I’ve wanted to be an investment banker since high school, I finally got an offer and it feels weird.
What kind of headspace should I be getting in for the start of my career? What kind of trainings should I do? Should I be studying for the SIE and series already?
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Start studying LBOs so you can get out of there as fast as possible.
Just get quick at excel and PowerPoint.
Internship or full time ?
FT
I would recommend enjoying your last bit of free time before you have to work. Enjoy time doing stuff you might not be able to do later with loved ones
1. Become an advanced user of Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook)
2. Understand valuation through and through (read Valuation by McKinsey if you're up for it, use Macabacus for practice)
3. Network, network, network!
Lol don’t read valuation. It won’t be helpful/ you won’t understand what you are reading lol.
Agreed, Investment Banking Focus Notes by Joshua Rosenbaum will give you a better run through of valuation work in a condensed format.
Do you recommend networking with PE guys that early? And how do you go about it?
Really you should do a few things to prepare:
1) practice typing. Much of the early analyst role is taking notes and being able to quickly type is actually a shockingly important skill.
2) Focus on being mentally and physically strong when you start the role. The truth is, the role is so involved, you will sacrifice other areas of your life during an analyst stint. So focusing on being in good shape, knowing how to cook healthy meals quickly, and having no regrets about missing out on fun is really important. There will be Friday’s and saturdays where you won’t be able to hang with friends, so take advantage of the ones you have right now, so you don’t have a crisis in the middle of your stint and think “I have only worked for the past several years”
3) if it is an internship offer, go in humble and remember to have a positive attitude and do your best. Maybe read the checklist manifesto so you make less errors. The truth is, the job actually isn’t that hard technically, but it is difficult from the standpoint of you need to do mindless very detail oriented work without making mistakes. Meanwhile, you will have not nice people being jerks and you need to keep a positive attitude during that. Also, remember the most important rule of being a summer analyst: your goal is to make the analysts have an easier time. It’s not to impress an MD, or VP, or anyone else. Your job is to make your analyst like you and have an easier time. The industry is incredibly hierarchical and very hazing based. The way to succeed is to make the person directly above you look good and they will then tell others about your work. If you try to show off, the analyst above you will resent you and others in the org will recognize you don’t get the dynamic at play in the industry.
4) If this is a question of before full time, as another poster mentioned, practice LBO modeling/ preparing for your exit. Maybe take the gmat if you plan on going to grad school. About 80%-90% of analysts leave—there is a reason for this. Many people come into the job and enjoy it or think they will stay forever, but after 2 years very very few people stay due to the opportunities elsewhere and the treatment you receive as an analyst.
My final short piece of advice is more advice on what you will be doing during your internship: You won’t touch a model, likely will spend very little time in excel, may not send an email to clients, and likely won’t interact much with MD’s. I think kids seem to think they will come into an internship and be whipping LBO’s and DCF’s up all day long because the interviewing is now so technical. The truth is, your job will like be way closer to an executive assistant. You will schedule meetings, set reminders for people, edit/ proofread materials, take notes, track different thinks in an excel spreadsheet like which buyers have responded or questions buyers have had etc.
Finally, my most important piece of advice—you should always respond within 15 minutes to any email you get. If you wait longer than 15 minutes, you are considered non-responsive as an analyst. Good luck!
how the hell did analysts back in the day (80's and 90's) stay at their firm their whole career (or at least expected to whereas nowadays it's common knowledge doctor appointments aren't really doctor appointments)? There weren't no protected Saturdays I think and rougher overall treatment.
There were big differences, I don’t know if I would say it was more brutal though (even if old people act like it was). A few huge differences between the past and the job today, that are largely tech advancements I have seen from childhood to being an adult or comments real dinosaur MD’s have ranted about:
Tech makes the job so different, sure the 80s/ 90s had people getting away with some messed up shit, but back then those dudes weren’t always a second away and my guess is they were less productive so they had less time to make analysts lives hell.
Checklist manifesto?
