To succeed in the Vdc Research interview process, you must demonstrate a unique blend of analytical rigor, communication skills, and commercial curiosity. Your preparation should focus on these core evaluation criteria:

Role-Related Knowledge – You must show a strong grasp of market research methodologies, both qualitative (such as primary phone interviews) and quantitative (such as market forecasting and segmentation). Familiarity with the industrial technology, IoT, or enterprise software sectors will give you a significant advantage.

Problem-Solving & Structured Thinking – Interviewers want to see how you approach ambiguous questions. Whether you are tackling a market sizing brainteaser or analyzing a case study, focus on clearly explaining your framework, your assumptions, and your logical progression rather than just aiming for a single "correct" number.

Communication & Writing Excellence – Vdc Research highly values written deliverables. You must prove that you can write clearly, concisely, and with a strong business focus. Be prepared to discuss your writing sample or complete a writing-focused assessment during the process.

Adaptability & AI Fluency – Modern research workflows rely on efficiency. Demonstrating an ability and willingness to identify, trial, and use modern AI tools to support your research and analytical workstreams is highly valued.

The interview process at Vdc Research is thorough, structured, and designed to assess both your technical capabilities and your alignment with the firm's collaborative culture. The process typically moves from initial screens to deep-dive technical and behavioral conversations.

You will start with an initial online interview, often led by the head of HR or Finance, focusing on your resume, career goals, and basic alignment with the role. Successful candidates then progress to consecutive rounds with Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs) and practice directors. These discussions are highly conversational but rigorous, focusing heavily on your past research projects, analytical background, and how your internship or professional experience maps to the job description.

A key differentiator in the Vdc Research process is the practical evaluation stage. You should expect a one-hour case study or take-home exercise that tests your writing and spreadsheet modeling capabilities. This stage is crucial for demonstrating your comfort level with Microsoft Excel and your ability to synthesize information under a tight deadline.

The visual timeline above outlines the typical progression from the initial HR screening to the final executive round and case study. Use this timeline to pace your preparation, ensuring you allocate sufficient time to practice both consulting-style brainteasers and hands-on Excel modeling ahead of the middle rounds.

Quantitative Analysis & Excel Modeling

This area evaluates your comfort level with numbers, data manipulation, and forecasting. As a Research Analyst, you will be building market forecasts and data templates from scratch.

Be ready to go over:

• Financial & Market Forecasting – How to build multi-year market models using historical data, growth drivers, and macroeconomic assumptions.
• Data Cleanup & Synthesis – Techniques for organizing unstructured or messy data in Microsoft Excel.
• Advanced Excel Formulas – Your proficiency with lookup functions, pivot tables, logical formulas, and data visualization tools.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Multi-variable regression analysis, survey design optimization, and cohort analysis.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Given a raw dataset of technology shipments over five years, how would you structure a model to forecast market growth for the next three years?"
• "How do you handle missing data points when building a market size model?"

Qualitative Research & Primary Interviewing

A significant portion of your role involves conducting primary research through phone and online interviews with technology suppliers, end users, and channel partners.

Be ready to go over:

• Cold Outreach & Interviewing – How to engage senior industry executives and extract meaningful insights without sounding scripted.
• Survey Design – Constructing unbiased, high-yield survey questionnaires.
• Information Synthesis – Identifying patterns and trends across dozens of qualitative interview transcripts.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you approach a phone interview with a technology vendor who is hesitant to share market share data?"
• "What questions would you ask an enterprise IT decision-maker to understand their barriers to adopting industrial IoT solutions?"

Strategic Writing & Content Creation

Your research must ultimately be packaged into compelling reports, blogs, and whitepapers. The hiring team will evaluate your ability to write with clarity, precision, and business relevance.

Be ready to go over:

• Structuring Reports – Creating logical flows from executive summaries to detailed market breakdowns.
• Simplifying Complexity – Translating dense technical frameworks into commercial opportunities.
• Tone and Voice – Writing in a professional, authoritative, and objective tone.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk us through a technical report you wrote. How did you decide what information to highlight in the executive summary?"
• "How would you turn a 50-page dataset on warehouse automation into a 500-word blog post that drives industry dialogue?"

Consulting Case Study & Market Sizing

During the process, you will face a dedicated case study and consulting-style estimation questions. This evaluates your structured thinking and business acumen.

Be ready to go over:

• Top-Down and Bottom-Up Estimation – Knowing when and how to apply these frameworks to size a market.
• Sanity Checking – Verifying if your final calculated number makes logical sense in the real world.
• M&A and Market Entry Frameworks – Understanding how to evaluate whether a client should acquire a competitor or enter a new geography.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "A private equity client wants to acquire a mid-sized software company specializing in supply chain execution. What key market metrics should we analyze first?"
• "Estimate the annual revenue of the commercial drone market in the United States."