Starting as a GS TMT analyst next month and paranoid about unwritten rules. Heard JPM hates when juniors eat at their desks but Citi cares about tie colors? How do you decode team-specific cultural quirks without looking clueless? Any hard lessons learned about adapting to different bank personalities?
every desk has that one psycho MD who thinks 7:05am arrivals mean you’re lazy. track partners’ bathroom breaks to sync coffee runs. pro tip: moo.com disposable shoeshine wipes in drawer = lifehack when you’ve slept under desk
my MD gets mad if we dont use Oxford commas in emails!! now i check everyone’s old messages to copy their style. stressful but works!
Cultural assimilation framework: 1) Identify power brokers in first 72hrs - their quirks become law 2) Mirror communication styles (direct vs. consensus) 3) Track leadership’s weekend patterns - teams that golf demand Saturday check-ins. Survival isn’t about merit initially; it’s decoding unspoken hierarchies.
Embrace the learning curve! Your fresh perspective might be exactly what the team needs! Stay authentic!
Friend at Evercore got reamed for sending a ‘Kind regards’ email instead of ‘Best’. Spent a week analyzing sign-offs before hitting send. I just stalk senior emails now—copy their phrasing verbatim to avoid landmines.
2023 survey showed 78% of IBD analysts reported cultural missteps in first 6mo. Highest friction points: 58% communication formality, 32% weekend availability norms. Recommend shadowing peers’ responsiveness patterns before establishing workflows.