Buddy of mine is starting a gig as a full-time associate at an EB next year. He doesn't just want to be a passive associate, but someone who can run models and comfortably perform any task an analyst can. Is this even possible? If so, how does one get there? How have your experiences with associates been? What works and what doesn't? Any general advice would be appreciated.
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In the long run, yes, but in the short run, no.
Think of it this way: the A2A has two to three years of IB training whereas the MBA associate has zero. Imagine if you had a runner start ten lengths ahead of another runner and expect that second runner to catch up within the first minute of the race. Doubt it happens. As they progress in their careers, they will come to an equilibrium as their roles will turn away from being quantitative in nature to being qualitative.
Given that it's possible to close the gap on the technical side, how does one maximize the odds of doing so? Any general advice or tips / tricks to get there faster?
Stay late and act like an analyst for your first 6 months on the job. Even when you don’t have to be there, spend time reviewing models, getting faster at excel shortcuts, etc. That was the advice I received. Some banks/groups even staff new MBA associates as analysts for the first couple months, which would help getting ramped up quickly.
This is really good advice. It's all about hard work and actually putting in the time to learn it.
Also - don't be an asshole to second / third-year analysts because you're "senior" to them (lol). Most good ones can run absolute circles around you for the first few months. If you view yourself as their colleague at the beginning (ask them what makes the most sense for division of labor, ask questions when you don't know what to do), you will find that having them on your side pays dividends. They will quickly show you the lay of the land and are often then willing to help show you the ropes with modeling, etc..
TLDR; the worst (and most annoying) associates were the ones who came in after graduating from their MBAs thinking they were finance gods and tried to boss around people who had more on-the-job experience. If you instead focus on befriending them, you will quickly learn what it takes to excel at the job
You guys fucking astound me. Banking technical skills aren't hard or "quantitative". Have you ever heard of this thing called self-studying? You know, the thing you did in school? It's amazing and revolutionary. Did you guys ever take college math classes? Amazingly on day one you don't know how to do something and then after your final you can do math. Are you guys really all this dumb? If your "buddy" wants to be technically proficient, it's as easy as cranking open Wall Street Prep videos and rebuilding models from scratch. 2 weeks of practice later and wham bam thank you maam - you can model.
Jesus christ.
Word
Excel
It astounds me how upset you are over an internet post.
^word
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Like the others have replied, not at first. 2 years in banking is half a lifetime of experience.
New associates are generally pretty useless for the first few months. There are exceptions, but like anything, it takes a little while to ramp up.
By VP, there should be no difference between post-MBA vs. A2A
From a VP - I do not care if my associate is an A2A or an MBA assoc (as long as 6+ months on desk). I care about how much value you can bring the project. In my experience, A2As and mba associates have different relative strengths and weaknesses - A2As tend to be worse at team management/collaboration, bedside manners with client, communication and organization skills, tendency to go AWOL / not be as reliable, but obviously rock stars when I need somebody to put head down and crank out fairness deck in 2 days. So if an MBA associate can do all of those management skills that a lot of A2As (not all obviously) fall short on (even if not as fast at cranking out pages) + two rockstar 2nd yr analysts, I’m taking that team all day.
Just curious why you are using the "buddy" excuse, you can admit you're asking for yourself. No one is judging.
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