Sasha Perozo Alberti, Teamlead Research

I’ve been with DVJ for more than 6 years now, joining the team in February of 2016 first as a trainee. I have a Research Master’s in social and Behavioural sciences with a minor in Social Psychology and studied in Tilburg. During my masters, I initially thought I was interested in finding a PhD position. However, after not finding an available position on a topic that matched my previous research interests, I shifted my attention to the world of market research. It goes without saying that I am very happy I got the chance to get to know DVJ. I’ve grown a lot on a personal, as well as on a professional level. Just one example is how I’ve been able to start my career at DVJ as a trainee and have furthered into the Team Lead Research role which I now happily fulfil since July of 2021.

That’s a cool company!

I didn’t know DVJ before I decided to apply for the trainee position. I applied because I really liked their philosophy and the angle they shared on their website. Looking at the website I thought “yeah, that is a cool company!”. I applied at other companies as well, but I cancelled second interviews with them to start at DVJ. I still remember the first thing Lucas, the CEO, said to me; ‘’welcome to the best market research company.

Working at DVJ is also about being part of the DVJ Family.

DVJ has changed a lot the past few years but also stayed the same… Everyone is helpful and respectful to one another, and I believe it contributes to a healthy work environment. You never have to walk on eggshells. We believe in trying and learning new things, and this is inevitably accompanied by learning from mistakes. When you learn from mistakes you made you can grow and improve. Also, there are no unpleasant rivalries or gossip culture. We are one big team who like each other and some of us even meet up outside the office. During our massive growth the last few years, roles have been allocated and re-allocated. We continuously try to find feasible solutions and structures and we don’t hesitate to acknowledge when we need to change things up again to make them work better. In changing we stay the same. We’ve also hired lots of new ambitious talent to become better and have even more fun. Working at DVJ is also about being part of the DVJ Family.

The feeling of victory

I really enjoy my work. It is an environment where I can grow. Management doesn’t tell you how to do things. We let researchers and consultants think alongside us and encourage new ideas and possible improvements. It’s about becoming an even better expert and we challenge people to become better and better, also encouraging them to take ownership of their future. Sometimes when I think that I have reached my boundaries, I find out that I can do much more than I expected. It feels like rock climbing… when you are almost at the top and you think you can’t make that next step, that you can’t reach much higher, you take that leap anyway and are at times surprised you succeed. This feeling of victory gives a huge confidence boost. Okay, sometimes you fall which doesn’t feel comfortable, but you learn by making mistakes. And at DVJ, you are encouraged to keep challenging yourself, and having the confidence that people have your back allows you to dare to take those jumps. You see the intrinsic ambition in everyone, and it even seeps through to the newest employees.

You will be surprised about the things you can still learn and explore when you join DVJ Insights.

Partner of our Clients

A few years ago, we did an in-house project called: Operation Simplify. This year we will do an Operation Simplify 2.0 with the purpose of further improving our way of working and simplifying and reducing the steps in the process. At the same time, offering the best data analytics and advice to our clients.

We position ourselves as the partner of our clients. We think along with their challenges and wishes, and we have our own in-house specialists. Most of the time, researchers can do projects themselves, working together in teams with experienced client consultants to solve issues and using all the learnings to help the client grow their brand. The past years, I have worked on many different projects for different clients, running trackers, doing consumer decision journeys and campaign evaluations. Helping the client understand they ‘why’ behind their competitive environment so that they can optimise their position and gain competitive advantage or give them guidance on a new endeavour. A few years back I did a project for Zonnatura where we got to test the new packaging design of their products. A red or a green logo? The sun rays pointing up or down? What is the best place to add some further products information? It’s satisfying to see the design that we found to work the best in the stores. You see it and think, yeah, I tested that!

You never stop learning and exploring

Whether you just graduated from college or have years of experience, you will be surprised about the things you can still learn and explore when you join DVJ Insights.

The last few years, DVJ has established a much better awareness amongst university students, especially Research Master’s and PhD students. Some of my colleagues have given guest lectures which made young students want to join DVJ after listening. Working together with universities is a good way to create awareness amongst students for our fantastic subject area of marketing and research.