What I learned during my 2-year analyst stint

So outside of mastering financial modeling in excel, creating pitchbooks in ppt, and taking a D$*& up your a$$, what other core FINANCIAL knowledge/skills did you pick up?

Please enlighten us.

7 Comments
 

You almost forgot: How to stay up for days at a time, how to sleep on the can, how to yield headhunter phone calls in an empty conference room, how to sleep @ your desk with your eyes open, how to not be that guy w/ the two tone dress shirts and tie bar, how to not be the analyst asking for cross border transactions (thank you M&I), etc.

"Jesus, he's like a gremlin; comes with instructions and shit"
 
JimmyDormandyYou almost forgot: How to stay up for days at a time, how to sleep on the can, how to yield headhunter phone calls in an empty conference room, how to sleep @ your desk with your eyes open, how to not be that guy w/ the two tone dress shirts and tie bar, how to not be the analyst asking for cross border transactions (thank you M&I), etc.

What's wrong with tie bars? I usually wear four, alternating them on each side.

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 
Nefarious-
JimmyDormandyYou almost forgot: How to stay up for days at a time, how to sleep on the can, how to yield headhunter phone calls in an empty conference room, how to sleep @ your desk with your eyes open, how to not be that guy w/ the two tone dress shirts and tie bar, how to not be the analyst asking for cross border transactions (thank you M&I), etc.

What's wrong with tie bars? I usually wear four, alternating them on each side.

In your case, there is absolutely nothing wrong - GQ should do a style blog with you Nefarious, you seem to have it down pat.

"Jesus, he's like a gremlin; comes with instructions and shit"
 

I think most of all, you learn how to be a good, efficient and reliable worker for the future.

After taking the demands and working to live up to the expectations of various MDs, you can work for anyone.

 

How about the Financial/Biz knowledge gained? Can you guys elaborate on this aspect of your experience?

Thanks!

 
Best Response

Well, you just said it yourself - financial modeling. This involves knowing how to dissect a company's balance sheet, P&L and CF statement with your eyes closed. How they all interact. How to do forecasting / budgeting. How to value companies. How to determine if a company needs debt or equity or both. What the impact of added debt and equity (or an M&A transaction) would be on a company. If you're in an industry group, you develop an idea about that industry, the big players in it, the up-and-comers, and the private companies, etc. You learn how that industry is trading, what the multiples usually are, how IPOs are priced, etc.

The amount of actual learning, though, varies depending on 1) your group, and 2) your actual desire to learn. Sometimes your group won't do much modeling (more like industry pieces and creds), so it'll all be on you to brush up on it. Other groups are assembly line M&A teams who don't give 2 shits about the industry, etc. etc. But, theoretically, if you're a curious person and your bank doesn't consistently work you 110 hours / week throughout your 2-year stint, you can learn a shitload.

 

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