Didn't get Rotational Program but Suggested to Apply for Commercial Credit Analyst Position

Any advice or insight would be super helpful! Thanks fellow monkeys!

Not a credit analyst myself but after sitting through many meet-the-firm events with commercial banks, the traditional path seems to be credit analyst and then choose/ get selected to go down either a relationship or analysis route. The relationship side seems to path up to a relationship manager and the analysis side seems to path up to risk.

Could be wrong so if anyone who is in this role could confirm, that would be great.

It looks like you didn't make the cut for the big leagues. But don't worry, there's still hope for you yet. As a commercial credit analyst, you'll have plenty of time to brush up on your Excel skills and bond with your fellow back-office brethren. And who knows, maybe one day you'll even make it to the coveted front office. But until then, keep grinding and don't forget to bring your A-game to those credit memos.

The Rotational development program is typically your golden ticket to whatever job you want in regional banks. Understand that as you figure out what to do - you will always be short-changed compared to the annointed ones that come from the development program. Always. Not intended to discourage you - just make you aware of the ways of the world. 

That said - a credit analyst position could be an opportunity, but it will depend on 1) you, and 2) the bank. Not knowing the size or strategy of your institution, I'm just speculating based on my own personal experience at what was a large, super-regional bank a long time ago. 

Typically, credit analysts are just spread monkeys who receive financials and spread the numbers into some system based on a rule-book. They will do this without thinking and without contacting the people in the front office in the name of "data integrity" and stupid credit risk management "best-practices". If you take that position and do that job, it will always just be a job. You may learn a few things here and there but you probably will always just be a spread monkey.

If you take the opportunity to work hard and use every single spread you look at as an opportunity to learn, grow, and be a better analyst that is connected to the front office and invested in their success... then you could very well end up leveraging that into a front or mid office position that is generally just given to one of the rotational program alums. But you will almost certainly have to be self-taught on how to do this. The banks will invest a lot of resources into talent development at the rotational program level - they likely want their analysts to stay in their little analyst pool and not see the sun or feel the spray of the sea on their face and know that a different life is possible. They won't encourage you to do separate projects or anything that would take away from hitting your productivity, turn-time, and quality service level agreements. 

TL;DR... if you like the bank and truly want to get into commercial banking - analyst slots are a great choice. You just have to make it the classroom that it can be - the bank won't do it for you.