Hey everyone,
Found myself repeating the same thing to students reaching out, so figured I'd post here. This post is relating to the adjustment from being a high achiever in college to working in high finance (but really can be applied to any field). Especially for the ones who finessed their way through college.
Let me quickly lay out a picture: You've been a great student in college - you've networked your way and structured your classes/schedule in a way that maximized your GPA for recruiting purposes. Getting a 93-97 through a combo of studying and finessing in a class was a great outcome because that translated to an "A" or "A-" on a 4.0 scale, and you're happy with that (as you should be, good job if that's you). You do that for 4 years and suddenly here you are in the work-force. In real-life. So far what you've been doing has worked great and think if you can continue to repeat the formula, things should work out, right?
Well here's the thing that I urge fresh grads to internalize (I, for one, didn't internalize this early enough despite how commonsensical it is): once you start your IB, PE, HF job, that 93-97 range doesn't cut it anymore. You really have to aim for a "100" in all your work, because now what you're doing is your livelihood. Even if the time to get those last 2-3 points exponentially scales, it's something you have to suck up and just do, otherwise people notice. And if that last stretch isn't something you're used to doing, then it can be tough to adjust. It definitely was for me and I wish someone just verbally told me this on Day 1.
Back in my IB days, and I'm sure many people will relate - I'd crush a model/ppt deliverable only to get smoked by my associate for missing commas/periods (useless value add comments are a whole other story but I digress), and would get dinged for that in my reviews. Didn't make sense to me at the time - literally everything else was right so why were my senior bankers busting my balls over things that don't move the needle? Ultimately, it's just how the industry is. The 97 wasn't enough. At the end of the day, clients are paying your firm millions of dollars so they expect a 100.
This post probably comes off as hardo but that's not the vibe I'm trying to give. Just more of a heads-up of how the industry can operate at times and can catch you off-guard if you aren't prepared.
Submitting flawless work isn't getting a 100, it's the standard.
Yes, that is what I'm getting at. The 100 is simply a metaphor for what "flawless" work needs to be for those who haven't seen it in practice before.
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