A person who is interested in economics, research, sociology or marketing may wonder, “How do I become a market analyst?” A market research analyst is a person who studies the market conditions in order to make informed predictions about future activities for sales of products or services. They use data in order to predict who will buy what and when they will buy it.
Complete a Bachelor’s Degree
A bachelor’s degree is typically the minimum level of education required in order to be a market analyst. Some colleges and universities offer a bachelor’s degree in market research. At other educational institutions, there are other relevant majors that would qualify a person to be a market analyst. Those majors include economics, marketing, statistics, mathematics, computer science, business administration, social sciences and communications. If a person majors in social sciences or communications and wants to become a market analyst, they will probably need to take additional math, marketing and statistics courses outside of what is required for their major.
Earn a Master’s Degree
A person who will do technical research as a market analyst may be required to have a master’s degree. This is also the case for a person who wants to advance into a managerial or leadership role. A master’s degree in business administration, marketing, statistics or economics would be a relevant degree for a market analyst. There are also universities that offer a master’s degree in market research. A master’s degree typically takes two years of full-time studies to complete, but many people work on their master’s degree on a part-time basis while maintaining full-time employment.
Attain a Certification
Although a certification or license is not required in order to become a market analyst, some people do find the optional certification from the Marketing Research Association, which is the Professional Researcher Certification, to be useful for advancement in the career. The Professional Researcher Certification can be attained through on-the-job experience and knowledge. The certification involves passing a written exam, working in opinion and marketing research for a minimum of three years, and completing a minimum of 12 hours of industry-related continuing education courses. Certified individuals must complete 20 additional hours of continuing education every two years in order to maintain their licensure.
Hone These Personality Traits
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a person who wants to be a market analyst should have certain characteristics that will help them be successful on the job. These personality traits include an orientation to detail, the ability to analyze large amounts of information, strong communication skills and the ability to think critically. A market analyst should also be comfortable with the use of computer software or apps that perform statistical analyses and modeling of data. This is because almost all market analyses are done with the help of modern computer software.
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Becoming a market analyst requires some education and optional certification. A person should also have certain personality traits and be willing to keep learning about what is going on in economics, statistics and behavioral psychology. Knowing the answer to, “How do I become a market analyst?” could help a person choose their college major, graduate degree program, area of focus and elective courses to take during their undergraduate and graduate college experience.
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