It’s a book that basically talks about how you should make a checklist for everything. It’s compelling enough that most people agree after reading it they change their behavior in some area of their life.
On the answering quickly point, fair one but sometimes you have shitty associates and deliberately take time to answer so you can avoid too many random iterations or to show them they should stop chasing like crazy for no reason. But it’s probably a bad advice for a first year 😂
Yeah—this isn’t good advice until you are a year in. Not internship or new hire advice. At that point a year in, there’s a whole nother set of tips in regards to telling people to piss off and how to push back. I could write a novel on those tips.
A very crucial skill people don't stress enough is being able to function properly while hungover as fuck. Sounds easy, but until you start leading calls while actively wanting to die you won't know how much it sucks.
Also, there’s a book called Discussion Materials that’s from the perspective of an MBA associate. It makes IB at the junior level sound like a complete joke but it’s quite accurate.
Agree thats a great read
Also “Monkey Business”
Make sure you have low self-esteem and are insecure AF. That's solid prep for banking.
Practice figuring out how to cry in a bathroom stall without being suspect
Learn to take naps with your eyes open
Don't forget to save every single version of something you create, as you'll make something on v26 that will be removed, but asked to be put back on in v127
And, most importantly, prepare your outfits to only be a midtown uniform
Is midtown uniform still a thing?
Not with that attitude
Long live the Patagonia vest
It’s time to change your title to that highly coveted “Incoming Investment Banking Analyst at ( )” on LinkedIn along with a post saying how grateful you are to the bank, friends and family for their support all along.
…jk
“Prepare” by enjoying your life before having to work 80 hour weeks where the majority of your work is admin tasks. Your compliance team should indicate the proper schedule / timeline for SIE / Series, but you will be trained for other parts of the job during training & by doing the actual job.
Don’t waste your last few months of free-time by practicing modeling—you’ll learn it either way.
Bump
I am really shocked by these answers...
So you got the political answers. Real answers is you got the job and have a couple of months to enjoy life to the fullest before working like a dog. You need to 1) travel as much as possible 2) date as much as possible 3) exercise 4) see your family 5) party nonstop 6) pick up a cool hobby (skydiving, salsa, flying drones, etc.). Bonus if you can party while travelling and meet girls/boys there so you combine a few of these items.
If I were you, I would take the next flight to Mexico or Hawai, finish the school year remotely from there, drink piña coladas from the beach. And on the weekend find some kind of boat parties you can go to. I'm serious btw, any study prep you're doing now will have zero impact on your on the job performance, you're gonna suck anyway for the first 6 months. And quite frankly having a few cool travel stories to tell your MDs or in future interviews will be more valuable than knowing the latest yen / real FX rate.
The work out comments are underrated. It’s freshman all over again, possibly worse, for weight(fat) gain. Being in the best physical shape possible heading in will improve your overall stamina heading into the hell hole and come out the other side alive. Morning runs/yoga/weights in Hawaii or Mexico it is.
Master XLS and PPT.
Then you can start focus on the larger picture after 2 years…
Also, get prepared to get slammed.
How on earth do you master ppt / XLS without actually working ? Lol.
My summer analyst learnt more about these in 1 week with me than in all of her studies. This stuff you just pick up on the job imo
Might be cheeky saying this but don’t burnout before you start working.
Get good at saying "Yes sir, right away sir."
Kidding, not really...
Get in the mind space of being the "humble student" and an "effective tool." As an IB Analyst your role is to do whatever it takes to complete your job / task, and to learn from each job / task so you can become more effective & faster at doing future jobs / tasks.
I'm oversimplifying some - but being more effective at jobs / tasks is your only objective for your first 2-3 years in investment banking.
There’s a few things you can do prior to your FT gig:
1) Prep for the job to crush it (I.e Excel, PPT, understanding modeling/valuation concepts)
2) Prep for buy-side recruiting in advance so you’re fully prepared for on-cycle
I would check out GetOfficeHours for resources. I used them in the past for prep and thought it was stellar. Covered behavioral, technical, practice case studies and modeling tests, etc.
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