To set the scene, earlier this morning I was doing some modelling for the boss but played around with the spreadsheet which ultimately led to me making several stupid mistakes - for example, a buy back was showing that a company purchased more than 100% of the volume for the day. Nonetheless, I was striving to get the work done efficiently and had to go back to him several times to fix it up. I then received an email from the boss saying that my work was not up to scratch this morning and that it was early days (been in the industry for 2 months) and that I can expect a huge learning curve so he doesnt want to be too judgemental.. Here are some things that he said and is the gist of the email:
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Important for you to understand that your primary cost to us at this stage is the amount of time we spend instructing and training you. Therefore, having to repeat instruction and keep sending work back to be corrected is a very expensive exercise for us.
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I have mentioned to you a few times in the past and again this morning that it is important to develop a process so you know what is expected of you. i.e. bring a pad and make a list. Your attitude this morning was full of confidence that you had everything covered, yet the work kept appearing with simple errors – this is a bad combination. If you don’t understand something – be humble about it. If you get something wrong – admit it. I have mentioned to you numerous times that it is highly unlikely that the error lies with the company reports.
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People come into businesses with different levels of starting knowledge and different levels of speed at which they pick up knowledge. Neither of these things is the ultimate determinant of their success. The ultimate determinant is how willing they are to take the time to learn and how hard they are prepared to work.
So to reiterate what is expected of you:
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Attention to detail. Get it right first time.
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Listen to instructions and make sure you understand what is expected of you.
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Understand the nature of what you are doing so you can understand when there are obvious errors in the output. E.g. if you are thinking about what a buyback is, then it should be clear that purchasing >100% on a consistent basis is suggesting an error.
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It is not expected that you know or understand everything – it is expected that you are prepared to work hard to improve both knowledge and understanding.
Hopefully you take these comments on board as a constructive criticism
I do work hard and long hours, it is just that its hard to say that you don't know something to basically every question that you get asked - going into the workforce is like starting all over again at university + more.
What do you guys think about the email and do you think its a warning that I am on the path to getting the sack?
He's saying that you should ask questions, but remember the answers. Do not ask the same question more than once. Also check with peers/associates before you ask him, as his time is worth more per hour.
This isn't an unusual email. I think you're fine - if you got this email 6 months in, I would be concerned. At 2 months in, you are still on the steep part of the learning curve. I had a similar moment my first earnings season - I made a careless mistake (easy to do if 4 companies are releasing on one day and you are scrambling to update models). My boss pointed out that accuracy is paramount in ER. Reputations can be damaged if numbers are off, and reputations drive the research business.
Comment on every hard-coded number, indicating its source. Link everything back to a data sheet, if your group has one. Flag anything you are uncertain about. Make it as easy as possible to catch errors.
And realize that your university education did basically nothing to prepare you for your job. Go in as an empty slate.
Sounds like you have a decent boss willing to tell you these things. Doing it in email was probably the better way to go. Bringing you into his office would probably had been much more serious and formal. Leaving this in an email gets the point across without (hopefully) overworking you.
If you hear these crticisms again, though, you may be in trouble.
Keep in mind this was put in email format as a reference for you - you should consult it almost daily to get a clear guideline of what is expected of you. He even says at the bottom, this is constructive criticism.
As someone mentioned above, utilize your peers, especially the more senior ones, to help you with your work.
You have to fail to succeed, but you must learn from your failures in order to succeed.
buckle down and grind. and for god's sake try to stop making the same mistakes twice.
Be confident. When you think you don't know an answer don't panic, think of it as a math problem or something that you need to solve. the end result needs to make sense. If you have no clue what the answer is then you are better off just asking (don't ask the boss, ask your peers), if you're that clueless about something chances are high that that is expected from you so once again...don't panic.
Chill the fuck out and be honest about what you know and don't know...this will get you far...people appreciate honesty. Honesty + Ballbusting Hardwork = Success....it's a pretty simple equation in my opinion.
And yes, take good notes.
Sounds like a great boss to me, and someone I would want to have as a mentor. I think the key is to be humble, as he said, because it sounds like you have so far been a know it all. And did you blame the company reports?
What Boreed said (no credits or I'd banana you)
Too often in this country people get sacked and never see it coming, even though they should have. At least this guy is firing a shot across the bow. He's telling you what in particular you need to work on. Expect it to continue but with new challenges as these mistakes you (hopefully) master.
I can sympathize though. Long hours and attention to detail aren't the best combo. It's important to stay focused and try to rub your eyes and back away from what you're doing before you review one more time and send it out. You'll find mistakes every time if you look hard enough.
