Successful methods in teaching English

Analytical essay on “successful methods in teaching English”

Analytical skills are in demand in many industries and are listed as a requirement in many job descriptions. Analytical thinking can help you investigate complex issues, make decisions and develop solutions—and you likely already possess many analytical skills that employers value. In this article, we explore the definition of analytical thinking, how to identify which of these skills you possess and how to highlight these qualities during the hiring process.

Related: Best Skills to Include on a Resume

What are analytical skills?

Analytical skills are the traits and abilities that allow you to observe, research and interpret a subject in order to develop complex ideas and solutions. You can apply analytical thinking in just about every situation, such as developing or improving programs or products, relational issues, processes, identifying audience and client needs and more. Analyzing a subject means that you’ve cultivated an in-depth understanding of it and are able to speak to it with some level of expertise.

Most analytical thinking requires trial and error. Those with strong analytical thinking skills are often capable of quickly analyzing a situation, topic or problem, and often work well in a team setting to accomplish goals.

The analytical thinking process

The process of applying your analytical skills usually involves several steps, including:

1. 
   Identifying a topic, problem or issue
   
2. 
   Gathering information through testing and observation
   
3. 
   Developing solutions or deepening your understanding of the topic
   
4. 
   Testing solutions or new ideas based on what you’ve learned
   
5. 
   Post-analysis, or reviewing what solutions worked, to assess and apply your new knowledge
   

A key element to analytical thinking is the ability to quickly identify cause and effect relationships. This means understanding what might happen during the problem-solving process, for example, and examining how new ideas relate to the original topic.

Why are analytical skills important?

Analytical skills are important because they allow you to find solutions to common problems and make informed decisions about which action to take next. Understanding problems and analyzing the situation for viable solutions is a key skill in every position at every level. Developing this ability can improve your work, help you achieve company goals and eventually support your personal career goals.

Using analytical skills in your everyday work shows you’re a reliable and pragmatic thinker, able to base your decisions on meaningful data. For example, you have a limited amount of time to spend on work each day. Deciding how to spend your time in a way that will make an impact for your business can quickly make you a valued and indispensable team member. You can use your analytical skills to determine which tasks will help you make the most progress towards your goals.

If you are seeking a role specific to analytics such as a data analyst or lab analyst, you should build analytical thinking skills specific to your industry. While analytical thinking is a soft skill, analyst jobs will also require you to have specific hard skills that relate to the position. This also applies to roles with required technical knowledge like nursing, engineering or scientific research.

Many other jobs—including computer programming, architecture, teaching and customer service—regularly require the use of analytical skills.

Related: 20 Skills in Demand in Today's Workforce

Analytical skills list and examples

There are several analytical skills you may find valuable to include on your resume. Here are a few examples:

1. Critical thinking

Critical thinking skills are necessary in every job at every level—from associates and individual contributors to CEOs and entrepreneurs. Critical thinking skills provide the ability to question an idea, assertion or opinion that’s before you. For example, if you’ve been told that a certain task can’t be done or a certain goal can’t be met, critical thinking skills require that you ask deeper questions so you can understand what’s at the root of the issue:

• 
  Why can’t it be done?
  
• 
  Will time, money, manpower or expertise would allow us to solve the issue?
  
• 
  Will investing in solving the issue be worth the reward?
  
• 
  What might we spend our time on instead of solving this issue, and what would be the payoff of investing there instead?
  

Critical thinkers are also capable of identifying all aspects of a problem and understanding why a problem exists. They take the time to fully understand a problem in order to develop a workable solution.