Got staffed on a really late stage deal and am confused on what to do as a new hire (Chicago)
So I'm at a top regional firm (Chic) and got staffed as a new hire on to a deal that is in it's final stages. All the analyst diligence, marketing, etc has been completed for a long while before I joined the firm. I sit in on calls and communicate a lot with the team to ask where I can help, and there have been some openings, but I don't really know how to contribute besides being up to speed and helping with the occasional ask. I get that they don't have as much for me since the others have been working on it for 8~ months now and I just got put on near the end. But feel bad since I see they're busy and I don't have much to do. I've just been looking at old materials and trying to study on my own. Any advice?
It sounds like you’re offering help like you should, so that’s really good. Keep listening on the calls and getting a sense of why people are doing the work they’re currently doing.
If there are significant presentations or financial models that are driving much of the work, then read through those things on your own and get up to speed. If there’s a data room or staging area with a client’s files, master those documents and know where they are.
If you are truly getting good enough that the others don’t have to waste more time explaining stuff to you than you are saving them through doing work, then your contribution to the project will naturally follow as you step in on things.
Master the underlying content and files that are driving the work your colleagues are doing, and then proactively offer targeted assistance to help.
P.S. There's a political aspect here too. If it's obvious to everyone that the other people on the project have things under control with minimal assistance needed, then it may be easier to coast a little on this one provided you can demonstrate your value elsewhere. If other people have it in the bag and there's an intern pounding down the door asking how everything works, then that can become a drag very quickly.
Very normal for the ending stage of a deal to be very light on analyst work (likely just listening in on CDD calls w/ tax lawyers and such) and updating DD trackers. Wouldn't worry too much about it and just raise your hand to your staffer and note your deal is in final stage and you have capacity.
That is quite literally almost all it is, for now, or occasional one off data pulls. I just offer to be the note taker on these calls. Also it's hard for me to keep up with all the technical tax and legal talk in these calls, should I be studying to try to understand all of ths?
Voluptas maiores perspiciatis iusto earum sequi. Et asperiores nulla eos sed.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...