Market Research...what does Microsoft look for?

Someone asked me today what our Market Research team looks for in potential employees. I asked the recruiter for Corporate Market Research to give me an update on the hot skills for this group. But first, let me tell you a little bit about the Market Research function at Microsoft.

The Marketing Research function at Microsoft is centralized (part of our Central Marketing Group) although roles with market research responsibilitites can also exist among product groups at Microsoft. The Corporte Market Research group focuses on research related to specific products and technologies, advertising and PR, brand awareness and customer segments. They partner with outside research vendors to produce strategic insight to drive business decisions.

Regarding skills requirements, the recruiter told me the group looks for “strong quantitative backgrounds (stats, econ, market research degrees, etc.) They like Phd's and people who have their MBA or MA in addition to the BA. Also people who've done research both in a corporation and as a supplier is good. Other than that, they get excited about people who've done technology research, product research, global tracking studies so international experience is good.“

If you want to look at job descriptions for market research roles in Microsoft's Corporate Market Research Group, visit our careers page and search the following job numbers: 108020, 108623, 107981, 106122, 107455, 109247, 104740, 110207. You might also want to use “market research“ as a keyword to search on as similar roles may exist across Microsoft in different product groups (and with different titles).

Think you have the market research skills we are looking for? Feel free to use the contact button to drop me a line!