Registration is now open for this new September 2nd Insights Career Workshop from the ICN with Aaron Cruikshank
If you are a UX researcher, market researcher, or insights professional sending out hundreds of applications to dead silence, you are not imagining things. Traditional online job boards have largely stopped producing results. However, the reason behind this drop is not what social media headlines suggest.
While research job postings collapsed 70 to 90 percent from their 2022 peak—bottoming out at just 711 US UX research postings in February 2026—actual employment numbers painted a completely different picture. Between May 2020 and May 2025, US employment in market research analyst and marketing specialist roles grew from 690,160 to 899,580.
Headcount did not vanish; hiring simply moved into the hidden job market through referrals, internal moves, contract-to-hire arrangements, and roles scoped around existing contacts before a listing is ever written.
To help researchers navigate this shift, Aaron Cruikshank is presenting a practical virtual workshop titled “The Hidden Job Market for Researchers: Why Applying Stopped Working, and What Does.”
What the Workshop Covers
The session provides a strategic framework to transition from hopeful, one-off job board applications into a proactive outreach campaign:
- The Real Labor Market Data: Get a sourced analysis of research employment across North America, clarifying why viral claims that “half of all UX jobs were eliminated” confuse job posting drops with actual headcount losses.
- Where Budget and Hiring Are Moving: Learn where hiring demand is actually shifting, including analytics functions, mid-size suppliers, and hybrid roles sitting between research and product.
- Modern Search Tactics: Understand why traditional job titles fail as search terms and what criteria to use instead.
- Target Mapping & Intel Gathering: Identify and prioritize target organizations before open roles are ever posted publicly.
- Warm Outreach Systems: Discover a repeatable system for generating warm introductions, including a specific mailing-list tactic that consistently outperforms cold applications.
- Campaign Tracking: Build a structured weekly workflow that turns scattered networking into a trackable job-search system.
Who Should Attend?
This session is designed for research and insights professionals at any career stage:
- Market researchers and insights professionals between roles or preparing for market shifts.
- UX researchers whose teams have been cut, absorbed, or folded into product divisions.
- In-house researchers navigating internal restructures.
- Agency-side researchers evaluating client-side transitions, or vice versa.
- Anyone sending hundreds of applications with minimal callbacks.
About the Presenter
Aaron Cruikshank
Aaron Cruikshank is President of CTRS Market Intelligence, a 25-year research consultancy serving enterprise, non-profit, and government clients across North America. As someone who actively hires researchers, he sees the side of hiring job seekers rarely witness—including how roles are filled long before a job posting is drafted.
Aaron also coaches independent consultants through Consulting Success and teaches graduate-level research at the Centre for Digital Media. The tactics shared are strategies he has personally used to land roles and watched successfully work from the hiring side of the table.
Session Details
- Format: 60-minute virtual presentation followed by live Q&A.
- Takeaways: All registrants will receive session materials, and a recording will be distributed to those unable to attend live
- Donation Recommended: $25. The volunteer-powered 501(c)(3) ICN is dedicated to providing accessible community and education opportunities for insights professionals.
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