1st year needs some major help/advice
So I'm a first year analyst in an industry group at a borderline BB and to be completely honest I suck.
No prior banking experience. I am average at excel but terrible at powerpoint. I have no idea how to make all these nice graphics in powerpoint that I am asked to constantly make. Also, the industry is so complicated that I have no idea what is going on. Reading industry reports makes no sense either because all the language and terms is like a foreign language to me.
How are you expected to figure stuff out and create books from scratch when you have don't understand what the company does and how your MD thinks and likes things.
It's been a few weeks and I have just been getting crushed in terms of hours and work that I just have no idea how to do. Not a creative mind and suffer from mild form of ADD (no medication)
I have no idea how to get on track since I'm just being overwhelmed with work I can't do and no time to learn it. I feel so stupid but does anyone have any advice on how to approach this.
Any tips on learning, how to stay organized and just survive? Would really appreciate it. Really struggling here, minimal sleep in the past few weeks and it was suppose to be the "slow period" of the year.
My #1 tip is whenever you're asked to do something, look/ask around for previous excel files and ppt deck where the exact same thing or very similar work was done - then modify if to fit your specific task. This will not only save you a ton of time but if the previous pitchbook was signed off on chances are the formatting/layout/presentation is correct (still check obviously). You will get crushed if you don't do this.
Remember, most work you do has been done 1000x before in some form or another.
which group are you in?
Why are you creating books from scratch? Most of the time as a 1st year Analyst, you should initially be asked to update / work on generic client service books - take precedents as an example so you know what type of work you should be doing and what it should look like - senior Analysts or Associates should help you out to find precedents and let you know where to find stuff (make good friends with the more experienced Analysts - they have been there before and will help you out if you're nice). If it's new content, the more senior team members should be able to scetch out a layout for you so you know what's expected. You can also check how your MD likes things if you look at a few other meetings he or she recently did as an example of the presentation style. Use precedents.
Don't you have a graphics department?
Hang in there and keep working, it's more common than you think.
Ask the senior analysts in your team for help. The first couple of months are when it's ok to make mistakes - everyone expects it. Look through any recent, large presentations done by your team, this will give you an idea of how your MDs like slides to be done. (As a new 1st year, you really shouldn't be expected to start putting together books from scratch).
To learn your industry, ask if there are any industry primer or sector initiation research reports available (your team should have them saved down). It may take a while if you're in quite a technical industry, but just read a lot and you'll get it eventually.
Investopedia is your friend.
Do you mind telling us what industry you cover?
And you got into IBD because ... ?
So.....you in Healthcare, or C&R?
Did you start in June/July of this year? It's probably normal to go through growing pains
Forget some of the douchey comments on this thread ie. NYC's blatantly ignorant remark.
YMCM - IB -> I am in a similar position as you. Won't go into too many details, but I am in one of the most technical groups at my bank (a BB). Its been challenging so far but you need to realize a few things. First, for the fundamentals, get yourself the BIWS Excel and Powerpoint tutorials, they have helped me out tremendously on the job. For technical expertise in your industry, you're going to need to read and also get your feet wet by working on different projects and/or going through previous projects that you're group has done to learn the way things are done.
Second, don't be afraid to ask questions (but remember the chain of command), ask a second year for advice on anything you can't find yourself. And write this information down somewhere so that you remember in the future.
Third, most groups within the big banks (especially the more technical groups) give their starting analysts a 4-6 month grace period where mistakes are not necessarily criticized as heavily as they know you are learning. That being said, do NOT make stupid mistakes because you didn't take the time to either learn the fundamentals (ie. powerpoint and excel) on your own or ask a simple question.
I think you will be fine, like I said, I am in your shoes at the moment and its rough. Just keep grinding and learning.
You are not drowning yet, but you will be soon if you don't start raising your hand. You don't want to be in the same situation six months down the road once the rookie grace perod wears off. It sounds like you're a little timid to ask your co-workers for help.
You need to buddy up with a 2nd or 3rd year analyst and ask for their help when relevant. Don't ask questions that can be answered through your own firm network or through google. You probably know who the best analysts in your group are by now. Assuming the group's network is open to you, study the files put together by those star analysts. You'll learn soon enough, but most people like to talk about themselves and even more so about their work (bankers especially).
The financial industry probably ranks last in terms of creativity. Once you've seen a few dozen decks you'll realize that 90% of the content is recycled.
People are a lot more willing to help so long as you ask the right questions, but you have to ask.
Hands down best advice given in this thread.
How did you get the job.... you don't know how to even use powerpoint??....
Wanna switch jobs with me? Maybe we are at the same BB
The struggle is still there.
Its difficult understanding what you're doing when you're just expected to crank and have a product. My numbers sometimes don't tie because I don't know that they're suppose to.
Making tons of mistakes just because there just is no time to check work and I don't understand it.
Hours are still terrible and it's just a constant struggle.
I know that my technical skills are mostly to blame but it doesn't help that I'm being blitzed with constant work.
What coverage group are you, if you don't mind me asking? Specifying might help give us more color on what you need to do going forward
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