Market Research and Data Analytics Apprentice Review

My role at The Walt Disney Company involves conducting market research on our key franchises and characters in order to get an insight into our KPIs and audience behaviours. This also involves analysing the data on Excel and creating charts and tables to clearly show this in a presentation. We will then present this out to our key stakeholders to help aid decision making. Alongside this, we also do lots of ad-hoc work to help meet current business needs.

From my 8 months so far at The Walt Disney Company, I have been able to develop my presentation skills such as confidence, eye contact and storytelling. I have also been able to learn many new skills such as networking and formal communication which will be beneficial to any roles. However, I have also developed many skills specific to my role such as writing a questionnaire, design on PowerPoint, use of Excel and different forms of market research.

I really enjoy the Market Research programme, as I get to have a really good balance of on-the-job work experience, mixed with the educational learning side of my Apprenticeship which will help me work towards my desired qualification. I have had so many amazing opportunities from work experience days at one of the biggest market research companies, to going to my first every conference.

As 20% of my time goes towards my apprenticeship, I have been able to work this our with my tutor as well as my line manager to be able to have every Friday dedicated to this work. Therefore, my programme has a great structure of work, as all of my workshops are always on Fridays and my tutor allows me enough time to complete the assignments in the 20% of time I am given.

Every week, my employer and I will have a 1-1 meeting in which they will ask me about my current workload and how I am getting on in and out of work. The team are always able to help with improving my work and I enjoy being able to learn from them and their experiences. I have also found that there is a lot of support from my team in being a young apprentice who has moved to London.

My training provider gives detailed and clearly explained workshops which help me to understand the knowledge requirements of my apprenticeship. My tutor is always available to help with assignments through an email or call when I am confused. I also get great feedback on my assignments which is helping me to work towards the best grade possible, whilst also receiving lots of help on how to structure case studies now that we move away from the learning aspect of the programme.

My qualification has helped me to understand more complex and detailed aspects of market research, which has allowed me to perform better at The Walt Disney Company. For example, when we work with the market research company who is in control of our trackers, I am now able to understand where issues have arisen and how delays may be caused.

The Walt Disney Company have many exciting activities which go on both in and out of the office, for example the Disney choir and Disney football team are both groups any employee can join. I have been able to attend private screenings for the new film Wakanda Forever as well as volunteer through the VoluntEARS programme in a 'School's Out' event over Christmas- this was an event where employees' children came into the office for various activities and to meet characters.

Yes

There are such a range of opportunities available at The Walt Disney Company so there is definitely something for everyone! Alongside this, employees have such a variety of experiences and knowledge which means there is always more to learn and improve. The company needs to adapt to the changing market needs and continuously improve to stay ahead of their competitors, so new ideas and people are always an asset to the company.

Make sure you do lots of research on the company and understand its core values. You need to be unique and make yourself stand out among a large crowd. The working environment is just as important at The Walt Disney Company as the employees' skills and knowledge- so most importantly be yourself!