The “learning on the job” myth

Apologies for the slightly clickbait title. The goal was to get a larger readership.

I have something that’s been troubling me that some of you might have gone through. Every day in the investment banking grind so far (almost 9 months in) is almost 9-1/2. Lots of the work is menial: updating comps, precedents, making books. Some of the work feels meaningful: getting to work on a new type of model, talking to clients. But, despite it all, I feel like I haven’t learned too much beyond acquiring the mental strength of surviving.

Even if I work on a model about, say renewables, there’s a gap of months before another deal in the sphere comes. I’ve forgotten many of the key drivers. I attempt to block time to do “deep learning” but that goes out of the door at 2 am in the morning or when you only have half a day in the weekend to “recover” for yourself.

And yet, whenever you asks someone, how they knew an industry or a topic so well, they give a filler answer of “learning on the job.” How? Therefore, to all of you smart WSO monkeys, how did you “learn on the job” and make things stick at a deeper level?

 

I’m kind of confused what you’re asking. You’re obviously learning on the job unless you’re only doing things you already knew how to do? Learning on the job isn’t like someone teaching classes; it’s your VP explaining a 338 Election or Tax Step Up analysis to you at 11pm because you fucked it up in the model, when just you want to go home or your associate just asking you to do shit you’ve never done and having to figure it out alone

 

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