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Analysts are typically recent undergraduates who work long hours and do a fair bit of grunt work. A good analyst helps his or her boss get their job done and done well. Analysts are not normally expected to contribute in meetings but often can. Many analysts return to the business. Others choose to try other opportunities. During recruiting out of an MBA program, former analysts will be at a significant advantage over others without experience. A good pay number after bonus is $38,000 for the first year. Expect to go up roughly $5,000 a year until you hit associate.

Key analyst skills include:

• the ability to work with Excel spreadsheets,
• write macros in VBA,
• track and generate weekly newsletters (weeklies),
• keep schedules,
• generate prospectuses,
• get burgers
• put in and retrieve pitch books from the copy center
• and answer client phone calls.

Success Factors

Key success factors include (i) getting your job done well and without friction, (ii) getting things done on time, (iii) asking for help when you need it, (iv) dressing neatly, (v) not complaining, gossiping or whining, (vi) learning to use the library and the web to do research, (vii) become a whiz-kid with Bloomberg, Excel, Word and Powerpoint, (viii) always give your boss credit, (ix) know when to cheer up your boss and (x) know when to stay out of the way.

A good analyst also networks, observes and thinks. You want to be genuine yet make it clear that you like your boss. Excessive posterior kissing is a negative. It's always good to have a little hobby as well like following stocks, playing Liars Poker or following currencies. You can do this when things get quiet in August.

Assessment

It's a tiring life but gives you a good chance to learn the investment banking field and bond with people whom you will work with later. Being an analyst is one of the best ways to break into a very good field. The return on investment from being a good analyst can be over 50 times what they actually pay you.

After two years, most analysts leave to get their MBA or pursue other positions. It all depends on the firm. Some places have a pretty strict policy of getting rid of you. Others are more mellow. It makes sense, after all, to try to keep very good people who can get a job done. If you don't go back and get an MBA you might benefit from going out and getting a CFA.

Recommended Books

• Corporate Financial Management, Douglas Emery and John Finnerty, Prentice-Hall. An excellent, detailed book on topics in corporate finance. If you want to study what the field is about, this is a good book to start with. More "real world" than Brealey & Myers and Ross.
• The Economist. A great source for info on what's happening in the world.
• Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, and Securities Trading, by Miriam Naficy. A recent Stanford MBA and former employee of Goldman Sachs provides a highly practical overview of what it takes to get a good finance job. Highly recommended. 
• Wall Street Journal. Should read this every day.