I remember when I first started working I was very inefficient and didn't know a lot of things to "work smarter" essentially. Even now as I'm in my second analyst year I still think there are ways I could be faster and more efficient.
Looking back, what are some things you've done to successfully reduce the time you spent working, be more efficient or lessen the workload for yourself?
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I automatically log off around 11:30pm unless there’s an urgent deliverable or pitch due the next day. Then I sleep until 8am and have a fresh mind for the next day
Supremely underrated imo is templates and personal organization. I tanked 2 weekends where I had no assigned work, but just built templates and got organized and I’m convinced it not only gave me a better bonus, but I gained that time back before the end of my stint and in terms of knowledge.
Two benefits:
As an example, you should know what deals are going on at your bank right now or some of the more well known transactions from the past. Pull different formats of pitches into a folder and organize the pages into one big deck that has the different formats categorized. As an example, have a section of the ppt that is “bio formats”, another that is “positioning”, eventually you have a master deck that allows you to drag formats and create a pitch deck for everything relatively easy.
Another one that’s really simple, but a time saver, is having pre-formatted sheets saved down somewhere. My bank used to have a note format, so I had a file that was formatted and ready for a call without me having to put headers and get the sheet ready every time we had a call. Or another example, usually for excel files, you need to remove grid lines, create a title, etc. Have all that done on one file, so you can just open something pre-formatted and change things or have an intern change things.
Other two suggestions are learning how to actually use PowerPoint specifically charts and tables and creating videos if you ever teach someone something. If you need to teach an intern how to like send an invite, record that video call or do it in a video call rather than in person so you can then in the future just refer future interns or analysts to that saved video rather than have to walk them through a process.
Very helpful, curious do you have a reference list for templates that you have used
It’s incredibly bank specific. So no. If you are talking about more high level, I would say:
All I can think of off the top of my head rn, but you get the point. Basically anything you encounter in a deal has almost certainly been done before, don’t reinvent the wheel. The best way to look like you are on your shit is knowing what has institutionally gone on even though you weren’t there. A real hypothetical, your Associate or VP says there’s an upcoming pitch and you say, “hey, mind if I take a stab at creating a shell?” He/she says “I mean yeah I guess” Then you put together several examples of slides for each page in the deck and he/she sees well formatted slides he/she’s never even seen before and likes the layouts. This is the sort of thing that makes you top bucket because not only did you do your job, but they actually learned from you. I’d argue too, if you are smart about what you build, you share it with others at your bank more specifically people above you and it becomes an institutional tool.
Cannot agree more on this. I actually organized my deck depositories based on MD since some of them liked their slides better than others, and they really only used the same 60-100 slides across pitches and deals, but just changed out logos / names etc. They will like that you have the same idea of how to frame something on a new Company when in reality you just recycled a page from 2 months ago.
Get good at the job as an analyst from day 1 so the MDs request you onto their deals. That way you pitch less and can prioritize higher value projects that you can add onto your resume. In my a2 year I did no pitches which was great
To lessen the workload: if you finish whatever you are tasked to do faster than what is considered "normal", don't immediately notify your vp or md. Chill for a bit and deliver it "just in time".
Taking the time to learn all the PPT/Excel shortcuts saved me so much time. Excel is obvious but people sleep on the PPT shortcuts. Things like align, distribute horizontally/vertically, make background transparent, etc. were so helpful given slide comments can be a huge time sink.
I'm also a huge stickler about spreadsheets. Everything is sourced, footnoted, color coded. Output tabs are neat and linked to the source data. Nuances in the analysis are highlighted and have an explanation. There is zero math off the print range that is unrelated to the analysis. This may seem like too much, but the worst is when you do some messy excel work because you "don't have time to do it right", and then it blows up in your face when the MD is pressing you over a weird trend in the data, or where you sourced a particular number, and you can't remember b/c you put together a quick and dirty excel file 3 months ago with hardcoded formulas and zero things sourced.
Agree will all of that except the “print range” rule. Is that rule only for outputs? That’s not enough space for modeling anything substantive
Getting staffed with the right people. Learn who the more organized and efficient vps and associates are from early on and get into their projects. Find the mds who have the most interesting deals or areas of specialty so you’re utilizing time effectively by working for them as you’re able to learn what you’re most interested in.
I also watched some video courses in my senior year on ppt formatting, helped tremendously. Also learning excel shortcuts and formulas in high school probably helped as I was able to consistently practice speed and efficiency throughout college, internship and into ft work.
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