Before start working as a sellside research associate covering financial stocks in Asia

Hello guys I wanna ask for some advices from anyone who's familiar with this topic I'm gonna start my first full-time job as a research associate at a BB, covering China financial stocks.

1. I've read through the latest annual reports of banks and security firms on the coverage list, some research reports about PBOC/macro economy in Asia, and is wondering if there's anything I can to further prepare for this?

2. What would you recommend a junior research associate to work on during free time in the first 2~3 years? especially when I'm covering financial stocks(assume that i do have a strong interest in this industry and would not switch in a foreseeable future).

3. Speaking of longer term, what's the key differences between a successful financial analyst and a successful analyst in other industries, such as semi/oil/car/pc/mining?

thanks for anything! Also for undergrads, if you have questions that I'm able to answer please feel free to leave a comment.