Dealing with an Incompetent Associate

Hi all! I'm dealing with an incompetent associate - any tips?

For context, I'm in a small firm so avoid getting staffed with them is not an option. It's not that they are lazy and don't do any work; but that I'm showing them the most basic intern-level skills (e.g., changing title on a powerpoint; how to vlookup; how to audit a model,...). It's eating up a lot of my time and sometimes what I want to say it "you need to upskill...seriously".

6,320 WSO Academy Investment Banking Session Reviews: 4.82/5

Class of '29 Oct 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Investment Banking Other

“Jonathan was a great mentor to work with. What stood out most was how specific he was. Instead of general advice, he gave me a real plan for my Evercore application: two short cover letters for M&A and Private Capital Markets, naming the associate I spoke with, and selecting “employee referral.” His resume edits, like rewriting the 400+ investor orders bullet and using stronger verbs with real numbers, made my experience much clearer. He also pushed me to apply by the deadline instead of waiting on the recruiter. Highly recommend him.”

Class of '29 Jun 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Investment Banking Mock Interview

“Sharon was very kind and very knowledgable. She was very friendly and took the time to explain concepts to me that I did not know as well. She had also saw that I knew easier questions and moved on to harder ones after she saw that I was able to understand the easier ones. She also gave me a lot of actionable feedback at the end, such as how to approach a question I do not know and what I should say as opposed to saying "I don't know". I need to work on that and have heard that from people, so it is something I will implement.”

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Dealing with an Incompetent Associate

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Dealing with an Incompetent Associate

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