2nd Year Analyst Lost at Sea

I feel compelled to drop my 2 cents here. Like your self, I had doubts sorrounding my career choice going as early as my first summer analyst stint. In fact, I didn’t click with the team or the requirements of the job at that stage - and I blame my immaturity and emotional impediments for that first and foremost - to the extent that, like your self, I felt a sense of boredom and dread about continuing in the industry and I looked elsewhere at the time.

But, nothing outside of banking really worked out and so I ended up at a lower tier shop which I absolutely hated; left a few months in to launch a start up with some friends and we failed miserably - frankly, the whole start up experience and scene is much over hyped and the ecosystem is far more attractive looking in from the outside that when one experiences the people, stakeholders and community upfront and close; there is a palpable sense of elitism that is mostly unfounded, I think. And honestly, the quality of people on average is lower than in IB/consulting/law unless you run into the people that started in one of those fields and later transitioned into a tech outfit.

So I found my self back in banking at a BB, and spent a few years in the game before experiencing the feelings you have right now - I viewed the job as a long series of presentations, politics and insignificant work; I looked at the Uber’s of the world with admiration and I wanted to be somewhere significant and doing something significant. My outlook was laced with a misguided idealism, looking back now in hindsight.

I left and set out to start anew and find a fit, but my background was more international and there were practical realities that I had to face which made things a lot more difficult than had I started in NYC or was an American citizen for that matter.

But beyond that, my experience taught me a ton about the different career options and the limitations and opportunities that come with each path. Above all, you need to understand who you are as a person and what your strengths are: self awareness is the foundation to stability because it allows you to make choices which hopefully yield outcomes favourable to your situation and personality and strengths.

If you thrive on developing social relationships and winning business excites you, you’re a business development guy - and banking is amongst the more interesting options down the line. If you’re a more introverted and geeky guy that likes numbers and due diligence and modelling 13 scenarios, you’re a buy side guy and should work to transition there because long term you won’t be a bread winner in IB. These are examples.

But anything you choose you just simply need to accept that the junior years will suck to a degree and you’ll be doing the mundane tasks and taking orders from people that you may not even respect. This is all the cost to advancing to the more interesting levels.

You need to accept the system; if you do and you manage to play the game, it’ll be to your massive advantage. But if you fight it or rebel against it, it’ll crush you. No matter how good a player you are, every video game puts in place pre-set conditions for you to advance to the next level and life and your job is very much the same in this respect.

Don’t bet your self down and hang a negative cloud over the very positives positon you’re in; people will notice. You need to own it, learn to it unconditionally well, and stay positive and vigilant. Do some reflective thinking and due diligence and experiment, within reason, without derailing your career path. It’s okay to try things, but do it with conviction.

Good luck and stay positive!