Work type
The Analyst
Messy questions pull you in. You want the data behind the claim, and you get real satisfaction from turning noise into an answer someone can act on.
What this work type really means
Analysts get their energy from resolving uncertainty. The moment a vague argument becomes a testable question is the moment the work becomes fun for you — and being confidently wrong is the failure that stings most.
The thing to interrogate in graduate applications is whether analysis is decision-shaped or decoration. Ask in interviews what happened to the last piece of analysis a junior produced. If nobody can name a decision it changed, the role is reporting, not analysis.
Analysts are also unusually well placed to move sideways later: into product, strategy, or research leadership. Building a habit of writing your reasoning down — not just your conclusion — is what makes that move possible.
Where you'll do your best work
- Access to real data and the people making decisions with it
- Time to go deep instead of only reacting
- Written culture where reasoning is valued over volume
What tends to drain you
- Being asked for a number by lunchtime with no caveats allowed
- Reporting work nobody reads or acts on
- Environments where confidence outranks evidence
Graduate roles and internships to explore
Common European entry points for this work type. Titles vary by country — search the shape of the work, not the exact wording.
- Data analyst / business analyst graduate role
- Research assistant or policy research internship
- Risk, actuarial or finance analyst trainee
- Data science internship
The other four work types
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