How to gain credibility as a young professional?
How did you gain credibility when you were first starting out in IB / PE and you had to deal with executives twice your age? Any strategies for building trust? Do’s and don’t’s? Any tips, advice or stories appreciated!
Be humble.
In group settings, be thoughtful in your questions and responses. It’s not a “speak until spoken to” industry (in fact the comment associates get most often is speak up more), but you don’t want to be the 23 year old dominating the conversation.
Be helpful, and make it clear you are there to add value and make their job easier / company better. Offer to help the CFO on internal projects, do an industry mapping for the CEO before she asks.
Would give a caveat that you need to feel this out with your team. There are some MDs who have a strict, "Don't speak until spoken to" mentality about their meetings, and there are those that welcome thoughtful contributions. Just make sure you know which one you're working for.
Confidence is key (and I know it's an easy thing to say and hard to actually do). As you know, in our position we're often one of the youngest people in the room, if not the youngest - you need to be sure not to remind people of that. There's something to be said about the tone in the way things are said, such as don't trail off with your answers / when you speak.
For me personally I find it helpful to reflect after every meeting, presentation, etc. and think about how I carried myself. There's often a natural tendency to defer to higher ups in the room or hedge and say things like "I think x, but will let [senior person] confirm" or "[senior person] will know this better, but I believe x" because you want to protect yourself in case what you say is wrong, and are using your lack of experience as a way to soften the blow. Issue is by doing that, you're reinforcing other people's notions that you aren't experienced.
Otherwise there are certain things you can do when you introduce yourself or are talking about your past experiences to frame things in a certain way that don't call attention to your age. For instance, I don't say "I spent 3 years in investment banking before joining [current firm] just under 2 years ago" as that immediately is a reference point for how old I am and how many years of experience I have. Instead, I say something more along the lines of "I was previously an investment banking associate at bank before joining [current firm] a few years ago." Why? Because it's true that I left banking as an associate, but that could mean a lot of things to the other side - could be I was a recent promote, post-MBA associate, or whatever, and by also not explicitly calling out when I joined, it's harder to immediately peg me as a "junior person."
I know your question was more about external perceptions, but internal perceptions matter too. Do things like ask for more responsibility on projects or see if you can have a greater role on IC discussions - by doing so you can practice having more of a voice in a "less risky" environment, and more importantly you build your team's trust in you and they will start treating you like more of peer when you are in external meetings.
Now this is really more of a sidebar but it relates to the internal perception point I mentioned above. This is advice that was given to me (which I know I certainly need to work on still - big area of improvement), but at the junior levels it's really easy to bitch and moan and complain about things in a "public" way with your peers. By "public" I'm not talking about complaining out in the open where people can hear what you are saying, but if something happens in a meeting and you are frustrated or you get an email blowing up your weekend, don't immediately grab some fellow associates and hop in a conference room to vent. People may notice actions like this more than you think and you don't want to be known for being part of the junior cohort that is always gossiping and banding together because they are frustrated, and as you progress upwards, it's important for people to view you as an internal leader. Now this doesn't mean don't complain at all as everyone needs an outlet, but do it truly in private or find a way where you are only confiding in a handful of people and not bitching to your entire class. And I think I saw this mentioned by somebody else on this forum before, but try not to complain downwards.
In short, don't ever let the sociopaths who run your life think for a second that they are ruining your weekend over another completely BS assignment. You wouldn't want to hurt their fragile feelings....
Just another side thought.....
You don't want to be the person always complaining but also, don't be the person who never complains. If you are the MD's tool, you might gain a lot of credibility with him and lose it with your peers. People can tell when you're holding your cards close to your chest and not trying to say anything bad.
Don't be a Debbie downer but also be a human being with your peers.
deleted my PornHub comments that I've posted under my real name
Meetings - have all the support info already pulled up for quick reference. You can answer debates/questions on the fly with confidence (you are literally reading info from the source) while also apprearing to be engaged and helpful. The goal is for people to look at you and trust what you say more and more.
Appreance of Work - Everything you present should be scrubed to appear perfect. I've found that even if the numbers and math are right, if the formating isn't pristine it can't be trusted.
Simple way to gain credibility - try to research your own questions before asking them only if you exhaust that search ask a question. This way you ask fewer and more impactful questions. Also, never ask the same question twice. Shows that you actually pay attention and learn what is discussed with you.
+1 here, just write down the answers to your questions and go through them from time to time
Qui qui quia dolores iste. Ut esse veniam fugit corrupti est minus aut nam.
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...