What's the appeal of working on Wall Street?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

LOL LOL LOL!! Wall Street fought for the right to rip off my 401k plan. Wall Street in its current iteration is a drain on society, not a benefit.

What in the world does your rambling even mean? Why don't you just stash cash in your mattress then? You sound just smart enough to do it.

+ 1

Sounds like word salad.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Why are people in here acting like making money isn't a desirable goal? FYI if you said something like that, you MIGHT want to check your privilege. The only people who say money doesn't matter are people who grew up with it and can't imagine life any other way.

These days, most highly educated professionals are expected to work AT LEAST 50 hours a week but usually more. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to spend 10 hours a day at work no matter what, I'd rather make the 500k + (extremely hefty bonus) salary rather than the 50-250k salary.

You act like the people on Wall Street are breaking the cycle of poverty or something. Um, I mean maybe there's some of those, but let's be real. The vast majority of people on WS grew up perfectly comfortable.

Not necessarily. Anecdotally, that was not my experience. My experience is that people who are hungry for money tend to be those who did not grow up with much.

The only people who were willing to work 70-80 hours for the long term grew up poor. Because only people who didn't have money thought it was worth it to burn their youth like that.

No, I have a relative doing this at great expense to himself and his family. We grew up solidly middle class. He's addicted to the prestige and doesn't know what else to do with himself. It's very sad.

For the set of people who have the ability to make it to Wall Street, middle class is poor. Completely different reference point.

Yup. FYI people who work in finance at high levels think 800k is poor. That is how good the money is.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/sam-polk-wall-street/492101/

That's not the point. PP was saying that poor kids will be willing to work on Wall Street because they are the only ones hungry for money. My point was that plenty of not-poor kids do it too. All you're saying is that once you get on Wall Street you have a distorted view of money. Actually, that kind of proves my point, so thanks.

No, I was the PP. My point was that most people work on Wall Street for 2-3 years, stash the cash, then work somewhere more fulfilling knowing they have a good financial cushion. The only people who continue burning themselves out are people who grew up poor because they cannot take the risk to jump to a more meaningful career when so many people depend on them.

[Anonymous]

Wall street and Finance are packed with Asians, FYI. Not sure what your point is?

There's HK, Singapore, Shanghai, = all major financial centers packed with Chinese financiers and bankers and "WS" people.

It has nothing to do with the number of patents (and I'd be suspect of any "official" statistics released by China in the first place).

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Money. Nothing else.

no - it isn't the money to most people at target schools (except for perhaps Wharton). At non-targets or semi-targets, yes it is the money, but not to kids at targets.

I can tell by your answer you didn't go to a target school where all the firms recruit for front office jobs.

The main appeal is the exit options and career path flexibility.

What i mean is this:

Imagine that you are a young bright HYPS or Williams grad at age 21/22 who majored in a social science or some other kind of soft major and come junior or senior year you don't really know what to do. You have a few interests but don't want to really box yourself in and you dont want to go grad school yet because you don't know where you want to take your career.

"Wall Street" at target schools swoop in and present a very structured and clear recruiting path that appeals to kids who already conquered such a path by getting into target schools.

Wall Street (it is changing slightly now but in the past) also presents itself as something for UG's to do for 2 or 3 years so they can get 'work experience' on their resume from a top firm, gain analytical skills, provides opportunities for you to show others you can work in high pressure situations, but most importantly without a long term commitment.

Industry and government knows that wall street has done some of the 'screening' for them already so after your 2-3 year stint at a firm, you leave all the aforementioned experience but also with the flexibility of knowing industry firms want you to staff some of their 'high profile' teams that more closely report to the c-suite.

when you look at job descriptions for teams that do interesting firm-wide work at a top company, a lot of them ask for "2-4 years IB or top strategy consulting experience" even if its everything from cpg to auto oems to appareal to whatever sector you want to name.

Real examples:

cute princeton history grad, dreams of working in fashion -> JPM IB analyst -> after two years applies and has offers for great paying jobs doing strategy and corp development at three well known fashion and luxury brand houses. She would've had a much harder time breaking into the industry without going to JPM first or if she did go out of UG would've been stuck on a different career track in the industry and not a more 'accelerated' track without the ib experience.

