Home > Gwinnett > Rick Badie / My Opinion > Archives > 2007 > May > 05 > Entry

Survey research firm is looking for a few good voices

It’s crunch time for the Myers Group.

Every year, the marketing research firm in Snellville conducts a special series of in-depth surveys to measure the quality of health care providers. It’s one big umbrella job with 250 individual research projects underneath it.

And it’s got to be finished this month. May 25.

“That’s a Friday,” said Jeffrey Lorber, director of call center operations for the firm, located in Snellville at U.S. 78 and Henry Clower Boulevard.

“Maybe I can go till the 27th. But we have lots of other projects on top of this that’s compounded the situation.”

So the Myers Group has hung out the “help wanted” sign. In a big way. They’re advertising in local publications and relying on word of mouth. You may have seen some company reps handing out fliers Saturday during the Snellville Days Festival.

And they’ve turned to me to help put spread the word. Company executives say they need to hire 70 to 100 telephone interviewers. Quickly.

Maybe you’re interested.

You can work up to 40 hours, maybe earn overtime. It doesn’t matter if you’re a high school (16 or older) or college student, or an adult already saddled with a full-time job. Hours are flexible. The Myers Group conducts surveys year-round for various health care plans in 40 states.

“We can work something out,” said Lorber, who oversees the pool.

To sweeten the pot, the firm has bumped up hourly pay. Wages usually start at $7 an hour. But for the month of May, anyone with a high school diploma can earn $10 an hour. If you’re bilingual, make it $11.

Don’t discount permanent employment, either.

“We’ll probably retain the best folk,” Lorber told me. “We have plenty of work beyond May, so we’ll be interested in keeping the best people. We’d have to renegotiate salary, and we offer no health benefits.”

If you’re thinking telemarketing, don’t. You don’t sell anything. You gather opinions as a CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewer). That means you ask clients about their experience with a health care provider who’s contracted with the Myers Group.

At your cubicle, everything’s on the computer screen. Hit a button. The computer dials the customer. Follow prompts on the screen, which provide everything from the greeting to the scripted survey questions. The average survey lasts 7 to 10 minutes.

“We spend two to three hours on training,” Lorber told me. “We want people to sound professional, mature and enthusiastic — those are the qualities we look for. We hire from all walks of life, a whole variety of people who want part-time work.”

Call the Myers Group hotline at 770-978-3173, Ext. 300. Leave a message. If they like your vocal quality and (lack of) dialect, you’ll be contacted and scheduled for paid training.

So what are you waiting for?

For more information about the Myers Group, go to www.themyersgroup.net.

• Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.

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