So I'll be starting full time in the summer doing banking, and have a lot of time on my hands second semester. I remember for my summer stint, there were alot of tasks that I felt could have been done through code (ie. pulling logos from google, etc.).
I have very basic understanding of java, but is there anything actually useful and worth learning for banking to automate tasks like these? Not necessarily trying to pick up full languages, but curious if there are any interesting tricks out there.
Not trying to be a dick but trust me, if people had figured out how to automate 'mundane' tasks required in banking, there would be software for it already.
Good point. Not looking for anything transformational haha. But just curious if anyone has actually used coding to do anything really in banking (VBA, java, etc.). Could be simple shortcuts that shaves a few seconds off excel, etc.
Mainly just looking at this for fun since I have a lot of time haha
I would guess user-defined formulas using VB could be useful if you are looking for something to spend time on - can make formatting easier etc.
However keep in mind your files will be shared among computer so unless everyone opens the macro-enabled file, your VB may cause problems
But I would recommend doing something actually fun with your time in the interim before starting - just pick something you enjoy without benchmarking to usefulness in FT gig.
Most of what you are going to do in banking is manual. What can be automated, is. There are excel plugins which make all the colors, fonts, etc company standard. There is logo software, CapIQ plug in's etc.
But when it comes to you creating charts, making sales materials, etc, you are going to have to deal with this manually, find the information, manipulate it, etc.
I have seen macro and lookup coded models and files and you want to literally burn the person who did it alive. The excels will operate ungodly slow, you'll have links and references everywhere and otherwise go out of your mind.
Have some fun in your life and realize you can't speed up the grind.
That does make sense. One thing though is that I'll be at a pretty tiny place that most likely won't have many pre-done plug-ins or macros, and from what I know, there are some analysts armed with macros that can blow out tasks in minutes as opposed to hours. Wondering waht kind of functions those are. I supposed the formatting is a big part
You should have templates. For excel, you will be building models from scratch as it is just too much trouble having a form model (unless you are doing simplistic modeling).
Go to Excel options and set up the company font. Make a cover page with RGB colors so you can get the exact colors your firm uses. Set up whether you like grid lines or not, etc. If they don't have templates for simple things, you can probably create a cap table box, sources and uses, financial slide, whatever industry shit you guys use.
My old firm used to have a comp slide where things plugged into capIQ. Still have to dig through comps and get something appropriate.
Simple things like that. Auto dial on your phone, know outlook shortcuts. Set up your folds both on your drive and in Outlook. Print out what your conference dial in is. Make sure you use outlook contacts (add people's business card, make a Vcard for yourself, add them on Linkedin as well). Have a phone directory at your fingertips.
Basic organizational stuff.
On our site we have several everyday macros. Feel free to copy code and ideas, add-in is password-free. There are also some ideas like .bat file to close all Excel process.
Someone has figured out how to help with some of the mundane things:
logointern.com
mappingintern.com
Definitely consider learning VBA for the long run, it takes a few years to really master it.
A lot of modelling requires VBA to run, so take TNA's experience with macro driven models as a good example of why being proficient in VBA can make your life easier. Even for simple modelling you can save several hours of work each deal by learning to do simple things such as coding up a macro to run through sensitivities and output results into a summary table. I would start with this program first as it consistently pays off with big time savings. Other than that, just learn the keyboard shortcuts, Excel functions (index match, lookup, etc.) and modelling conventions (e.g. formatting), as the seniors in your future team will be relieved that they don't need to teach you the basics.
Hate to break it to you, but this is already built in to excel...
Eos minus corrupti aut aperiam suscipit. Rerum rerum voluptatum eum officia. Iste repellendus voluptatum similique voluptatibus sit omnis tempore aut. Est officia et fugiat aut inventore. Quam et quo et quaerat ex. Deserunt non earum unde et molestiae culpa. Nisi qui cupiditate dolor.
Voluptate animi laborum et aliquid pariatur. Dolor et et tempora illo. Ea sint aliquam est incidunt voluptas. Porro dolores sapiente quis eos sint sit aut dolorum.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...