1. Could you please tell us about your education background? Masters in Social Work, Faculty of Social Work, M. S.
University of Baroda (Courses: Community Social Work, Medical Social Work, Correctional Social Work, Personnel Management and Industrial Relations)
Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, University of Pune
Certificate courses: Operations Research Training for Managers/NGOs, Monitoring and Evaluation, Youth Reproductive Health and Gender
2. What was the prime reason that you chose to join Nielsen?
Working at Nielsen provides an edge to a researcher who aims at building a career in reseach both, nationally and internationally. Nielsen’s work spans different developmental sectors like Health, Education, Rural Development and many others. The professionals working therein have a high level of interaction with the representatives from the Government, International Organisations and academicians. This leads to a higher understanding of the developmental scenario in the country, the policies and programs of importance, etc. The company provides every opportunity to professionals to use their potential and contribute to the growth of the company as well as for self-development, thus, making it one of the best organisations to work for.
3. Please share your experience at Nielsen so far
Being with Nielsen for more than 20 years, I have gained vast experience in the areas of health delivery systems, reproductive and child health, family welfare, health seeking behaviour of special population groups such as nomads, HIV/ AIDS, tobacco control, international migration and studies focusing on women’s status, adolescents, child rights and child labour.
Maintaining the above domain focus, I have extensively worked on management consultancy assignments, multi-centric and cross-country surveys and studies of varied nature including longitudinal surveys, baseline surveys, assessment of strategies and programmes, evaluation of functioning of delivery systems, impact of Multi-media campaigns, situational analysis and have been involved in the preparation of action plans and strategy formulation. I have conceptualized, formulated methodologies, planned and coordinated research studies for several national and international bodies like ICMR, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Planning Commission, NACO, DFID, World Bank, UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF, BBC World Service Trust, World Lung Foundation, CARE and ICRW.
4. What are the growth opportunities that are available at Nielsen?
• Invaluable learning from experts right from the start of one’s career and providing hands-on opportunities, leading the talent within the company, driving business and interacting with National and International agencies for providing research expertise
• My stint as the Project Manager of a DFID-funded National Resource Centre on HIV/ AIDS was between 2004 and 2007. The resource centre was set up to provide technical assistance and capacity building support in partnership with government, institutions and individual consultants. The responsibility of establishing and managing the resource centre was entrusted to Nielsen as a lead partner with other national and international organizations forming a consortium.
• Served as a faculty at Nielsen Academy which offers a fast track professional course to prepare young people for careers in Marketing Research.
• Presented papers at national and international conferences
5. What is the most important requisite to become successful in your profession?
Success in this profession is all about:
• Gaining a higher order of research skills, being very strong on research fundamentals, achieving subject matter expertise, being a voracious reader, having the ability to interpret the data as well as documentation skills
• Attending forums at local, national and international levels and engaging with talent internally
• Having a good grasp on developmental programs and meeting client needs
• The right attitude/ temperament to give a 100% to the profession with complete dedication
• More importantly, having the desire to be in a “profession that reaches out to others”; to create an environment that focuses on improving people’s quality of life; to promote positive relationships; to be compassionate and ready to work with individuals who are either poor or rich, groups or communities belonging to various socio-economic levels and understanding their problems.
If one has the above qualities, no matter which educational stream they are from, they will be successful.
6. How should one prepare themselves to be here
While there are conventional courses available, hands-on experience has proved to be beneficial in Social Research. This opportunity is rendered by various universities, institutes, research organisations and NGOs. The academic courses such as those in sociology, anthropology, economics, demography, statistics, public health, nutrition, psychology, planning, rural management/ marketing, forest management, social work have been largely seen as offering training in social science research.