Our People - Qual Blog
Dan CooperSenior Research Executive, GfK Financial
Monday
Wow, a hectic start to the week! After checking in with the rest of the team first thing, it’s all hands to the pump for a major proposal that needs to go out by the end of the day.
Big proposals always present a challenge – having sorted out the approach last week, today was all about finalising the costs and timings. Being a quallie, maths doesn’t tend to be a strong point, so it’s always a relief once all the final calculations have been made. After a final couple of read throughs it’s then time to send it off to the client – fingers crossed for a positive result!
Tuesday
Early start today – we set off to Leeds on the 8.10 out of Kings Cross for a major debrief with one of our key clients. Thankfully all went well – a surprisingly smooth journey was followed by a really successful debrief.
It’s nice to get a large audience, especially when they walk away at the end feeling like they’ve got some genuine insight out of the session. The free sandwiches weren’t bad either! Once we leave we all pile back onto the train for the long journey back to London, feeling (very!) tired but relieved. Something tells me I’m going to sleep quite well tonight!
Wednesday
A new day, a new challenge. Today I’m out on fieldwork, conducting a number of in home depth interviews. It’s always nice to get out of the office for the day, especially when you get to go and hang out in a some very nice pads down by the river in sunny Surrey!
It’s amazing how open respondents can be, but it’s something I really appreciate – it certainly makes our lives a lot more interesting. It’s a really fascinating time to be talking to people about their money; not surprisingly, it’s become a lot more top of mind for people of late. Whilst it’s never easy in the midst of a financial crisis, it certainly makes for interesting research.
Thursday
It only seems like yesterday since we got the last debrief done and already we’re starting the analysis on another. This morning was spent in an office with two of the other execs who’ve worked on the project – the walls are plastered with flip chart paper, there are barely comprehensible scribbles everywhere and, much like a child on their first day at nursery, I’m covered in pen. Yes, it’s a brainstorm.
I enjoy these sessions and today is no different – I think we’ve got a really interesting story developing. Come the afternoon and it’s off to our monthly departmental meeting. Maybe it’s the free beer afterwards, but there’s always been something I quite like about these sessions…
Friday
Friday, glorious Friday. It’s sunny outside (yes, really), the weekend’s in touching distance and I’m, er, watching videos. Well, that’s not strictly true – today I’m going through lots of cool footage that we’ve shot on a recent project, looking out for any particularly juicy bits that might fit nicely into a presentation.
My job is to sift through, identify the good stuff and then get all of it off to our in house video wizard who I’m sure will, as per usual, make it all look awesome. Of course, a day’s work is always made a little easier when your boss brings in a box of Krispy Kreme – the only issue being that by mid afternoon I’m in danger of a major sugar crash. Thankfully I made I through unscathed and before I know it, it’s another week gone. Bring on the weekend…
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