Huge congrats to Alex Scaife for passing the MRS Advanced Certificate in Market and Social Research Practice!

13th November 2023 12:44

We’re delighted to share that  another one of our researchers has passed The Market Research Society (MRS) Advanced Certificate in Market and Social Research Practice.

Alex Scaife was given the opportunity to study for the qualification after completing our Junior Research Executive (JRE) programme and being promoted to Research Executive working in Field & Data Services.

Alex initially joined us for a work experience placement through the University of Salford, and has excelled ever since. 

We caught up with Alex to ask her a few questions about her experiences studying for the qualification and how she worked it around her day job with the support of her team.

How did it work alongside your studies? 

“There weren’t tons of hours of tutorials, so it didn’t interfere with work too much,” she said, “although there was definitely a lot of weekly independent study to be done. 

“I’m glad my team took on some of my work to help me out or I wouldn’t have been as prepared for the final assessment and exam. I took a couple of hours a week out of work time to study, but also spent a lot of time on evenings and weekends revising.”

Alex was tutored throughout her studies by Mia Walker of the Research Academy, who she found to be a huge support.

“The Research Academy was great. I had Mia as a tutor and she was lovely and couldn’t have been more helpful. I’d been really nervous about having to do an exam after being out of practice for so long but they were really reassuring that all of the work leading up to the exam would stand us in good stead… which it certainly did!”

How do you feel about achieving the qualification?

“Overall, I am over the moon with my results and can’t thank Research Academy enough for all of their support – it was definitely a ‘trust the process’ type of experience as all independent study set us up well for the final exam.

"I feel empowered in my ability to work in market research as it gave me such an insight into the why we use certain methodologies etc. It helped me think empirically about best practice and look at a research problem holistically.”

Speaking about how far she has come since joining us for work experience in 2020, Alex said:

“I can’t believe how much has changed since I began at DJS in 2020. Before I started my work experience here, I’d never even heard of market research and now I’ve completed a separate course in it and am working on all sorts of projects! A massive thank you to DJS for encouraging me to develop and for putting me on the advanced certificate course as it’s something I would have never thought of doing on my own.”

Huge congratulations, Alex. We're all super-proud!

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