How to Use Your Analytical Skills to Land Your Next Job

Analytical skills are the ability to look at information, break it down into understandable components, and then draw insightful conclusions. Those with strong analytical skills often have the ability to quickly solve problems in an efficient manner. It’s important to have analytical skills in the workplace in order to find creative solutions, come up with innovative ideas, and assess important data. With analytical skills, you have the ability to simultaneously look at the finer details and apply them to the big picture.

Learn more: Important Skills to Develop for Success in 2020 & Beyond

You can separate analytical skills into the following categories:

Logical reasoning

Logical reasoning is the process of making inferences based on the information presented to you. You can break it down into three more specific categories:

• Deductive reasoning: The process of coming to a conclusion based on premises that are considered to be true. It’s commonly known as top-down reasoning since you make a generalized statement and then back it up with specific information. For instance, you could reason, ‘All dogs are mammals.’ which would prove that ‘All dalmatians are also mammals since all dalmatians are dogs.’
• Inductive reasoning: The process of gathering generalized information from specific scenarios to draw a conclusion. Referred to as cause-and-effect reasoning, it is the opposite of deductive reasoning. For instance, you could reason, ‘Each one of my supervisors has a master’s degree. This means I must earn my master’s degree in order to become a supervisor.’
• Abductive reasoning: The process of using all available information to come to a likely conclusion or educated guess. For instance, while on a jury, you will use all of the available evidence to decide if someone is guilty or innocent. Even if you don’t have 100% proof they did it, you will use the information you have to make your best guess.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the process of assessing information and then making a decision based on your conclusions. This skill is an important part of being an effective decision-maker. It gives you the ability to fully understand why a problem exists, how to find a solution, and ways you can prevent the problem from reoccurring.

Communication

When analyzing information and data, it’s important to be an effective communicator. It’s one thing to understand your own findings, but it’s another to be able to present such findings in an understandable way. Those with strong communication skills know how to share analytical information effectively and clearly.

Research

A major part of being an analytical thinker is having solid research skills. This means that you can find information and figure out how to apply it to real-world problems. Research doesn’t always have to involve studies, lab work, and clinical trials. It can be as straightforward as being savvy on a search engine or knowing how to access your resources. Even knowing which colleagues to consult is an important part of the research process.

Data analysis

Data analysis is the ability to look at a large set of data and draw meaningful conclusions from it. Analytical thinkers have the skills to find trends and patterns in sets of data. They also go beyond the identification of such and find ways to apply this data to the work they are doing.

Creativity

Although you may think of facts and figures when you read analytical thinking, those with this skill need to be naturally creative too. Creativity is a major part of finding meaningful ways to use data or information. Likewise, those who are creative tend to think of out-of-the-box solutions to challenging problems.

There are many ways employers determine whether candidates have the skills they are looking for. The first strategy they use is reading through your resume and cover letter to pinpoint specific skills you have. If they are impressed with what you provided, they may offer you an interview to learn even more about your professional experiences and qualifications. While searching for a new job, follow these steps to prove you have strong analytical skills:

1. Highlight them on your resume

When writing the skills section of your resume, make sure to include which analytical skills you have. Whenever you write anything on your resume, be prepared to answer questions about it in your interview. Likewise, under your professional experience section, you can add some responsibilities you had that required analytical skills. If you include a summary section on your resume, you can also mention how you use analytical skills as a professional.

Learn more: 6 Ways to Make the Skills Section Shine on a Resume

2. Include them in your cover letter

Your cover letter is an opportunity to give more in-depth reasoning as to why you’d be a good fit for a particular position. Share a specific time in your career when you used your analytical skills to overcome a challenge or reach your goals. Think of ways these skills are relevant to the job you’re applying to, and tie your story into why you’d be a top candidate.

Learn more: How NOT To Start Your Cover Letter

3. Discuss them during your interview

Prior to your interview, review your resume and cover letter to get a refresher of what you wrote. Have some specific examples to share when the interviewer asks you to discuss the experience you have. For instance, you could discuss a time you had to do challenging research for a project or used analytical thinking to come up with an innovative idea. When interviewing for a highly technical position, be prepared to show your analytical skills through a written assessment.