Job Responsibilities
As a research associate with Corporate Executive Board, an
associate executes the following set of materials:
-researches specific topics to address client problems. For
example, an associate may investigate how different companies
have resolved customer service problems, or how Microsoft grew
market share over a four year period. The topic is always
chosen by the client, who is typically either an executive at a
Fortune 1000 company or a member of that executive's staff who
is preparing his or her own internal report to show to his or
her boss. The associate at Corporate Executive Board will
research these kinds of topics using online databases, such as
Proquest and Factiva (previously known as Dow Jones Interactive,
a service of the Wall Street Journal), as well as an electronic
database of in-house material written on similar or identical
subjects. The research associate is expected to research topics
as quickly and as effectively as possible, not only to serve
clients quickly but also to complete as many reports for clients
as possible. At any one time, a research associate will have
three to six different topics to research for multiple clients.
Research on topics using secondary sources (aka "literature
searches") takes up approximately 50-60 percent of the research
associate's calendar.
-contacts different clients to interview them for research
papers or to network them with clients. Some research that an
associate will conduct will be "primary research". In other
words, the associate at Corporate Executive Board will interview
executives or their staff at Fortune 1000 companies in order to
understand how these companies tackle different business
problems or conduct specific business activities (such as how a
Fortune 1000 company structures its sales force to bring its
product to market, or how a company manages an alliance that it
has with another company to sell products jointly). The
executives or their staff grant Corporate Executive Board time
on their schedules usually because they are "members", or
clients who subscribe to Corporate Executive Board's research
services. Research Associates then create detailed reports
summarizing the significant learnings from such conversations
with executives and distribute those reports to clients that are
interested in the topics of the reports. In other instances,
research associates will contact clients in order to see whether
the clients are interested in holding conference calls with
clients from another company that are trying to figure out how
to solve a specific business problem. The research associate
will network these two companies so that they can discuss
business topics and learn from one another. Primary research
activities and networking activities comprise around 15-20
percent of the research associate's work schedule.
-Meetings with managers or colleagues: 5-10 percent of
schedule. Research associates will also meet with their
managers once to twice a week to discuss their progress on
specific research projects and to figure out a way to tackle
specific research difficulties. For example, in some cases a
research associate will not find any information about a topic
and will not be able to help the client. Accordingly, the
research associate and the manager will determine a way to
communicate this concern to the client.
-administrative and mentoring activites, 10 percent: The
research associate will also be filling out "paperwork" online,
which describes everything from completing a survey on job
benefits to reporting how many projects he or she completed
during the week for a client. Occasionally, research associates
will receive "coaching" support from more tenured research
staff. At Corporate Executive Board they refer to this activity
as "mentoring."
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Job Requirements
All research associates possess a college degree, and some
possess masters degrees (very few). Research associates tend to
have a degree in liberal arts, political science, or business
studies.
Research associates can pursue multiple different career paths
at Corporate Executive Board. Many research associates pursue
positions as "analysts", who write the Corporate Executive
Board's long studies that examine the "leading edge" practices
that large corporations employ to solve important management
challenges. There are anywhere from three to eight analysts
working for any specific research program of the Corporate
Executive Board. After working as analysts for several years,
an analyst may aspire to a position as a consultant, who
provides more "hands-on" support to clients via telephone and in-
person to explain how clients can use the company's research to
tackle their business problems and make better business
decisions. Analysts work from 830 am to approximately 6 or 7 o
clock at night; during busy times of the year, they are expected
to work as late as 9 pm at night and during the weekends.
Some research associates pursue positions as "account managers"
or "account directors", who are basically the salesmen of the
company responsible for serving clients and renewing contracts
with clients. Account managers meet with clients to discuss the
clients' business priorities and to determine how Corporate
Executive Board can best serve them. Account managers are
completely responsible for the Corporate Executive
Board's "bottom line": when clients do not renew contracts, the
company loses sales revenue; when clients renew contracts, the
Corporate Executive Board makes money. Account managers have a
long workload as well; they work from 8:30 to 6:30 pm at night
and often travel and work from home.
A few research associates become research managers, who are the
people that manage the research process and manage the
associates, Research managers communicate with clients to find
out what topics the clients want the Corporate Executive Board
to investigate for them. The research managers coordinate the
workload for the research associates that they manage (anywhere
from two to four people). Research managers also serve as
liaisons with other functions, such as account management, to
discuss which clients need more service than others. Research
managers tend to work from 830 am to 630 pm.
A few research associates become salesmen with the company;
salesmen are also known as "associate directors of marketing."
Associate directors of marketing meet with potential new
clients, introduce the company's research services to potential
clients, and determine whether such potential clients want to
purchase the services of the Corporate Executive Board.
Salesmen travel frequently and work anywhere from 830 am to 7
pm.
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Uppers
The best part of the job is to learn about how companies work generally. A
research associate, after working with Corporate Executive Board, will be able
to
read newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and actually understand why a
company succeeds or fails.
