Quote:
Originally posted by Lil' Hannah
Here's a question for you Rudey - I've heard that in professions such as investment banking, that the "work hard, play hard" mentality is almost forced on you. I had a friend of a friend that was basically told that you weren't part of the team if you don't go to happy hour after work with the big bosses and get hammered. He said he didn't mind it occasionally or on the weekends and the like, but they felt pressure to go out and be part of the "coporate culture." Like if you don't follow the crowd and fit in then you won't go very far. True?
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To some extent. It's definitely like that at some places more than others. That's actually a really good question and requires me to think about it but I'll try and answer it. Go look at the website for any of the bulge bracket firms like Goldman Sachs or any of the sexy boutique shops like Gleacher or Lazard and look where they recruit. You'll notice they only recruit at certain schools, year after year. Why? Part of it is elitism, part of it is based on the alums that work for the firm, but more than anything it's about recruiting a certain character that fits your mold.
The best analogy I can think of is fraternity rush. To give you an example of how competitive it is to land these positions (not saying anyone that does is better than those that don't) I'll tell you what Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) told me. Usually they have between 40-100 spots available for each analyst class...this isn't just banking and can include sales and trading, wealth management, and other positions. About 5 years ago, half of the graduating class of Yale applied for a job with CSFB. I didn't bring up Yale to name drop and make it sound more impressive. I did it to put my next point in context. Yale is a good school, the students tend to be brighter than your average bear, and there are quite a few more schools like this with impressive students all applying for the same damn jobs. The bank got to choose from the best.
So these companies come to campus and present (rush), if you're good you might get an interview (bid), and then the three rounds of interviews are there to weed you out (pledge). They know you're smart. You've gotten into that school, gotten good grades, and they don't have to waste resources to figure out if you're smart. In fact most students brought in are not finance majors because finance isn't available at the schools they recruit at. These students can pick that up during their training rotations. So right now they're going on personality, looks, why you're talking so quietly or being annoying. Nobody wants to be at the office 120 hours a week with a tool. You simply have to fit the mold. The mold varies slightly from firm to firm, but the idea doesn't change.
So to answer your question after yapping so long, you are most likely already going to work hard, play hard without them even forcing it on you. Most people who go into this have played team sports and/or were greeks so they understand how important it is to value the team. Now yes there are points where you might feel it's controlling if somehow you got through without fitting their mold. You might be so independent that you hate eating with people, don't want to go to drop a couple hundred on booze at a cluh when it should cost 20 bucks, etc. Then you feel like something is being pressed on you. Your friend is trying to compensate for something he's doing wrong though. Your ability to pound drinks has no correlation to your advancement in the company. At the end of the day it's about money. The company hires people that work well together and can make money. So you have to realize the balance that exists there.
-Rudey
--Personally I can't stand people from certain firms because their firm's "mold" must be messed up or something.