Any Advice for Incoming First-Year Analyst???

From what I hear, it's best not to let the words "But that's not how I was taught how to do it" to come out of your mouth

Think before you say something, and it's ok to say that you don't know how to do something, but don't pretend that you know everything.

Do what you are assigned, and don't complain.

manage your workflow well. learn to say no to a task that you cannot possibly complete on time because you have enough other tasks you're dealing with. many SAs tend to wanna do work for everyone and never learn to say no which leads missed deadlines and pissed off analysts and associates. its better to say no ahead of time (only if you really cant make it that is - dont get caught going home early if you told someone you couldnt do something for them) than ending up with too much shit on your plate and not making the deadline. that will only screw everyone else working on the deal/pitch.

The simple things:

1) There are no dumb questions. If you're looking at a problem for more than 15 minutes and don't know how to solve it or don't know whether your approach is right, ask. Otherwise you're wasting your time and your associate's.

2) Take the time to check your work. Print everything out and go through with a blue pen making structural annotations, then go through with another colour for spelling, grammar checks etc. Keep vigilant on things like consistency of wording and significant figures. An MD that finds a mistake in your work will probably remember that rather than the overall quality of what you have done

3) Be proactive in managing your workflow. Ask your VP / SVP what meetings or transactions are coming up and what you can do to begin prepping for them. It'll save you countless late nights and means your immediate reports gets more time to review your work before it moves up the food chain

4) Own your area. For example, if you're running the analysis on the transaction, know if back to front. A good way to do it is ensure your model / worksheet has a summary of all the key inputs and outputs that's readily printable. For each major scenario or sensitivity, print out a copy and take it with you to read on the way to and from work. Its better to know that kind of info than what the market is doing. The same kind of thing applies for other areas (DD, documentation etc). If you can't provide a clear answer when your MD asks a question, you've failed.

The harder things:

5) Take the time to build rapport with your colleagues. More importantly, befriend the support staff (middle / back office guys and your PA). Try and go the extra mile and remember shit like birthdays, interests etc. Nothing builds loyalty like taking the time to care about the people you work with. Maybe not at first, but certainly as you move up the relationships you have at the firm will make you or break you. An absolute rock star can get away with being an asshole, but if you're anything less than that you'll find the going very tough.

6) Back yourself. Don't let yourself be bullied and don't put yourself in a position where someone can take the credit for your hard work. At the end of the day its your MD that decides what bonus pot you fall into (maybe with some feedback from your VP / SVP) and if he doesn't remember you well you're not going to do well.

7) Analysts are monkeys and are paid peanuts. Don't be a stupid monkey - have a long term view of career development and put that ahead of financial concerns in the first 4-5 years.

Thanks for the advice

haha I lived in the city for a bit and thank god I never saw anything like that

Damn! I've never seen anything like that shit. What the hell. There's always rats in the subway, but ON a car and climbing on people? Holy shit.

Wow thats funny

BAHAHA thats great

I mean, it was only a matter of time considering the sheer number of rats that were already just crawling around in the tracks

Wow that's fu cking gross

Gotta love New York.

Ok this rarely happens. You're just as likely to be attacked by Soulja Girl if you're in Atlanta

YouTube her if you dont know what I'm talking about

Good lord...I would have lost it if that had been me, although I wouldn't have been sleeping on the subway but still

I can't even imagine the spectacle that would take place if that rat was on the same train as Soulja Girl.

He's lucky that rat didn't eat his face. I've seen chihuahua sized rats burrowing through the snowdrifts this past week.

WEEEEELLLLL, OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE A RODENT ON THE SUBWAY. HE'S CLIMBIN ON THE HOMELESS, HE'S WAKIN THEM PEOPLE UP, TRYNA SCRATCH 'EM SO Y'ALL NEED TO HIDE YO FACE, HIDE YO CHEESE, CUZ THEY CLIMBIN ON ERRBODY OUT HERE.

Last time I was in NY I saw a drugged up 40yo woman sitting spread eagle with no underwear on the subway at 3 pm in the afternoon. She also had headphones with the cable just dangling so Im guessing someone stole her mp3 player.

aaaannnd a silver banana for swagon. I just laughed my ass off. Thank you.

there's a woman who pole dances on subways to "spread the art" in my city.

there's a woman who pole smokes on subways to "spread the herp" in my city.

Haha swagon, unreal.

are you still looking?

Are you guys still looking for roommates?

still looking?

Hi,

Congratulations. Few Australians on here - I'm heading into IB in February in Sydney personally.

Thanks - and to you also. Glad to hear there are a few of us!

1st piece of advice - Under the WallStreetOasis logo on the top left of this thread, you'll see a search box titled "Search WSO". Type what you're looking for there.

Also, there are multiple threads out on this already, including a very excellent thread on the front page about directed towards incoming 1st-years.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/what-i-wish-i-knew-as-a-first-yea…

I wouldn't be worried about exit opps quite yet.

Don't over stress on simple tasks (which is all you will be doing in year 1)

Never turn down invitations for coffee or a drink from more senior bankers

Show confidence in client interaction early

Don't get too good or fancy at printing/binding/delivering stuff/other menial tasks or you might become the go to guy for the office

Don't neglect hanging out with fellow analysts - these people will be some of your strongest connections a few years out

Read your emails before you send them out, specifically who the email is addressed to. You don't want to accidentally reply-all and send a presentation to the client.

Congrats.

Congrats man!

Welcome to the site

Congratulations and welcome!

Welcome!