Top LAC grad, wants to work in sports -> IB analyst at top firm -> after 2 years joins Nike corp strategy and development, uses that as a platform to join an elite team at Nike that does their cutting edge demand creation work.

I can go on and on but that's the appeal of wall street (and consulting) to students at targets.

Wall street is a quasi 'finishing school' where you get paid to attend.

the actual work as an IB analyst and associate is fucking boring and tedious.

Trading is a different animal - kids that go into trading, do it for the money and interest in markets.

The best and brightest young minds, seeking careers in fashion and sports. Bless their hearts.

when China surpasses the US in 30-30 years, you'll know why

If you don't think asians gun hard for ws/consulting roles, you are naive. "Young Money" wasn't written just about white kids.

sorry, you're the one buying your head in the sand

http://www.tprinternational.com/china-vs-us-patent-trends-giants-stack/

"On January 14, 2016, China’s State Intellectual Property Office held a news conference in Beijing and released data that put China once again in the patent spotlight: The number of invention patent applications received by China in 2015 broke the 1 million barrier, reaching 1.102 million and showing an increase of 18.7% over the previous year. This contrasts with the United States, where figures released by the USPTO for 2015 show an increase of 1.8% in patents from 578,802 in 2014 to 589,410 in 2015. What is more, 359,000 invention patents were authorized in China in 2015, with 263,000 being granted to domestic applicants, up 100,000 over 2014."

Also

https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/nov/12/china-surpass-united-states-r-and-d-spending-role-west

"It shows that China is not content with the role allocated to it by western policymakers. China already spends a lot more on R&D than Japan, was about to overtake the EU when the latest figures were compiled in 2012 and will, on current trends, surpass the United States by 2019."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

Well aren't you an elitist little snob. Sorry other people's cleanliness standards aren't up to your level.

I don't care how it sounds, it's true that they're usually not up to my standards. My best friend is an OBGYN in an upscale area and even there she has a bunch of horror stories about the way her patients smell and the kinds of problems they run into. No fucking way would I want to do any of that, I don't care HOW much you pay me (which is currently way less - hundreds of thousands - than people in finance make anyway).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

LOL LOL LOL!! Wall Street fought for the right to rip off my 401k plan. Wall Street in its current iteration is a drain on society, not a benefit.

What in the world does your rambling even mean? Why don't you just stash cash in your mattress then? You sound just smart enough to do it.

+ 1

Sounds like word salad.

You wish. You apparently don't even have the minimal familiarity with current financial regulatory issues to know what I mean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

LOL LOL LOL!! Wall Street fought for the right to rip off my 401k plan. Wall Street in its current iteration is a drain on society, not a benefit.

What in the world does your rambling even mean? Why don't you just stash cash in your mattress then? You sound just smart enough to do it.

+ 1

Sounds like word salad.

You wish. You apparently don't even have the minimal familiarity with current financial regulatory issues to know what I mean.

Feel free to elaborate. Unless you're afraid to actually have a discussion with people who have worked in finance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

LOL LOL LOL!! Wall Street fought for the right to rip off my 401k plan. Wall Street in its current iteration is a drain on society, not a benefit.

What in the world does your rambling even mean? Why don't you just stash cash in your mattress then? You sound just smart enough to do it.

+ 1

Sounds like word salad.

You wish. You apparently don't even have the minimal familiarity with current financial regulatory issues to know what I mean.

Are you wearing a tinfoil hat? You sound like a NUTCASE. Sorry dear but your crazy is showing. Might want to learn to hide that a little better.

[Anonymous]

Look are there some bad actors in various areas of finance? Of course. There are bad people everywhere. There are doctors who are sociopaths. That doesn't mean anything for the field as a whole. The vast majority of people who work in finance are decent sorts who are not actively trying to rip you off. To think that they are is really tinfoil hat area, along the lines of thinking that Sandyhook was a set up.

[Anonymous]

using Goldman Sacs as your one example of the "rich getting richer" is silly. Goldman is notorious for only hiring from the ivy league. But there are thousands of other finance firms with different hiring practices. Only looking at one - the most notorious - proves nothing.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread really has me shaking my head. Are you guys really thinking that 50 year old senior portfolio managers work 70-80 hours a week? You're being silly. That's what 22-24 BA assistants are for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look are there some bad actors in various areas of finance? Of course. There are bad people everywhere. There are doctors who are sociopaths. That doesn't mean anything for the field as a whole. The vast majority of people who work in finance are decent sorts who are not actively trying to rip you off. To think that they are is really tinfoil hat area, along the lines of thinking that Sandyhook was a set up.

