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What is a "day in the life of an analyst"?
Research, analysis, report writing... Even though they are all analyst activities, each person has their own style! We will introduce you to a day in the life of an analyst/economist, which is hard to imagine.
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Q: What is a typical day of work like?
A: I'm covered in data morning, noon and night!
I start my day's work at 7:30 in the morning , or 8:00 at the latest.
That said, I check economic news and the newspapers as soon as I wake up in the morning, and if necessary, I immediately search for them online.
The schedule is for input from morning until just after noon, and output in the afternoon.
I will understand the economic indicators, fiscal and monetary policies, etc. announced on the previous day or that day for the area I am responsible for. I will read through various news and published statistical materials and grasp the key points.
When gathering information, I try to find hints for questions and issues in my daily life. Big stories (macro stories) go beyond our actual business and life. On the other hand, when it comes to big stories, they tend to be removed from our daily lives, so it's important to find a balance.
DU (※) starts at 1:00 p.m. , so I will try to finish organizing as much information as possible for the daily newsletter before then.
*DU: Daily Update - A meeting held every business day where SCGR analysts and economists update the daily news for three minutes each.
At DU, analysts and economists share information on world politics and economics. You can learn about important events in each country or region faster than the evening paper or the next day's newspaper. You can also learn about the background of events that have not been reported. If you have any questions, you can ask the person in charge directly.
In the afternoon , I usually spend time preparing reports and presentation materials.
Since presentations often require timely explanations of the economy, they are often prepared in a short period of time, such as just a few days or even hours.
We compile monthly reports centered on the commodity department, but the space is limited and only the main points are summarized, so many reports are based on that. At that time, supplementary explanations are added, so the volume becomes two to three times larger. We also try to fill in the gaps between the lines, including things that could not be included or omitted.
We are also currently analyzing topics that are likely to be of great public interest, such as trade and exchange rates.
After work, I gather information from newspapers and the internet, and read documents and books that I can't read during the day, and then I end my day. Even so, I can't seem to get through the things that I feel I need to do.
[Coming to work and teleworking]
When I'm at work, I often chat with the people around me.
Since it's just casual conversation, there are quite a few trivial topics, but I casually ask about political and economic situations that I don't usually understand. It's a valuable time to refresh myself.
When working remotely, I can concentrate on my work, so I aim to finish my work around 17:00-18:00. Unfortunately, during busy periods, I need more time to work.
Q: When it comes to input, what do you pay attention to and how much time do you spend on it?
A:
The Importance of Primary Information
The news is a way to learn about events, and once you have a general idea of what is going on, you can then look at the original publications. It is important to look at the original publications (primary information) to see what has been decided and what is written.
Since news reports are written by someone else, they already contain certain values and biases, so I make it a point to check the original source of information whenever possible.
For statistical data, check with the respective issuing authorities, such as the Statistics Bureau or the central bank. This will allow you to find important information about the compilation of statistics that has not been reported.
However, statistics are often just numbers, so it is important to read between the lines. Explain the phenomenon using multiple statistics, the phenomenon they represent, and the logic for interpreting them. Then, think about how it is likely to move in the future.
Read between the lines and think about what it means and whether it's important to you.
When creating a newsletter, the morning is the time for research, but in the afternoon, I research any areas that are lacking in information for compiling a report.
Why write a report?
When writing a report, the prerequisite is the act of "thinking." Think for yourself about the theme and how to proceed with the story. You could even say that you are writing a report in order to think.
Of course, as I write with some thought, other ideas may come to mind or I may have to change the way I express things, so it's a process of trial and error.
Reports and presentations are intended to convey the essence of economic phenomena in an easy-to-understand way. This kind of work is important, and if you don't keep doing it, you'll never grow.
It is also important to write in a way that is easy for the recipient to understand .
However, since there are many different audiences, it is necessary to narrow down the target audience to a certain extent so that the message is conveyed to that audience.
So, as a training ground, we try to give students as many opportunities as possible to write reports and the like.
Q: What percentage of your research is for English articles?
A: I have to look at information from overseas central banks and statistics in English, so I do look at that.
If it's not in English, translate it.
At this time, I check how the news source is talking about things that are being reported in the news. Sometimes the Japanese translation is the same even though the English is different. If different words are used, there must be different nuances. But it's not good to overthink it.
Q: Is there anything you pay attention to when writing a report?
A: It needs to be written in proper Japanese, logical, and above all, with an interesting perspective.
We pay attention to basic things like the correspondence between subjects and predicates, how to use conjunctions, where to put commas, whether to use kanji or hiragana, whether to use compound words, and how the report looks as a whole.
For example, expressions such as "continue to increase," "keep increasing," "keep on growing," "keep on increasing," and "keep on growing" have different solidity and appearances. I think it depends on the time and the situation.
However, often these parts are corrected during the internal check stage and sent back to us...
Also, when writing an economic report, make sure the content follows economic logic. If you read newspapers and business articles on a daily basis, you will understand this. It is important to understand not only what is written, but also what is between the lines and what lies behind the lines.
And it's interesting.
I hope that having this perspective and point of view will lead to some kind of business realization.
Also, depending on who is explaining, I pay attention to whether anything has been overlooked or whether they have misjudged the importance of something.
People who actually work in business know the economic climate of their own industry. However, one thing they are concerned about is whether it is specific to their industry, whether it is common to other industries, countries, and regions, and whether there is something they are missing.
Also, people who are actually in business know which positive and negative factors in the economic environment are important and which are not. However, there is a concern that they may be misjudging their importance.
Providing information from a third-party perspective is valuable in helping others confirm your own views, so I am conscious of that as well.
Q: What do you do with the data?
A: We do use databases in some areas, but for the most part I download the original data myself and create it in Excel.
Most of these are publicly available information. If you want to reproduce them on your own personal PC, you can do so as long as you are connected to the Internet.
I don't use any special information sources.
Collecting data and information is important, but how you interpret it and use it is also important.
Q: What does an analyst need?
A: Study. As with any job, it is essential to continue studying to improve your knowledge and skills.
Also, communicate with people around you in a timely manner.
People often say that since it's just a task, you can do it alone, and while that is certainly true to some extent, you won't grow by doing that alone.
When you listen to people with different perspectives, you learn things you didn't expect or didn't know. This can lead to new ideas and discover new problems. Even when chatting with people on your way to work, you're likely thinking about or coming up with different ideas.
Try researching and learning about them yourself.
Working alone may make you feel satisfied, but it may lead to self-centered thinking or it may not be what those around you want.
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