I got an offer (a position in research) through an acquaintance working in the same department. Thing is, when I met with the head of research, he mentioned a couple of things that I’m not very comfortable about. I have a bachelor in finance, and I just sat for L1, but no work experience. The job’s responsibilities in the first 6 months seem to be translation/data inputting (e.g., assisting analysts), and later on, I will be working on research updates (and as time passes, I will be doing more). My question is: Is this how it goes for bachelors with no experience? does an entry-level job in research normally start with this pain of translation work and data inputting? Am I being underestimated by this guy?
Get that 6 months of work done in 3 by working hard and writing spectacular VBA code. Then, he will see how much he underestimated you by. If it takes you 9 months to complete 6 months of said work, he was right. I know someone who took an administrative assistant job on a equity team, crushed the tasks for that job and started doing equity research notes in their spare time. 6 months later, they were a full time analyst and a new admin was doing their bidding.
XSellSide, I’m not desperate over this offer. They initiated contact with me and not the other way around. My question is, is this what normally happens? bachelors not getting “analyst” positions, unless after gaining work experience? Should I expect more from other employers? I haven’t started the job seeking process yet. I just need to know how it is out there, and what to expect from employers.
Seems like your role is that of a resesarch assistant oer perhaps a data analyst, which basically helps with the programs, databases, and other infrastructure supporting the front-office research platform. I mean, I guess if you’re in equity research you’re considered “front office” but it does seem like what you’re doing is more of a technical or support role, when what you really want to be doing is an analytical one. Don’t worry – all the big banks have a group like this – but if you’re keen to doing real securities analysis, your job description should look more like the following: “Responsibilities: - Build and maintain financial models; develop new models as needed - Run valuation analyses; gather and analyze data - Review business/trade publications, annual reports, financial filings and other sources to gather/synthesize/interpret data on companies followed by the senior analyst - Write and publish research reports based on senior analyst’s investment theses - Develop marketing materials for clients - Communicate recommendations of securities on behalf of senior analyst to sales force and clients - Meet with management teams of companies in sector and attend industry conferences where applicable” If you can let us know more about the position or the firm, we might be able to give you more input. As far as whether or not you’re being underestimated, who knows? I know nothing about you or your pedigree.
Mate, you have a bachelors with no experience and no other qualifications - do you think you should be offered a research analyst role? You gotta learn to crawl before you can walk and this job sounds ideal. Like the other guys said, crush the job and in 9/12 months you might be a junior research analyst.
Good lord, 6 months of grunt work with a defined path towards something better? Unless you’ve got something else spectacular on the table you should jump on it, especially in this market. Sorry to break it to you, but a bachelors in finance means you know juuuust enough to be an idiot. I’ve got this idiot in my office who was an Econ(!) grad and has his series 7 (interned at a broker) and thinks he knows it all. Kids these days.
Agreed. You learn jack sh*t in college. And no one actually tells you in HS that your SAT’s determine your life for the next 15 years. So you didn’t go to Harvard - congratulations neither did 99% of the population. Everyone is trying to crawl out of their hole…sounds like a great opportunity ahead of you. Go for it and suck it up.
Hold on…I’m not quite sure why everyone is railing on this guy. I’m trying to understand whether he is truly looking at an equity research associate position, or just a data analyst role. If he’s on track to become a research associate - someone who’ll clearly assist in the analytical process – then 6 months of “grunt work” work is fine. As an associate formerly in equity research and presently in private equity, I’m still one of the most junior guys on the team which by default puts me in a position to do the work that everyone else above me doesn’t want to do – so by some people’s definitions, then this is grunt work too. The whole point is, the other posters on this thread are corret in that people should not complain about “grunt work” when they’re starting out, as long as there’s something better that lies ahead or their other job responsibilities are interesting. I don’t think any of our jobs are totally glamorous and that’s how finance goes – everyone has to start somewhere. On the other hand, if the position he’s interviewing for is more administrative in nature or is for a data analyst role, then it’s unclear whether he’ll really move out of it in 6 months, even in spite of what management tells him – and this is what I’m trying to understand. I have no idea what other elements his job entails, and without a job description, it’s purely just guesswork on my end. So zenji, got an answer?
Great post Numi. Zenji, no offense meant by my post by the way.
Thanks everyone. I just needed to hear it. I was reading others posts here and on other forums, and I haven’t come across any post mentioning “grunt work”. Numi, it is clearly an equity analyst position (not a data analyst one), but I have to start with these responsibilities at first. ValueAddict, your post is great. The problem is that I know a person who got a position in investment banking and started with the same grunt work (except, he really knows nothing!). It feels bad to receive the same treatment. The other thing is that I worked hard for level 1 and from your responses, I feel that passing it will have no impact on the kind of job I will receive at first. Also, in terms of exposure and experience, is equity research preferred over a private equity role?
Zenji, Equity analyst for what kind of firm? Sell-side or buy-side? Investment strategy of the firm? I don’t think fundamental analysts need that much data input/translation work to be done. Private equity role is preferred than equity research; you get to work on not only finance but also strategy, sales and sometimes operations. Equity research involves more of industry research, modeling and figuring out which stock to buy/sell.
vitaminc, The offer is on the sell-side of the firm. And yes, I am concerned about the necessity of beginning with such work, but the responses here are somewhat relieving. I feel the same way about PE. I think soon I will start contacting acquaintances in search for a PE position. They expect to hear from me today. I’ll try to put them on hold for a longer time. If it didn’t work, I guess I will just say no. Thank you all for the insightful response.
Zenji, 1) IMO if equity research is what you want to do…and not knowing anything about the firm…just based on the job description, it seems like a decent role to start off at! 2) While PE obviously sounds better and has better earnings potential etc etc…I think you might find that PE requires a couple of years of work experience before you can make a break into it… 3) In the current market, if you are getting this sort of a job right after college…I think thats pretty good! 4) About getting a similar job to the other guy who knows nothing, well…work hard and get up the learning curve quick, and Im sure you can move into a research associate role quicker than the timeline they have outlined
CFA L1 will indeed not help you. You still don’t know anything so I think this manager has got it right. Learn on the job, prove yourself and then you can think about a heavier role.
Being unemployed sucks and there are no guarantees that you will find something better to start out with.
I would definitely take the job - don’t say no just to look for PE jobs (Re: Syd_RE #2). I have a lot of friends that graduated in May, and all are having a tough time finding a decent job. If you take the job and find something you like better down the road, then leave.
Not to put you down but I highly doubt that you are being offered a Research Analyst title for a SS shop out of college. Are you sure it’s not a Research Associiate position?
I’d like to have this job… and I’m more than happy to do the grunt work that comes with it.
Is this for a research associate, or research assistant position? In my shop (sell-side), you’re a research associate for 2.5-3 years, then graduate to analyst (i.e. get your name on the top of the page). We have an executive assistant who’s the office admin w/ some very light data entry work, so you should distinguish exactly the role & advancement potential you’re being offered.
Grunt work is what should be expected from any entry-level job (read: straight outta school). My first six months as an equity research associate were spent creating financial statements from scratch (data entry) so my MD could create his models from those. I also spent a lot of time creating simple charts, etc. Until I understood the sector we covered and the companies we followed, the role research plays in the scheme of our shop and how to write in my MD’s style, I did a ton of grunt work. Now I have an associate who is also doing the same - you learn from the ground up. You gotta learn to crawl before you can walk. Take the job. Do it well. Move up. Just remember that your really don’t know much, yet. Stay humble and look for new things to learn. Good luck!