Hey all,

I've been working in consulting for six years and feel really unfulfilled. I've been doing a lot of thinking and what I really enjoy (and what probably led me to consulting in the first place before I realised it's all a sham) is research - specifically researching people to understand their feelings and experiences. I know that I have some transferable skills but I'm really struggling to break into a user / customer research role. Any advice would be amazing!

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Given the state of the job market, this will be a hard field to break into without an education specifically in this area. Even for entry-level roles, you will likely be competing with individuals with a lot of research-adjacent experience and/or a Master’s/PhD in a research-centric field. If your degree(s) are in something directly transferable — say, Psychology/Social Science for more qualitative work or Statistics/Data Modeling for more quantitative work — you may have an easier time, but it will still be tough without any transferable work experience as well.

While not the only relevant degree, a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction will open a lot of doors for you. If you have the time and the means, taking 1-2 years to get a Master’s in a research-relevant field could help you tremendously.

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