what is grunt work 
grunt work is an expression often used to describe thankless and menial work it can also refer to jobs that may lack glamour and prestige or are dull in the context of the finance industry grunt work could entail combing through a company s financial records looking for positive and negative developments or analyzing historical trading data in the hope of finding the perfect stop limit order points understanding grunt workdespite its lowly status grunt work is often essential work that involves researching selecting and preparing a host of details or a wide range of data that are then relied on by others to draw conclusions and make recommendations in the financial industry such grunt work normally is required to make well informed financial and investment decisions whether in house or on behalf of clients for some grunt work can be an accepted rung on the career ladder banks and financial firms may have their own particular hierarchies but in general financial careers on wall street typically follow a job path from lower to higher level similar to the following with the lower level employees doing the grunt work typically analysts and associates handle the grunt work associates are either recruited directly out of mba programs or are analysts that have been promoted after two years at the firm the associate role is similar to the analyst role with the additional responsibility of serving as a liaison between junior and senior level personnel associates work closely with analysts given their familiarity with and expectations for the role they review the work of analysts particularly when the latter are working on any client facing materials or analytical projects in some instances associates may have opportunities to work directly with clients as well senior level personnel from vice presidents to directors and managing directors assume additional responsibilities as they climb the career ladder and become decision makers they assign grunt work to others these higher level employees prospect for deals and maintain client relationships they gain expert knowledge of how economic shifts and market dynamics can impact their industry in addition the longer their tenure at a firm the greater their institutional knowledge or access to it and the help it gives them to navigate their careers upward to attract and retain top talent and to alleviate the burden of grunt work many financial firms have quickened the pace of promotion also technology has helped to reduce some labor intensive grunt work associated with long hours and deadline pressures types of grunt workin the finance industry types of grunt work can include benefits of grunt workfor those just starting out in a career in the finance industry grunt work is highly relevant that s because you need to master this kind of meaningful yet tedious work if you are ever to be trusted with higher level more complex tasks and grunt work can provide a solid foundation upon which related business and financial success depends grunt work is a way for analysts and associates to demonstrate their competency it allows them to show those in senior level positions that they can handle the smaller or seemingly less important tasks effectively can i assign grunt work to others that depends on your job hierarchy if you re a newly hired entry level employee who isn t charged with managing others you probably should do the grunt work that you ve been assigned 