Are associates not expected to contribute to the work?
Is it common for associates to simply “check work” without contributing to tasks like creating slides? The associate I’m working with is usually the last to arrive at the office, the first to leave, and spends most of the time on their phone. I haven’t had any issues with other associates, they’ve all been willing to get into the trenches with me.
Update - she has been fired
Let me guess, a diversity MBA associate? We have a couple like that on our team and they are embarrassingly bad
Not an MBA associate, but likely a diversity hire. When I asked if they would be willing to help, they completely freaked out, lecturing me about how I shouldn’t ask an associate for help or “to do work”. Basically implying that this type of work is beneath them
LMAO that is bad. Did you try reaching out to VPs / other associates staffed on the deal?
For this deck, besides the MD, it's just them and me unfortunately. From the few decks I've worked on with them (50+ slides), there’s maybe one slide I could credit them for completing lol
I really don't want to reach out to my VP or staffer. I'm just trying to gauge if this is normal behavior and work expectations, that associates review the work while analysts handle all the slide creation from start to finish
I don’t believe that you did remaining 49 slides, especially if you are a female Analyst. You lot have a habit of whining and wouldn’t put up with this without multiple complaints to staffer.
If it makes a difference my associate is a female and I’m a male
There you have the answer. She is the DEI prize for MDs. You have no other choice as she will not work hard and is almost guaranteed VP Promo. Just try to get staffed with an another Associate. Sorry to hear man, can fully understand your situation
Update for you… she was terminated… :)
Should be working on stuff unless they actually have a long list of things to check
Spends more time on their phone than working, and the entire bullpen has noticed it. I’m mainly trying to gauge if this is common across the industry, where associates only review an analyst’s work without actually contributing to getting the work done
Sounds like a typical MBA associate
Yes, common for the bad ones lol
Sounds like you answered your own question?
Damn people not pulling their weight extends to IB too? Thought I could leave that behind in college
For sure a female Associate or an A2A promote who thinks she knows-it-all and has mastered execution.
Tbh, in my decade long banking career, the only Associates who behave this way are A2A promotes, with females Associates being especially prone to this behavior
Analysts who boss around associates are the worse. Keep your head down and work
It was the first time I asked her for help, and that’s considered being bossy?
Clearly now I won’t ask for help based on her reaction
at my SA none of the associates did shit lmao. would come in at 10 and leave at 4. the main reason i re-recruited.
which bank
not name dropping lol but one of those woke banks.
Speaking only for my group here - in London and we only have A2As and wouldn’t call anybody in the team a diversity hire:
It’s quite usual from ASO2 and above that they essentially become “pdf associates”. Fair to say it’s also got to do with us having few VPs. Associates do work on models frequently. Ultimately the analysts in the team regularly work till 2am while the associates finish before midnight most days and come in slightly later than the Analysts.
Keep in mind they have done the analyst job already and you need to make their lives better for them to stay and also to show analysts that it does get better if you stick it out for a few years. Also consider, the associate job is indeed to check, to give guidance, to communicate upwards and downwards and to help with the more complex tasks. And if they were at 100% capacity all the time they couldn’t help when time sensitive things come up.
then wtf are MBA associates useful for? They can't give guidance, manage, or check the work
To prevent analysts from being complete disasters to seniors
Yes....we do. I know the whole MBA associate being an idiot is a trope on these forums but consider this: after the first year and the AN2's leave and the new class starts, there is no analyst with more experience than any associate (excluding stub associates that just started).
I work with an AN2 that is weaker technically and I have to hold the pen on the Excel. So I farm out all the PPT comments and random admin tasks, which is fair.
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