Key Attributes Of A Successful Analyst

• Your first year or two are crucial to the success of your career. Both good and bad reputations made early die hard.

• Don't take on too much work. Saying "no" is hard, but remember that things take longer to do than you think and that the unexpected always happens at the worst time. You don't get credit in pulling all-nighters, (you don't even get much sympathy) but you will get penalized for dropping the ball. Murphy's law applies with a vengeance.

• Don't travel too much. Inevitably, you will drop the ball.

• If you see an unavoidable conflict looming, let the senior people know. If it's not clear what you should do, let the senior people involved resolve it.

• Learn how to manage multiple projects and juggle priorities by trying to judge accurately 1) how long things take; 2) what's important; and 3) what the real deadlines are. For example, think about what has to be done during the day and what can be done after 5:00 p.m. Let people know if you're in danger of losing control. Above all, stay calm.

• Work with senior team members to map out a project and understand what people's expectations are. People have different levels of managerial skills or managerial styles, and you may have to push some people more for guidance. Recognize that some senior people who have good deal skills nevertheless have poor managerial skills. Then it's partially your responsibility to manage up. Take the initiative to question your instructions if you don't understand or agree with them (try not to be obnoxious). Just because a person gives you a little guidance doesn't mean they don't have specific expectations as to your work.

• Of course, you have to be prepared for long hours and an unpredictable schedule. There's no getting around that, especially in the first year.

• Deliver what you promised on a timely basis. Do it consistently. (This is probably the single most important trait of an analyst/associate.) If you are going to miss a deadline, give the senior person as much notice as possible.

• Try to use the most recent data available in doing an analysis. If that is difficult or very time consuming, discuss alternatives with the senior person.

• The junior person's job is to catch all the little mistakes. If you work at it, you will - believe it or not - develop a sixth sense for typos and other common mistakes. Minor typos may not affect the substance of a presentation, but they can make the preparer look sloppy and cast doubt on the substance of the presentation. Three easy ways to avoid the embarrassing errors are 1) check the client's financials carefully, especially if they came off a database; 2) check exhibits and presentations to make sure they are internally consistent and 3) double check the exact spelling of the company's name and names of key officials.

• Investment banking is a documents-oriented business. An analyst/ associate's job is to make sure all the right pieces of paper get produced accurately and are signed by the right people. If you are unsure as to what needs to get done or what the role of some of the documents are, sit down with the senior person (or lawyer on the deal) and walk through the deal. Make a list. In certain documents, style (typeface, wording, etc.) is important. Don't ask why, it just is.

• Follow through is also very important. It is your job to stay on top of the details and make sure that things get done. It's not always possible to triple-check everything, but you should try and make sure that the important things get done.

• Investment banking is a people business. Getting along with the people you work with, your peers, and your clients is important in allowing you to work effectively.

• Investment banking is a service business. It is important that in every dealing with a client, the client feels that you have been thorough and responsive and that you are pleased to provide the service. When clients make truly unreasonable requests, review the situation with senior people and have them resolve the situation for you (they will have a lot of experience in doing this).

• Don't be arrogant. This sounds like a platitude, but it is sometimes easy to forget that we are in a service business. Try to remember that very often our clients view young, overpaid, know-it-all MBAs with some suspicion (often justifiable). You have to work at winning them over. This applies in social interactions as well as in business meetings. It is useful to remember that the firm has many clients and most of them use airplanes. If you exhibit arrogant or obnoxious behavior on a plane or in an airport, chances are the person next to you will be a senior executive of a client.

• A significant part of presenting yourself well both internally and externally is being well informed about our business and the business world in general. Use airplane time, etc., to do junk business periodical reading to stay informed.

• Having a good attitude and being enthusiastic, although difficult at times, makes you much easier to work with. No one will have much sympathy for demonstrations of how hard you are working: they've all done it before (or still are). A sense of humor (even a sick one) helps too.

• Getting along with people internally means being a good team player. Among other things, being a good team player means:

• Cooperating with people internally.
• Posting people who have an interest in what you are doing.
• Being generally helpful and responsible.

• Don't play politics. Remember that you are reviewed by all departments. Most top banks have low turnover and people have long memories.

• Try to "read" your clients. Try to understand what their motivations are on a corporate and individual level. Remember that many corporate decisions are not made on purely economic grounds. Don't assume that because it's not an "economic" transaction that it's not "good".

