Got in, now what?
Folks, I joined WSO as a freshman, and I have been doom-scrolling on this forum for the past 4 years. I am now a senior at a non-target who will be working at a LMM bank in NYC after graduating in May of this year. My start date is in August and I know it sounds foolish but I am excited to start.
I humbly come to you for advice. I know most of you will advice to "enjoy my senior year" or "go travel" but that is not the advice that I need. While it is kind advice, I sincerely want to prepare.
I want to be at the top of my analyst class and I want to be staffed on the best deals my MDs bring to the table. I ultimately want to land a gig at a L/S hedge fund or a reputable long only.
- I have 5 months until my start date. What do I need to have nailed before I hit the desk?
- Any certifications I should look into or training programs?
- How can I standout as an analyst and be the MDs "go-to" guy?
Your help is appreciated.
Bump + congrats
Since you don't want to listen to the good'ol enjoy your senior year advice. Imo, would study accounting. That is fundamental to all other things you do in finance and will help you conceptually understand a lot of the work in finance better.
Enjoy your hair while you have it and start prepping for the eventual burnout.
I’m of the opinion you’ll do best if you have at least a few good memories to look back on. So do at least one boys trip or take yourself somewhere cool near your college before you move to NYC. And enjoy NYC in July, the energy is pretty high when all the interns and fresh analysts are in town. The Red Lion and Phebes gets their annual revitalization.
For prep I would go back through the materials you used for interview prep as it’s likely been a few months or a year since your offer. Also can’t go wrong running through a modeling course and a PowerPoint course. Figure out how you want to set up your QAT, practice no-mouse excel proficiency, etc. Make sure you understand all the valuation methods and can quickly spin up a functional and clean DCF, comps, and LBO without leaning too hard on reference materials. Understand every element of the models so when you’re on the job you’ll be asking deeper questions about the inputs and outputs rather than how it works.
And it never hurts to read up on specific industry verticals. You dont need to memorize every deal but good to be aware of major deals that occur between now and the summer. Best of luck man
I disagree, memories or nostalgia don’t pay the bills nor have they made me happier after the moment/trip/whatever was over.
It’s ok bro you’re allowed to have a little fun
( T_T)＼(^-^ )
Get jacked cuz
This - at AKA
People are telling you to enjoy your senior year because you’re going to learn most of your tools in training programs and on the heel.
What you won’t learn is balancing your life, not burning out, relationships, etc.
It may seem like a frivolous suggestion, but you can’t really understate how important this is.
While enjoying your senior year, I would personally study for and take level 1 of the CFA since it will make you learn enough accounting to be dangerous, give you the basics of the industry and connect financial functions. While it won’t turn any heads, you will get a lot of foundational entry knowledge in finance that will serve you well no matter what you do.
I have my charter, but still would not recommend level 2 and 3 for IB.
Agree with this completely about the CFA exams.
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