Not a good analyst - help!
Hi all,
Current mid/bottom bucket first year analyst here. I’ve really been struggling in my group for reasons that are likely my own fault. I find it hard to get up in the morning, I don’t respond to emails, and I don’t ask questions about things I’m unsure about. I know that these are things analysts SHOULD do, but I’m having problems actually getting there. While I find the work itself boring (niche product group I don’t see myself in long term), my group is actually very supportive and I just feel like I’m letting them down when I’ve had conversations with seniors about my work performance. Does anyone have any advice/perspectives for someone like me?
following (you're not alone)
Oh I feel the same way as you. How long do you think until they get tired of you?Would exit now, not be better ? Or do you actually like banking?
As luck would have it I recently got a lateral offer to work at a BB IB group that I am likely signing for a start next month. Although the group is more aligned with my interests, I can’t help but feel like my bad habits are going to follow me there. While a clean slate with new coworkers is fortunate, I don’t want to be making the same mistakes. I like finance, but I’m trying to figure out if I just need to grit my teeth through the pain of being an analyst or if this is a sign that maybe the analyst/IB life isn’t for me
As someone in the same position, I would say it is probably not for you as banking is all abt being switched on all the time.But if you like it then try your best, and take the other chance at the BB. It is probably not your style of working but you can learn.Mine is because I hate not sleeping and want to leave but if you like it again I would encourage you to shake off that nature and try your best to learn a new way of working and to start to care. Think about your motivation. Money, top bucket and etc..
you dont respond to emails? wtf.
Organization is key and you need to find out what your most effective method of organizing yourself is. When your associate/VP is explaining what they need on the pages you should be taking detailed notes on OneNote or something similar. I think that would be a good starting point. Write down questions as you work and find a time to chat with them about your questions. These questions shouldn't be things that were already explained well because your notes should have covered that. I know sometimes VPs/Associates move quickly with instructions and in my opinion it's totally fair to ask them to slow down (phrase it correctly). Moral of the story is you need to get organized.
As far as answering emails…that’s pretty self explanatory. People just want to know you received the message. If there is work to be done from the email I would read it over carefully and take some time to figure out if you need additional color on their request.
Well, the good thing is that you are self aware enough to recognize that you may have an issue. Your message does come across that you may be depressed. How is your personal life?
Depression might be a factor tbh but I have been seeing a therapist in recent weeks and I think that + hopefully a motivation to turn my life around will get me to a better place. It’s slow going though. I think I actually have decent social support systems/friends (hang out with roommates I like, have long term gf, etc) but I think some of my habits like sleep schedule, eating, exercise are all out of whack which probably doesn’t help any underlying mental health issues I have. Uphill battle for sure but we’re doing our best
kinda feel im in the same boat as u. How long have you been at ur firm? Would it be bad to exit / lateral somewhere more aligned with my interests 1 year in?
I’m no expert and you’ll get a whole range of answers but my personal life experience, take it as you will, is that people don’t care too much if you make a 1 year exit and even if they did my perspective is I’m not gonna let their judgment impact me. Been at my firm since the summer after graduating in May and interning last summer. It’s probably just the state of the lateral market rn but no interview processes I had indicated that they cared I was leaving early and my current offer has me included as a class of ‘21 analyst so my bonus should be in line with other first years who started over the summer. The process was almost 100% qualitative - they mainly just asked me why I wanted to leave my group and why I wanted to work in their group. I gave genuine answers to both with no BS and it worked for me so would definitely encourage you to do some light searching for work more aligned with your interests if you’re feeling stuck. The good thing about having a job already is you can take the time to really only pursue opportunities that interest you - for example I only bothered to interview with the particular product group I thought sounded interesting and I think you just come across as way less desperate since the folks employing you know you’re already competent enough to be working FT in IB
How did you break the news to your team if I may ask? Just a simple email? Wondering as I've been referred to some opportunities which I'm not sure I'll end up going for but curious as to how to tell team eventually while managing relationships - I've gotten quite close with some of my team members and enjoy working with them (most of the work at least lol)
could you PM me? looking to lateral as a first-year and hoping to learn more
Keeping it public here for sake of discourse but can PM if you want, my process was super simple. A recruiter messaged me on LinkedIn asking if I was interested in working in x group at z bank. I said no thanks but I’d be interested in applying to the y group if there’s availability. After some checking they said there was and I got put into the interview process with that group/scheduling calls with seniors. so that was my process! This just happened to be the process that panned out for me, I’ve also been getting emails from headhunters at my school email advertising lateral postings that I would occasionally interact with if they sounded interesting but none of those progressed to an offer (maybe they would’ve if I’d been more persistent but I took it pretty casually)
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