On February 11, a meeting was held at the SFedU Institute of Sociology and Regional Studies, which turned the students' ideas about their future profession upside down. The master class "How the research industry works and in which direction it is developing" was conducted by Sergey Nikolaevich Protsenko, CEO of the Business Format Group of companies, a full member of the prestigious professional Association Group 7/89.

Interactivity, AI, and "live" cases

The event went far beyond the classical lecture. Sergey Nikolaevich demonstrated the possibilities of modern technologies: presentations, audio and video materials on the topic "Sociologist in business" were created using artificial intelligence. This clearly showed the students how digitalization is changing the researcher's daily work.

An interactive job analysis game was particularly exciting. Students of 2-4 years of bachelor's degree "on the fly" learned to decipher market demands, determining which competencies are in demand by employers right now. The most active participants in the discussion received not only answers to pressing questions, but also valuable bonuses — professional literature as a gift.

Career Navigator: not just analytics

Together with the speaker, the students immersed themselves in the world of marketing research, a field where scientific knowledge becomes a tool for large commercial projects. Sergey Protsenko emphasized that the research market offers a huge variety of roles: from research designers and recruiters to data visualization specialists and field stage managers.

Key insights for future pros:

Studying without pauses: The academic base is enough to get started, but for success you need to master specialized software and understand the business strategies of the customer.

Design and visualization: It is important not only to collect data, but also to "sell" the result through high-quality visualization that can hold the customer's attention.

Portfolio from university: Even a student project, done in good faith, is a ticket to an internship at a serious company.

Strategic result

The meeting not only brought together interested students and teachers; its most important result was a preliminary agreement on holding new events with the Business Format Group of Companies. Moreover, Sergey Protsenko will be directly involved in the modernization of the educational recruitment program in 2026, so that the competencies of graduates meet the needs of business as much as possible and will participate in its implementation.

Such meetings with employers are a "reconciliation of hours" with reality. We see that our students are ready for dialogue, and the business is ready to invest in their development. This is a real reversal towards practice orientation.