The Analyst perspective of a daily day

One of my favorite things about working at CRA is that you can’t describe a “typical” day. You might find yourself generating similar calculations during various projects or tackling projects in much the same way, but the truth of the matter is, there is no predictable day at CRA. From the individuals you’re working with to the industries you’re working in, things are always changing (and that’s just within practices!). This week, I’m working on an antitrust litigation case with a small team of three whereas a couple weeks ago I found myself working with upwards of ten individuals addressing a second request for a merger. The ever-changing industries and the range of wonderful personalities that I get to work with is just enough variation to keep every day interesting but not overwhelming.
There are a few things that do remain consistent every day and those are the people that you work with. I thoroughly enjoy my job and the challenging cases that we work on, but hands down the best parts of CRA are the friends I get to work with on a daily basis. Every morning I come into work, I can count on a witty remark being made followed by an invite to play ping pong and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have a question or need help with some aspect of what I’m working on. Having these friendships makes coming to work every day an exciting experience.
Though I feel that most of my interactions from day-to-day are within my practice, Boston’s new office has allowed for much more mingling between practices. During a quick game of ping pong or a trip to the kitchen for a boost of energy (I’m very appreciative of the Cool Ranch Doritos), you’ll often run into individuals from other practices. I started off as an intern at CRA during the summer of 2015 and most of the interns work in the other practices, so it’s always fun to catch up with them and hear what kind of work they’re doing. Even on weeks where I don’t run into my usual familiar faces, often a softball game or social event planned allows the company to come together.
In terms of projects, most days I am working in Excel and Stata on various requests which are typically presented to me through the project manager. When you’re being worked onto a project or a project is just coming in, it is typical to sit down with the project manager and receive a briefing on the industry of the project, become accustomed to the market that these companies are competing in, and gain information on the types of data or documents that we have received. From there you will be doing different types of tasks including becoming familiar with the industry, cleaning the data, running calculations on the market and companies sales, amongst other requests that will emerge as the project nears the end date.
Whether it’s a new project coming in, a new hire starting, or a surprising ping pong victory, each day at CRA has a unique charm to it!