Between working, walking my dog, devouring food, and all my other activities, I rarely have time to sit down and take a good look at my finances or study the stock market in depth. If I were serious about investing, I would consider contacting a financial analyst who could help me make the most of my very few dollars, as those folks spend all day scrutinizing different funds. Not all analysts work with money, but they do have something in common: exploring a particular area in depth to form conclusions and using those conclusions to make recommendations to companies and other people.
Analyst Career Guide Overview
- What an Analyst Does
- A Typical Day for an Analyst
- Salary and Career Progression for an Analyst
- Best Locations for an Analyst
- Pros and Cons of Being an Analyst
- What You Need to Know for a Career as an Analyst
- Analyst Resources
- Related Careers
- Companies with Jobs and Internships as an Analyst
What an Analyst Does
An analyst explores a specific, limited area in depth. An analyst can work within a number of different industries. Some common analyst specializations include:
- An accounting analyst evaluates and interprets public company financial statements
- A business analyst examines the needs and concerns of clients and stakeholders to determine where potential problems and opportunities lie
- A chemical analyst performs chemical experiments
- A color analyst provides analysis and commentary in sports broadcasting
- A cost analyst explores business operations to determine what’s successful for a business
- A financial analyst handles securities and business equity
- An industry analyst performs market research on segments of specific industries to help identify trends in business and finance
- An intelligence analyst examines currently known factors to predict the future when it comes to safety and security
- A marketing analyst examines price, customer, competitor and economic data to help a company know where its been and where it should go
- A medical analyst interprets medical data for specific analytical purposes
- A psychoanalyst acts to facilitate understanding of patients’ unconscious minds
- An information analyst analyzes technical design and functional design for development of new software in computer science
- A web metrics analyst examines trends and patterns in the use and expansion of the internet
A Typical Day for an Analyst
The typical day of an analysts varies depending upon their speciality, but here are some things you might encounter.
Financial analyst:
- Responding to unexpected news announcements or violent stock swings based on rumors
- Developing and communicating investment recommendations for a particular sector
- Building financial models predicting revenue, income, and cash flows
- Determining if a stock is an attractive or unattractive investment
- Putting a rating on the stock
- Communicating your opinion to salespeople and institutional investors
- Spending time on the phone talking to investors, salespeople, and sources that can provide insight about a company’s growth prospects
- Working closely with associates
Market research analyst:
- Collecting and analyzing data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand.
- Preparing reports of findings, illustrating data graphically and translating complex findings into written text.
- Measuring and assessing customer and employee satisfaction.
- Forecasting and tracking marketing and sales trends, and analyzing collected data.
- Measuring the effectiveness of marketing, advertising, and communications programs and strategies.
Web analyst:
- Responding to emails
- Delving into Google Analytics
- Exploring an SEO program, like SEO moz
- Discovering down bugs and fix them
- Handling tracking
- Creating reports
- Doing deep data dives
- A/B testing when needed based on analysis
- Communicating with the web team
Salary and Career Progression for an Analyst
Because an analyst can work within many different industries, here are a number of positions available and their average yearly earnings:
- Business Analyst $41,000-$96,000
- Senior Business Analyst $58,000-$118,000
- Business Systems Analyst $41,000-$93,000
- Financial Analyst $37,000-$79,000
- Senior Financial Analyst $53,000-$101,000
- Intelligence Analyst $36,000-$102,000
- Data Analyst $31,000-$70,000
- Senior Data Analyst $45,000-$98,000
Best Locations for an Analyst
If you’re an analyst, here are some hot spots for you:
- Santa Clara, California
- Irvine, California
- Bloomington, Illinois
- New York, New York
- Houston, Texas
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Chicago, Illinois
- Wilmington, Delaware
- Cary, North Carolina
- Santa Monica, California
- McLean, Virginia
Pros and Cons of Being an Analyst
Pros
- Ability to work within many different fields
- Great salary
Cons
- Lots of time at your desk
- Lots of work within Excel spreadsheets
- Can be hard to break into
What You Need to Know for a Career as an Analyst
To be an analyst you’ll need a bachelor’s degree, preferably in the specific field you’d like to work in. Beyond that, a master’s degree may be required for some jobs. In general, coursework should include business, marketing, statistics, mathematics, and survey design. You also might need to receive a certification from a governing body, like the Marketing Research Association (for market research analysts). Broader skills you’ll need include the ability to write clearly, dissect data, and communicate effectively.
Analyst Resources
If a career as an analyst still sounds like your cup of tea, here are a few things you should do to get started.
Required Reading
Blogs and Websites
Networking Opportunities
Related Careers
Companies with Entry Level Jobs and Internships in Analyst
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