to explore your individual passions and to discover where you will fit best within the business.