• It is the obligation of senior team members to train you and give you feedback. Don't be afraid to ask for either.

• With the significant responsibility you are given comes the opportunity to screw up on an unlimited scale and embarrass yourself and, more importantly, the firm. As an analyst/associate, it is more important to know what you don't know than what you do know.

• If you don't understand what's going on, ask. Being well-informed about a situation will help you avoid making the wrong decisions. It's also the only way you will learn. No question is a stupid question during your first year or two; if you don't ask questions then, you will have missed your last opportunity.

• Know when to ask for help or guidance. When in doubt ask either the senior person on the team, a senior member in your department, or the senior lawyer on the deal (if there is one). In particular, in areas of rate/valuation estimates, fees, willingness to do business, remember that you do not have the authority to commit the firm. Don't assume that because senior people don't check you don't have to check.

• Know when to keep your mouth shut. Although it is important to contribute to a meeting if you have something to say, an irrelevant or uninformed comment or question in front of a client will reduce your credibility. Obviously, in internal meetings, you should not be afraid to ask questions.

• When dealing with people internally who have limited time (i.e., traders, members of the management committee, etc.) think in advance how to get the most out of your discussion. Be prepared and choose your questions carefully. Pick an appropriate time to see them.

• Try to anticipate what the next step in a transaction will be and what the contingencies are. Don't waste time preparing for unlikely events, but it helps to do things in advance that are clearly going to be needed. Take the initiative in discussing the course of a project with senior team members.

• Try to keep the big picture in mind. What is the purpose of a presentation? What's the purpose of a transaction? What is the client' s interest? What are the risks and who is the competition?

• You do not have to be brilliant to be an investment banker, but you do have to be smart. A transaction is a series of interconnected problems of various degrees of importance and difficulty. There is rarely one "right" answer and each transaction invariably has new problems. Try to figure out 1) what the problems are; 2) who should solve them; 3) what order and priority they should be worked on; and 4) what resources you have to tackle your piece of the puzzle. In the first few years, it is invariably true that experience beats brains. If you ask other people who have been through similar transactions, chances are you will do better than trying to puzzle out a brilliant solution on your own.

• The above not withstanding, taking a few quiet minutes to think creatively about off-the-wall approaches to a problem will often help. There will be certain people in your department who will be more receptive to blue-skying such approaches with you, and you should use them. If you think you have a good but unorthodox solution, push for it, but don't make a Federal case out of it. Remember that you are surrounded by smart people.

• Try not to ask the same question to often.

• Try to think about what could go wrong in a transaction. Try to have contingencies (at least mentally) for likely pitfalls.

• Think constantly about your clients. Be familiar with their objectives and their hot buttons. As you see market opportunities or work on new products for one client, think of applicability to other clients.

• Think constantly about other services that the firm could offer your clients. Very often, a transaction generates other business opportunities and you are the firm's person on the scene. Think about business opportunities in hedging (interest rates and foreign currency risk), pension fund transactions, securities sales (both individual and corporate), repurchases, divestitures, etc.

• Unfortunately the way in which you present yourself on ideas can often overshadow the substance of your contribution. Being well prepared, speaking articulately, and acting confidently is as important (initially) as being brilliant.

• Remember that different clients and different colleagues have different styles. Being sensitive to various people's "turn-ons" and turn-offs" will help you work with them.

• Your actions must not only be right, they must appear right in hindsight. Our industry is under constant scrutiny by the regulators and the press. Never cut corners on the firm's compliance procedures. Again, when in doubt, ask.

• Confidentiality is a cornerstone of our business, and as a matter of course we receive sensitive information from clients. Often that information should be restricted not only to the firm but to your department or to team members. In particular, care should be taken in discussing such information with sales, trading and research departments. Do not be afraid to tell other professionals that you do not feel comfortable discussing a project without further authorization. In particularly sensitive projects, be careful about 1) discussion in public places (including reception areas, taxis, airplanes, elevators, restrooms, etc.; 2) using fax machines or leaving messages; 3) talking to employees at the client who may be unaware of the project.

• Don't talk to the press.

• As painful as it may be sometimes, make sure you are reachable at all times.

• If you are unhappy, let us know.

• Take all your vacation.

• If you have free time, leave work early.