what does a research associate do 
a research associate s responsibilities can vary depending on the size and needs of the organization the end purpose of the job however is to provide helpful information to the decision makers a research associate could gather data from primary and secondary sources organize and analyze this material and draft outlines for their superiors if an equity research associate has had at least one year of experience at the firm they might begin to conduct fundamental company analysis with the goal of generating actionable information from the data a research associate can become an expert in specific areas or be utilized as a generalist to cover a broad range of products markets and industries a firm s research department provides critical time sensitive analyses of companies industries markets asset classes and economics to decision makers and traders on both the buy and sell sides job skills and requirementsbecause the end product of a research department is written research it s critical that a research associate be able to write well the role usually requires a bachelor s or master s degree in economics business or finance as well as facility with numbers and the ability to distill large amounts of data and communicate it effectively to others other skills would come into play as the individual advances in the role of research associate for example if they end up attending client meetings they might need good listening notetaking and intersocial abilities if they travel for pre initial public offering ipo roadshows they would need good presentation and sales skills and so on career path of a research associatedepending on an organization s hierarchical structure a research associate can be at the same level as a research assistant or above it and at the same level or below a research analyst the research associate generally spends at least two years at that level before moving up the ladder whether to a senior research associate role or research analyst position most organizations place the analyst position above the associate position by accumulating more experience a research associate can climb vertically toward becoming a senior analyst or research director or they may move laterally inside or outside an organization inside the company for example a seasoned research professional who does not aspire to become head of research could move to a product group in a marketing role or to a different part of the firm altogether it s also not unheard of for a research associate to decide that they prefer trading instead of research in the case of a research associate on the sell side a career jump to the buy side as an analyst also could offer potential advancement 