FT Analyst Class of 2011...."Advice thread"

Here are a few -

1. Figure out who you really need to impress. This isn't always correlated to seniority, there are often MDs that don't give a rats ass about anything that happens at the lower levels. Try to casually dig for information from the seasoned analysts. Sometimes this will be an associate that gossips a lot, or a VP whose opinion is very respected. Make sure you do your best work for these people and you will be doing yourself a huge favor. Reputation is everything in banking and people will often form their impressions of you on what they hear from others.

2. Go hard where it counts. This is obviously closely related to the first point. You want to be seen busting your ass for the couple months before reviews go down. Often senior bankers will have pet projects and favorite clients where you can score points if you go the extra mile.

3. Check everything one more time. Even when you think everything is perfect, I guarantee there will still be something banged up in a book or model. The difference between a good analyst and a great one comes at 4am when you're tired and don't give a fuck anymore.

4. Don't be afraid to turn down staffings. Different groups may have varying philosophies on this, but I always operated under the mantra that quality mattered more than quantity. That meaning, as long as you are throwing down the same hours as the other guys, it pays to manage your workload to make sure you are producing top quality work at all times. In my group, the guy that had the worst reputation actually did a ton of work but just banged a ton of stuff up because he was overloaded. That being said, don't be the fuck that turns down staffings and goes home early. You will get scorched on reviews, I guarantee it.

5. Avoid working with shitty people. When you do turn down a staffing, make sure you save it (since you can't do it too often) for a project with a really shitty associate. On the flipside, when opportunities open up, actively work to get yourself staffed on projects with the people who are really good (this means that either they will teach you a lot or help share the workload).

6. Be careful what you say. Word travels fast in an environment where people are together 24/7. There are very few secrets in banking.

7. Figure out how everything likes things done. There are people who are extremely particular on wanting things a certain way and will be quite pleased if they are done on the first pass. I never did this but I suppose if you want to take your game to the next level you could organize past markups by person and then look back and study what they ask for each time.

8. Have a great attitude. This is probably the most important thing. If you can take it in the ass with a smile each time, the senior bankers will always have a favorable impression of you.

9. Always underpromise and overdeliver. This is a banking cliche so you have probably heard it before, but it is really true and probably the second most important thing. When someone asks you how long something will take, always give yourself a ton of extra time and that way they will be impressed each time you finish it ahead of schedule.

I think that it goes without saying that you shouldn't make any of this obvious, some sprezzatura is clearly in order here.