Great place to start a Consumer Insights Career
Pros
1.) Awesome list of brands you can work on (Cheerios, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker etc.) 2. )Interesting work. For consumer insights, General Mills is still one of the three best places to start an insights career (P&G, Unilever are the other two). We still have solid research budgets and do everything from in-home ethnography, to in-store tests, to analytical market structure and segmentation projects. The ability to work on a wide variety of problems for a brand is incredible. 3. ) Great work/life balance. If you work smart and manage expectations, you are able to consistently work 40-45 hours a week. I am allowed to work remotely, and have lots of flexibility for when and how I get my work done. As someone with a family, this is a wonderful place to work for those who have a life outside of work. 4.) Great coworkers. Not only are my coworkers competent, intelligent and capable--they are also good people. I hang out with coworkers outside of work simply because these are people I enjoy being with. 5) Career growth. Although the ability to move up within the organization is shrinking (the company hasn't grown meaningfully in 5 years), General Mills still allows you to continue building new skills and abilities. Most consumer insights roles rotate every 2 years, allowing you to get new experiences all the time. In case you want to leave GMI, there are no shortage of opportunities. I get contacted by recruiters every month to do really cool consumer insights jobs across the country.
Cons
1) Difficult industry with uncertain future. General Mills, like the rest of the consumer goods industry, has regular layoffs due to lack of sales growth. I still think this is a great place to work. Given current market environment, however, it is more likely you will stay here for 5-10 years, rather than 30. 2. Difficulty to move up in the organization. Consumer Insights at General Mills is still one of the largest insights organizations in the world (over 150 employees), but recent organizational changes have severely limited the number of manager and above roles. The time it takes to be promoted can vary widely, and those who want to move up quickly in the consumer insights organization can be frustrated.
