What should a 1st year associate right out of undergrad be expected to know coming in? As far as financial statement analysis, valuations, Excel, etc. How long is the grace period/learning curve for someone with no experience?
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How would you be a first year associate right out of undergrad?
dude absolutely tore it up during the interview process
why can't you? It's the entry level position, bottom of the food chain
You do realize you're responding to a 13 year old thread right? Also because internal titles typically still follow Analyst-Associate-VP-MD.
From my understanding, in ER associates(entry level) are junior to analysts.
Yes anyone junior to the analyst is referred to as being the associate, but that includes anyone from Analyst to VP.
They really need to update that vault guide. ER hierarchy is the same as in the other parts of the bank: analyst => associate => VP => director/SVP => MD.
Hierarchy is not the same as IB. The lead job is the analyst, the people who work for the analysts are associates. Entry level job in ER is associate, then eventually you could be given the lead covering a group of companies at which point you would be the lead analyst. Those are really the only two positions in ER that matter. The analyst might get the title of VP or MD but hes still doing the same job as lead analyst of a group of companies unless he becomes head of research, more of a supervisory type of role over a group analysts.
This may be true at the TWPG and KBWs but certainly not at the BofA/ML and GS's of the world. At the BBs entry level are generally called either financial analysts or program analysts then associates, a handful hired directly out of MBA programs, and then lead or senior analyst. Senior analysts can be VPs, Principles, Directors or MDs really just dependent on the firm, but like you said its all the same job at that point.
This may be true at the TWPG and KBWs but certainly not at the BofA/ML and GS's of the world. At the BBs entry level are generally called either financial analysts or program analysts then associates, a handful hired directly out of MBA programs, and then lead or senior analyst. Senior analysts can be VPs, Principles, Directors or MDs really just dependent on the firm, but like you said its all the same job at that point.
How much is expected of you really depends on the analyst you're working for. Some analysts like to be very hands on with their models, others will expect you to do a majority of the modeling. Same with writing; most of the reports will come from the analyst, but some might delegate writing earnings recaps and news items to their associates. A big part of research is talking to clients/salesmen. If you're working in a 2-man group (you and your analyst) you're going to need to get up to speed pretty quickly. Analysts do a good deal of traveling to meet with companies and clients, leaving the associate in the office to handle questions/requests from clients and salesmen. Bottom line is you should walk in there knowing your way around financial statements, excel modeling, etc. so that you can focus on learning the sector and the companies that you're covering. They're not going to teach you finance, thats why you went to college.
Working titles (external) are usually restricted to Associate (junior position for UGs or MBAs) and Analyst (senior or "lead" analyst responsible for covering a sector)
Internally, pay grade and rank can be determined similarly throughout the rest of the firm, ie-associate thru MD as alluded to above. ER typically avoids the "analyst" title for internal purposes to avoid confusion regarding rank.
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