Almost 1 year into the job, little to no modeling experience to show for it...
Anyone else out there in the same boat? 10 months in and have yet to build or even analyze a DCF, LBO, merger model, etc. Most of my work has consisted of failed pitches, and a couple brief sell sides that also went cold. My excel experience has been mainly just comps and precedents, with some random shit tossed in here and there.
Crazy to think I'm almost halfway through my analyst stint and I have little to no tangible modeling experience to show for it, not to mention I've closed zero transactions lol. I haven't completely fucked anything up yet so I don't think it's a competence issue...I spoke to my staffer about all this, he said he'll try to slot me on some stuff with modeling work but have yet to see any. Anyone else feeling this?
Same here. Welcome to a recessionary environment. I need to exit ASAP. Waste of time.
Unfortunately this is just the way it goes in a coverage group during a recessionary climate. I work in a group known to be model-intensive and have a quarter the amount of experience of those above me. It really sucks.
It becomes a bit of chicken and egg
Initially it’s “you’re a fresh analyst, people more senior will do the model” - fair enough.
Then it becomes “well you’ve been here a year and haven’t / can’t model so someone else will model”
The only time i go into excel is to Factset refresh or add an investor / DD question to the tracker.
Same boat here. Glad to see this is a commonality. The unfortunate thing is now it’s on us to figure out how to model and self-study….. except we work 90 hours a week and have no time to do that :,)
Same here, 1.5 years into the job and only done one shitty simplistic model (if it ever was a model)
In the opposite situation, have been modeling constantly for over a year and in certain cases, with extreme complexity. It’s not especially rewarding, specifically when you grind 90hrs a week on complex models building out tax, lease, depreciation schedules, toggles all over the debt schedules to get a precise understanding of cash flow then the CEO/MD just disregards the output because it doesn’t match what they want to see in terms of value.
I’d rather be putting together comps, and pitch decks
Not at all uncommon. Majority of analysts leaving with 1 YOE these days are going to their next job without ever doing real modeling. It’s just not likely that you’re going to be trusted with complex work as a fresh analyst especially at a large bank.
Once you get that first rep of modeling on an important pitch or deal and it goes well, then you’ll be doing it on everything. On lack of closed deals; also not uncommon and in many ways completely out of your control. If you can snag 1-2 closed M&A you’re pretty solid. Sometimes it’s a problem (your group has no dealflow and no client relationships, or it does but you’re not staffed on any of it) other times it’s just luck of the draw (you launched 3 M&A processes 18 months in and they don’t close until after your program is over).
Financial modeling is like teen sex. Everybody assumes everyone else is doing it constantly, but only a few people are doing much of it at all.
watch your semi colon use. i worked with an analyst who used it wrong all the time and it really annoyed me. otherwise, this is a good take
truth. boggles my mind how many "bankers" dont know shit about modelling and how some aren't keen to even learn
Same boat here, but my case is even worse as I am in the M&A product group. 11 months in, and I have only done 1 merger model for a pitch, the rest of work has been spreading comps and assembling non-modeling slides.
Create your own modeling experience. I'll give a couple of scenarios to illustrate what I mean. Maybe you're in a group where the associate is just handling all of the modeling - I'm sure you still have access to the model on the shared drive: save a copy and know exactly how it works inside and out, then write on your resume "Built operating model …". Maybe you're in a coverage group where the M&A team is running the model, email the M&A analyst and say you're just trying to learn and wondered if they can send over the model - I'm sure they will. Now you write "Supported M&A team in building …", or hell, just say you did it yourself. I think that people either forget or don't understand this in terms of marketing their experience (disclaimer: only applicable at a junior level): you can create your own experience - you don't actually have to have done something, you only need to understand how something works and then people with believe you no matter what. In an interview, no one will EVER ask "Were you the one that built XYZ model?". They will only ask "How did you forecast X? How did you think about Y?, etc". If you can prove that you know how something works, I don't think you actually need to have done it. Again, I would say this only applies to junior-level tasks (building a model, picking comps, making slides, etc). Things like sourcing deals or running a process needs the real experience.
Corollary: it doesn’t even matter if you WERE the one that built the model, if you can’t answer detailed questions about it and explain the thought process behind all the assumptions. Demonstrating understanding is way more important than building. People build models and slides all the time without having the slightest fundamental understanding of what’s going on and why.
Gonna be honest, I think the modeling is largely overrated. Like yes it is an important skill but it gets massively overhyped because it is basically the only part of the job that you can actually teach in school.
It is so much more important to learn the processes and how to issue/opportunity spot. And for that you have the right idea. You need deal reps. Working on deals that actually close. But I wouldn’t worry too too much about the lack of modeling specifically
Are you in coverage or product group?
Modelling experience is completely overrated. Sure it’s good to get reps and be able to build one quickly but any idiot can link up an excel spreadsheet.
It’s far more important to know how to manage stakeholders, present your ideas, and have strong US GAAP knowledge so you actually understand the estimates and assumptions behind the statements you’re modelling.
How do you recommend getting better at the “US GAAP knowledge” so you can think intuitively about margins / trends and how it ties to actual financial or operational decisions?
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