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100 Investment Banking Career Tips
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Beauty save = put your cursor to the top left corner on every tab before saving
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Same columns (D, E, F) across tabs should refer to the same month
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Color code in Excel (black = formulas , blue = inputs , green = link , red = issue/CapIQ/FactSet)
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Include all source files received from clients in model. Keep notes on all inputs / assumptions you receive from clients (can be in comments or noted in far right) -> will be deleted before final version
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You will never run out of rows so rather than building an overly complex formula, do one step at a time in a new row (easier to follow for other people)
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If absolutely no info to calculate anything accurately use % of Revenue for everything to project e.g., payroll, marketing, etc.
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In the financial model code clients as Client 1, Client 2, etc. instead of revealing their name so it could be shared with investors as needed
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Typically, you set up multiple cases (base, upside, downside) -> Use Offset function and refer to the "Case_Number" cell which is on the first tab of the excel typically
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Prepare a Dashboard Tab (for quick review) + a separate tab for Printing (all fonts are black) for client or to copy into presentations
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Sanity check: Check annual numbers and Dashboard - Does it make sense?
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Have an enthusiastic and positive attitude at all times (even at 3 am and the next morning)
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Say hello in the morning and greet people in the hallways. Be respectful of your assistant
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Ask a lot of questions, especially in your first couple weeks
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Set up 1:1 meetings/calls when you join to get to know people, create opportunities to introduce yourself to Managing Directors (MDs) and get to know them
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Be approachable
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Walk into MD’s offices and develop real relationships if possible
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Network internally with people outside your group. Having friends in other product groups will help you to get quick response when you work on an urgent project
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Take responsibility and admit mistakes
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Client is always right, even when they're wrong
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Maintain positive personal and professional image even when you are very tired
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Develop thick skin: high stress career, never personal
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Never eat alone, grab coffee/lunch with different people every day, or order your own food but eat together in the kitchen
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Ask for best templates for valuations, financial models and management presentations, in your first few months. People who seem to know a lot have the best templates and precedent files
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You should almost always be available to communicate, generally from the hours of 7am to midnight. Be in the office on time, 9am latest
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Goal is to sleep between 12am to 7am, unless there is a pre-scheduled call earlier than that
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Don't be indecisive, always have an opinion and defend it even if you change it later, that's how you'll become a leader
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Have a good relationship with analyst and associates and build relationship with VPs and above, too. Make them look good and you’ll be good
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Say, we’ve (as a team) prepared this analysis even if you were the only person working on it, don’t say I’ve prepared this as you’ll make the rest of the team look bad
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Give and ask for clear deadlines, often VPs/associates don’t tell you exactly when they expect to receive it back, but they have a day/time in mind
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Raise hand how you can help! Ask before going to sleep if you can help with something else (yes you prefer to sleep, but it will differentiate you)
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Over-communicate, respond to emails timely, drive process, take ownership (instead of simply saying, we’ll do and 3-4 hours later not sure what to do exactly -> say: We’re doing this, doing that, what do you think about this approach?
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Send daily/weekly update to MDs/VPs with workstreams
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If an MD doesn't respond to a question, send the email again. Or call
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Ask at least one question during every meeting
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Always remain calm, cool, and collected. If needed take a 10-minute break
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Present yourself well both internally and externally
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Respond to all emails in 15-20 minutes, to at least acknowledge that you received it and we’ll send it this afternoon / by end of the day / started working on it
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Be responsible at social events and use your common sense; not an excuse for being late the next day
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No social media during working hours. All electronic communication via firm's approved devices at large investment banks dealing with public client. Personal / home systems are monitored / prohibited at these firms
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Take ownership, be proactive, have a daily-to-do and schedule, time
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Review all workstreams daily even if only for 5 minutes. Review all your projects once a week in great detail. Check your calendar both 2 weeks ahead and back and set up to-do list and deadlines
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Be diligent about updating trackers / internal databases to save others time (creds book, profile tracker, etc.). Be an expert of keeping and organizing lists (your personal to-do list, lists for each deal you’re on, etc.)
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Manage your seniors and remind them to deadlines, they might have more important things to track
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Verify time zones when scheduling meetings (Outlook has a great feature for that)
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Always keep mark-ups. Scan them to your drive just in case
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As an associate, talk to analysts instead of sending emails all the time and hiding behind your desk
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Always add value, don't just pass on task blindly. Own the process. It's easier to tell than you may think who actually does work
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Never delegate a task you personally don’t know how to do
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Don’t just copy client slides and reformat them, always think about how the presentation flows from one page to the next. Typically, we can re-use many client slides, but we need to create a few new from scratch to connect the story and flow
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Imagine that you are a PE firm: Would you invest? What things we might not want to mention and what is not clear?
