The Role of
an Associate at Simon Management Group
As an
Associate at Simon Management Group, you will work on
several projects simultaneously.
While your responsibilities on each project team
will vary, you will always have an active role in
multiple aspects of each project.
Associate
Qualifications
-
BA/BS
degree
-
Demonstrated
academic success
-
Strong
work ethic
-
Excellent
written and oral communication skills
-
Ability
to thrive in a team environment
-
Experience
with technology preferred
Associate
Responsibilities
An
Associate’s responsibilities consist of primary and
secondary data collection, analysis of emerging trends,
and the creation of business strategy presentations.
The phases of a project that Associates are
typically involved with include:
-
Initial
Research
Accurate
and comprehensive research is essential to gaining an
understanding of the client’s industry and target
market, and you will be responsible for the majority of
this research. Research
resources include the Internet, industry and company
reports, trade journal articles, material from financial
and research house analysts, etc.
-
Interview
Guide Development
Primary
market research is conducted through phone interviews
with specific individuals within distinct markets.
Often, these interviews are designed to quantify
current market conditions and collect market perceptions
by recording quotations from market participants.
You will be directly involved in the development of
interview guides used for data collection. Asking the
right questions in an interview will ultimately help you
recognize critical data trends and formulate insightful
analysis. Prior
to initiating a round of interviews, the project team
will determine the most appropriate targets for the
discussions. When
you speak with the right people, the interview results
are more significant and lead to powerful and credible
presentations.
-
Interviews
Interviewing
provides the opportunity to collect data directly from
knowledgeable people within a particular industry.
By speaking directly to people familiar with the
market and our client’s issues, you gain insight into
the industry and the issues concerning the problem at
hand.
-
Analysis
Analysis
of the data is often one of the most exciting phases of
a project. It
is during this aspect of a project that you finally get
to see if the original hypothesis has held true.
You will take the data you have gathered and
analyze it in various ways to identify trends.
Trends are not always readily identifiable and
quite often you will discover a pattern in the data that
you would have never suspected.
In fact, our experience indicates that modifying
the initial hypothesis is often an indication that we
are moving closer to resolving the client’s issue.
-
Final
Report Creation
Organizing
data into a clear, analytical presentation provides the
client with the important logic and evidence supporting
the recommendations.
Simon Management is not reticent about presenting
its conclusions and recommendations.
Our position from the beginning of our client
engagements is that we will present the most accurate
and practical results.
We do not undertake engagements simply to verify
conclusions already reached by management, and we do not
conduct theoretical research that is not immediately
useful. You
will be responsible for the development of the
presentation from start to finish.
You will provide input regarding the content and
language that should be used and how the information is
best arranged to present the clearest and most
persuasive picture for the client.
-
Presentation
Delivery
You
will often go to the client site for the delivery of the
final presentation.
Although you will not be asked to make the
presentation, you will participate by answering
questions and providing data supporting the arguments
and discussion. This
is an exciting experience, and it is always rewarding to
see how well your work is received.
|