In May, our Precision Sample team welcomed our new Senior Vice President of Client Development, Jeremy Strawn-Carreño. Jeremy brings to Precision Sample a decade of hands-on experience in the market research industry and has already enriched our team with his vast amounts of value and knowledge. In this dynamic age of advanced technology, automation, and AI in market research, Jeremy is intent on helping Precision Sample maintain adaptability in order to further fuel our growth. We have been delighted to get to know him over the course of the past few months, and we want to extend that same opportunity to you! Get to know Jeremy:
Jeremy Strawn-Carreño – Senior Vice President, Client Development
Question: How many years have you been in the market research industry?
Answer: I’m rounding 11 years in market research although it feels like yesterday.
Q: How did you first come to work in the market research industry?
A: I applied for an opening at Survey Sampling International (SSI). To be honest, even after preparing for the interview I couldn’t fully explain what the company did. Obviously, something about surveys and sample, but my only experience with samples was of the editable variety at Costco. I had no clue what I was jumping into. Well I got the job and I started as a full-service project manager. Having only worked for the Federal Government prior to my switch, I was like a fish out of water. I had to contend with deprogramming my federal bureaucracy mindset while learning about convenience sample, likert scales, cluster analysis, response rates, incidence rates, etc. After learning the importance of proper fielding, data collection, and backend analytics processes, and the all important “why” behind understanding consumer behavior, I found it to be incredibly interesting and stuck with it. Now it’s hard to imagine anything else.
Q: What advice would you give someone else interested in pursuing a career path in the market research industry?
A: Depends. Do they want the traditional route? Or non-traditional? I took the latter. For me the traditional entails having received a degree or certification in something that is at the foundation of market research – data analysis, statistics, market research etc. Non-traditional might entail having a degree in psychology, sociology, or from creative industries. Or heck, no degree. Perhaps you’ve worked at a convenience store your whole life and subconsciously kept track of who was buying what, what were the most popular “go-backs”, or how often the new system for tracking inventory went down. You saw trends where others didn’t and found it interesting. There is no one size fits all shoe and that’s the beauty of it. Whether you plan to study market research or stumble into it, your perspective is as unique as they come and that’s truly what makes our industry so great and welcoming. So, if you’re unsure, reach out and network with professionals in MR, read up on industry trends, get your certifications, and hone those communication skills – see if it makes sense. If so, we’d love to have you!
Q: What do you think is the hottest topic in the research industry right now?
A: The Terminator wasn’t kidding when he said “I’ll be back.”. Granted we don’t have killer time traveling robots, but artificial intelligence and machine learning are back front and center. The hottest topic that makes its way into every other MR email we read. Whether it’s used for good or bad is up to the person prompting it, and in market research the spectrum for that ranges from fraudsters training models to take surveys, to those wanting to dive deeper into behavioral science.
Q: Is it “worth the hype” and why?
A: 100% it’s worth the hype. It’s a paradigm shift. AI has the ability to process vast amounts of data, and then use that data to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. Each day it does it faster and more effectively than the last and in an industry that relies on data analysis to keep the lights on, this means everything. There is a huge cost of inaction if we don’t keep up. From trusting the data to taking over jobs, it’s big deal. Could AI undermine things like survey data and credibility? Of course – it happens every day. The ability to falsify something unfortunately means it will inevitable be abused, and fraudsters know this.
On the flip side, does it make it easier for research analysts to conduct pure analysis of the data in that brand tracker? Without a doubt. However, the cost implications need to also be tracked. Some might say that AI doesn’t need to do 100% of what you do to replace you, it just needs to do it effectively enough to render work that is passable – similar to telephone operators. Although by doing so you compromise the most invaluable thing which is the human element. I believe AI will ultimately increase the size of the market-research industry and create more jobs than it might be pushing out. Think AI maintenance, supporting clients who are entering a more sophisticated market research industry, interpreting AI-generated insights that are now more nuanced, fighting fraudsters, and ultimately allowing researchers to create innovative research methodologies that were previously too complex. Those that get ahead will be able to leverage the unique capabilities of both AI and human intelligence. Like it or not, the hot topic of AI is here to stay.
Q: Where else have you worked in the past- including non-MR positions?
A: It’s quite the list, ha. Let’s make it fun and talk about pre-MR jobs. First job was at 14 at a flower shop. After that I worked at Universal Studios as an admissions host. Then my last job before college was as a waiter at fancy Chinese restaurant in Hollywood. During college I was a campus custodian during the day and did student tech support in the evenings. My first “real” gig after college was working for the Social Security Administration as a Social Security Specialist (no, I was not a hit a parties). After 5 years I decided to call it and landed my first MR job at Survey Sampling International (SSI) as I mentioned earlier. And the rest you can find on my boring LinkedIn page 😊
Q: (Maintaining complete client confidentiality, of course) Tell us about a research project you were part of recently that you were really passionate about (at Precision Sample or elsewhere).
A: This is a hard one. Let me explain. My passion first and foremost is service. Service to my clients, my colleagues, my friends and my family. Fortunately for me every project I’m on or asked to assist in fuels that passion. However, what tips the scale to “really passionate” is when I can be the first in setting up a foundation for everyone to stand on. Working on the recruitment side, that means understanding every single piece of my client’s research objective, understanding the qualifying criteria for their audience, understanding their timelines and budget, and more importantly forecasting solutions to future roadblocks. Recently a client was targeting an incredibly difficult audience (as it goes) and I was fortunate enough to discover a way to creatively target them within a wider industry. This was then passed on to other suppliers on the project, allowing the client to finish on time and with all of the completes they needed. That’s what it’s about.
Q: What would others be surprised to know about you?
A: Bright lights can cause me to sneeze. I think it’s called photic sneeze reflex 😊
Q: Final comment or favorite quote?
A: “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” – John G. Shedd
Thanks to Jeremy for taking the time to answer these questions! You can connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn or email him at jeremy@precisionsample.com to learn more about what Jeremy and our amazing Precision Sample team can offer.
