Name: Alejandro

Year: Senior

Major: Economics

Minor: Latina/o Studies

CFS Program: Business Field Studies

My internship at Lieberman Research Worldwide (LRW) has truly exceeded my expectations. To be completely honest, I would have never considered the market research industry if it wasn’t for the opportunity to intern at LRW through Chicago Field Studies. I’ve only been working there for about a month and a half, but I already feel like I have a great grasp of the responsibilities of a Research Associate at LRW.

I was initially a bit skeptical as to whether I would enjoy working in such a small office, but this experience has allowed me to see how much I prefer to work with a team in a smaller environment. The fact that the office is so small (our office is only 7 people, including myself) allows me to become more involved in all of the projects that are going on. Over the past month and a half, I’ve already contributed to over a dozen projects with big name clients. I am not only able to see the impact of my work as I see it going into client decks and presentations, but the work itself is constantly challenging me to think of new ways to work efficiently while allowing me to hone in on my qualitative data skills.

I’ve really enjoyed my experiences with the team, too. The team has been very friendly and welcoming by including me in office traditions and my mentor and manager have both been doing a great job in teaching me about company practices, processes, and “so what?”, the company motto, by encouraging me to ask questions.

The best aspect of the internship so far is how realistic is has been to experience a possible career not only in market research, but specifically at LRW. All of my teammates have been nothing but open and honest with me and they have all contributed to make this internship experience a realistic one. When things are great, we can all take a break in the copy room. When they’re not, everyone is hard at work and I’m right there with them. They’ve even been willing to engage me in conversation about my career aspirations and goals and I’ve been able to be honest with them and tell that I still don’t know. Through our conversations, they’ve encouraged me not to focus on what I don’t know but focus on what I do know. I’ve realized that I may not know where I want to start my career, but I’ve been able to determine the type of environment where I want to start my career—an environment of collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving, detail orientation, with work in many different industries, surrounded by brilliant people to learn from.