When are do first year analysts really "contribute" / add value to deal team?

Recently joined and I'm mostly taking orders and getting told what to do, and more of processing monkey (which no real issue with since I actually do know nothing and still learning). But at the same time I feel quite useless esp. in discussions and meetings where the associates and VPs are blasting out ideas and brainstorming whereas im just taking notes and trying to contribute where I can

Still happy im learning a lot though since i joined few months ago but when does one really expect an AN1 to pick things up and start to "really" contribute / add value to the team?

3 Comments
 

Banking is just being a processing monkey that’s the job and that’s the value you add. A first year can be super valuable if they are Johnny on the spot confirming receipt etc. That said, in my experience, you start to add value/ actually be able to speak and provide guidance once you have seen several processes and you can actually give advice based on experience. For me personally, I think this was right around the end of my first year after I saw several processes because I had a better idea of timing/ positioning/ how we should approach different problems we encountered.

 

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