What are your guys’s favorite ways to gain a little bit more cred at the office? Have put some of mine below, let me know what yours are!
- Buying associates and VPs coffee every month or so
- Staying up to date on associates Alma mater and the respective sports team. Nothing gets them going like talking about Notre Dame football
- Digging through old files and letting deal team know of small nits we might have missed
- Making small talk on Mondays and talking about the weekend
- Holding pen on office events like the March madness bracket or Christmas gift exchange
- Going out to Murray Hill bars in hopes of seeing colleagues and buying them a drink / making small talk about deals
- Saving up very late on materials to let associate know you’ve been grinding
- Using the laugh reaction on teams to any joke they might make / sarcastic comment
Positive attitude goes an absurdly long way, as does being affable. This is ultimately a sales job at the senior levels anyway, those are probably amongst the two most important skills, more so than pure technicals, for being well-liked at work and tbh broadly successful in the high finance world (including PE, which is on average even more political than IB is at least at larger firms).
Agreed.
^^Right here.
People like being around positive vibes. It's hard not to when everyone is miserable and grinding. A good attitude goes a very long way.
Typically I like to ask about political/religious views and then debate them with opposing viewpoints
Doesn’t usually work in my opinion. I usually agree with them at all costs, especially on Trump and tariffs.
How low EQ do you have to be to not notice this is sarcasm
This is the way to be liked at Moelis Houston. Bring up the Gaza situation and just go ham.
"I hate Hamas, too liberal"
My friend did unironically do this casually.
That’s great and I agree, but sometimes you need to go the extra mile. Taking them to dinner, a Rangers game, or out to PHD for bottles can really make a difference in reviews.
Do your work and go home. Stay out of people's business. Everyone is working to make money and feed their family, not to hear your bullshit.
Hello based department
This is not true. A lot of us are actually trying to be something in our lives - but enjoy the rat race and going through the motions every single day.
Guessing the last 5 years are just meshed together for you
Okay but imagine you had a back office job, would you wake up ready to conquer planet Earth every day? No.
This is 95% of people's experience.
Point 3 seems like a terrible idea- rest of list is decent. No one will like the new guy that digs up a team’s past mistakes and calls them out on it.
Not true at all. In my last reviews one of the positives was how I took ownership of my work and went the extra mile to find nits in old materials.
Kudos. This is the type of value add I strive for each and every day.
this post is sarcasm
This has to be satire... you go to bars hoping to see someone from work so you can talk to them about work? What sort of next level corporate cuckery is this... you are a wage earner my guy
Must be why I’m top bucket and you’re in your way to be a beta in corp dev
Shut up bum, my parents have a family office ... send ur resume my way when you get laid off in the impending economic collapse
Lol it's so obvious when someone's a social climber, but I will say it's dependent on the senior
Sometimes it's pretty effective
This is kind of sociopathic but my thoughts on the below. Maybe this works on FIG bankers.
You would be the guy to appreciate analysts saying the footnote position is off on the valuation appendix.
And I would still own your bitch ass at a PPT test
I would appreciate that. I'm an associate - I would want my underlings to figure out their own shit and fix it themselves without me asking.
Just be charismatic and good looking. All the stuff you mentioned is what the people lacking charm have to do.
This!
Have you not been tipping your associates/VPs? A monthly kick up, especially during bonus season, goes a long way.
I haven’t done straight cash - but usually will get them some type of gift to get in the good books before reviews
Dawg he was joking
In my office I have created a sort-of name for myself as the "massage guy."
Around 1:15pm each day (right after lunch) I walk through the bullpen towards the VP offices swinging a workout towel and loudly announce "Who wants these hands today!?" to which I usually get three or four VP's taking me up on the offer. If giving each of them a quick 30-min massage (boxers on, of course) makes me stay a little later in the evening, so be it.
Got almost top bucket reviews last year.
Top tier strategy here - our massage guy got top bucket every year but has since left for a MF and is shooting for partner this year (he's 23). Something about those damn massages that just get you to the top overnight.
Echo this. I was the foot massage guy in my analyst days and it was a massive hit. I had these guys moaning so loud and begging for more, back to back top bucket.
This (very funny post) getting so many sincere reactions is tragic
I keep this in mind when I see political and social commentary on here. A depressing amount of people have no ability to read between the lines.
Thought this was legit until “Going out to Murray Hill bars in hopes of seeing colleagues and buying them a drink / making small talk about deals”
Tell them you like their shirt - even if you don't
I'll gladly take the trade off of getting MS to make this point.
Holy shit dude you are a LOSER. You go out to bars in hopes of finding coworkers to talk about deals with on friday night / saturdays? And then I can't believe when others called you out on this you just mentioned to themn that they are "corporate development betas"? What? LMAO.
You are literally what is wrong with this industry. So many absolute herbs and tweakers, you sound like a nightmare to work with / sit with in the bullpen.
I’m confused. Nothing wrong with hanging out with coworkers outside the office at the bars and such.
Also not following them, just hoping to see them there to talk a bit of shop which we all love to do.
The way you talk/carry yourself reminds me of try hard uni kids that reach out for coffee chats lmao
These seem extremely annoying and tryhard, particularly finding nits in old work.
Just be likeable - and not ingratiatingly so. Make jokes that are spontaneous and funny. Talk about things you're mutually interested in with seniors if you're actually interested in them. Just be authentic.
How is this try hard? This is the most prestigious and important industry in the world. No one has time for lazy slackers like you who can barely format the tombstones correctly.
Now go update the table of contents and make sure it ties to the pages.
There’s nothing”subtle” about stalking your coworkers in midtown bars lmao
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