Research: Jobs Landed

If you have ever or will ever need to do research at school, odds are that ProQuest will be involved in some capacity.  Originally, I arrived at ProQuest as a Customer Service Representative (via a college friend's recommendation), but now I work as a Technical Support Consultant.  The group offers 24/7/365 support to customers worldwide for ProQuest products and platforms.  My group primarily deals with authentication issues and troubleshooting bugs, but also dabbles with content related questions and search assistance.  In addition to these customer facing duties, I also work with our social media team by monitoring social media channels and assisting with Spanish language related communications.  The two things I enjoy most about my job is 1) interacting with different people everyday and 2) figuring out why things are not working correctly and then getting them to work.  I also have to mention that everyone that I have encountered at ProQuest is friendly and easy to talk to.  My coworkers make ProQuest a great working environment, which I think is something the company really strives to achieve. 

After graduating from the University of Michigan, I was eager to find a full time position to continue working in research while also developing my professional skills. An informational interview with SSG led to a temporary, and then permanent, position.  ver since then, I have considered myself extremely lucky to be part of this small and constantly evolving downtown company. Our work centers around designing and implementing evidence-based, high-quality survey research grounded in methodological insights; and our clients come to us from a broad range of fields within the social sciences (in both academia and government). 

Working at SSG has been a unique and valuable experience-- I am constantly learning and getting involved in every aspect of the research process. My responsibilities on a typical day could include such varied tasks as helping a client to develop a custom study management system, working on experimental designs, creating custom reports, programming survey instruments, or overseeing quality control processes. Our focus on sound research methodology has allowed me to stay at the forefront of new research as well, and I have been fortunate to present at several national conferences in the past few years. But even though our reach extends across the country (and in a few cases, the world!), one of my favorite parts of working at SSG is that it is a local small business, actively contributing to the Ann Arbor community.

PRIME Research is a global-research based consultancy company with consultants working in eight production hubs, on four continents. I am responsible for managing three accounts, analyzing the media coverage through statistical tools, and advising clients on how to better manage their reputation in both traditional and online media.  

I found this job on the company’s website while I was still a student in Oklahoma. This is the exact type of job I was looking for, since it gives me the opportunity to practice my research skills while learning more about consultancy.

GfK Strategic Innovation helps companies find  high potential market opportunities that they can own and helps them fill those gaps with innovative solutions. In my position, I get to work in a few different areas. One of my roles is in new business development where I work on proposals, marketing initiatives, and help with presentations/design. I have also worked on client projects from a variety of industries doing qualitative research and ethnography projects as well as competitive and industry analyses. What I like most about my job is the opportunity to be creative--I get to help with some design work as well as utilize my previous experience with photography and videography.

At The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan (www.isr.umich.edu), I do programming and analysis for a several studies examining economic, demographic, and environmental changes in the Chitwan Valley region of Nepal.

I assist TCSG's Co-Directors in their work to streamline legal services for older persons, work to promote smoke-free environments in multi-unit dwellings, promote alternatives to guardianship, and provide training and technical assistance to those working to promote the health and well-being of older Americans.

My job responsibilities include applying lean manufacturing principles and engineering theory to problems of industrial layout or manufacturing production, under the direction of Management and Engineering Staff.  My daily tasks are to study and improve performance of production, preventative maintenance, and other worker operations for such purposes of improving efficiency.  I also help with the coordination and design of new processes along with making changes to existing processes to improve production methods.  I have been trained in the Six Sigma Green Belt techniques, leading Kaizen events and 5S implementation along with ISO 9001 internal auditing to help with improving overall performance to make Dexter Research the growing competitive business that it is today.

As a scientist at DNA Software, I am responsible for executing and leading research efforts on computational structural biology projects. DNA Software, in collaboration with Prof. John SantaLucia’s laboratory at Wayne State University, has been developing software for the homology modeling of RNA and RNA-protein complexes, NA-CAD (Nucleic Acid Computer Aided Design). I am involved in researching and initiating new projects with the goal of extending our current computational technologies and eventually, developing a complete suite of tools for RNA drug discovery.

I am in charge of the web and print publication as well as all digital marketing (SEO, e-blasts, social networking, etc.). I also teach for the Graphic Design Technology Department at Washtenaw Community College. I teach both Photoshop Graphics and InDesign for Print Publications.

I do a little bit of everything at my job! Mainly, I do user research, which means interviewing people, usability testing our products with them, conducting focus groups, analyzing website stats, accessibility testing and compliance and more. I also do interaction and interface design work, where I take what I know about how users use our products and use it to make better, intuitive, and delightful website interfaces.

I work on a variety of projects designing and developing usable interfaces for both Web and software applications.  Because I work at a small company I tend to do a lot of different things, whether it is making a 16x16 pixel icon, a full screen splash, designing a Web page or coding the HTML and JavaScript of an application.  Being at a research company is pretty neat because it gives me a chance to work on things that aren't out there in the market and work on new and exciting technology.

As part of the Optimization Group team, I conduct and support data analysis, data modeling, and product/process development. To achieve this I develop and build software for internal and client use, as well as design and manage multiple web applications and websites.

After graduating from MSU, I spent three years developing a web-based platform where researchers and non-researchers can openly debate, discuss, and actively participate in meeting the challenges that our generation, and our world, will face in the years to come.  To this end, in February I launched the research microfinance component of this platform that allows young researchers to propose research projects, and to receive funding (in the form of microinvestments) from the broader online community, in exchange for engaging in 'open-source' research practices - which means that all information and raw data produced during the research will be released unfiltered, and made openly available.  Ultimately, my hope is that these efforts will succeed in cultivating a global culture of innovation and community!

In terms of my day-to-day work; I spend most days splitting time between communicating with academic researchers (professors, lecturers), responding to questions/concerns regarding the research microfinance platform and developing/managing the online environment.  In addition, every so often, I also am privileged to speak with college/high school students regarding the importance of scientific research for ourselves and our future.

I work with PRIME to offer a comprehensive and integrative 360° research system, which allows our clients and their organization to react immediately to upcoming topics and issues, manage their day-to-day communication activities align their communication targets and generate and demonstrate value and return-on-investment. I work on media image reports, special reports, surveys etc. for existing clients as well as project designs for potential clients.

As a scientist at DNA Software, I am responsible for executing and leading research efforts on computational structural biology projects. DNA Software, in collaboration with Prof. John SantaLucia’s laboratory at Wayne State University, has been developing software for the homology modeling of RNA and RNA-protein complexes, NA-CAD (Nucleic Acid Computer Aided Design). I am involved in researching and initiating new projects with the goal of extending our current computational technologies and eventually, developing a complete suite of tools for RNA drug discovery.