After going through 6-8 semesters, 50 exams, countless assignments, practicals, vivas, labs, and projects, what do you do when you realize that you don’t want to spend your life in the tech industry as a developer, coding the entire day for a substantial amount of time? What do you do when you realize that your true calling lies in the field of management? What are the roles that companies hire the freshers for? What responsibilities do these roles entail? What amount of skills would you need to have or gather to get these kinds of roles? Which sectors are the ones most likely to boom in the future and how different are the roles and responsibilities in each of these sectors?
Some level of research is continuously required in every company, the frequency of which varies from company to company, and hence, the elemental management role in any sector would be of an analyst. What does an analyst do? An analyst, as the name suggests, is an individual who performs some kind of analysis required for a project, document it in a presentable form and show it to the decision-making team. An analyst will need to have the following skills which will be a common requirement in all the sectors :
- Research, Analytical & Documentation Skills
- Team Player
- Oral and written communication skills
- Interpersonal and consultative skills
- Good Problem Solving Skills
- Being detail-oriented and capable of delivering a high level of accuracy
Like the title suggests, analysts are one of the roles that act as a stepping stone to the world of management and give us enough insight into the industry we’re working in to know if we want to build our career here or change our career trajectory. It gives us a chance to explore our strengths and weaknesses with respect to the work & skills required. Finally, it also gives us a chance to build & strengthen our network inside that particular industry.
As suggested before, analysts require a common set of skills with the addition of a few as we go about looking at them in different sectors. An analyst in a consulting firm would be required to interview personnel and perform onsite observation to determine the tools, methods, and capital & personnel utilization for a project. He would also be required to analyze the existing and inbound data or might have to research for outbound data, develop, recommend, and present solutions to the decision-making team while constantly take feedback of the same.
Similarly, analysts at investment banks have to constantly research & analyze the clients and the entire market, especially the competitors to develop major business strategies for our clients in terms of mergers & acquisitions, raising funds, introducing new stocks, investing in particular stocks, etc. They have to document & analyze the entire data to convert it to a presentable form for clients and the decision-making team. In the case of a start-up, it generally includes the everyday data related to the problem they’re trying to solve along with similar documentation and presentation to the team and the clients.
Hence, in case you’ve researched various industries well-enough along with performing a SWOT analysis regarding pursuing a career in a particular industry, you can always intern as an analyst to develop contacts, build your network and develop relevant skills required to survive or flourish in any particular industry.
