Working your first project

PRESCOUTER
Agenda

Timeline

1. Introduction 8. Project Organization

2. PreScouter Overview 9. Performance Ratings
3. Project Terminology 10. Compensation & Payment Schedule
4. Timelines & Deadlines 11. Career Pathway
5. PreScouter Verticals 12. Questions
6. Best Practices & Expectations 13. Appendix
7. Do’s & Don’ts
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Introduction

Sara Van Parys, Network Engagement Manager

Sara is PreScouter's Network Engagement Manager. She joined the team in 2021 to
manages all of the activities related to the Analyst Experience, including recruitment,
engagement, and post-network activities. Sara also manages all Analyst email
communications, including the bi-weekly Analyst newsletter to help increase Analyst
engagement and improve performance.

Email: svanparys@prescouter.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/svanparys/

+1.872.222.9225 • info@prescouter.com 3
PreScouter Overview

Clients rely on us for:

✔ Innovation Discovery: Provides clients with a constant high-value opportunities and ideas by
keeping them up to date on new and emerging technologies and businesses.

✔ Flow of Privileged Information: Interviews innovators to uncover emerging trends and

non-public information.

✔ Customized Insights: Finds and makes sense of technology and market information in order to
help companies make informed decisions.

500+ 4,000+ 150,000+

CLIENTS RESEARCH HOURS OF RESEARCH
WORLDWIDE REPORTS CREATED COMPLETED FOR CLIENTS
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PreScouter Overview

The team will be led by one of PreScouter’s

Q&A Translate Project Architects (PAs). The PA is responsible
Findings for setting the project expectations, goals and
deadlines. They have the direct contact with the
client team.
PRESCOUTER
ANALYSTS Team Lead/PA
Client In addition to the PA, you may also work with a
Team Lead (TL) on the project. TLs assists the
PAs with Q&A, summary write-ups etc.
Integrate
Obtain
Client
Feedback Feedback

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Project Terminology

● Statement of work (SOW) - Specifies the objectives and deliverables for a project
● Intelligence Brief (IB)- An IB is the specific portion of the project that Analysts work on. On average
each IB last for 2 weeks.
● Briefing Meeting - The initial meeting run by the PA and the Analyst Team to review the project and
objectives for the 1st IB.
● Entry - A unit of work and the building block that makes up an IB. These will be defined by the PA/TL
for each project and can be a technology overview, review of a company, etc…
● QA (quality assurance) - The process by which the TL and PA review analysts entries and leave
comments to resolve errors and achieve client facing standard of quality. Once you receive the
feedback, you have 24 hours to review and submit the revised information back to the PA

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Timeline & Deadlines

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Timeline & Deadlines

There are two most common projects:

• A “standard” project, that lasts 2-3 months and has 4 sprints (IBs)
• An “annual” project, that runs for a full year and has up to 20 sprints

When you apply for a standard project you are expected to contribute for the total duration of the
project. If you are only able to contribute to just a part of it, please let your PA know in advance.
Also, if there are any changes in your availability during the project, please let your PA as soon as
possible.

Project timelines may fluctuate due to client preferences; PA will keep you posted as soon as any
changes happen.

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 PreScouter Verticals

Pod 1 Pod 2 Pod 3 Pod 5 Pod 6

CPG Life Sciences High Tech Natural Resources Chemicals & Materials

Food & Beverage Aerospace & Defense

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Best Practices

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 Expectations

What you can expect from us:

• Our goal is for you to succeed as that means less revision work, better outputs & happier clients! Let us
know if you have questions, difficulties or suggestions throughout the project.

• Analysts that perform well receive higher rewards, will be invited to projects more often and have the
chance of progressing through PreScouter Career Path.

• We try to communicate openly, honestly and clearly. If you feel that communication (over email or in the
materials) can be improved, please reach out!

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 Do’s and Don’t

• You are expected to be thorough in your searches, and to deliver any required information within the deadlines.

• The audience for your entry should be the client, not the PA: please keep your writing style professional but accessible
and make sure to explain any concepts the client may be unfamiliar with.

