Tired of getting chewed out - advice?
I hit the desk a few months ago and got assigned to some deals with bloated teams, looking for advice or guidance with a difficult situation.
One of the deals I’m on has 2 analysts besides myself who have been keeping me out of the loop on process updates/deliverables for days at a time and routinely go through tasks with the associate and VP (both of whom I’ve still never spoken to face to face) without informing me or including me on emails. When they eventually give me things to do, I get conflicting information from both of them and have no clue what the timelines are due to the lack of clarity on what I’m even working towards with most tasks. This usually leads to me getting chewed out by one of them since I’m getting things getting done slower or incorrectly. I don’t really care if they like me at the end of the day, but getting chewed out and earning a reputation for being dumb and lazy - as well as getting micromanaged beyond anything I experienced even as an intern- is starting to get irritating. I can’t really defend myself without throwing one of them under the bus which is only going to be a worse look for me, but at the end of the day neither of them are going to vouch for me after this and no one above them on this deal would either.
I’m only coming here to write this because my group has a pretty decent culture and I never thought this was a situation I would have to manage at this point in my analyst stint. Does anyone have advice?
I don't think they are intending to leave you out of the emails and work products. When you're swamped you don't really pay attention to whoever is on the thread and just focus on getting the work done. Even if they want to train you, they might not even have time with all of their other deliverables that you aren't staffed on.
My advice to you is to over communicate and be as annoying as possible. Manage upwards, spam their email with questions and borderline harass them for work. If they aren't responsive to you then walk up to their desk and talk to them. Pick up the phone and call them. Other people will notice this and you'll establish a reputation as a go-getter who takes the initiative. You need to be as "visible" as possible. I promise you that no one is ever going to be like "wow this kid is trying to learn too much, what a loser, bottom bucket". If you don't, your annual review will be filled with comments like "started off slow", "waits to be told what to do", "needs attention to detail", "needs improvement" etc.
About being micromanaged and thinking about your "negative" perception: you can't take anything in this workplace personal. People generally have short term memory and your reputation can be easily salvaged at the analyst level as long as you get the right attention in front of the right people.
What threw me off the most about this industry is that your credentials (degree, gpa, internship/work experience) is simply a check the box item that gets you in the door. Every single one of your colleagues has the same experience and credentials. What sets you apart is your communication skills, personality, image, and how well you can play politics. Sucks but it's reality.
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