Consultant. Analyst. Strategist. But what does that mean? Here's a guide to some common job titles

• Have you ever wondered what some of the most common corporate job titles actually mean?
• Even if they sound familiar, you might not be sure what people with these roles do.

You've probably been in a situation where someone has introduced themselves as a consultant, an analyst, or even a product manager.

Maybe you even smiled and nodded politely in response, even though you weren't actually sure what they did daily.

The corporate world is full of job titles that sound familiar. But if you've ever been too scared to ask what these roles really involve, you're not alone. So Business Insider checked in with people who hold fairly common corporate jobs and asked them to broadly describe what they do from 9-5 every day. Here's our guide to some of your friends' careers:

Consultant

The role of a consultant can vary between projects, firms, or industries. By and large, though, consultants focus on solving problems for business clients. They conduct studies on the issues they're trying to solve at a given organization, analyze that information, and prescribe solutions or recommendations.

Consultants "bring structure and an outside perspective," one management consultant who previously worked in the tech industry told BI. When they worked in a specific industry, "sometimes I was super zoomed in on a problem and certain ways of solving it. But as part of a team of consultants, we're able to offer fresh eyes."

Some top consulting firms include McKinsey, Bain, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Oliver Wyman.

According to estimates from Glassdoor, consultants earn an average annual salary of around $103,000 in the US. These are rough estimates throughout; workers in larger cities like New York and San Francisco earn more.

Product Manager

Product manager roles are among the most sought-after jobs in the tech industry.

People in these roles are usually responsible for overseeing the development and shipment of products at a company. They often collaborate with various teams to develop the right strategy, road map, and design.

Think of them as the "CEO for the product line," one product manager told BI.

Product managers earn an average annual salary of around $157,000, according to estimates from Glassdoor.

Creative Director

Creative directors are responsible for developing solutions to help businesses build their brands. They can be involved with anything from advertising campaigns to website design to product packaging or other marketing initiatives.

"Different problems call for different answers, so the creative output of our work can range anywhere from a 60-second film, a long-form documentary, brand activation, experiential marketing, partnerships, to even an AI-powered Met Gala dress," a creative director in the advertising industry told BI.

Creative directors earn an average annual salary of around $166,000, according to estimates from Glassdoor.

Program Manager

Program managers oversee the planning and execution of interconnected projects known as "programs." It's easy to confuse the role with project managers who oversee projects — short-term efforts focused on specific goals. Often, program managers actually oversee project managers.

On a day-to-day basis, the work of a program manager is "basically lots of meetings, tracking progress, sorting out issues, and connecting with stakeholders to keep things heading toward success," a program manager at Meta told BI.

And that means they're often balancing people and personalities. "A program manager needs to be always prepared for some curveballs!," another program manager told BI.

Program managers earn an average annual salary of around $108,000, according to estimates from Glassdoor.

Analyst

Some junior-level employees in the finance industry hold analyst roles. That involves parsing data, preparing reports of their analysis, making investment recommendations to clients, and staying on top of financial news.

In practice, that involves using tools like Microsoft Excel to build out financial models, making presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint (which can also involve some creative "wordsmithing"), and passing it all up the corporate chain for review, an analyst told BI.

"A lot of times we just get a data dump from our clients, and using that we'll make a story out of it you can tell to a layman," a first-year analyst at an investment bank told BI.

According to estimates from Glassdoor, analysts earn an average annual salary of around $87,000.

Strategist

The role of a strategist often depends on the firm they're working for or the industry. But they're usually responsible for analyzing data to find unique opportunities for a business — and helping it get a leg up over its competitors.

"My day-to-day varies based on the project, but essentially, it's researching and analyzing a topic to create insights that inform creative work," one strategist in the marketing industry told BI. "My job is to find connections between culture trends and the consumer and industry data."

Strategists earn an average annual salary of around $121,000, according to estimates from Glassdoor.