What does a junior research associate do?
Junior research associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real junior research associate resumes:
- Manage investigator initiate and cooperative group correlative studies to identify biomarkers to ascertain tumor burden and clinical outcomes in lymphoma.
- Work on front end pages that are developed in a professional manner using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and JQUERY.
- Produce weekly industry updates and help to prepare initiation of coverage on new companies and create PowerPoint presentations for analyst marketing.
- Investigate the quality and application of enzymes for use in the food industry.
- Collect and report numbers to the DNI and affect agencies on a quarterly basis.
Junior research associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Junior Research Associates are proficient in Financial Models, Macro, and Bloomberg. They’re also known for soft skills such as Problem-solving skills, Analytical skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Junior Research Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Financial Models, 18%
Maintained and updated financial models based on SEC filings and quarterly earnings releases.
- Macro, 17%
Established and maintained an Internet accessible library of macros contributed by members of the statistical software user community on the Internet.
- Bloomberg, 12%
Developed macroeconomic comparison models for US, UK, & Japan using Bloomberg data.
- R, 8%
Explored generalized linear models and generalized additive models using R statistical software and ArcGIS software.
- User Interface, 5%
Contributed key expertise to user interface and communication software during development for the NASA sponsored Dante robotic volcano explorers.
- Statistical Analysis, 5%
Work included research project and survey development, quality assurance, process and outcome evaluations, direct-client interviewing and statistical analysis.
Most junior research associates use their skills in "financial models," "macro," and "bloomberg" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential junior research associate responsibilities here:
Problem-solving skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a junior research associate to have is problem-solving skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "survey researchers need problem-solving skills when identifying survey design issues, adjusting survey questions, and interpreting survey results." Junior research associates often use problem-solving skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "modified and maintained laboratory equipment adding substrate heating and improving reactive sputtering capabilities; built a spectrally resolved photoconductivity measurement. "
Analytical skills. Many junior research associate duties rely on analytical skills. "survey researchers must be able to apply statistical techniques to large amounts of data and interpret the results correctly," so a junior research associate will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways junior research associate responsibilities rely on analytical skills: "conducted intense scientific big data analysis. "
Detail oriented. junior research associates are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to junior research associate responsibilities, because "survey researchers must pay attention to details, because survey results depend on collecting, analyzing, and reporting the data accurately." A junior research associate resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "modeled detailed financial statements and performed valuation analyses based on primary and secondary sources. "
Communication skills. A big part of what junior research associates do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to junior research associate responsibilities because "survey researchers need strong communication skills when conducting surveys and interpreting and presenting results to clients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical junior research associate tasks: "maintain effective communication with patients to exchange pertinent information. "
The three companies that hire the most junior research associates are:
- MediaRadar
2 junior research associates jobs
- Raytheon Technologies1 junior research associates jobs
- GRAIL1 junior research associates jobs
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Compare different junior research associates
Junior research associate vs. Survey operations director
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a junior research associate are more likely to require skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "bloomberg." On the other hand, a job as a survey operations director requires skills like "survey operations," "qc," "survey data," and "data acquisition." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, survey operations directors reach lower levels of education than junior research associates. Survey operations directors are 13.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Junior research associate vs. Pollster
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, junior research associate responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "securities." Meanwhile, a pollster has duties that require skills in areas such as "conduct surveys," "survey completion," "telephone surveys," and "phone interviews." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, pollsters achieve lower levels of education than junior research associates. They're 18.1% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 3.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for junior research associates in the next 3-5 years?
David Simon
Professor, Stonehill College
With the surge in interest in quantum computation and related areas such as quantum cryptography, quantum communication, and quantum sensing, working knowledge of quantum mechanics has become a valuable asset for job seekers. In the past ten years, many start-up companies have appeared whose purpose has been to bring formerly exotic quantum protocols and quantum technologies to life in practical, real-world applications. Many tech giants like Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and Google have also recently founded initiatives along the same lines. So, these quantum technology companies have become a valuable source of potential jobs for new graduates who have a strong grounding in quantum mechanics, combined with either solid computational or experimental skills.
One other rapidly growing source of potential employment for new physics graduates in photonics, the science and application of light-based technologies. Photonics has an enormous range of applications that includes fiber-optic communication networks, self-driving cars, remote sensing for archeology, biomedical imaging, and remote detection of environmental hazards. Photonic devices are also one of the most promising platforms for the quantum technologies mentioned above, as well as being a key tool for many areas of fundamental science such as quantum optics and atomic physics. Non-academic jobs in photonics-related industries have been exploding in recent years, but the academic world has been slow to keep up: there is a widely recognized shortage of dedicated photonics programs at the undergraduate level. So, a student who graduates from a physics program with a strong background in optics and electronics is likely to find themselves with a wide variety of options in photonics-related careers.
Junior research associate vs. Survey questionnaire designer
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, junior research associates are more likely to have skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "bloomberg." But a survey questionnaire designer is more likely to have skills like "civil 3d," "legal descriptions," "gps," and "lot surveys."
When it comes to education, survey questionnaire designers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to junior research associates. In fact, they're 11.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 4.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Junior research associate vs. Survey analyst
Even though a few skill sets overlap between junior research associates and survey analysts, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a junior research associate might have more use for skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "bloomberg." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of survey analysts require skills like "analyze data," "survey design," "survey instruments," and "stata. "
The government industry tends to pay the highest salaries for survey analysts, with average annual pay of $77,567. Comparatively, the highest junior research associate annual salary comes from the finance industry.The average resume of survey analysts showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to junior research associates. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 9.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 4.0%.Types of junior research associate
Updated January 8, 2025
