Advice for a first year trading analyst?

Hey guys, first year analyst on the desk in rates trading got a few questions: 1. Everyone has a list of EOD bitch tasks to do: PnL, publishing prices, confirming reports that wouldn't teach me as much for the time I would have to invest into them daily. Should I be aggressively trying to take these on to help take the load off or just avoid them like the plague but only take them on as I get assigned and focus more on more meaningful tasks and following the markets/coming up with trade ideas?

  1. I have noticed that I have been making little mistakes here and there every day, mostly small careless ones, which is probably pretty unsettling for the VPs trying to train me to do their jobs. Is this normal and any tips to improve on my attention to detail?

  2. It's a strange dynamic learning from but at the same time, competing with, the second year analysts, directly or indirectly with how far they progressed in their first few months. Any tips on managing this relationship?

  3. Everyone talks about "adding value"... how does one do that with only a few months of experience?

Appreciate the help!

5 Comments
 
  1. I don't think you need to seek out extra bitch work, but just make sure that you have a good attitude about all the work you are given, show that you can do an excellent job no matter how interesting or dull the task is, and then you will naturally get more responsibilities

  2. What kind of mistakes? This is normal when starting out, I think. People should be understanding but just don't be making the same mistakes over and over (that's when it's a problem).

 

Beware: the majority of members on this site have never set foot on the same city block as an investment bank. A better bet for advice would be to ask second years and associates who you already have on your side (who aren't on your desk) - like coworkers from an internship - and any mentors you have in the industry.

 
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