What steps do you take when researching a new market or industry?
Your interviewers expect you to advertise your research skills while you share your approach to a new industry. They are also testing how familiar you are with their unique offerings. PwC has a platform called Viewpoint. "Viewpoint is a digital platform with timely, relevant accounting and business insights, personalized for you. Viewpoint's intuitive search functionality and personalization makes researching insights around accounting standards, financial reporting, and regulatory developments quick and easy." Perform adequate research, and be prepared to speak to your experience and familiarity with what you may face on the job with them.
"When I take on a project within a new market or industry, I will find someone in my network that I know, trust, and admire, and ask for 30 minutes of their time. Essentially, I want to interview a subject matter expert. I will uncover their best resources and research thoroughly from there. Also, one of my trade secrets is I have a subscription to Viewpoint. I learned some time ago that PwC's platform has a lot to offer."
"I have strong research skills and a three-step process when learning about a new market or industry. First, I find what I can from reputable online resources. Next, I create a list of questions that need answering. Third, I source and subject matter expert from my network whom I can ask these questions. It's important to use a variety of reputable sources when conducting research and collecting findings."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
When given an opportunity to work on a new market/industry I will try to find if there is anyone in my network who has experience in it or ask people I know who I can reach out to get more information. The Internet has lots of documents and lots of information how well that can be consumed needs some direction. So I would first reach to people who I know ask their time to have a chat about it. And then will find a course in udemy which I will enroll to learn more about it and once I have the right direction I would start researching the internet for an answer.
Marcie's Feedback
Perfect! Your response shows that you are well connected to others (given that you mention your network) and resourceful (since you're able to think of different ways to find this information, including conducting online research). Both of these are smart approaches to take when researching a new market/industry. Great answer!
Anonymous Answer
1. Gather research 2. Consider SWOT; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats 3. Gather insight and support from others.
Amanda's Feedback
This is an answer you can expand in order to better showcase your expertise in this area. Consider describing the way you gather research and what kind of information you're looking for such as potential customer demographics, data around similar products/services, or market/area competitors, etc. Then discuss how you deepen your research using those preliminary findings or what additional insights or support you draw from others in the field.
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