I keep hearing people talk about “sponsors” and “being known” as if it’s some obvious thing everyone understands, but I genuinely don’t. I’m a first-year analyst, and I’m trying to figure out what my network needs to look like in order to actually make the jump to associate in two years.
It’s not just about doing good work, right? I see people get promoted and other people don’t, and the difference isn’t always performance. It seems like there’s a whole political side to this that nobody explicitly teaches you. Who actually needs to know you? And more importantly, who needs to actively advocate for you?
I’ve done some coffee chats, and I’ve made some internal contacts, but I’m not sure if I’m building the right relationships or just collecting names. Are you supposed to be getting mentorship from within your group, across groups, or both? And how do you actually know if someone’s genuinely in your corner versus just being polite?
I want to be strategic about this without being obvious about it. How do you actually build the network that gets people promoted from analyst to associate?
This is perhaps the most underexplained aspect of career progression in banking. Your promotion depends on three distinct network layers. First, your direct team and group head—they provide the foundational assessment and initial advocacy. Second, your cross-group relationships with senior bankers and MDs—these individuals validate that you’re known beyond your immediate silo and can work with different personalities. Third, informal mentors outside your chain of command who understand your trajectory and offer outside perspective. The critical insight is that sponsors must have capital themselves. A junior director advocating for you carries minimal weight. Focus on relationships with individuals who sit in decision-making capacity. Building these relationships requires demonstrating impact in client work, not just competence. Finally, be direct: schedule explicit mentorship conversations where you ask someone to be a sounding board for your development. Vagueness on both sides wastes everyone’s time.
real answer? you need someone senior enough to actually matter who thinks you’re not a pain. talented analysts are a dime a dozen. what gets you promoted is having an md or senior director who prefers working with you and is willing to vouch for you when your name comes up. that’s it. everything else is noise. build your day-to-day competence, find that person, and make sure they see your work and your effort. if you’re trying to game the system with a “network strategy,” you’re already thinking about it wrong.
this helps so much. ive been kinda scattered w my networking and now i understand better what actually matters. thanks for being direct about it
You’re asking the right questions early—that’s going to set you up for success! Trust the process and focus on building genuine relationships.
I watched my classmate get promoted last year when I didn’t, and we had basically the same performance ratings. The difference was he had grabbed coffee with the COO three times over that year, and they’d worked together on a few client deals. She knew him, actually liked working with him, and when promotion time came, she said his name. Meanwhile, I was networking ‘smartly’ across different groups and nobody in a decision seat actually knew me. I learned the hard way that breadth doesn’t beat depth when promotion time comes. Now I’m being really intentional about building relationships with people I actually want to work for.
Internal promotion data at most firms shows approximately 70-80% of analyst-to-associate promotions involve documented sponsorship from someone at managing director level or above. The remaining promotions typically involve cross-group advocacy from multiple senior bankers. Most importantly, the timeline for developing sponsor relationships is 12-18 months of consistent, substantive interaction—not one-off coffee chats. Focus on work quality first, then deliberately expand relationships with senior professionals in your group and adjacent groups through project work, not pure networking.
also don’t underestimate peer relationships. some of the best advocates are people at your level who’ll become senior enough to matter in 3-4 years. but yeah, immediate sponsors have to be people with actual power right now.
ok so focus on depth w ppl who actually make decisions, got it. way clearer now thx
You’ve got clarity on the strategy now. Build authentically, add value in your work, and the right relationships will strengthen naturally!