Being a Great Junior Analyst
(Gorilla, 585
Points)
on 5/9/12 at 9:55am
This is an open ended question, but what makes a great analyst? I assume that as a junior analyst working for one or more senior analysts on the buy-side you are probably fleshing out their ideas more than coming up with your own (or maybe I'm wrong). What are ways that junior analysts can best add value and move up the chain of command without overstepping their bounds?
A few general and then
A few general and then specific ideas
1) automating everything you can and not fucking up the basics. get through this phase as fast as possible--it will be the first few months on the job if you're good, for some it takes a year or two.
2) showing occasional flashes of insight--mathematical, how a company works, etc.
3) always outworking your alleged peers
4) having a great attitude
5) challenging your superiors' theses thoughtfully when you actually have a point--this requires a lot of discretion and soft skills, and the longer you are on the job the better you will recognize sound versus unsound lines of reasoning. don't get a big head because they are most likely leagues ahead of you, but if there are details that contradict or shoot a hole through a thesis, bring them up. you will be starstruck by the brilliance of some people esp. if you work at a great shop for the first few months, but once you get more on their level in terms of understanding finance/mathematics by learning on the job/reading you will be able to talk more intelligently.
6) understanding something esoteric that is actually important and that your superiors don't have a great grasp on--if you take the time to understand some weird corporate situation and event or some cutting-edge volatility forecasting model or whatever, and present to them thoughtfully why using it would be a good idea/can demonstrate how it makes everybody money, you are adding value. the flip side is that things are esoteric for a reason so you will be doing heavy lifting intellectually.
7) learning how to pitch a great idea--they will slowly work you into this, and being able to concisely sum up your thesis convincingly is very difficult
Look, most of this is simply just related to having fundamental curiosity about the world and not being stuck-up enough to think that learning the basics doesn't apply to you. Learn the basics. Do the basics faster and better than any of your peers. Once you get an idea of what you like and don't like, find a really fucking hard problem that you want to attack that nobody knows the true answer to and that your MD permits you to work on, and become an expert at all previous approaches to solving it, and then present your bleeding edge solution to the group.
If you are interested enough in solving these problems, you just might make a career out of this if the people around you don't screw you over out of jealousy or spite. This is why there is hopefully a good culture in place and presenting portfolio ideas doesn't turn into a blood sport.
It's probably different at
It's probably different at other buy side shops (and its never this way on the sell side), but our associates are given coverage straight out of undergrad. Generally they are given names that we are less likely to invest in. Then they build up coverage over time.
Automation to the extent that you can accomplish it is helpful.
I would not be so keen on going out of your way to try to show "flashes of insight" as you might make yourself look like a fool. Worry about making money for the PM as that's all they care about.
Work hard and don't mess up
Work hard and don't mess up
syntheticshit: A few general
A few general and then specific ideas
1) automating everything you can and not fucking up the basics. get through this phase as fast as possible--it will be the first few months on the job if you're good, for some it takes a year or two.
2) showing occasional flashes of insight--mathematical, how a company works, etc.
3) always outworking your alleged peers
4) having a great attitude
5) challenging your superiors' theses thoughtfully when you actually have a point--this requires a lot of discretion and soft skills, and the longer you are on the job the better you will recognize sound versus unsound lines of reasoning. don't get a big head because they are most likely leagues ahead of you, but if there are details that contradict or shoot a hole through a thesis, bring them up. you will be starstruck by the brilliance of some people esp. if you work at a great shop for the first few months, but once you get more on their level in terms of understanding finance/mathematics by learning on the job/reading you will be able to talk more intelligently.
6) understanding something esoteric that is actually important and that your superiors don't have a great grasp on--if you take the time to understand some weird corporate situation and event or some cutting-edge volatility forecasting model or whatever, and present to them thoughtfully why using it would be a good idea/can demonstrate how it makes everybody money, you are adding value. the flip side is that things are esoteric for a reason so you will be doing heavy lifting intellectually.
7) learning how to pitch a great idea--they will slowly work you into this, and being able to concisely sum up your thesis convincingly is very difficult
Look, most of this is simply just related to having fundamental curiosity about the world and not being stuck-up enough to think that learning the basics doesn't apply to you. Learn the basics. Do the basics faster and better than any of your peers. Once you get an idea of what you like and don't like, find a really fucking hard problem that you want to attack that nobody knows the true answer to and that your MD permits you to work on, and become an expert at all previous approaches to solving it, and then present your bleeding edge solution to the group.
If you are interested enough in solving these problems, you just might make a career out of this if the people around you don't screw you over out of jealousy or spite. This is why there is hopefully a good culture in place and presenting portfolio ideas doesn't turn into a blood sport.
Resurrecting this thread to point out that this is the best post I have ever read on WSO.
I hate victims who respect their executioners
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^^ Agreed syntheticshit
^^ Agreed syntheticshit killed it
I guess I'm doing something
I guess I'm doing something right since I've done all of the above!!
syntheticshit: A few general
A few general and then specific ideas
1) automating everything you can and not fucking up the basics. get through this phase as fast as possible--it will be the first few months on the job if you're good, for some it takes a year or two.
2) showing occasional flashes of insight--mathematical, how a company works, etc.
3) always outworking your alleged peers
4) having a great attitude
5) challenging your superiors' theses thoughtfully when you actually have a point--this requires a lot of discretion and soft skills, and the longer you are on the job the better you will recognize sound versus unsound lines of reasoning. don't get a big head because they are most likely leagues ahead of you, but if there are details that contradict or shoot a hole through a thesis, bring them up. you will be starstruck by the brilliance of some people esp. if you work at a great shop for the first few months, but once you get more on their level in terms of understanding finance/mathematics by learning on the job/reading you will be able to talk more intelligently.
6) understanding something esoteric that is actually important and that your superiors don't have a great grasp on--if you take the time to understand some weird corporate situation and event or some cutting-edge volatility forecasting model or whatever, and present to them thoughtfully why using it would be a good idea/can demonstrate how it makes everybody money, you are adding value. the flip side is that things are esoteric for a reason so you will be doing heavy lifting intellectually.
7) learning how to pitch a great idea--they will slowly work you into this, and being able to concisely sum up your thesis convincingly is very difficult
Look, most of this is simply just related to having fundamental curiosity about the world and not being stuck-up enough to think that learning the basics doesn't apply to you. Learn the basics. Do the basics faster and better than any of your peers. Once you get an idea of what you like and don't like, find a really fucking hard problem that you want to attack that nobody knows the true answer to and that your MD permits you to work on, and become an expert at all previous approaches to solving it, and then present your bleeding edge solution to the group.
If you are interested enough in solving these problems, you just might make a career out of this if the people around you don't screw you over out of jealousy or spite. This is why there is hopefully a good culture in place and presenting portfolio ideas doesn't turn into a blood sport.
Out of interest, what kinds of things do you have in mind when you say automate everything you can?
the concise part of number 7
the concise part of number 7 is very important. Learned this the hard way lol.