Working with an ex-MBA Summer associate now full time associate who is loved by everyone. I’m the only first years who works with him. He not only relies fully on me to do all the work (I did a 6-month placement before joining so I have enough experience to not need too much coaching and can work pretty well with minimal instructions), he absolutely has no respect for my time and that I do have a life
He can’t draw slides or come up with original ideas. I had to put everything together. Since I’m doing all the grunt work, he would ask me to do xyz for him whenever and wherever, even that time I told him I would be busy with family affairs (on a Sunday) so would appreciate some help from him or some extra time to do the work. He said “I don’t care”.
He loves getting me to work til 3am so that he can impress the Ds and MDs with something that is not due two days later, or that they didn’t even ask for them. Relentless phone calls, emails and PMings are guaranteed during the weekends when there are no deadline looming, cos he needs something done so that he can send to the Ds, “as he will be looking to see this first thing on Sunday for sure”. The D did not even look at it till one week later.
I’m suffering a lot because of terrible treatment from this associate. I loved my work otherwise. It’s hard work but I enjoyed it. However; working with this guy makes me feel suffocated. I’m not learning anything from him (tho I had to say his political game is strong and he knows how to manage up so seniors really like him). Other analysts have no problems with him so far as I am the only first year and he treats the second year analysts more like equals or even respect them, as they naturally know a lot more than him and have a higher status in the team.
A lot of my IB friends have encountered associates like him and their opinion is to not let him bully me. I need to stand up to myself. “Ignore ridiculous requests” seem to be a popular one surprisingly. I do start to push back a lot more now and he naturally was not impressed sometimes because of it. I just wanna know if there is a “professional and politically correct way” to manage associate like this. Letting an associate who is incompetent of editing models and slides takes control over my life is the last thing I want.
start recruiting boyo, if management is on his side you're at a loss. you could also bring it up with your MDs that said associate is setting unrealistic expectations. you're no stranger to hard work but its jeopardizing your health etc.
anyways had a VP like this who would keep me in office till 3-5am at least twice a week. one all nighter maybe every 2-3 weeks. super OCD about every little detail. career execution banker. Was really no other option for me but to transfer to another bank because management would take his side even if he was in the wrong.
My Ds and MDs in general are supportive of juniors and encourage us to tell them if any associates are giving us issues.
I suspect people like my associate would never change. He might calm down a bit since this is his first year as an MBA associate.
Asking someone to work til 3-5am just because is not ok. Did you ever just tell him it was physically not possible for you to finish the work?
Record everything and leverage your current job to get a new one. When you turn down the return offer, send everything you recorded to the MD and HR and say that while you have great respect for the firm and would have loved to continue there, what you had to endure under this particular associate made coming back unpalatable.
Lol are you serious?
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