Profile of an analyst

As highlighted in different sections, an analyst’s task is to make sense of an issue, to inform a decision maker, whose decision in turn can impact the situation.

 

An analyst’s skillset can be quite diverse. At a minimum in the humanitarian sector, a solid understanding of the humanitarian system is required. This includes basic knowledge of all sectors, the system’s mandate and architecture, it’s principles and legal basis, and traditional humanitarian responses (ACAPS 2016).

Next to this, analysts need to familiarise themselves with different ways of thinking, of which at least 12 ways have been identified. An analyst is aware of biases that exist, and of structural analytical techniques to mitigate them (read more here).

Skills of an analyst range from inductive and deductive reasoning, quantitative and qualitative reasoning, analytical writing and editing, to project management and networking.

Research from ACAPS (2016), organised the desired attitudinal skills of analyst into six different categories: