My Work Products Get 95% There, is that a failure or somewhat expected?
Super stressed out senior associate at a LMM in buyout. I have a great relationship with my VP, who always raves at how great I am doing and how happy he is with me. I got top bucket review and top bucket bonus from him last year.
However, I don't actually think I am good at all and just sort of think he is the goat. What I mean by this is that what I submit, there will always be some nits or mistakes. I am trying my absolute best to reduce these to 0, but he always seems to catch some things. So for example, if a partner or someone emails us an analysis that needs to be done, I will do the entire thing (as expected) and then I will flash it to him. He will point out some changes quick on screenshare and then all is 100% good. I look at it like I do all of the work, get the product 95% there, and then he helps get it over the finish line. Is this "acceptable"? I feel so useless..
I would also be raving about how great my associate is if they were giving me first drafts that were 95% of the way to a complete deliverable. The goal is always 100%, but that's realistically almost never going to be the case unless something super simple. What annoys me more is when someone has numbers that don't tie or things so wrong in formatting that the page is clearly visually distracting. I don't believe my opinion is too outside the norm from my experience at both a large public MF and a private UMM. This seems like a case of you have a good VP as a mentor and you are a good associate as well. It's normal to feel imposter syndrome in these jobs.
Thanks so much!! I am not sure why I am just so in my head... I do a huge complete turn where I do everything, across multiple tabs and outputs etc he just points out 3-4 things to fix (Which takes like 5 mins of his time max), but in my head I think ok if this was like a school assignment I would receive an F because there were obvious flaws that I did not catch
You wouldn't get an F on a school assignment that's 95% done, that's an A by definition of how grading works. And this isn't school anyway, there's no answer key in PE. A huge complete turn across multiple tabs and outputs where your VP spends 5 minutes pointing out 3-4 things is a strong draft, most associates I work with are well below that. More than 5% of what an associate does is judgment calls, so if the remaining edits are just your VP seeing something differently based on experience or preference, that's not you making mistakes, per se. Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars is a great approach for associates. You're top bucket, your VP raves about you, and the edits are minor, which are all great signs for you. Get out of your head. Focus on maintaining the quality of work that got you top bucket in the first place.
Depends on what you mean by the 95%. Is it just some extra layer of analysis you haven't thought of or simple mistakes? If the former then that's fine, you'll get better with more reps. In fact even now, time to time I feel that my MD/principal is able to think of an analysis that I couldn't think of / gets to the crux of the issue faster which makes me feel dumb.
On the other hand of its grammatical errors, typos, incorrect #s... then well you better figure out why you're making those mistakes
lol he’s playing you my man. You’re doing all of his work and he’s trying to make sure he can point out something to you to make it seem like he is valuable. You’re clearly doing everything. But somehow have a Stockholm syndrome about it. That’s what they want haha.
have you lost your mind?
Why do you think so
ive seen gay porn less gay than your post bro, why are you so enamored by your VP and hoping for his approval?
You sound like the dream associate but honestly this post almost comes off as a cringe, humble brag.
Brag? I’m writing how everything I submit has mistakes in and it and had to be corrected / saved by the vp?
Your responses are further convincing me this is a troll.
Honestly, 95% sounds pretty normal for a first draft, especially if your VP is only spending a few minutes tightening it up. The bigger question is what those last 5% consist of. If it is judgment calls or an extra angle you did not think of, that is part of learning. If it is recurring typos, broken formulas, or numbers that do not tie, then that is something worth fixing.
Also, if you are consistently getting strong reviews and bonuses, that is probably a better indicator of your performance than the fact that a more senior person can find a few things to improve. The goal should be to learn from the feedback and gradually need less of it, not expect every first draft to be perfect.
DEL, replied to wrong post.
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