Core Skills Every Analyst Needs

The most interesting project at my job I am currently involved with is developing and executing an analyst training program that prepares science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) university students for analysis oriented careers.  Unusual for most training programs, we had few concrete objectives beyond training analysts.

We made a conscious decision early on to not specialize in any particular field or discipline. Instead, we are more interested in helping students develop a set of cross-disciplinary skills that are transferable to whatever employment they decide to pursue.

Our first step to develop curriculum was asking the fundamental question: “What does an organization look for in a new analyst?”

Perhaps a new analyst should be an expert on specific topics? Smart? Be a good writer? Have novel ideas? Good language skills?

How do you quantify and define all of this?

It’s much easier for recruiters to figure out whether someone is a good trumpet player than figuring out if someone would make a good analyst. Yet like trumpet players, good analysts can be taught. Great analysts are born. Good luck figuring that out from reading a resume. This vague subjectivity is a key reason professional networking is particularly important for analysts.

We went through a lot of literature, talked to professionals, and dived into the realm of analysis theory to define skills and useful characteristics critical for analysts. Our findings eventually evolved into what we call the “Five Core Skills (FCS)” that every analyst should have. Each class and project students complete has its origins in trying to teach one of these Skills:

1)   Think – Critical, Creative, Curious
2)   Read – Research, Bias, Purpose 
3)   Write – Concise, Clear, Professional
4)   Speak – Presentation, Articulation,Collaboration 
5)   Context – Current Events, International Topics,"So What?”, “How do I make my analysis useful to consumers?”

The next series of blog post will define each Core Skill in depth.