An appointment with the analyst

One of Wang's colleagues in her studio who used to work in the factory is always asking questions about the flow rate of components and parts from inventory. Within a year he became a data analysis specialist on work at the manufacturing center.

"With his experience on the factory floor and his inquisitiveness he has got into the swing of analytical work really quickly," Wang says.

Those who work in the business department are apt to think that the way you visualize data is through figures in the Microsoft software Excel and PowerPoint, she says.

As data tools become more prevalent, she hopes such staff can link their data visualization reports with their database.

"It used to be that a database was often so large that it couldn't be put into Excel, but with new tools that can now be done."

Programming can become incredibly tedious once you have done it for a few years, she says, whereas with data analysis, even if the same analytical processes are at play, dealing with different data or different areas of business can offer myriad different results.

"Data analysis produces optimal solutions rather than absolute answers. On the other hand, in programming you're going to come up with a unique solution, and if you don't, it means you have a bug."

Zhang Xiaorui, 37, has been a senior financial planning analyst at Mindray, a global provider of medical devices and solutions in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, since 2015.

Zhang, who has a bachelor's degree in accounting, started her career as an accountant in 2005. Ten years later she decided to make a career change by becoming a financial analyst.

"By chance I was given the task of writing a report analyzing the way a particular company worked with others in its operations, and it got me looking for a job that could combine accounting and analytical skills."

In her first year as a financial analyst she had to learn a lot about business operations. "My desk used to be covered with paper, receipts and bills as an accountant, now the desk is empty with only a computer," Zhang says.

"I now deal with multiple systems, including database and software, and it has taken a while to get used to it all."

Zhang started her new job by using Excel to do data analysis. When she learned about the data visualization platform Tableau at a presentation two years ago, she was attracted by how quickly it can manage huge amounts of complex data.

Tableau, the creation of three computer science researchers at Stanford University in California in 2003, converts raw data into an easily understandable format. It gathers and extracts data stored in various places, and the visualizations created are in the form of dashboards and worksheets. The platform allows a non-technical user to create a customized dashboard.

Zhang says she taught herself how to use Tableau, and each time updates are made, she looks closely at how they can be used in her reports.

"Whenever Tableau holds a product launch I'm like a geek avidly watching one of those big streaming Apple events. When you use a graph to disseminate information it's more direct and faster, with less loss of information, which is why I like to make reports with graphs.

"Also, as financial analysts our reports go to senior managers who see tons of these things every day, so they want to be able to see the most important messages very quickly and very easily."

Zhang thinks the traditional accountancy work she did 10 years ago will eventually be replaced by artificial intelligence or other technology.

"But what I'm doing now is irreplaceable, because it needs personal judgment on the direction and risks."

Only very big companies need, or can afford, dedicated financial analysts, she says and in smaller companies it is the owner or financial manager who assumes the responsibility for this kind of work.

Most chief financial officers were once a financial analyst, and many chief financial officers go on to become chief executive officers, so the prospects for anyone doing a job like hers are rosy, she says.

Her company Mindray employs 160 people in its financial department, she says, of whom a dozen are financial analysts.

"The position needs at least five years' experience in analysis or finance, and most of us are transferred from traditional finance work. To become an excellent financial analyst you need to be an interdisciplinary talent who knows both finance and analysis and how to run a company."