“My mentoring session with Andre was extremely valuable and gave me the clarity and direction I needed at an important stage of my application journey. He was kind, approachable, and generous with his time, creating an atmosphere in which I felt comfortable sharing my experiences, asking questions, and discussing my doubts openly.
One of the most helpful aspects of our conversation was his guidance on how to organize and communicate my personal story. Andre helped me understand how to connect different experiences into a coherent narrative, identify the elements that matter most, and explain their significance more clearly. His perspective was fundamental in helping me see how to present my background with greater confidence, purpose, and authenticity.
I particularly appreciated his advice on what to avoid. He helped me recognize that including every detail does not necessarily make a story stronger, and that being selective can make a message much more effective. Our discussion gave me a clearer understanding of how to avoid unnecessary repetition, keep my narrative focused, and ensure that each part contributes something meaningful to the overall application.
Andre also provided valuable guidance on how to organize the application process itself. He helped me think more clearly about priorities, how to approach the different components, and how to make the work feel more manageable. Having a clearer structure has made a difference to my mindset: instead of seeing the applications as one overwhelming task, I now feel better equipped to approach them through specific, achievable steps.
Another important takeaway was his advice on how to use the coming days effectively. Our conversation helped me understand where to focus my energy, which tasks deserve immediate attention, and how to establish a realistic plan. I left the session with a stronger sense of direction and a better understanding of how to balance thoughtful preparation with consistent progress.
What made the experience positive was the combination of practical guidance and encouragement. Andre offered suggestions in a considerate and constructive way, helping me reflect on my choices while also making me feel supported. His kindness made it easier to engage honestly with the process and to see areas for improvement as opportunities to strengthen my applications.
Overall, this session was fundamental in helping me understand both what I want to communicate and how to move forward. I now have a clearer approach to telling my story, organizing my applications, avoiding common mistakes, and planning the next few days with intention.
I am very grateful for Andre’s support and for the care he brought to our conversation. His advice gave me useful tools, renewed confidence, and a more focused approach to the work ahead. I would highly recommend a session with him to anyone seeking thoughtful guidance, practical direction, and a supportive space to develop their application narrative. The session helped me turn uncertainty into a clearer plan, and I feel much more prepared to make the most of the time ahead and present my experiences in a meaningful and convincing way.”
Just make it a habit to check your work. Also the first thing I learned is that in banking no one cares if you do the work really fast/ahead of deadline, but you get shit on if there are any mistakes. So don't rush
I think attention to detail does not come naturally to me either and I only get into the details when I am doing something (rather than reviewing someone else's work). However do mark feenan's words - accuracy > speed
You can practice and develop processes for revision and proof reading which can help.
It's just habit man. Just make a point to be meticulous and careful in the beginning and after awhile it will just come naturally.
Yeah just have to work on it. Assuming you aren't looking at an excel model, I find that I spot errors a lot better when I take a 15 min. break, print whatever it is out, and look at a hard copy.
yea like hpm said be systematic about it
Take some accounting classes. That'll teach you attention to detail.
Here's a tip that will spare you analysts a lot of red ink from your associate.
Proofread backwards. The human mind glazes over when you read a document front to back for the 5th time and beyond. You WILL miss mistakes. Start reading backwards, one sentence at a time, and I guarantee you will catch more.
print print print and then read everything, cant stress this enough.
It is all about the habits you form for error checking. Print everything out, add numbers by hand to make sure they are correct. Read right to left, bottom to top making sure each word is spelled correctly etc.
I like the bottom to top right to left advice. I'm going to try that. To echo someone's earlier post, if I'm strapped for time, I would rather hand an associate something 25 minutes late with no errors over something that's on time with a few wrinkles.
For the record, its obviously ideal to hand it timely and accurate work, but I'm just trying to prove the point that accuracy is an analyst's currency.
.
I learned the reading backwards concept in middle school and have used it ever since. It is very helpful for catching things that aren't necessarily spelling errors, but usage errors such as there, their, they're and the too, to, two. Those are my biggest pet-peaves and it is shocking how many college graduates still can't seem to use them correctly. Good luck samoan.
Attention to detail tricks/tips (Originally Posted: 10/03/2014)
So it’s no secret that attention to detail goes a long way in creating perfect decks/models and landing you that top bucket bonus. At 3am when you’ve been staring at the same deck for the last 12 hours, and the only thing you can think of is sleep, sometimes printing it out isn’t going to cut it when it comes to catching that misplaced comma on page 27. Here are some tips that have helped me improve my own work product, and hopefully others have some to share as well.
• F7 everything • Use a highlighter to mark edits on the hardcopy that have been made in the powerpoint • Ctrl F for double spaces • F7 all excel graphs in excel before you paste them into your powerpoint • Print your work and do a visual check • Check and make sure your font in excel matches the one you’re using in powerpoint • When it comes to proof reading, read out loud, read right to left and bottom to top • I take this one step further sometimes and turn on special access on the computer and have it read to me as I follow a long. Sometimes errors are found easier audibly late night when you’ve been reading the same words all day • Sleep on your work. If you don’t need to turn it in right away, don’t. You will catch more of your own errors with a fresh pair of eyes and a half decent night of sleep
I hope that helps.
Anyone else have any tricks of the trade?
I also like to switch to another project then come back in 15 minutes to an hour and look at it. I always catch a few mistakes.
I second the printing out of the presentation. Yes, it's not environmentally friendly, but I can't catch mistakes on the screen like I can on a physical piece of paper. Besides, it's what the client sees (until iPads are prevalent in the world of banking).
Great topic. Bump for more insight.
PDF files and look through it as a PDF. Can be easier to notice than when it's in PPT, Word, or on paper.
Use a flag/sticky on anything you need to address after going through the hard copy.
If you need to change a single word a bunch of times (ie conpany name to code name), pdf and ctrl-f. It will find both ppt and excel output instances.
Exactly this is a good one. And it will also find instances in visuals that were pasted 'as picture'
Have another analyst you can trust check it like a Nazi
Maybe an obvious one but flipping through slides really quickly on the computer is a great way to check that all the headers and stuff are in the same position from slide to slide.
One of the things that helped me throughout my first year was developing good working relationships with associates you trust to check your work but not burn you for making mistakes. Obviously you want to make as few as possible, but you eventually should get to a point where you can handle most, if not all of the book, and the associate exists to troubleshoot/deep-check.
Caveat: This depends a lot on culture and varies by group/associate. In some groups, associates function more as "super-analysts" than scrubbers. Some associates are also more comfortable splitting the book and giving your work a spot check at the end. These are the guys you want to make sure your outputs squeak before clicking send.
Attention to Detail/Safe Hands (Originally Posted: 03/09/2007)
Hey guys,
As a new analyst/associate, the problem that most of my friends seem to have is the attention to detail bit. From checking over that all the suggestions the MD made is in the pitch book, to getting all the revisions in, etc. Any hints on how you guys approached this? Checklist, etc.?
How to approach it? I just take a look and notice errors. Proofread and do not make mistakes. Checklist should be a.) complete pitch book and b.)check over and make sure you didn't fuck up. c.)turn back to MD.
Training will teach you how to do the work, but not how to do it well.
Inattention to Detail (Originally Posted: 04/12/2012)
You can't get a job with a typo in your resume, but you can put out an official government document with a typo in it. Fail.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/washington-secrets/2012/04/oops-…
Gov't career services fail
Wa waaaaa
lol pro
so not banker
Golly gosh...
learn to spell, looser!
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