Job Responsibilities
Generally speaking, all of my time every day was spent on the
following tasks:
- Analyzing survey results regarding ideas for new consumer
packaged goods
- Forecasting sales of these consumer packaged goods
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Job Requirements
For the entry level positions, BASES typically hires people
straight out of undergrad, although there are a few people with
Masters / MBAs.
One typically is in line for a promotion every 2-4 years. The
typical path is: Analyst, Senior Analyst, Manager, Director, Group
Vice President.
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Uppers
Great atmosphere. Most of the people who work there are quite young, so it's
very energetic. Because of this, the atmosphere is more casual than I would
expect from many businesses.
Because the industry and company are growing quickly, there's plenty of
opportunity for professional growth.
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Downers
It's sometimes monotonous, although that's true of probably every
job in existence. That said, they frequently encouraged people to
volunteer for special projects if they were looking for something
more challenging or out of the ordinary.
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Lifestyle
I typically worked 40 hours per week. The most I ever worked was 50. Travel
requirements for entry-level employees is very low -- a few times per year at
most. Those requirements increase as one moves higher in the company. The
company has several social events throughout the year, and I enjoyed all of them.
Dress code is business casual. Diversity of employees is not a strength of the
company yet, but it's an issue they are taking very seriously and are attempting
to address.
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Compensation
This information is from 2002.
Base salary: $49,700
Signing bonus: $3,000
There is an end-of-year bonus, but I don't recall how much it was.
Benefits were fine -- no problems at all.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Given that the simulated test marketing industry is growing fast,
I'd expect this occupation to have a great future outlook.
My advice to people doing this job is to brush up on your
statistics knowledge before starting. This is basically
analytical marketing, so you have to be comfortable with numbers!
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