I started at a boutique restructuring shop a couple of weeks, I got staffed on 2 live deals my first day, and have been working 14-16 hour days including Sat and Sun. BUT... one of the VPs I'm working on one of the deals with, keeps giving me his leg work to do. Its not even necessary half the time, he just wants it for his own understanding. So I have a ton of crap to do thats not even necessary half the time, and its killing the other stuff I need to get done for the deal, half the time it ends up getting forked over to one of the associates because "Im busy working on XYZ."
I know he means well, a couple of the MDs make comments about how he said Im doing some really great work. I even corrected a pretty critical mistake in one of his models and the MD knew about that too, so he must have told him. But it sucks because I dont get to do as much of the good/important work.
How do I deal with this guy? He's a nice guy, and I think he feels like he's taking me under his wing by working with me a lot, but I would like to do more than analyze a company's performance sliced up 6 different ways and make up charts and analysis that the client, and prob the MDs will never even see.
This morning he came by my desk and saw something I did for the other deal, and he's like could you do something like this for ABC also. Its like he just wants it done for the sake of wanting it done.
easy. you have to communicate and learn to say no.
Just tell you you are busy doing something else and wont have time.
You are just too nice and seems like you are the office bitch
this is terrible advice. they dont pay you to say no; keep saying no and they'll find someone who - hmmm - does the work?. hes a brand new analyst which, by definition pretty much sums up "office bitch". do the work they give you and do it fucking well.
btw- congrats on the new job elan, sounds like things are going well
Its always easy to spot the prospective monkey.
BTW... didnt you get your offer snatched away?
For all the SA analysts out there, follow his advice if you want to be extended an offer and be at the top of the GET THE SHAFT list when its time to squeeze down the incoming class.
Elan- thats what you get paid to do, WTF, are you complaining that people are asking you to do work?
What I meant was that you have to priotorize. If the VP wants work that is not really adding value and hes just asking you just for the 'fun' of it, you have to say that you are working on something important. There are times you have to say no if you are really overwhelmed with tasks to the point you cant meet deadline.
Sometimes better communication precedes doing everything at sub-par quality.
I remember you mentioned that you were in back office for a year and then received this opportunity through cold-emailing.
i know where you're coming from, but this is how every analyst is treated. I went through this as well. Give it some more time and let the firm get bigger. Then you'll be doing more of the interesting stuff.
I'd say this paying your dues but until you reach the SVP/SMD level, you'll still be paying your dues.
Yea - balancing a lot of things with high priorities for different people is tough at first, but that is pretty standard at the analyst level.
There is always some guy who wants random info - just do it, get it done and make it seem like its at the top of your list (I spent 15 hours doing like 70 turns on a graph for a group head....go figure) Since you're new, you should be killing yourself anyway for the first few months.
glad to hear you you got in though, sounds like your busting tail paid off
Not to be a dick, but I'm not sure what you were expecting to do in banking. I do this in PE (without the charts).
I guess I should have been more clear... I just mean doing more of the actual valuations and bigger models.
I agree with x13,
don't BY ANY MEANS say "no" to a VP... I'd just get it done.
congrats on getting in.
That's your job so deal with it. As an analyst your job is to support people above you and help leverage their time which is better spent making more important decisions.
Do not say no. It's one thing if he's giving you complete bs work, but if the work is to help him make more critical decisions then that's your job.
I think there are times when you can say no, and I'll give you an example. One time, a VP on a deal team wanted me to start going through a bunch of diligence items after we had gotten a deal signed under LOI, and wanted me to do this ASAP. It wasn't anything terribly exciting yet potentially time consuming, but I would still feel obliged to do it because it's my job. However, at the same time, I was also running on a tight deadline to get an investment memo drafted for another deal I was working on, that absolutely had to be done that evening.
I didn't outright reject the VP, but I did let her know what all my obligations were and that I probably wouldn't have time to get cracking on it that afternoon. However, I did indicate that I would be happy to get working on that as soon as my other projects would be done, which would either be very late in the evening or first thing the morning thereafter. She was fine with my working on it the next day, which means I was able to escape the office by midnight. Yay!
Now, I obviously wouldn't have been thrilled if she asked me to start working on that at midnight, but I offered it anyway just so it wouldn't seem like an outright rejection (even if my "no" response was more or less implied by my merely enumerating to her what I had on my plate). I obviously didn't want her to tell me I had to stay overnight to work on it, as I didn't think it was that urgent anyway, but as the junior person on the deal team, it's not my call to determine what's urgent and what's not. That being said, what I learned from the situation is that while it's advisable to do as you're told, it's even more important to let people know if you're buried with work, especially if you're on a tight deadline for projects that are of higher priority. In those cases, it is better to politely decline yet offer to finish it at another time, rather than trying to be the hero and save the day when the probability of doing a shoddy job is a key consideration.
Anyway, that's my take on things. I do believe in saying "no" if you are very extended. I'd rather say no than to give people false expectations about what I can or can't do. However, it's really up to the individual to accurately assess what their capacity is. Do you guys agree, or do you still believe in saying "yes" unconditionally?
I agree completely. There is a huge difference between saying "no" outright and prioritizing. It's not about being an unconditional "yes" man just as you wouldn't outright say "no" to anything but rather, how diplomatically can you say "yes" so that you produce the best work, do the most important work - MEANSTWHILES making everyone happy as fuck.
look - if you want to be considered a great (read: top) analyst, you don't say no to anything or anyone. certainly not in your first couple of weeks. that's investment banking. if you don't care about being a top analyst, then by all means push back on stupid work. that is, of course, a pretty risky strategy in this job market though obviously much less so in restructuring.
eventually you will get to work on the valuations/modeling which btw, isnt all that terribly exciting after youve done them a bunch of times. Do not fret about not gainng that experience, esp as it seems you are quite busy on 2 live deals so theres some deal flow in your office. Given that its your first few weeks on the job I highly suggest you do not say no, you work hard on everything that is given to you and make sure you do everything correct. You got to prove yourself on the smaller tasks correctly before your trusted with the important stuff.
Also, this VP is somewhat taking you under his wing which is a good thing. Now, unless this guy is awful and never closes deals and is going to get canned next week, it may be in your best interest to just suck it up and take it.
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