Understanding information is one thing, but analysing it? That’s a whole other skill set. That’s where your analytical skills come in. They help you draw conclusions from what you see, so you can make smart decisions.
Analytical thinking is important in everyday life. It allows you to look at problems or data and find solutions. These solutions might reveal insights, trends, or ways to tackle challenges. In the workplace, analytical skills are often needed for tasks involving data, but they’re also useful in many areas of life.
There are various analytical skills that can help at work, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and data interpretation. For example, a retail worker might need to get creative to help a customer, while a project manager might need to analyse data to identify job risks.
No matter what your job is, this guide will help you learn about different analytical skills and how to use them effectively.
Analytical skills involve the ability to gather, interpret and assess information to make informed decisions or solve problems. Using critical thinking and problem solving helps you advise others or make decisions that lead to the best outcomes.
We make decisions all day, some on purpose and many without thinking. Being able to make the right choices about complex issues can greatly affect the results. Improving your analytical skills can help you:
Let’s take a look at some examples of analytical thinking and the different ways you can use these skills.
Problem solving is the skill of finding solutions to difficult situations. Using analytical and problem solving skills involves:
Being able to solve problems is essential skill in the workplace, especially if you’re interested in management roles. Employees with good problem-solving skills help companies run more efficiently.
Critical thinking is the process of analysing information, concepts, situations or problems to make judgements. It involves being able to evaluate arguments, claims and evidence in an unbiased way, to come to a solution.
It’s likely you use critical thinking every day without even knowing it. For example, when you see an article on social media, you’ll use your critical thinking skills to evaluate the credibility of the news source, consider potential biases and verify the information.
There are certain fields, like law and medicine, where critical thinking is an essential part of the job, in order to provide accurate guidance and diagnoses. But that’s not to say other professionals don’t benefit from these skills. Almost every job imaginable requires some level of critical thinking.
Data analysis is the method of examining and interpreting data. It involves a number of techniques, including:
With the data analyst skill, you may also need to present the data in an easy-to-understand way, using visual communication tools like graphs or charts. The specific methods of collecting data and analysing it will depend on the role.
Research skills are techniques used to locate, evaluate and use information to find solutions, answer questions or explore specific topics. Not only are they important for students, academics and professionals, they’re an important skill set in your personal life too.
There are many different types of research: collecting existing data, case studies, surveys, experiments and more.
Decision-making is an important analytical skill as it involves a systematic and rational approach to processing information. There are many steps you can take to improve your decision-making process, including analysing data, assessing risks and using critical thinking to make sound judgements without bias.
Everyone benefits from better decision-making skills. They come into play in every aspect of work, whether that’s deciding what colour to make a banner ad or narrowing down venue options for the next office party. No matter what your role or industry, you’ll be able to make decisions more effectively and confidently when you improve your analytical skills.
Like soft skills, analytical skills are something everyone can work on. They can help you make better decisions, communicate why a decision should be made and even help you progress in your career. Even if you think you already take a precise and analytical approach, there is always room for improvement. Here are five top tips to help you become a better analytical thinker.
Successfully learning any new skill depends on understanding your existing level. You might think you’re an analytical thinker but your colleagues may have different ideas. Next time you complete a task, take time afterwards to examine your methods.
Did you gather all the relevant information? Did you consider more than one possible course of action? Did these actions bring about an effective and long lasting result? If you can’t answer ‘yes’ to these questions, then chances are you need to make a few improvements.
If you think you already notice what’s going on around you, you might be surprised by how much actually passes you by. Take your work colleagues for example. Do you know who’s great at finance or who might be able to help you write a report? When you need advice about company history, do you know who to turn to?
Another example here would be company data. When you read reports, try comparing them to previous versions, or noticing which areas require improvement. You can always record your findings in a journal for use in the future.
It pays to exercise your inner Sherlock every day. By taking the time to understand more, you’ll be adding to your available bank of information. This could one day help you stand out big time to your bosses.
Try reading books around topics, asking questions to new people and studying fresh subjects to expand your knowledge. The most unexpected knowledge often eventually proves useful.
It can often be too easy to settle into a job role and lose your focus on the wider picture. Goal setting doesn’t just help you in your career; it is actually good for your brain. In order to achieve a goal, multiple processes work together. The goal setting itself brings about changes in the brain to facilitate success.
Learning goals are particularly effective as a way to promote analytical thinking. The more you learn about a topic, the more information you have available to enlighten your analysis. Not only does success in study depend on the development of analytical skills, it helps keep you motivated and interested in a subject.
It can be hard to take even the most constructive of criticism when decision-making goes wrong. However, this is a really important part of the analytical thinking process. Being able to look at results objectively and learn from them is vital. It will lead to improvements in future situations. Your analytical thinking skills will be best developed if you listen to other people and self-critique your own work.
By understanding what you could have done better and what worked well, you can add to your bank of analytical power for the next time you need it. While learning from your mistakes is a well-known ideal, it’s also important to make sure you learn from your successes.
Employers are always looking for people with strong analytical skills, especially those with specialised technical skills, like knowledge of data platforms or accounting software. Here are some of the different ways you can add your analytical skills to your resume to help you stand out.
Analytical skills can be grouped in with the rest of the on your resume. List out all the specific analytical skills you have, naming any relevant software or database platforms.
Top analytical skills to add to your resume’s skill section include:
Tailor your skills to the job you’re applying for, using the phrases used in the job description, so it’s clear to the hiring manager that you’re a good match for the role.
If you have used analytical skills in your past roles, you should add them to the work experience section of your resume. Use action verbs and add in specific results where possible to demonstrate the impact of your skills.
Some examples of analytical skills to put in your work experience section include:
By giving specific results of how you used your skills, you demonstrate to hiring managers that you are able to use data to drive performance.
You don’t always need to include a summary or objective section on your resume, but if you have extensive or specialised experience you’d like to highlight, it can be a great way to make yourself stand out. Your summary should only be one or two sentences long, giving the reader an instant overview of who you are, what you’re looking for and what you bring to the table. As with the analytical skills on your resume, you should customise your objective statement to each role you apply for.
Highlighting your analytical skills in a career objective can give you an edge over other job seekers, particularly if you’re applying for leadership roles. Examples of analytical and problem solving skills selection criteria answers may include:
When you’re updating your resume with new skills, it’s important to understand the meaning of analytical skills as they apply to your specific area of work. Keep your resume up-to-date with these skills, as they’ll differentiate you from the crowd. Even if you’re not looking for a new job and you just want to improve in your current role, enhancing your analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills could be the secret to standing out and getting ahead.
Vocational training and education offers the unique opportunity to increase your focus on details and can help expand your horizons. With Queensford College offering a variety of courses across a wide range of industries, you could work towards a nationally-recognised qualification that can equip you with the relevant knowledge and skills in your desired industry.
Get in touch with the Queensford team today to find courses to help improve your analytical thinking and career prospects at the same time.