Just got put on PIP, What do I do now?

This is basically them softly telling you to get a new job ASAP. It's unfortunate to put a brand new analyst on a PIP, but they are probably looking to cut headcount and you are not quite meeting expectations.

Definitely work hard over the next few weeks, but it doesn't usually turn around from here. You should start recruiting ASAP, even if it's not the dream job or still in PE you should try to find something while you still have a job.

How much time do you think I have? I'm just scared, and I'm not sure how unemployment works, or what kind of job I'll have next.

Thanks, I appreciate it, I've been pouring 80 hour weeks and to be told this today is just gut wrenching. Appreciate your comment.

Honestly this was an odd meeting.

I told him at first that I thought I had made substantial improvement over the last quarter. He referenced some things that I had done wrong in my first couple of months on the job (asset management data entry in a new system that is generally viewed as complicated and not intuitive) where I needed help my first time around, but following quarter I required no help at all, and did not receive any negative comments on. Overall, attention to detail (not super unfair, I did have some formatting mistakes in my presentation during an iteration as well as my model), and just learning the different valuating techniques. We don't have a standardized template, so I was building all my models from scratch. 

Ironically, after the meeting, he asked me to run a few scenarios in one of my models (which is accurate) and used that to convey information to senior management. 

I never did IB, previously I worked in institutional investments for 2 years (similar to an endowment) which has almost 0 correlation to this job.

they genuinely want you to improve. PIPs in IB are different than PE. In PE a PIP means "were going to help you improve and here's our plan for you".

Ah man I wish! I don't think that's the situation here. My manager mentioned it's not impossible but there would need to a major amount of improvement that doesn't seem likely to manifest in a few weeks.

I was put on a pip in my last role as a first year analyst. Like others were saying it’s a soft way of telling you to find another job and they’re cutting head counts. Theres nothing u can do. Start looking for another job and wait until they fire you. Start getting a list of things you’ve done so you can prep your resume.

I think my team is pretty chill by PE standards but even so I cannot imagine a typical shop letting someone go because of not updating internal deal logs properly. If you did something serious (screwing up relationships with a bank or management, sending confidential files to wrong people etc) then I can see the point but yours seems trivial. If they are serious about forcing you out I wouldn’t fight it too much, do you really want to work somewhere like this? In PE you don’t typically move around, I’d fuck off ASAP and pick somewhere run by reasonable human beings next time

Polish up the resume and start looking.  

In my 16 years of experience I've only seen 1 single person ever survive a PIP.  Now that I'm on the other side of leadership I can definitively tell you that this is just a formality on the way of pushing you out.  

Do the bare minimum from here on out, come in and leave on a regular 9-5 schedule, take your vacations or go on LOA, and focus on your job search.  

Pay no attention to your boss smiling in your face and/or offering to help you.  It's a ruse.  

Start interviewing for new jobs. God I wish I had gotten put on a PIP instead of getting caught in a large layoff. Would have saved me thousands to have had a shorter gap in employment.

Sorry to say mate, but what the other posters have said here is true. PIP is just the formation of a paper trail, it's essentially their version of early notice that you're going to be let go barring some massive shift in productivity that changes everything (although even that might make them wonder why you couldn't do that in the first place). You should start interviewing around ASAP. Lateral market right now isn't great, especially for an analyst w/o a full YOE, so it would behoove you to look at non-PE roles as well e.g. banking, consulting, corp dev, anything you have skills you could leverage into because the PIP means there's time pressure. God speed. 

There's no turning this around. The purpose of this process is to protect the company from legal liability resulting from your inevitable and eventual termination. You have two options: (i) be terminated and get government benefits or (ii) look for work elsewhere ASAP. 

Question for OP or anyone. When a company puts you on a PIP, do they explicitly say they are? Or do they subtlety say it, like “you need to work harder” or “we think you’re slacking compared to others and want to see you improve”?

No. You can’t turn it around. It’s not even worth the effort to fix it because you’ll have the reputation and have to work twice as long performing- people’s memories are too long. Try hard to meet expectations but basically you’ve been told to find a new job so they don’t have to fire you. Take it as a gift and a lucky break that they didn’t fire you. 

All,

Thanks for your help and comments. They actually didn't fire me, and instead took me off the PIP. Ironically I stopped trying as hard and somehow they viewed my work as better (wtf?). This being said, I had spent 2 months finding a job and am now lateraling to an associate position elsewhere with less hours and double the $.