Investment Banking – Why is It the Way It Is? Part 4 The Nature of the Analyst Position: Audition, Apprenticeship, and Bootcamp

 

Analysts are generally hired for a fixed period.

At the end of which depending on performance and need, they are either invited to remain with the firm as associates or are bid adieu.

One can think of their stay as a prolonged audition.

As we know from watching shows like Britain’s Got Talent, competition is intense. Sometimes the judges can be direct, even cruel. 

And here there are no “golden tickets” or “buzzers” for contestants. 

It’s often an uncomfortable experience, especially since many are called but few are chosen. 

The process is designed to turn “kids” into deal generating machines.

See Part 2 of this series about the pitch intensive culture. 

Think bootcamp for an elite military service. 

It is also a crash course whose goal is to endow the analysts with the experience and skills to discharge their tasks with greater rapidity and competence. 

And at least a feigned indifference to demands on their time.  

Coming soon IB pathologies explored and explained.