If you are reading this, you are probably focused on becoming an investment banker out of college. Or maybe you are a few months into your job or already have an offer.

Probably the best piece of advice I could give would be to make sure you set your expectations straight before starting out as an investment banking analyst. Your satisfaction in any job is determined by how your expectations meet reality. If you can prepare yourself mentally, then the job will be a lot easier to deal with than if you had high expectations going into it.

Even if you are already a banking analyst and are looking to transition to the buyside, make sure you do not hype up that buyside role in your mind to the point where you are just setting yourself up to be disappointed. This is exactly what happened to me when I joined a large multi-manager hedge fund. I initially thought it would be my dream job, but turned out to be exactly not what I wanted to do longer-term. I quit that role despite the amount of money I could have potentially made.

So set expectations low and you are less likely to disappoint yourself and disappoint others. As sad as it may sound, I use this in all aspects of my life because it keeps the stress levels at bay. Whether it comes to my job, my relationships or just making plans with friends, if you set low expectations you can easily surpass them.

What do I mean by setting low expectations?  

In terms of your job, if someone asks you if you are knowledgeable about a certain subject or are good at doing something specifically, then just tell them the truth. There is no need to make them think that you are an expert in a specific subject when you actually are not.

For example, when I first interviewed for my current role as a distressed hedge fund analyst many years ago, I told them upfront that I knew extremely little about distressed investing. Practically nothing! I was not in the restructuring group during my days in banking and only skimmed through a few books on the subject.

Turned out that all my bosses wanted was someone who was smart, hard working and could learn things quickly. By telling them I did not know much about distressed investing upfront, they had low expectations, which I was able to easily surpass within six months of starting the job. 

Don’t set yourself up to disappoint others

In terms of your relationships with others, don’t promise to do something (ie. go to an event or on vacation) when you know there potentially could be a chance that you would not be able to go. Especially if you are in a type of job where work can pop up last minute (like in banking), always say to others that you would love to go, but will not know for sure until the week before.

By not giving others your word that you can go, you are essentially hedging your bets and being honest with the other person. Yes, it absolutely sucks to not have control over your life or your schedule, but it sucks even more to have relationships ruined because you have to cancel on them all the time. You do not want to be seen as an unreliable person who cancels on people last minute. 

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Other Tips I Wish I Knew About Investment Banking

Below are a few other things I wish I knew before starting my investment banking analyst program:

1. You will be judged from day 1

Your performance from day 1 matters. Those first few months are the most crucial when it comes to determining your reputation within your group/firm. You do not want to be that guy who comes in late, leaves early, is error prone, does not have a good attitude, etc.

Buckle down for the first few months. Try to make yourself stand out from the other analysts by coming in a little early and asking around if you can help on anything before you leave. Show that you are hardworking and are hungry to learn. Know that associates have a huge say when it comes to determining which analyst they want to work with, so you want to be seen as one of the better analysts.

Even though you will be working harder, you want to be chosen to work on deals because that is how you learn the most. Do not be that analyst that nobody wants to work with. Remember, investment banking bonuses and promotions will depend on how well you are liked in your group.

2. Be careful with the Seamless

Yes, you may have had a great metabolism in college, but you do not realize how active you were then compared to how active you will be in your first job. $25 of Seamless for dinner goes a long way if you order at cheap restaurants. You can easily order more food and sides than you actually need.

Remember the Freshman 15? Well, there is a Banking 15 as well. I have seen many analysts go from being in good shape to gaining 15+ pounds in their first year out of college. 

So watch what you eat and do not mindlessly eat to relieve your stress.

3. Sign up and go to the gym when you can

You need to get into the habit of going to the gym whenever you can. This is not just advice for bankers. Everyone in their 20s needs to get into a habit of going to the gym on a daily basis. You will realize once you are in your late 20s / early 30s that your body starts to slow down and your muscles / bones become a lot weaker. Best way to prevent aging is keep your body in good shape.    

Get an equinox membership a few months after you start. Yes, $200 a month seems expensive for someone coming from college, but it is definitely worth it. Use it to relax and let off steam. You need a way to release any anger or frustration with your job in a healthy manner.

The sooner you get into the habit of staying in shape, the better. 