I'm sure there are a higher concentration of sociopaths and narcissists on Wall Street. But we're not talking about individuals - we're talking about the field as a whole in fact. The fact that Wall Street caused the worst financial crisis this country has seen is hardly tinfoil hat territory ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

LOL LOL LOL!! Wall Street fought for the right to rip off my 401k plan. Wall Street in its current iteration is a drain on society, not a benefit.

What in the world does your rambling even mean? Why don't you just stash cash in your mattress then? You sound just smart enough to do it.

+ 1

Sounds like word salad.

You wish. You apparently don't even have the minimal familiarity with current financial regulatory issues to know what I mean.

Are you wearing a tinfoil hat? You sound like a NUTCASE. Sorry dear but your crazy is showing. Might want to learn to hide that a little better.

Read and learn, grasshopper. https://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2015/aug/13/financial-advisers-wall-street-fiduciary-standard-obama-administration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look are there some bad actors in various areas of finance? Of course. There are bad people everywhere. There are doctors who are sociopaths. That doesn't mean anything for the field as a whole. The vast majority of people who work in finance are decent sorts who are not actively trying to rip you off. To think that they are is really tinfoil hat area, along the lines of thinking that Sandyhook was a set up.

I'm sure there are a higher concentration of sociopaths and narcissists on Wall Street. But we're not talking about individuals - we're talking about the field as a whole in fact. The fact that Wall Street caused the worst financial crisis this country has seen is hardly tinfoil hat territory ...

No blame for the people who bought homes way above their income level, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

LOL LOL LOL!! Wall Street fought for the right to rip off my 401k plan. Wall Street in its current iteration is a drain on society, not a benefit.

What in the world does your rambling even mean? Why don't you just stash cash in your mattress then? You sound just smart enough to do it.

+ 1

Sounds like word salad.

You wish. You apparently don't even have the minimal familiarity with current financial regulatory issues to know what I mean.

Are you wearing a tinfoil hat? You sound like a NUTCASE. Sorry dear but your crazy is showing. Might want to learn to hide that a little better.

Read and learn, grasshopper. https://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2015/aug/13/financial-advisers-wall-street-fiduciary-standard-obama-administration

Do you even understand what types of finance jobs are on wall street, or do you think it is a giant street of financial advisers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen investment banking is for scheming swots that don't have the capacity for medical school. Surgeon prestige > banker prestige.

No. It's the difference between people who like sciences (biology or chemistry) vs. people who like math.

Fwiw, money (and probably the hours too) is much better in finance.

Maybe, but being a doctor is incredibly more important and fulfilling to anyone who has a shred of soul.

Ok

You realize that a lot of people have NO interest in being a doctor right? You're dealing with the foulest stuff. Blood, organs, strange human bodies. I have not the slightest interest in touching random bodies, most of which are probably dirty and smell bad. Fucking gross.

Besides, which, it's inaccurate imo to say there is no point to finance. Do you have a 401k or a pension plan? If you have a 401k, do you invest in mutual funds? Someone somewhere along the line is most likely making decisions that affect your investments , with the ultimate goal of growing your (and a lot of other people's) money so you can retire someday and not have to work until you drop dead. But that is totally worthless right? No benefit to society.

LOL LOL LOL!! Wall Street fought for the right to rip off my 401k plan. Wall Street in its current iteration is a drain on society, not a benefit.

What in the world does your rambling even mean? Why don't you just stash cash in your mattress then? You sound just smart enough to do it.

+ 1

Sounds like word salad.

You wish. You apparently don't even have the minimal familiarity with current financial regulatory issues to know what I mean.

Are you wearing a tinfoil hat? You sound like a NUTCASE. Sorry dear but your crazy is showing. Might want to learn to hide that a little better.

Read and learn, grasshopper. https://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2015/aug/13/financial-advisers-wall-street-fiduciary-standard-obama-administration

Do you even understand what types of finance jobs are on wall street, or do you think it is a giant street of financial advisers?

Do you even understand what it means when an entire industry teams up to lobby against reforms that would protect everyone's 401ks?