• Relevant pictures/tables to help communicate the information: please make sure they are readable and of good
quality.

• Always include a legend to explain figures/tables, according to the template: please do not screenshot the legend.

• Don’t blindly copy/paste information: rewrite it in your own words, avoid using first and second pronouns such as I,
our, we.

• If you plagiarize (copy/paste) we will warn you once. If you plagiarize a second time, we will remove you from the
project.

• For academic articles: please reference using the DOI linked for the journal page.

• After the deadlines, your work should be ready to be presented to the client: if it requires edits (due to lack of, wrong,
or misformatted content), a corresponding cut to the reward and rating will be applied at the PA’s discretion. 12
Do’s and Don’t

Useful Resources
Don’t copy and paste.

No reaching out to external parties Tips for searches and to avoid common errors

Familiarize yourself with the topic PreScouter Project Resources

Provide presentable entries

Add value

Communicate

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Project Organization

1) Statement of Work (SoW) 2) Instructions

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Project Organization

3) Data Collection

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Project Organization

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 Performance Ratings

Analysts receive a performance rating after each IB. Each Analyst is rated on Presentation Skills, Content
Writing, Deliverables Quality, Compliance to Deadlines, and Professionalism. Each category is rated on a 1
through 5 star scale. The higher you are rated, the more likely you will be invited to join more projects.

Rating scale: 1-5

● 5: Excellent / Exceptional
● 4: Good
● 3: Meets Expectations
● 2: Needs Improvements
● 1: Unsatisfactory

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 Performance Ratings

Deliverables Quality
The goal is to provide a rating that measures the quality of the work the network member delivered. This rating
follows the rationale of the existing “High Quality” rating at the entry level.

Unsatisfactory – Quality of the work was low. PA did not use the majority of the work, had to do
substantial edits, get someone else to edit it or work was very incomplete.

Needs Improvement –Quality of the work was subpar. Information was missing. Significant edits
had to be made.

Meets Expectations – Deliverable was acceptable, with minor information missing before QA.

Good – Good quality and complete information before QA.

Excellent / Exceptional – Exceeds expectations. High quality of work all around, both in
completeness and content, before QA. Goes above and beyond what was requested.

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Compensation & Payment Schedule

Compensation Schedule:

● PA will submit payments within a few days after the client meeting has been conducted.
● Average Compensation is $100-$125 per IB.
● A typical project consists of 3-6 IBs, with the average payout being $300-$750 USD.
● Volunteering is always an option if compensation may put your visa status in question.

Payment Methods:

● Paypal: Payments are automatically sent to PayPal every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
● Wire Transfer: Available for Analysts outside of the US. Paid every Friday.

Bonuses might be awarded for extra effort or particularly good entries.

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 Career Pathway

Analysts that perform well are prioritized, will be invited to projects Technical
more often and have the chance of progressing through the PreScouter Director
Career Path Sr. Project
Architect
Project
Architect
Team Lead

Senior Analyst
Analyst

● Completing ● Full time PS ● Assists with QA of ● Manage an ● Build your practice ● Become an Industry
Entries employees entries average of 7 ● Manage “gold” clients thought-leader
● Aligned with a vertical parallel ● Business Development ● Build multiple
projects verticals
● Manage the practice
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 Career Path

Analysts in our network

gain industry relevant
skills that help them in the
interview process when
seeking full-time
employment.

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Questions?
Appendix
 Useful Resources

● Tips for searches and to avoid common errors

● PreScouter Project Resources

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Deliverables Quality

The goal is to provide a rating that measures the quality of the work the network member
delivered. This rating follows the rationale of the existing “High Quality” rating at the
entry level.

Unsatisfactory – Quality of the work was low. PA did not use the majority of the work, had to
do substantial edits, get someone else to edit it, or work was very incomplete.

Needs Improvement –Quality of the work was subpar. Information was missing. Significant
edits had to be made.

Meets Expectations – Deliverable was acceptable, with minor information missing before
QA.

