A Day in The Life:
Field Researcher
What is your job about?
My job in a nutshell entails maintaining the integrity of our database from a street-level perspective. I am the person who compares how our database reflects the apparent situation on the street and updates it accordingly should there be any new availabilities, completed construction projects/new renovation projects or outdated images.
No two days are ever the same as I am always moving into different areas, which usually throw up their own unique challenges, sometimes working in less-than-helpful weather conditions which might mean I have to recalculate how I plan to work the next couple of days so as to shoot images on good-weather days etc.
What does your typical day look like?
A typical day for me usually starts the evening before. I will usually form a "plan of attack" for the next day so I know where I am starting and roughly the area I am going to cover. I will then use my Toughbook to look directly at our in-house research database (UKR) to check the data, listings and images we currently hold for each property. Should I see any discrepancies between what we currently hold and what I see on the street, I make a note of it or reshoot the image if necessary and move onto the next property. I will do this for most of the morning and then I will spend the afternoon either working from home or the office, updating the system directly and making our database reflect what I have seen first-hand on the street.
What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
There are many challenges in this job, ranging from the weather and traffic to over-keen security guards and inevitable technical problems. I'd probably say the most challenging aspect is winter weather. Particularly around February time. Getting up to face near-zero temperatures day after day can begin to take its toll by this time of year. You have to have a lot of self-motivation to get out there and do this job in those conditions.
You also have to adjust to problems that are not always easy to predict, such as a freak traffic queue obscuring your entire street of shop-fronts on a particular day. Sometimes it might be easier to just move to an alternate area for that day and try again tomorrow, or just persevere and shoot when the traffic briefly moves, bearing in mind this costs you time. You have to weigh up each option and make that decision. No one can make it for you.
And the best part?
I enjoy working outdoors generally, and even when I'm not working I'm usually doing something outdoors, be it more photography, running with my dog, whatever. So to be able to work outdoors for all or part of my day is a big plus for me. Even if the weather is not ideal, it's all character building!
I also like the amount of freedom you are given to solve problems. That is not to say you don't have anyone to ask if you do run into a problem. All of the research photographers have a similar but different way of working. And that comes down to personal style, preferences and/or where they happen to be working. And management recognise this fact, and that it's better for people to work in their own way to a certain extent, to maximise their own efficiency.
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working as a Research Associate?
Work smart. This job isn't about cutting corners or doing things as quickly as possible. To the untrained eye it may appear that it's just a "data-input" job that requires no real thought. This is not the case. It's about learning from every day and taking notice of things that could either be improved or are working well. Usually the smaller things make the biggest differences and changing them will pay dividends on your productivity and personal satisfaction.
