I'm a banking analyst and it's my first week on the job and I already made a boat load of typos in a deck that we sent to a client. Is it common to make mistakes? Will I get shitty staffings now?
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Really uncommon. Might not pass probation period.
You might be fucked. If you lost the client, start packing up your things now. If not be prepared to eat shit and like it.
I'm just here for the comments on this one... Wait - are you just trolling?
You might as well forget about ever spreading comps again; you'll likely be spreading cream cheese and lox for the top bucket interns.
I will take some Lettuce, Tomato, and Onion with that please
Why would any group allow an intern or new analyst to send anything without being looked at by an associate or more senior analyst?
Also truth be told depending on what it was it may not have even been read or paid attention to
Probably not terrible, just have to avoid making same mistake again (not proofreading)
First week on the job and you're sending shit to the client without someone else looking over it?
You're at fault, but so is the bumblefuck who's supposed to be checking your work.
Happened to me a few weeks ago and I got fired.
Learn to use the F7 key. And buy yourself a subscription to WSO Videos.. they have a great PowerPoint hints video.
so as an intern...
you were sending out data sensitive information...
to a client...
and no one looked at it?
Spell check dude.
if you were allowed to send materials to client as an intern, without work checked, you probably don't want to work at this firm.
if you are stupid enough to send materials to client without specific instructions to do so, then you don't deserve to work in banking.
clearly a troll. wouldn't happen in a respectable shop
On a positive note, if you learn how to say "would you like fries with that" in English and Spanish you may just have a nice relocation opportunity in south central LA that may actually pay more than banking based on the increasing minimum wage. Young money.
Yeah, we just fired a new kid last week who did that. It's a shame to see them go.
Yeah sounds like a troll. Even most non-financial institutions use a "two eyes on" rule for any important correspondences. NOBODY, regardless of rank, publishes deliverables without the having been at least quickly checked for minor errors and typos.
it could happen at a less structured bank. In which case you're especially fucked, cuz people will only say poor things of you
I see it going one of two ways:
1) the client misses it and you get a pass, everyone in the office who say will take note and for the foreseeable future you'll probably get shitty staffings and be the butt end of office comedy
2) the client sees it and takes exception to it. The MD gives the VP shit who in turn gives the associate shit who then turns to you and shits on you. Maybe you survive, maybe you don't.... really depends on how generous your superiors are and how much business you (may have) just lost
Keep screwing (Originally Posted: 01/12/2013)
I recently started my first banking job at a boutique and I keep screwing up missing little details in pitch books, a lot of formatting issues. Today I was working on a research assignment and was told to redo to be more specific and I forgot to update Power Point with the new data. The associate said I did a better job with this pitch book than other one last week. But I still can't help but feel like shit cause I am fucking up.
Its kind of disheartening messing up my first week. Its my first banking job so I feel like I've started in bad foot.
What are some tips, to get better at attention to detail. I don't try to rush but after looking at the same thing for awhile I don't see the mistake.
Am I expected to mess up quite a bit a for my first month? Can I still recover from my bad first week?
Okay first piece of advice is RELAX.
Go look up some principals of meditation "Worrying has no positive impacts" in a main tenant. Now not saying not to "care" what I'm saying here is most people that go into Investment Banking have severe type A personalities and expect to be perfect from day one... We know you will mess up. So below are some basic tips for a complete newbie.
If you provide more info on the type of mistakes you're making, happy to respond.
Finally, seriously relax, if your "errors" are formatting... Thats nothing compared to some bigger errors first years make. Like sending out "draft" copies to clients. Formatting errors can be found in any pitchbook beyond 50 or so pages... seriously.. every single one of them... there will be something wrong in there.
You know what... Actually it seems like you're doing a GOOD job because they are giving you work and assigning you more work. Thats not a joke comment.
"Don't worry if they yell or get upset... Worry when they no longer assign you work"
If they don't want to assign you work... See you in the conference room.
I'm saving this. About to start my first job at a boutique PE shop and I have a feeling I'm gonna need this. SB for you sir.
before submitting a draft, print out a hard copy and read through for spelling mistakes, correct formatting, numbers tying, etc. triple check everything. besides that, what more can you do, right?
this is not the end of the world. bankers have a tendency to make stupid shit seem ridiculously important, can't let these small things get to you.
LOL, I remember for my banking internship this summer I was updating a universe for precedent transactions. The implied EV/EBITDA for a comp was 19x, I thought, "NBD. They must have really wanted these guys, thought they could unearth a lot of value, etc." NO! Just print it out, go over it slowly, catch what you can.
Good luck!
Was a BB analyst and then associate, now a senior associate in PE. Used to think I would never cut it as a banker since my books had mistakes in my first year.
Always print out and read once before submitting anything. ALWAYS
Know what the standard analyst mistakes are and make sure they aren't there in your book, for example - numbers across the book should tally (no difference in revenue numbers between slide 1 and slide 3), if you are updating an old book then be doubly careful that all info is updated, font sizes should be same ( a print can quickly catch this), standard colors across the book, all footnotes should be updated and tie in with whatever is the the main body. Most mistakes happen because you tend to get into a processing mode and shut down the basic filtering mechanism in your head. Just take a step back and check if whatever you have written makes sense and you can explain any questions that might pop up in the mind of the reader.
Look for inconsistencies in financials, growth is usually positive and steady unless its some dot com or distressed asset, margins don't move up or down dramatically (if they do, understand why that happens), multiples for companies in a sector will be broadly in line, a 20-30% difference is fine, if 200% then question why and check your numbers again.
But its a simple game of being hyper paranoid about every single word and number in your slides and in 3-4 months you will internalize this stuff and be able to do things correct the first time around. Its not natural for people to focus on getting their commas and decimal points right, it is an acquired skill
I dont post much but you seem to have the right attitude, so thought I'd drop my 2 pence, Just hang in there and keep up the attitude, you will do really well.
Proofread everything carefully multiple times.
Stay disciplined when you go back through things. Think about each sentence and each number again individually to see if they make sense by themselves.
The "good" news is that before too long this will come naturally to you, and you'll be able to "feel" when things are wrong, or off... the bad news is it'll take a year of working 14 hours a day on bullshit to develop that ability, and you wont be able to work quickly and efficiently on things that have to be right for closer to two years.
And don't beat yourself up too badly. A lot of people make mistakes at their first job.
I'd just like to point out that the thread title is a little misleading. I was expecting a Brady-style "like rabbits" in the body of the text. Try reading your work from another's point of view...it might help you uncover details such as this in your work product.
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