UX and design research jobs are all the rage right now for applied anthropologists seeking out career opportunities. You’d be hard pressed to locate applied positions that ask for experience in ethnography or an educational background that includes anthropology that doesn’t also include UX or user research in its description and I believe anthropology departments should take note of what that means for their students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The new Design by Anthropologists blog here at NAPA is a great resource by anthropologists who are working in UX and Design Research that reflects that reality.
To be fair, many of the other types of job openings outside of UX are embedded within organizational and institutional websites and are rarely posted on popular job search sites. You can visit NAPA’s position listings page for a list of useful resources to find these types of job opportunities as well. That being said, one of the goals of the anthrojobs of the week blog is to represent the full spectrum of fields and areas of research that anthropology can be applied to. With that goal in mind, this week I have consciously attempted to seek out and select newly posted career opportunities for applied anthropologists beyond UX and user research.
UCLA Health posted a job opening for an ICP Qualitative Researcher that will lead “two evaluations of interventions to improve mental health across counties in the state of California.” The right candidate will have a doctorate-level of education and an interest in “racial/ethnic mental health disparities, policy implementation, and quantitative evaluation approaches (e.g., social network mapping, survey methods).” To apply, visit their website at uclahealthcareers.org.
Ballast Research (a division of the National Journal Group), is a Washington, D.C.-based research and consulting firm “that helps government affairs professionals build, deepen, and advance their advocacy efforts at the federal and state levels.” They have an opening for a Qualitative Research Associate. The required qualifications for the position includes an “academic background in a social science” and experience conducting research interviews and managing projects. Sounds like a great opportunity to utilize your anthropology training in the government policy sector! You can apply here at the Atlantic Media Group site.