Senior research manager — Amy Miller

Amy works at the British Library where she facilitates access to the collection of historical patents, trade literature, intellectual property legal publications, online market research databases and commercial publications

What qualifications did you study and where?

I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kansas and a PhD from the University of Toronto.

My BFA had a concentration in printmaking, specifically letterpress. My BA is in Art History, and my PhD was also Art History. I wrote my dissertation on the 10th-century sculpture of Northern England.

How did you get your job?

I worked a local hub of the Business & IP Centre (BIPC) in London as an information specialist, which focused on providing business support to local small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), mostly people looking to start a new business.

In this role, I networked with the British Library employees. When a position opened to conduct market research for the scale-up programme, I eagerly applied and got the position. About a year and a half later, an internal position opened up, for which I applied. I started this new post a few months ago.

What's a typical working day like?

We provide many paid services through the research group at the BIPC. Among these are patent searches, public access documentation (PAD) services, and bespoke market research. On any given day I could be working on one of these requests.

I will also have one-to-one meetings with business owners and entrepreneurs to facilitate access to some of our databases, such as British Standards Online or FAME.

Alongside these responsibilities, I also present a monthly webinar focused on how small business owners can conduct their own market research. Sometimes we welcome visitors to the centre, and occasionally I travel for training or to liaise with our national network of BIPCs. I also develop new content such as blog posts, workshops and webinars that would be valuable for users of the BIPC and the British Library. Of course, I also have various meetings.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy researching anything. There's always something new to learn and explore. I derive great satisfaction in helping library users from around the world find the information they need for their business or academic research.

What are the challenges?

The biggest recent challenge has been working through the cyberattack on the British Library in late 2023. Recovering new processes and systems has taken time and adapting to the event itself and the subsequent changes has been a journey.

How relevant is your degree?

During my doctoral studies, the thing I really had to learn was how to learn. Research isn't simply looking something up in a book. It's interrogating the source, challenging the findings, exploring new avenues, and asking new questions. All of this requires discipline, organisation, and, most importantly, curiosity.

The skills I learned to earn my doctorate transfer well to any research role. Of course, when I was a teenager, I had paper routes, sold artwork, and managed fundraising for school activities, all of which provided me with a good understanding of entrepreneurship. I also studied quite a bit of economics and statistics at university even if those topics were not my final degree.

Business research requires a certain creativity to bring many aspects together. A meandering life journey can be an asset in a role that relies on being able to pull on a variety of work and educational experiences.

How has your role developed and what are your career ambitions?

I am still somewhat new in my role, so I have been developing it toward my strengths. I try to get involved in strategic conversations, of which there have been many after the cyberattack, volunteer for opportunities to educate and mentor, and try new things, even if they are challenging at first. My career ambition is to land in a role with more management and strategic responsibility eventually.

What advice can you give to others wanting to get into a research role?

My first tip would be to play to your strengths and build up your weaknesses. There are two parts to my role: research and management. It can be difficult to develop both, but one will be a more natural fit than the other. I had research experience, so I focused on that to get the information specialist role. In that role, I had some management responsibilities. However, if someone has a management background, taking on some research responsibilities would achieve similar results.

My second tip is to study organisation and procedural methods. A great researcher must be organised at a micro- and macro-scale. Whether you are managing a single research project or an entire research team, being able to set efficient processes, organise materials and findings, and keep on top of deadlines is extremely important. There are often a lot of tasks to juggle even on a daily basis. Having clear, efficient processes and organisation is key.

My final tip is to put yourself forward. It's very unlikely you'll ever be a perfect match for a role. When I applied to be an information specialist, I had to concede that no, I didn't have the exact experience they were looking for. However, I had a lot of transferable skills and a positive attitude. Be honest about your weaknesses and explain how you will address them. Even if you have some experience with an after-school job, a class project, or a volunteer role, draw on those and focus on transferable skills.

Find out more

• Discover the salaries and responsibilities of a market researcher.
• Explore how to become a project manager.
• Check out the 7 essential skills for a career in management.