Hi champs,
I am 3 years out of college and have been working in analytics/corp fin/strategy. I took a few accounting & finance classes in school (contemplated a career in banking back then but never made the cut) and have friends working in banking, so I know excel, the lingos, concepts, what DCF is, etc. However, running a 3-statement model is definitely something I have to re-learn.
I have recently started a Corp Dev position in the telecom industry and guys, I am CLUELESS :( I got the job because of a strong referral, and I showed them that I'm curious and willing to learn. They know I have no investment banking and deal background, and they're willing to give me time.
To be honest, I am extremely worried at the moment. A lot of things are happening here as the company is aggressively expanding, which means I have tons of things to learn while the team is not available to dedicate the time to train me. Besides self-training to become a DCF queen asap, I also have to catch up on industry knowledge.
So my big question is, for a person with no background like me, how long would it take me to start adding values to the team? I'm estimating 3 months, and is that too generous? I really don't want to sit here like a flower vase and I'm trying really hard to learn as much as I could, but it's very difficult to do so without much direction. Would you mind sharing your experience on your first 3 months at your banking or corp dev job?
Also, any advice you might have for me regarding corp dev is greatly appreciated, (e.g. how to stay on top of things, is it possible to add values to deals that are already active, etc.)
Thanks in advance!
foggy I'm assuming you interviewed well and I wouldn't be too worried. Have you had the chance or have any ideas about potential training such as a WSP course? Perhaps you can ask your manager and see if he/she is willing to let you take the class course or even the online version?
If not, I'm in a similar position and started reading through Paul Pignataro's Valuation book: https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Modeling-Valuation-Practical-Investmen…
This book takes you step-by-step via Excel so its a good beginner book to get you started and a bit more competent in financial modeling.
Beyond this I would focus time and energy in learning about your company, your industry, and thinking of M&A targets and strategies. Maybe develop your own pipeline of potential opportunities and use templates to construct comparable comps models and down pro forma statements and review them.
Let me know if you have additional question and PM me because I have something that will help you...
Good luck!