Product Analysts are in high demand; the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts a 2% increase, with 2,060 new positions available per year through 2024. When it comes to being one there is more to it than meets the eye. Did you know, for example, that they earn an average of $35.79 per hour? That works out to $74,440 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the profession is projected to expand 14%, thus creating 118,300 work opportunities throughout the United States. So, let’s discover more about the product analyst career, their job description, skills, and salary in the US.
What is a Product Analyst?
Product Analysts are hired by companies to oversee product launches while they are considering developing or launching a new product or making improvements to an existing one.
These professionals use nuanced market analysis and their product development expertise to ensure a successful launch, as well as provide estimated costs for releasing the product to the market. They usually work for the entire product development team, reporting to a Senior Product Analyst and working with one entity or multiple companies at the same time.
Before taking on this job, most PAs have worked in marketing or product creation. So, they usually specialize in one industry, researching patterns and rivalry in that field. Furthermore, Product Analysts are in high demand; the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts a 2% increase, with 2,060 new positions available per year through 2024.
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Duties and Responsibilities of a Product Analyst
Product analysts collaborate with both developers and customers to introduce new technologies, as well as to recommend changes based on data and customer reviews. This career entails a wide range of obligations, including:
#1. Market Analysis
A Product Analyst’s most common job is to use data analysis tools to study consumer trends. Their key contribution to a business is accurately forecasting the costs of producing and selling a product, as well as future revenue and benefit. Also, they often generate reports about the performance of a given product and make suggestions for future changes, which they do by reading reports and reviews.
#2. Interviews
Product Analysts conduct interviews with current consumers and/or prospective users to gather input before releasing a new product or determining what enhancements can help boost sales of an already-developed offering. This can be accomplished by the use of focus groups, individual interviews, usability assessments, and anonymous surveys.
#3. Collaboration Through Departments
Individuals in this capacity must communicate with multiple parties from various departments. Product analysts also collaborate with marketing teams to investigate new business markets, advise salespeople on a strategic pricing plan, project planning, and launch costs for the finance department, and make suggestions to the development team.
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#4. Product Intelligence
A Product Analyst’s key responsibility, as the job description suggests, is to provide lifelong product analysis. Hence, this responsibility entails researching the marketplace to determine what is currently on the market and what improvements can be implemented to produce a better or more useful product. If the product is ready for sale, these professionals monitor its success in various markets and prepare comprehensive reports.
Also, their work usually does not end with the production of the product; rather, they track its market success to reach or surpass revenue expectations.
Product Analyst Skills
If you want to work as a Product Analyst, ask whether you have the following skills:
Basic Skills
These are the most basic skills we discovered in work postings.
- The willingness to carry out market research
- Excellent writing skills to prepare comprehensive reports.
- Capability to translate complex data into actionable targets
- Critical thinking skills to propose original and productive ideas.
- Interpersonal abilities to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders that may have conflicting interests
Advanced Skills
Although not all Product Managers have this specialized skill set, including a few of these on your resume will help you negotiate a better employee package.
- Experience in product management
- Advanced SQL (Standard Query Language) abilities
- Statistically sound foundations
Tools for Product Analyst Job
So, if you are applying for a job as a Product Analyst, you must be familiar with these methods:
- The Oracle
- Office Suite software from Microsoft
- Applications from PeopleSoft
Product Analyst Salary
Product Analysts in the United States earn an annual salary of $74,440, or $36 per hour. The top 10% earn more than $102,000 a year, while the bottom 10% earn less than $54,000.
