Research Analyst

Research analyst is a profession where the main task includes research on specific fields, analyzing the facts and figures, interpreting the analysis, and presenting the same to a structured audience that can relate to various areas like marketing, finance, operations, etc.

They use various types of techniques like interviews, surveys, the latest news, etc., to conduct an analysis of a business organization. They gather information with the aim of creating reports, giving recommendations, helping stakeholders make informed decisions related to investments, and guiding the management regarding successful business operations.

• A research analyst's primary job involves researching specific fields, verifying the facts and figures, representing the analysis, and displaying the same to a structured audience concerning marketing, finance, operations, etc.
• Market analysts, operation analysts, economic analysts, financial analysts, and economic analysts are the types of the research analyst.
• The overall research analyst's career prospectus is good. The Demand in the market always gets on various skill sets such as accounting, finance, marketing, statistics, command over communication, and other abilities.

Research analysts conduct detailed studies on various aspects and departments of a business organization. The departments include marketing, finance, human resource, communication, technology, etc. In these departments, a continuous work process goes on to help run the business smoothly.

The market research analyst collects data regarding the operation of these departments to understand whether the work process is being appropriately implemented, whether resource utilization is optimum, whether there is cost control or not, and if there is any further room for improvement. Their main aim is to gather information, analyze them in detail and use that to find the pros and cons of the process, along with designing recommendations and suggestions for betterment.

Their main aim is to collect data from various primary and secondary sources,  design methodologies for upgradation and implement them, communicate the ideas to the required stakeholders for facilitating their financial decisions in a systematic and concise way and also staying updated with the latest industry knowledge regarding rules and new technology.

Now, let us try to identify the different types of analysts who are exerts in various fields and whom companies hire for the purpose of betterment of the organization and its operations.

• Market Analyst -The market research analyst are the ones who help the company to design, promote and market a company’s product or service.
• Operation Analyst - This is more focused on the company's operation and is the think tank for companies to build an efficient and effective operational model. They use a combination of math, statistics, and data mining techniques to develop efficient solutions.
• Economic Analyst - They conduct research and prepare plans to cater to the economic problems of the production and the assembly line.
• Financial Analyst - They are more related to a company's financial planning and analysis. They work on the budgeting and forecasting methods of a company and help in cost optimization and revenue generation techniques.
• Equity Analyst - They conduct analysis on organizations, keep a check on the performance of stocks, and provide intelligent information to investment advisers and investors about the prospect of buying a particular share.

Given below are the different roles and responsibilities of a senior research analyst.

• They primarily monitor and make predictions of future outcomes.
• Gauge the effectiveness of various strategies decided upon.
• Plan and implement procedures for collecting data, such as surveys, questionnaires, and opinion polls.
• Accumulate information specifically about consumers, competitors, and market scenarios.
• Use of technology and statistical tools to analyze the collected data.
• Conversion of the complex data collected to easily understandable visuals like graphs or charts.
• Preparation of presentations and demos to be presented to higher management.

The basic skills that the analyst should possess are given below.

• Adaptability to changing the work environment and work pressure is an essential skill that they should possess in research analyst jobs. In addition, they need to work through coordination among different departments and people, so being adaptable is necessary.
• Accuracy in analyzing numbers and data is another very important quality. Analysis is done using numerical data collected from various sources and might be related to marketing costs, financial condition including capital and revenue expenditure, debt, dividend or interest payment, workforce attrition rate and so on, just to name a few.  This needs number crunching skill to understand them.
• Analytical skill set with an eye for detail is required so that any type of direct or indirect information that may be useful for the business is not missed out.
•  The senior research analyst requires statistical knowledge to understand trends and patterns. They need to be thorough with such models and calculations and the areas of implementation.
• They should possess good organizational skills so that they can do their work in a systematic and organized way without any mismanagement.
•  Awareness of commerce and economy is essential so that they remain updated with the latest rules, technological change and innovation.
• Statistical knowledge is a boon in the field of research.

Here is a guy named Ted, who is working as a research analyst at ABC Market Research. His work is to collect data related to the market department sales figures, revenue, cost, orders received, parts of the year when sales figures come down along with reasons, competition in the market, peer performance, latest technology, etc.

He will analyze these data to understand where the company stands regarding market image and performance and if there is any possibility of improvement through increased sales. This is a perfect example of market research that these analysts do to give recommendations to the management.

The list below highlights the qualifications and experiences needed in research analyst jobs.

• A Bachelor's degree in a specific field of research like finance, marketing or economics, etc., although a professional with a master's degree is not uncommon in the area. MBA is a commonly sought degree among research analysts for a master's degree.
• A research analyst who wants to grow in the field of shares or stocks or economics will also have a  quantitative background, generally a postgraduate or doctorate in financial engineering, statistics, economics, financial mathematics, or econometrics.
• Candidates must be multifaceted in different fields, which means just knowledge about finance won’t be enough. Still, it also requires a blend of accounting and statistics to understand the overall scope of research analysis.
• The candidate also needs to know about corporate strategies and market regulations or policies in the market. In addition to all these, a gold hold on communication or written or presentation skills is a must.

If the analyst possess the above degrees and qualifications, then they can definitely become successful in this field.

• The average salary for a research analyst is $62,000 per year in the United States. A junior level or fresher with less than a year of experience can have an average salary of $49,000. Those having 1-4 years of experience earn an average total compensation of $53,000.
• A mid hierarchy research analyst with 5-9 years of experience has average total compensation of $63,000. An experienced analyst having 10-20 years of work experience can earn up to an average of $71,000. In their late career or more than 20 years of experience, they can make a fortune of an average earning of $74,774.

The list above gives us an insight into the money they can earn if they possess the necessary skill and experience and the eagerness to perform their best.

These professionals have very lucrative job prospects around the world. With globalization and increase in competitions in all sectors and industries, their demand is increasing because they successfully research, analyse and recommend ways to upgrade the business process to achieve maximum profit at minimum cost. Let us look at the avenues where they can work.

1. The overall research analyst careers prospectus of research analysts is pretty good. On having a diverse skill set like accounting, finance, marketing, statistics, command over communication, and other related skills, demand in the market is always prevailing.
2. The prospect even grows big when the candidate has a master's degree in market research, marketing, statistics, or business administration compared to candidates with bachelor's degrees, who are often prone to competition in the market. It is expected that the demand for research analyst careers in the market is expected to grow by 20% from 2018 to 2028, so it proves there is quite a good demand for this profession.

It is necessary to understand the differences between the two profession.

• The former analyses data and other information to draw relevant conclusion and ive recommendation, whereas the latter uses large data sets to understand patterns and trends.
• The former has to be strong in using models and research design methodology with good communication skill whereas the latter has to have strong programming and statistical skill to understand and interpret the data and communicate it properly to people.
• The research analysts use various tools like interviews, surverys, research paeers, latest news, opinions along with numerical data, but data analysts deal with various softwares and charts.
• The former work most in market research and advisory service but the latter works in healthcare field, financial or technological areas.

Thus, the above are the basic differences between the two roles and each have its own skillset that are required to perform well.

This has been a guide to what is Research Analyst. We explain their salary, job prospects, skill, role, qualification & requirements. You can learn more about from the following articles –

• Research and Development
• Investment Research
• Research Associate
• Quantitative Research