Careers as a Research Analyst: Opportunities and Challenges in 2021
Among the many lucrative and marketable careers, you could target, being a research analyst should be among the top. It opens many doors in the job market as many industries need research analysts.
In this job, you’ll do a lot of financial forecasting and data analysis that companies need for major decision-making. 2021 has opened more opportunities for anyone wishing to become a research analyst.
The career, however, is no different when it comes to experiencing challenges. This blog post will focus on both the opportunities and hurdles of becoming a research analyst in 2021.
Opportunities
Marketing Agencies
The other opportunity for a research analyst is in the marketing sphere. Ordinarily, a marketing agency needs to know the proper channels to use when doing promotions and advertisements for the clients. This is what helps in making every marketing effort count. For this to happen, a clear understanding of the market and the business environment is significant.
As a research analyst, your presence is much needed in any marketing company to identify marketing trends. This is where you’ll take time to study the market currently and also in the recent past.
The information will bring a clear picture of the pattern in demand for certain products and services. You can, therefore, make the marketing team come up with an accurate plan on the right marketing strategies to follow.
For you to be more competitive, learning more is significant. There are many online courses that you can take and make your job profile richer. The Series 87 exams can be challenging at times due to the comprehensive testing.
Series 86 exams are also head-scratching; hence proper preparations are significant. Luckily, there are FINRA Series 87 Study Guides. Having proper sharpening before the exams makes you quickly tackle the questions with ease.
The Insurance Sector
Insurance companies handle volumes and volumes of data every day. It comes from the high traffic of customers seeking insurance solutions. The companies have a great need for an accurate evaluation of the information in getting the right image of the company’s progress.
Research analysts are very beneficial in processing the financial data of the insurance policyholders.
The premiums attached to different insurance coverage plans sometimes need readjustment. This is commonly when a policyholder starts making higher amounts of deductibles. At such a moment, a research analyst is pivotal at such a point in the calculations of the new premiums after thorough data analysis.
The Government
It’s also to be a civil servant with the hat of a research analyst. This is because both the federal and state governments usually base most of their decisions on the statistics.
In pandemic times, governments are looking for ways to understand the economic impact of Covid-19 in different regions. This is to know how the allocation of the resources will take place. As an analysis, you will focus on the various trends taking place in the economic sector.
From here, you can do forecasting whereby it becomes clear which groups of people will experience more challenges. You will also have the opportunity of giving suggestions on what actions may bring proper optimization.
The Manufacturing Industry
Manufacturers deal with many transactions, from the procurement of raw materials to the sales of finished products. As a company grows, the figures also increase hence making the financial planning needs more. You can, therefore, have a strong position in such a manufacturing sector through financial analysis.
This helps you keep every transaction of the company traceable. Many companies these days want professionals who are skillful in excel functions in the organization and analysis of data.
Which Challenges Do I Face as a Research Analyst in 2021 ?
Chunks of data
When doing analysis, the more the data, the more the accuracy. This needs you as an analyst to gather a lot of information in your tasks. Take the marketing sector, for instance, and you need to hover through hundreds of websites to collect valuable data.
It becomes even more challenging when separating the relevant and irrelevant data. Sometimes, using the software can make things easier, but still, there is some manual inputting you ought to make, and this is a tricky, cumbersome task.
High Expectations from Clients
As you work for your company, you may find the management needing precise details of specific aspects. For instance, in the government setting, the bodies or agencies want actionable and immediate information.
What they at times forget is that you need a lot of time to properly process the information. This pressure can make life hard. Sometimes the companies may want well-updated details, which can be rare to find as most of the data is not yet published.
A research analyst has a strong position in the global economy. Leading such a career offers you gateways to different industries, as decision-making is after data evaluation. Your data evaluations and forecasting roles also help firms in remaining competitive.
Research analysts can work in the insurance, manufacturing, and government sectors. Due to the high competency levels, it’s good to undertake relevant courses and prepare well for the exams. The certifications add value to your job profile.