SB? Done. NYU and Boreed are right: your boss sounds like a good guy, and I think that more often than not, constructive feedback isn't provided during crucial stages of the learning phase.
Your boss' email can be paraphrased as: "Don't be confident yet since you're new and your work still sucks. Pay attention, take notes and focus on quality output."
I made good friends with a full time associate at my firm (when I was a summer associate). In the beginning he saved my ass a few times. If possible, find a go to person in the office who is a little more senior than you.
It means: 1. You have a cool boss who is trying to make you a better worker 2. You have been making errors on a consistent basis mainly for not asking questions or overconfidence, then triple check your work 3. You need to thank that guy for his comments, he is not only really trying to help you but doing so in a very straight way, there is no better feedback 4. You have to pay his interest in you by improving in a consistent and noticeable way
There is no better way to repay the people who believe in you than delivering above expectations.
Agreed...you are not close to being fired I wouldn't think but he actually sounds like a reasonable boss who is trying to help you to help yourself. Take his advice seriously and slow down if you must. Make sure the next things you give him are as perfect as possible.
The first time it's ignorance.
The second time it's chance.
The third time is arrogance.
When the person who writes your paycheck gives you constructive criticism, what do you think you should do?
Sounds like a great boss to me, he is trying to help you. Say thank you and don't mess up again.
del
Wow cool boss.
Some simple things I'd take from the email:
follow instruction. I used to think the way to impress was to surprise the boss and show how smart you are...all well and good but trying to follow this path usually ends up with you messing up and looking stupid as you just dont have the knowledge yet. Keep it simple...if somebody asks you to add 1 + 1 tell them its 2.....Dont go making an excel model with sensitivity analysis.
Get a note pad, a pen and some superglue. Superglue the pad to your left hand and the pen to your right...two months into the job you should always have a pad with you and should be be taking note of everything.
If your unsure on something work to find the answer first. If after good effort you cant only then approach others. Its annoying if somebody asks you something like where can I find FX rates....google it ffs.
But dont get down about the email...take it as a positive thing.
gonna copy and paste that message the next time I need to give my team feedback, thanks
I think it sounds like he wants you to succeed. Have been bitched out way worse beforreee!
Yeah dude, look at the length of that email. The fact he sat down and spelled out what was expected of you shows that he values your presence, just needs higher return on investment. Lighting a little fire under your ass. You'd better start pannicking if it's a one or two sentence email and he seems like you don't deserve the time of day. That's my VP's style, and that shit makes you feel like true analyst scum
You're not "fine" (as everyone is suggesting) per se. You have the opportunity to be "fine."
Best piece of advice I ever got was my first day as an IB intern: always have a pen and paper within 3-seconds' reach. And use them: both to write down what people tell you, and to write down what occurs to you. For example, it might occur to you that you need to check our work better. You could write on a piece of paper: "Confirm methodology. Verify figures. Check for errors. Ask necessary questions."
Best piece of advice I ever got was to be prestigious.
If you need to write something down, first make sure that you have a prestigious notebook, like a moleskine with acid-free unlined paper and a cloth ribbon, or better yet a leather bound Epica with hand-cut paper, cream colored pages with gentle texturing, subtle inconsistent color marbling and scarring with handcrafted abrasions, and a reinforced raised spine.
Second and more importantly, make sure you have a prestigious pen...like a Montblanc fountain pen with a hand-crafted 18K gold nib, barrel and cap made of black precious resin or sterling silver coated with a transparent lacquer, rhodium-plated inlay, and champagne-tone gold-plated trim and clip.
Otherwise, everyone will think you're poor and lack class. That's what I picked up on my first day as an intern.
I really like the cut of your jib, Pete. I don't know what a jib is, but I like the cut of yours.
I would add a couple comments that I wish someone had told me on my first day:
Also, to add on, document your processes. My first few months in my job I documented step for step what the processes were that I needed to go through to produce a goos report. Now I can do almost all of then without every checking back to that pad of paper.
There's no way that this isn't your first job. Lol.
Your boss sounds like a sweetheart. Most bosses would just scream or call you out in front of others (especially in finance), and you'd never make another mistake again.
Out of curiousity, how old is your boss? The only thing I find a little strange about this is that it was in an email, instead of in person.
Makes me think that he might have sent basically the same email to everyone, like someone above was suggesting they might copy this email and send to people who work for them.
Also, how pissed would he be that you posted a private email on a website?
Copied for my own personal reference. This advice applies to any job.
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