Heather Knappen knew what career she wanted to pursue in 2009, after working with public opinion polls on a series of local, state and federal political campaigns.
"I'm a data-driven person and it's not enough to speculate about what I think people know or like," said the market research analyst at Metrix Matrix in Gates. "I would rather have hard facts to back that up. I feel secure with that information."
In the Finger Lakes region, job prospects for market research analysts are expected to jump 29.9 percent between 2010 and 2020, with 110 annual openings, according to the New York State Department of Labor. Nationally, employment growth for that field, much faster than the average for all occupations, will be driven by an increased use of data and market research to better understand customer needs and the effectiveness of marketing and business strategies.
In May, Knappen of Rochester served on a panel at a conference sponsored by the American Association for Public Opinion Research, presenting work Metrix Matrix has done to improve poll coverage among telephone respondents. She spoke alongside representatives from Gallup, IPSOS and American Institutes for Research.
With a bachelor's degree in history from Roberts Wesleyan College and a master's degree in public policy from Rochester Institute of Technology, the 32-year-old helps local and national clients understand the personality traits and lifestyle patterns of their customers.
"It's useful to clients of ours who want to take that information and market more specifically to a certain demographic," explained Knappen, who works on all aspects of survey research, analysis and reporting.
Read more: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2015/06/20/heather-knappen-metrix-matrix-rochester-gates-market-research-analysts-hot-jobs/28963355/
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