Requesting not to be staffed with someone
How bad of a look is it to request to not be staffed with someone? I am a new first year (and honestly haven’t been doing that well). Everyone I’ve worked with has been really supportive and patient. Except one analyst. They’re just extremely passive aggressive and condescending for no reason. Yeah, I get that I’m not exactly great at my job yet, but a little bit of support and guidance would be nice.
Maybe I’m just being soft. I get that IB is IB and you need thick skin, but I would really prefer not to be staffed with this analyst. How detrimental would it be to my reputation if I asked my staffer to not be staffed with this person?
The answer to a question like this is always "it depends". It is fair to ask not to be staffed with someone, but the threshold is really quite high, and particularly as a first year (that's not necessarily right, but that's how it is).
I've done the staffer job, and it's crap. You're trying to make two sides happy subject to many constraints, and many of those constraints might themselves be exaggerated (the pitch is urgent / the country team is at maximum capacity so we need more staffing internally VS I already have too many staffings / my other project just blew up), and you're never really sure. Just putting into perspective that by asking, you're making someone's life harder who already has a hard job. Even as someone for whom the staffer is more junior than me, I have very little influence over their decisions - if I try, he / she will go to the team head, who in most cases sides with the staffer.
Now, if you're working with someone who is acting abusively, making up fake deadlines, outright bullying, etc., you can have a conversation with your staffer.
In your case (and ONLY reading your post), I don't think we hit that threshold - this senior analyst sounds like an ass. Passive aggression is a pet peeve and juvenile. But that's all. I'd suggest to grit your teeth and bear it (and, outside the scope of your question, just respond politely, and seek guidance from other nicer people if you need it - responding with your own aggression won't help (and don't sink to their level anyway)).
Obviously this is my own view only, and it's subjective, so take into account others'
100% this ^
Don’t do them the favor of making yourself vulnerable. Just do your work and triple-check (“I’m the last person to see this before this goes out” mentality) your work before you send it to this guy.
You might not see it this way yet, but it is a steep learning curve and you will quickly learn to cover your ass. In a year, you’ll laugh about that a-hole but in fact they trained you on a valuable skill… everybody loves to work with reliable analysts who deliver solid stuff which doesn’t require 3-4 rounds. That’s what I would focus on, and nobody gives a sh*# if you send something 20 min “late” but it’s rock-solid (unless it’s clearly an important deadline/send-out etc.).
And surround yourself with nicer people who like to help each other — in 5 years, these guys will get you your next gig, or you them, and that a-hole will have nobody for a reference.
Fingers crossed!
Waaaay too early to request this after so little time on the desk. It makes it seem like you are the problem. You're 1000% not the only person experiencing this, but the others are just going head down and doing their work.
Just gotta grin and bear it - you will learn quickly through other staffing that not everyone is going to hold your hand, especially senior analysts who are counting down the days until they are out of there and don't give a F about training the newbies. Know it's not personal and take it as a learning experience to own more of the work product and have a thick skin.
Thanks all for the advice. Seems like my best bet is to use this experience as a means to develop thicker skin and put out more polished work. Hoping to come out the other side a better analyst and more resilient person for it
Agree with the other comments. The other thing you need to consider is that making a request like this this early on is risky. If they grant you your request that means all the pressure is now on you to perform. You mention it has not been going that well. If you ask for this and still don't manage to perform at a top level, you will look bad.
They likely don’t want to be staffed with you either on new projects if this is how they’re treating you…I’d likely try to build relationships with other analysts/associates and tell them you’d like to work with them, instead of telling people of your disdain for the analyst. Depending on how staffing works at your firm, you may be able to mention to your staffer you’d really like to be on a project with person A. Being an an1, you’ll probably come off as being the problem
I wouldn’t go to the staffer. I would have a sit down with the VP or MD of the associate and ask them how you can get more support and less bullshit from their junior
I did this once at McKinsey (perhaps not quite the same) but if you’re fighting a bully just enlist a bigger bully
Ignore tag, am in IB FT. Idk about the rest, and I'm quite sure people can have much more snarkier and funnier responses to a consultant commenting this... But in an attempt to be helpful, I don't think this would be good for the AN1?
Unless the VP/MD has personal ties and gets along super well with OP, this just seems like a way to be shaded/ostracised from the team especially if they are happy with the quality of the work from the paggro fella. My first 2 years were tough but a lot of the job just seems to be rolling with the punches, and short of big problems (like personal insults and degradation etc.), it's just something we take in our stride.
Do I like it? Fuck no, but sometimes there's genuinely not much you can do anyway. Even if they stop bothering you for a month or so, a leopard doesn't change it's spots...
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