Good – Good quality and complete information before QA.

Excellent / Exceptional – Exceeds expectations. High quality of work all around, both in
completeness and content, before QA. Goes above and beyond what was requested.

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Presentation Skills

The rating describes the ability of the network member to present information to the client or the PA in
a confident, clear, and concise manner. Someone with a high score on this rating is one we would
place in front of the client with no qualms.

Unsatisfactory - Presents major issues that affect the ability to understand the information such as excessive
stuttering, voice breaking, broken English, etc.

Needs Improvement - While the core of the information can be transmitted, not a fluid presenter. Might get
confused or use the wrong words at times, that make the information hard to understand.

Meets Expectations - Provides information in a clear way in a mostly professional or fluid manner. Admissible
issues: thick but understandable accent.

Good - The network member is a good presenter. Provides prepared information in a professional and clear way.
Admissible issues: not dealing well with comments or questions.

Excellent I Exceptional - The network member has exceptional presentation skills. Provides the information to
the client in a clear way, highlights the key points and deals with questions and comments professionally.
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Content Writing

This rating provides an overview of the capacity of the network member to deliver content written in a
professional tone and without any grammar or spelling errors. A network member with a high score on
this rating is someone we could rely upon to write materials to be delivered directly to the client or to
review materials from other network members.

Unsatisfactory - Presents major issues that affect readability or understanding, such as: incomplete sentences, broken
English, major grammatical issues, etc.

Needs Improvement - The content is written in a way that allows for the message to be transmitted, but there are
some serious issues, such as several grammar or spelling mistakes did not paraphrase information or else use
quotation marks to indicate quoted information, or non-professional speechwriting style.

Meets Expectations - Content is presentable with minor changes. Some potential issues: minor typos or grammar
mistakes, inclusion of non-substantiated marketing claims as part of description, etc.

Good - Good quality content. Some admissible issues: minor typos, non-concise descriptions, etc.

Excellent I Exceptional - Exceeds expectations. Information written in professional tone to the point and with no
grammar or spelling issues.
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Compliance to Deadlines

The rating will assess how reliable the network member is regarding their adherence to deadlines. A
network member with a high score on this rating is someone who will reliably deliver the requested
information within the set deadlines.

Unsatisfactory - Deadlines were not met consistently throughout the engagement without any warning or
justification, resulting in materials not being usable for the delivery or requiring considerable extra effort from
PA I team.

Satisfactory - One of the deadlines was missed, but with forewarning, or deadlines were missed by a couple of
hours.Project flow not affected.

Excellent I Exceptional - All the deadlines were kept. Information was submitted as requested.

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 Professionalism

This rating will capture the network member's ability to demonstrate how well they maintain a courteous and
conscientious demeanor while working on an engagement. A network member with a high Professionalism rating is
someone who delivered the expected results, including responding to edits requested, with a positive attitude. They are
non-judgmental and non confrontational with their PA, colleagues, and clients.

Unsatisfactory - The network member actively offended, hurt, or expressed themselves in an inflammatory way with disregard of
how that interaction could be interpreted or they violated an established rule, custom or norm of PreScouter culture or team
practice. Examples of this are harassment, defying clear boundaries set by the PA, or upsetting a client.

Needs Improvement - The network member repeatedly did not meet the expectations set by the PA despite having been provided
with multiple opportunities to improve. Examples include combative responses or behaviors, disrespectful comments or
messages to client, PA, or colleagues, and a negative attitude towards project work.

Meets Expectations - The network member's performance fell short during the engagement but with feedback from their PA they
were able to rectify the behavior.

Good - The network member conducted themselves in a professional manner, consistent with the expectations set forth by the
PA. The network member's level of Professionalism was never called into question but wasn't outstanding either.

Excellent I Exceptional - From the outset of the engagement, the network member exhibited an exceptional work ethic and strived
to complete their tasks with integrity and respect while maintaining a positive attitude. This level of professionalism displayed
throughout the engagement was above and beyond the PA's expectations. 29