How Screwed Am I On Excel and PPT?

Starting as an IB SA soon and getting pretty nervous about the first couple weeks.

I’m not worried about working hard or taking feedback. I’m more worried that I just don’t have the Excel/PPT speed yet to keep up when things start moving. I know the basic functions and formatting, but I’m not someone who can quickly clean up a model, fix random formatting issues, or turn comments at analyst speed.

For people who have done the internship, how much did you actually know going in? Did training get you to a passable level, or did you feel like you needed to already be comfortable with shortcuts, modeling basics, and deck cleanup before day one?

Trying to figure out what I should drill before starting so I don’t become useless the first time an analyst gives me live work.

7 Comments
 

You will be totally fine. They won’t expect you to be an excel demon when you get there day 1. Just try to pick up on the advice they give you and manage your time well.

 

why do you interns make such a big deal of excel, it takes like 5 hours to learn how to not use the mouse and be proficient. 

 

Just build models for fun for public or companies you find interesting using info from 10k / investor presentations.

Start with a blank excel file and force yourself to go from that to a full DCF, annotated p&L and comps analysis with public data you can find from yahoo finance.

Google any of the above that you don’t understand

Do this for 5 different public companies in the industry your group is in and you’ll get proficient at excel immediately

Stop over complicating it

 

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