Inside The Experience Of 50+ Analysts

When you’re starting out as an Analyst, it’s incredibly helpful to speak with other Analysts, and people who have done what you’re trying to do.

There’s a lot of valuable insight and knowledge that people gain throughout the Analyst experience.

We decided to take it a step further and speak to 50+ Analysts to hear what they had to say about their experience, what they recommend other Analysts do, and any advice they would give to someone who is an Analyst.

The Analysts we spoke with had backgrounds in Finance, Real Estate, Private Equity, Banking, and Brokerage. Some of them are Associates, VP's, MD's or higher, reflecting back on their Analyst experience and giving insight into what they recommend someone whose an Analyst do.

This list took us hours of interviews and writing in order to create it, now you have access to all that information in less than 15-20 minutes of reading.

Here is a rundown of the answers 50+ Analysts answered to our questions about their Analyst experience and how to make it the best possible...

What Advice Would You Give to an Analyst Starting Out?

• Have a really good attitude


• Be easy going, no arrogance


• Immerse yourself as much as possible


• Listen & Understand
  
  
  
  • If you don't understand something, ask questions about what is holding you back
  
  
  
  

• When you're starting a new job, have to prove yourself


• Mistakes lead to questions, which lead to learning


• Work hard on all types of tasks


• Show effort by asking good questions


• Proactively ask to do more, you'll start to build trust

What Should I Do to Get the Most Out of My Analyst Experience?

• Be a sponge


• Make yourself available


• Make a habit of stopping by


• Ask what can I do, what work do you have?


• Set goals with your manager early on


• Mention things you want to learn

• Enjoy your experience


• Get to know the other Analysts


• Appreciate your position


• Have a great attitude always


• Ask to sit down with people for 15 minutes

What Did You Find Out After Being an Analyst?

• It takes time to build trust with your boss


• On your own time, you can ask to learn about things that interest you


• 0 expectation is the best policy


• Stay late with a purpose

• Your relationship with someone is formal until you know them on a personal level


• You learn by doing


• Lower-level employees rarely receive praise


• As a Full-Time Employee, you have more responsibility and ownership of your work

What Advice Would You Give to Your 20-year-old Self?

• Take a step back and think what you want to get out of it


• Ask questions two to three steps away


• Comfort is the enemy of results


• Learn about yourself
  
  
  
  • What do you like
  
  
  • What don't you like
  
  
  
  

• Take pride in your work and do a high quality of work


• Surround yourself with people who are better than you and make you better


• You want to work for someone who is living the lifestyle and doing the job that you want to do


• Write stuff down, keep a journal

How Can I Become a Great Analyst?

• Solve problems for people


• Be accessible, try not to make travel plans


• Offer yourself but don't be too pushy


• Be proactive


• Recognize urgency


• Navigate excel with a keyboard


• Maintain and build relationships

What should I look for in an Analyst position?

• Find a position where you're going to learn a lot


• Develop a very translatable skillset


• Try to find like-minded people


• Find a good team with good deal flow
  
  
  
  • Once you find it, and see it, you'll know
  
  
  • Builds great working relationships
  
  
  
  

How do you move up the ladder as an Analyst?

• Make people look smart, creates a good reflection on you


• Happy hours are a good way to build relationships outside of the office


• If you see yourself somewhere, work your tail off to make it happen

• Dig in and embrace it, get into the nitty-gritty


• Have to prove yourself early on, takes time, and have to take risks


• Try to ask questions that get people to think and can then elaborate through a story or a personal experience... (What was your toughest deal and why?)...helps build rapport

What do you feel is most important as an Analyst?

• Organization is critical


• Focus your time on building a good network and contact list


• Do the little things right


• Be flexible about your path
  
  
  
  • Have plenty of time to figure out your path and future
  
  
  
  

• Work hard, don't worry about the money


• Focus on being the best Analyst you can be, not the exit opportunities


• Put sincere effort into what you are doing

What do successful Analysts do that others don't?

• Know and understand their market


• Get more responsibilities


• Stay hungry and sharp


• Try to beat the fear of being afraid

• Keep head down, work hard
  
  
  
  • Don't be lazy like everyone else
  
  
  
  


• Get as many repetitions and deals under your belt as you can
  
  
  
  • Gets you good exposure
  
  
  • Learn different deal types, structures
  
  
  
  

What do you recommend when interviewing?

• Keep interviews really casual
  
  
  
  • Pitch yourself
  
  
  • Create an opportunity
  
  
  • Make it conversational
  
  
  
  


• Key to interviewing is showing how you are different

• Great to use deals or case competitions in interviews


• Be short, and use a good title on the email


• People like talking about themselves


• Try to prove you're a good fit

What have you done to stand out?

• Learn the fundamentals
  
  
  
  • That way you can understand a good deal from a bad one
  
  
  
  


• Get to be better than your boss


• Work really hard to become an integral team member

• Make more relationships than the next person


• Be organized, most underrated skill


• Bring ideas of a possible solution to every meeting


• Get out and meet people

General Pieces of Advice

• Relationships are the currency of business


• Give things a chance


• Deals come and go


• A lot of the junior guys you work with will become the senior guys over time


• Have the guts to do things


• Start the dialogue


• Maintain your relationships and connections

Conclusion

There are a lot of things you learn or wish you knew in hindsight when you’re looking back on the situation and your experience.

We tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible to help people on their journey as an Analyst.

Take what you want from it and learn what you feel is important. Ultimately, you’ll find your own way of doing things, and become a successful Analyst.

It’s always helpful to have the recipe of someone else’s success when trying to make your own.

It’s up to you to figure out your own way to become a great Analyst.

Use this insight to help you and guide you.

You can do it.