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Seeking candid feedback on research experience (Marketing PhD)


CPGgeek

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I’m planning to apply to Marketing PhD programs next year (2020 matriculation). I have my MBA in marketing from a top program and have been working in brand marketing and strategy roles for four years. I’m currently in a supervisory role and work with vendors and analysts who conduct the actual data manipulation, my role is to develop and implement the strategy. I myself conduct very little analysis (aside from simple scanner and panel data work) and worry this will make me less attractive to admissions committees. Would you recommend I try to identify a professor to work with over the next year to gain academic research experience? Willing to put in the hours if it boosts my profile. Thanks!
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I don't know if you plan to apply to CB, Quantitative Marketing, or Marketing Strategy. Experience with data analysis is helpful, or course, but probably the professors who will be more concerned about that are those into empirical research of Quantitative Marketing. And, even then, what the analysts do at your company is probably quite different from what you are expected to do during the PhD. So, if you learn a little more about the analysis your company does, and show that you are able to do some coding, you should still be attractive enough in that regard. You are not expected to be an expert in data analysis.

 

But gaining academic research experience certainly can boost your profile in several ways. More experience that is actually relevant for a PhD, stronger letters of recommendation, improved network, an understanding about the differences between industry research and academic research, a sign of commitment to leave industry and move to academia, some papers to show, these are some potential benefits you can get with academic research experience. All of them can make a difference.

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