Research associates also come away with the ability to investigate any topic
thoroughly. This kind of skill will always come in handy in any position they
take as a professional.
Another "best part" of the research associate job is working with smart people.
Many of the hires of the Corporate Executive Board - many colleagues are
intelligent and often quite funny. Someone is bound to walk away from the
company with friends.
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Downers
Corporate Executive Board is a for-profit, publicly owned
company. The company always focuses on its revenue and meeting
its "bottom line" objectives, and the company takes a lot of
pride in having such a large profit margin. Unfortunately,
this "mean and lean" attitude means that the company works its
employees very hard.
As a research associate, the employee will often have a very
large workload that cannot be completed during normal business
hours. They will have no choice but to either stay late working
on the research projects or to take the work home with them. I
pulled several all nighters this year, which I thought were very
similar to my years as a college students. I did not do them
because I procrastinated: I did them because my workload
demanded it.
I found that managers were very young: as a research associate,
you are often managed by people who are either your age or
younger than you. Since research associates are very young,
this means that you are managed by people who dont know much
more than you do. Managers do not receive very much training or
support to do their jobs. Accordingly, they only know how to
assign projects and don't know how to manage.
The payout for a research associate is somewhat low as well.
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Lifestyle
I think the research associate position is a position where job
seekers age 21 to 25 could strengthen their communication,
writing, intervieiwng, and investigative skills. I think it
provides a great introduction to the business consulting
profession and enables people to become good professionals. For
example, a person that works at Corporate Executive Board could
use their experience at Corporate Executive Board to land a job
at a firm like McKinsey or Accenture.
In terms of the occupation itself, I think the Corporate
Executive Board may be shifting a lot of its research positions
overseas, where salaries are not very high. It is not hard to
be a research associate (though the job is very grueling at
times, it's not impossible by any means). Accordingly, I think
the Corporate Executive Board could easily move these positions,
and they may disappear entirely within the next 5 to 10 years.
I think that business consulting is here to stay. Business
consultants often provide sound advice to corporations, and
Corporate Executive Board is genuinely a source of smart ideas.
Business consulting is not going away.
In terms of any advice I would give to job seekers, I would ask
that they recognize that the research associate position is only
a short-term experience; the people in these positions do not
stay long, so it is important for them to plan their next move
within the company quickly. I would recommend that they take
risks - if they apply for other business consulting positions, I
recommend that they consider any offer that they get.
Interally, I would recommend that they pursue positions that
give them the most diverse set of skills - you become a better
professional with the more skills you have. Last, I would
recommend that they take courses while working at Corporate
Executive Board: the company has become a very competitive
place, and it's important to build new skills in order to not be
irrelevant. If you live in DC, there are many opportunities to
take courses at nearby universities or the US Government's
graduate school, which offers courses at night.
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Compensation
A research associate starts off at 37,500, base pay. The
associate may earn as much as 2,500 if they are promoted; if
promoted continually, they will earn 42,500 as a senior research
associate.
All employees may purchase Corporate Executive Board stock,
which comes at a partial discount to employees.
Other benefits include a portable 401 K plan, health insurance,
life insurance, and other types of insurance that the company
purchases for all employees.
The company combines vacation and sick days, meaning an employee
will take up to 20 days per year off.
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Advice to Jobseekers
I think the research associate position is a position where job
seekers age 21 to 25 could strengthen their communication,
writing, intervieiwng, and investigative skills. I think it
provides a great introduction to the business consulting
profession and enables people to become good professionals. For
example, a person that works at Corporate Executive Board could
use their experience at Corporate Executive Board to land a job
at a firm like McKinsey or Accenture.
In terms of the occupation itself, I think the Corporate
Executive Board may be shifting a lot of its research positions
overseas, where salaries are not very high. It is not hard to
be a research associate (though the job is very grueling at
times, it's not impossible by any means). Accordingly, I think
the Corporate Executive Board could easily move these positions,
and they may disappear entirely within the next 5 to 10 years.
I think that business consulting is here to stay. Business
consultants often provide sound advice to corporations, and
Corporate Executive Board is genuinely a source of smart ideas.
Business consulting is not going away.
In terms of any advice I would give to job seekers, I would ask
that they recognize that the research associate position is only
a short-term experience; the people in these positions do not
stay long, so it is important for them to plan their next move
within the company quickly. I would recommend that they take
risks - if they apply for other business consulting positions, I
recommend that they consider any offer that they get.
Interally, I would recommend that they pursue positions that
give them the most diverse set of skills - you become a better
professional with the more skills you have. Last, I would
recommend that they take courses while working at Corporate
Executive Board: the company has become a very competitive
place, and it's important to build new skills in order to not be
irrelevant. If you live in DC, there are many opportunities to
take courses at nearby universities or the US Government's
graduate school, which offers courses at night.
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