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Think like you were the Founder, what would you do? How would you approach this problem?
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Always think about: what else could we do for our client? Our job is to make people love us
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No task is to small. Even your MDs do administrative tasks occasionally. “Managing Analysts” do not succeed
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Under-promise and over-deliver, especially around deadlines
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Always flag hardest tasks and do them first, this way you can ask questions immediately if anything is unclear before seniors log off around 10-11 pm. Easy tasks can be done at 2 am without additional instructions and without a fully functioning brain
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Forward your desk phone when you’re OOO and learn how to use the conferencing feature on your office phone or cell phone
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Set up the same signature line (format/size) on your cell phone and laptop. It will make it less obvious if you respond from a gym or from a dinner party
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When you get staffed to a new client, start pulling together a very draft shell immediately with a lot of TBU/placeholder slides to move the project along and you can immediately ask questions and show that you are proactive
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Don’t delay process. Act confidently even if you are not, make decision even if only 90% sure unless you are sending it directly to the client
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Have a sense of urgency, act immediately when you get a task from supervisor
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Don't be afraid to speak up, you’re paid to have an opinion -> Always have an opinion and defend by a reason or story (you can change your mind later), don't look ambivalent as it will make you look weak
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Take good notes and always bring your notebook and calculator with you to VP / MDs’ offices
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Don t answer your phone on speaker to external callers.
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Always print and leave physical copies of decks on VP / MDs’ desks after you turn comments
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If a senior banker asks to leave a printout copy in their office, leave it on their chair, not desk
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Make comprehensive list of questions to efficiently make use of senior bankers’ time
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Know how to negotiate an NDA
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Organize your thoughts before leaving a voicemail. Be concise. Speak slowly and clearly and repeat your telephone number twice
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Be patient with yourself. It takes time to come up to speed. You are not supposed to understand what’s going on in your first 6 months
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Always use spell check
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Request vacation in advance and send reminders 2-week and 1-week in advance. Send a to-do list and timeline to your team about project status on your last day before vacation
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Don’t take on too much and don’t over-commit. Remember everything will take longer than expected
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Create folder and subfolders in your inbox. Check with your team for best practices
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Communicate if a task is taking longer than expected
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If you know you will not be able to deliver work on time contact your staffer or manager immediately
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When you work with other groups, make sure you are viewed as a partner
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Spend time researching the Company – as juniors you can add a lot of value here when meeting with senior bankers, and it will be noticed
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For public companies, equity research (especially initiating coverage), earnings transcripts, investor presentations and S-1 filings are a great place to start
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Couriering books to a senior banker: Make sure books are in an opaque envelope for confidentiality + Leverage assistants to find out where a banker is staying (if traveling); don’t wait till late at night for this
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When there is a question to CEO try to answer yourself how I would answer and pay attention how the CEO answered the smaller the gap is the more ready you are
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If you are an associate, review every turn, don’t let analyst cut you out and send it to VP or above directly
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If you are an associate, don’t let VP cut you out, you need to be visible to directors and MDs
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Most important thing is to move along the processes and client interaction timely (HR and admin emails can always wait) and prioritize MDs emails
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Set your voicemail announcing yourself, otherwise the client will not leave you message
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This is one of the most important steps in our clients live. Treat it as such
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Treat the firm like an owner
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Treat your clients like they hired YOU specifically
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Treat banking like it is your long-term career even if it isn't. I promise you'll have more fun (in addition, recognize that it is the long-term career for some and be mindful of that)
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Once you have at least 1 year investment banking experience it is pretty easy to find a position at a bigger bank where you most likely get paid more and have a chance for a PE exit. See www.wallstreetconnector.com to start the process
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The more time you can save for your supervisor, the better rating you’ll get. Always think, how you can save time for them. If you do, they will want to work with you
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Quality over speed. Yes, you need to be fast, but there is nothing that would slow down the process more than turning comments 3-4 times instead of once or twice
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If it takes you 60 minutes to save 30 minutes to your VP, do it
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Do a few little things they don’t except you: e.g., add a few bullet points / suggestion to a slide they told you just leave blank; that’s how you will stand out
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Don’t just ask what you should do. Describe what the issue is, tell them what you tried to do. Tell them 1-2 proposed solutions. It shows that you think ahead and do some homework
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Don’t just pull the research reports they asked you to do, but skim through and highlight sections
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They will often get back to you on which public comps to include in the valuation analysis, but you could just send your thoughts and they will appreciate it even if they ignore most of it
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When sending work, flag anything you are not 100% sure so they know where they should spend more time when reviewing
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Always repeat to-do at the end of the meeting to ensure your understanding is correct
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Keep a status report organized, thorough and up to date at all times