4. Always print your work and check it

Nothing is worse than being called out for presenting wrong numbers to the client. Usually it never gets to this stage because your associate / MD will catch almost all of the mistakes. But you never want to be known as the guy who is error-prone because then nobody would want to work with you.

So always print out your work and check it before handing it off to your associate. You save a lot of your associate’s time if they do not have to be worried about constantly checking your work.

When you get to the buyside, you will realize that nobody checks your work. I promise you will not last long on the buyside if you present wrong numbers to your partners.  

5. Start thinking about the buyside from day 1

This of course applies to only those who want to transition to the buyside. Recruiters reach out to you very early during your first year right out of college. From what I hear nowadays, they reach out within the first month or two. Crazy I know! Like what does someone straight out of college know yet about finance and private equity / hedge funds??

But buyside firms want the best candidates and once one big firm starts recruiting, all the big firms start recruiting. So make sure you start preparing very early on for interviews otherwise it will be harder to get a job on the buyside later.

Hedge funds are a little different. They will recruit randomly depending on need, usually at the start of the year.

6. Never ever complain

Nobody wants to work with someone who complains. Yes, banking hours can be tough, there is no doubt about that. But everyone in banking knows that the job can suck a times, so the more you complain the harder it will be for yourself and for those around you.

You are what you say you are. So if you keep telling yourself this job sucks I want to quit, then you will likely be miserable and move to a different role. Always keep a positive attitude. You are making over six figures right out of college, so realize others would kill to be in your shoes.

7. Admit to your mistakes, especially if you are working on a live deal

You won’t know it unless it happens to you, but the feeling of noticing a mistake after you present it to your MD or your client is one of the worst feelings ever. What is even worse is if you get called out for it mid meeting.

If you notice a mistake in a meeting with a client, do not say anything unless you are asked about it. Bring it up after the meeting with your MD / Associate so you can all discuss what to do about it. This matters especially for fairness opinions, which are viewed as legal documents and are scrutinized by lawyers during lawsuits.

The worst thing you can do is not say anything about it. So be humble and admit to your mistakes.

8. Prepare yourself for a grueling two years

Like I discussed before, keep your expectations in check when you start your investment banking job. Realize that this is just a two year boot camp where you need to prove to yourself and others that you can do it.

Your performance during these two years will define you. It will separate the good analysts from the bad and help get you your buyside role down the road.   

9. Don’t make vacation / weekend plans, unless you get them approved

You may think I am crazy when I say this, but you should not have done banking if you wanted to have a work / life balance. Banking is for those who want to set themselves apart from others. It shows future employers that you have what it takes to be a good employee.

One of the things that absolutely stressed me out during my banking days was having my plans constantly cancelled because something came up at work. I know, it sucks to not have any control over your life and schedule. But what sucks even more is getting so excited to do something then having to cancel it last minute. It will stress you out and make you angry.

Better to try to make plans last minute so you do not have to deal with the anxiety of always thinking about if you are able to go to an event or not. The anxiety will distract you and you will become more depressed and angry if you have to cancel plans.

10. Get off social media

Social media is the biggest waste of time ever. If you think about it, you already have very little free time in finance, so why waste that time on social media? The most time spent on social media is right when you wake up and when you go to bed. During those times people probably spend an hour mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and Facebook when they could otherwise spend the time hanging out with others or working on improving themselves.

Read a book, work on a side hustle, or prepare for your buyside interviews. Best advice I learned was to not use my phone as an alarm clock. Go on Amazon and buy one of those old simple alarm clocks so you don’t have to look at your phone every night.

Also, checking to see what your friends are doing on a Friday night or on the weekends when you are working is depressing. Better to be oblivious to what your friends are doing and try to finish work quickly.

How to be a top bucket ranked banking analyst

I was fortunate to be a top-bucket analyst during my banking days. Luckily, I had an older analyst teach me how to be successful at the job before I started.

So, make sure you follow what I said above and also read the Top 10 Ways to Become a Top Bucket Ranked Analyst. One of the easiest ways to land a buyside role and stand apart from the analysts is to get that top bucket ranking, so make sure you follow the lessons I learned during my time in banking.