I just received my analyst reviews from my bank and thought they were unthoughtful and generic. The review listed things that we hear all the time in investment banking like "more attention to detail", "better execution of financial analysis", "more expertise in industry specific sub verticals", etc. These are obviously helpful tips for an extended career in Investment Banking but, in reality, they are not going to make your work better. I have been a top bucket analyst for the past two years and wanted to share a couple things that have helped me produce better than average work, including:
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Double check everything on paper and separating myself from work before turning back and reviewing
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Subscribing and using online investment banking tools like BAM~SEC and MEMO~FI (www.memo~fi.co) to have an edge on your competition
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Adhering to your superiors demands regardless of whether you have better ideas or believe you have a more correct way of doing things
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Practicing financial analysis outside of typical staffings as you will not be given a model in a long time and need to be ready when you are
What is some of the feedback you guys hear from your 360 reviews? And, what is some real life advise that helped you be a BETTER ANALYST?
I was able to survive as an analyst until now by being able to effectively manage stress levels during the job. Your energy levels are directly related to stress and thus your work product is also related to it. If you are able to keep steadiness through the job you will be a better analyst and your work product will benefit.
In my experience, I am able to catch more errors after setting my PPT or Excel down for a while. Think about it. When you build something you begin to gravitate what is already on the page but if you take a break and look back later you catch things that you wouldn't have before if you were continuously working.
When I was interning the top analyst at my firm had a rule that you print everything before you send it to anyone. You will catch way more errors reviewing printed stuff with a pen rather than clicking through the deck/model on your laptop. It'll cost you a few minutes every time but will typically save you entire iterations of the project.
Wouldn't suggest printing stuff out unless you're a real clutz. Look for font, double spaces, right color usage, spell check, right alignment, no typos, whether something looks right, etc. Teh more you do it, the easier it becomes, Guerro
common spellin gmistakes, good pint. Use spell check. F7. Do you konw where that is on the computer? Happy to help out and show you. Where do you live? Can I remote in? Perpahs we can see each other on Zoom? Teryai
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You visibly didn’t print this post before posting
Call FactSet about everything instead of spending hours trying to figure something out on your own when the support line can help you find what you are looking for in minutes (usually)
1) Highlight comments once you've turned them, making it a lot easier to visually see the comments that you missed or didn't hit yet 2) Take advantage of the outside resources available to you so that you can focus your time on the important details. Whether it's using FactSet support to create a complex chart for you, your bank's graphics team to do a full slide graphic, or Logo Intern, those all reduce time spent on less meaningful tasks