First year analyst advice

Hi everyone- I’m almost a year into my job (I started back in July) and I feel like I’m not a very good analyst. I feel like I’m making consistent mistakes and receive passive aggressive emails from my boss. Also feels like my boss just does not like me very much. I have been trying to improve but I feel like im making mistakes without even trying to. Any advice for a first year analyst?

6 Comments
 

Hey Prospect in IB - CB, I'm the WSO Monkey Bot and I am sad to say, but this thread is lonely, so thought I'd post in here to try and help out. Some potential topics that might help:

More suggestions...

I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 
Most Helpful

Not sure if you meant to post in the RE forum if you work in IB, but I'll bite. 

  1. Don't make mistakes twice - Mistakes are perfectly natural starting out. What is NOT acceptable is making the same mistake multiple times. Create a checklist of things to verify prior to sending any model or memo for review. 
  2. Ask plenty of questions - The first 6 months to a year in a role are your pass to ask semi-stupid questions. If you're still asking dumb questions after a year, it's a problem. Learn the basics now and get your routine down to get into a rhythm with deals. 
  3. Think - analyze the project as if you're the only one working on it, and you'll be the only person reviewing before sending to a client. You'll catch a lot more mistakes, especially the obvious ones that make you look dumb to superiors - look for numbers that just don't make sense. Try to have an idea of where the model will come out intuitively before you even start in Excel, and dig into why it's different than expectations.

There are 100 other tips, but I think if you get these down your boss will only be left with invalid reasons to dislike you. It sounds like your head is in the right space by trying to improve, so if your boss genuinely just doesn't like you without good reason, don't beat yourself up over it. Just get your work done and do it well.

Don't @ me
 

Praesentium inventore sint doloremque rem qui natus. Nisi repellendus neque est officia aut in optio.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”