First Assignments as Analyst

At most banks, all your models will already be pre-built. They won't trust you with building a model from scratch. You just have to plug in the numbers and out pops the answer.

You'll just have to write a story about the numbers that the excel models throw out. If you want to impress, know how IRR's are calculated including problem with interim CF's, also know how lease schedules are calculated with various options (grace period, early redemption, disbursement in tranches, etc.).

Therein lies the difference between the BBs and a MM or even boutique shop. The BB has the resources to defer the new analyst to "easier" tasks whereas the MMs and the boutiques need you to get up to speed NOW and there's no opportunity for a gradual build up.

My first job in industry was with a small group. I did not have the benefit of training. Also, nothing that I learned in corporate finance classes helped because each analysis has its own set of unique challenges. My first year was entirely 'baptism by fire'.

HINT: Mooch off your peers and ask them all the dumb questions. Otherwise, it may affect how you're perceived.

had to build a full-blown model my 2nd wk of banking, but you'll have 3rd yrs or associates to go to, be ready for pibs, comps, and lots of comps your first wk....

Yeah - having good 3rd years or associates around (i.e. knowledgeable and willing/able to teach) can absolutely make the difference.

Absolutely sucks. It may be the best way to learn some things, but not investment banking. The reason is, even the easier things will take you a lot of time and you'll be struggling to keep up when you first start. You don't want to be sitting there at 4:00 am with a model you can't do that has to be finished by 8:00 am in order to get a pitchbook prepared. If that happens, there will not be anyone there to help you (because, if there are still people in the bullpen, they're not likely to be in the mood to help you - they're working at 4:00 am for crying out loud). Trust me, you want to ease in to the work if you can, take on excactly as much as you can finish, and then learn as you go. You may not look like a superstar if you can't do the most complicated model on the first day, but you will look like a complete and total dumbshit if you take on something and don't get it done - and I promise you will NEVER live that reputation down.

want easy stuff b /c you get paid based on how well you perform. first impressions last a long time, so take on harder stuff later

how will I avoid the hard stuff? don't they just give you assignments and you have to suck it up and figure a way out?

i envision calling my banker friends in other banks for emergency help at 4am.

Don't ever go outside the bank for help unless you don't value your job. All of the material you see is 100% proprietary, and the banks are fiercely secretive. Hell, they even give projects nicknames like, "Project Vulcan" so that other people don't know what you're working on. Even calling people at other banks and asking benign questions about calculating a CAGR or something can be construed as being against company policy, and the banks will not take any chances - if they think you're talking out of school, you're gone.

As far as avoiding hard stuff, you're right, to some extent you can only work on the deals where you're staffed. But, you should get a good idea of the complexity of the work as soon as you meet with the rest of the deal team for the first time, and you should start asking the associate questions immediately. Don't just try to work on something and get stuck 1/2-way through. Also, unless your staffer is a complete moron, he should know what projects require a second-year analyst and which ones can take a new analyst fresh out of training. In other words, get ready for a lot of "strategic advisory" pitchbooks early on, as these are often Hail Mary pitches so they're not quite as "important" as bakeoffs and other situations where your bank may actually get the mandate.