Incoming Associate - Advice
I've seen lots of posts giving advice to incoming analysts ('What I Wish I knew before joining bb') but I haven't come across any for incoming Associates. For background, I'm joining a BB (London) having worked in a family office role for 3+ years.
I'm mentally preparing myself for the increased hours - anyone willing to get the ball rolling on some best practices for a novice Associate?
[email protected], have you checked out these or run a search:
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
I think a lot of the advice is pretty similar to analysts! The one piece of advice I have heard time and again for associates is to act like an analyst. I think a lot of new associates come in and try to run the show and it usually does not end well. Spend the first 6 months doing the same work as a 1st year analyst.
I actually just did a blog post today (here) on 10 tips I had for new analysts / associates. A lot might be obvious but could be worth a quick skim.
Your blog post was really helpful - also like the one about thank you e-mails with the template you included. Thanks!
Thank you for reading! If you (or anyone) has other questions / topics, please do let me know as I'm always thinking of new blog post ideas.
Great post. Short enough to remember, detailed enough to be helpful!
This makes sense now that you say it and thanks for taking the time to reply (apologies for my own delayed response! Have been enjoying some time off before I start tomorrow).
I used to be a VP at MS. I wish someone had told me:
Don't get stuck being the glorified "fourth-year" analyst. That reputation will hurt you as you are looking to move upwards.
Be friendly with the analysts but don't become their best friends. You will have a hard time having them respect you down the road as their boss if they see you as one of them.
You were hired because your group thinks that you have the potential to be a senior officer of the firm in the future. Act like it. Have presence. Speak up in meetings. Take ownership. Be proactive. Look the part.
Be proactive in building relationships with the people who matter in your group, as if your career depended on it. Actually, your career does depend on it.
Understand that the associate job changes each year and what made you successful as a first-year associate is not what will make you successful as a second-year associate. And what made you successful as a second-year associate is not what will make you successful as as third-year associate.
Figure out quickly if banking is what you want to do as a career. Life is too short to spend an extra 1-2 years in banking if you don't have to. Conversely, you are more likely to be promoted if people believe you are committed to the job and going to be there for the long haul.
There are no shortcuts to checking models. Trust me. Over time, you will realize that analysts make the same mistakes over and over again so you will learn to check those areas first.
Don't hog all of the credit. Give credit to your analysts when it's due. They will appreciate it immensely and do a better job for you.
Position yourself to work on the transactions that matter in your group. Everything else is a waste of time.
Lastly, be kind to everyone including the assistants, IT guy, the guys working in the print room. These people will make your life a lot easier or more miserable.
This is a very good post. Thanks
Could you elaborate on point #5? What distinguishes an Associate in Year 1, from Year 2, from Year 3?
Btw, great post.
This is a fantastic and detailed response. Last week was my first on the job. It’s going to be a big task getting up to speed but some of the points here will be extremely helpfu (particularly #4)l.
Don't act like you're better than the analysts. Nothing analysts hate more than an act like they know it all new associate who doesn't know jack shit about how to actually do the job.
How did you switch from the family office to a BB??
Just pushed hard for interviews (recruiters, job boards, my own network) and conveyed a good story to make the move.
Why did you switch? What were your tasks at the family office? Did you try staying on the buy-side? How big/institutional was the family office you worked at?
I am currently at a single family office and am slightly worried about future mobility.
Hominem crushed it in the post above, on the dynamic with analysts I just want to add you should hold them accountable to do analyst level responsibilities but don't be afraid to step in and roll-up your sleeves on something you need to get done and they are either struggling or too slammed to get to it. Sometimes that can be a good way to get respect as it shows you have the same (or hopefully better) skills that they do, are committed to getting the work done, and have some respect for them and their time.
Just reading some of the posts here you can see how it goes. You don't want to be the zero-value-add associate but you don't want to be the 4th-year-analyst associate. Understand when you need to delegate and when you need to get it done yourself.
In the first 6 - 12 months, it may be OK for an associate to be process-oriented, but soon thereafter associates need to pivot toward being more of a strategic thinker and have an understanding of the "bigger picture". Avoid the divide-and-conquer with analysts and instead be more value-add than crunching the numbers and tweaking a slide's formatting.
Senior bankers will view associates favorably if they come to the table with industry knowledge, relevant perspectives and recommendations. Otherwise, senior bankers will view the associate as a glorified analyst with an MBA.
The associate level is about building trust, so that senior bankers will delegate an increasingly level of responsibility, which results in more client exposure and overall career growth. Every three years is a promotion - so if your skills aren't evolving, then that's a problem.
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