Introducing the Insights Career Network (ICN), a volunteer led job search & career community that meets on zoom the 1st and 3rd Mondays each month.
Early this year, two of our A.C. Nielsen Alumni — Stephen Griffiths and Justin Hawkins— joined with four other co-founders to form the Insights Career Network, a job search and career community for insights professionals. (InsightsCareerNetwork.org)
The organization focus is on connecting job seekers and hiring managers within the marketing research industry. There are three types of members: Job Seekers, Hiring Managers, and Volunteers. Many ICN members are happily employed volunteers looking to ‘pay it forward’ and strengthen their network. Currently the group has 120+ members. Whether you are a job seeker or hiring manager, we all know the value of having a network to help find and fill an open role. “Personally, I remember how hard it was to get an interview at a company when I didn’t know anyone who worked there” says Stephen about creating the group.
Each meeting, attendees listen to experts on a career topic and have breakout rooms, designed to help networking and assist those looking for connections during their job search.
What does a typical meeting look like?
Meetings take place Mondays at noon (Central) on Zoom and follow this agenda:
- Guest speaker with Q&A (15 min)
- Community time (10 min) – job seekers successes, hiring managers talk about open roles
- Breakout rooms (15 min) – small groups of folks 5-7 people per room
Upcoming Topics
- Market Research Executive Recruiter: 5 Biggest Mistakes of Job Seekers today
- Successful Job Seeker: What I learned from a six month job search (for seekers AND hiring managers)
- Hiring Manager from Global Research Company: 5 Biggest Tips to Land a job
In addition to providing bi-monthly meetings, ICN also provides free resources for members. For job seekers, we have a members-only job referral list with job openings and contacts who can answer questions about the role. For hiring managers, we have our Job Seeker List, with contact information for marketing research professionals who are actively looking. These are two of the benefits of becoming an approved member.