How do kids from lower ranked schools land prestigious internships/jobs?!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with all these diversity targets, is it bad news then for my white, lower middle class son without connections to find internships and first job? I’m sure he’ll hit the pavement running, but sounds a bit discouraging.

There has always been a lower middle class demo on Wall Street. Lloyd Blankfein, to take an example - he's the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, which stands atop the investment banking world - was the son of a postal worker and receptionist and grew up in the Bronx. I believe he started at a small firm trading gold.

But I do think it is more difficult today. You have the privileged, well-connected students with pedigree degrees. They've always been there. Nothing new. And you have hiring priorities, particularly in banking, which favors DEI hires. If your kid is even remotely Black or Hispanic, there are so many internship opportunities.

In the end, it's always the grinders that rise to the top. Maybe they don't have the same opportunities at 19. But they grind. And by 40 they're everyone's boss. I would encourage networking and calls everywhere. Things like LinkedIn make everything so much easier. And people do generally like to help. Go to the best possible school you can. The great thing about this country is that it tends to work out for smart, disciplined, hard-working people regardless of their background. If you crash and burn, start again.

+ 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with all these diversity targets, is it bad news then for my white, lower middle class son without connections to find internships and first job? I’m sure he’ll hit the pavement running, but sounds a bit discouraging.

There has always been a lower middle class demo on Wall Street. Lloyd Blankfein, to take an example - he's the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, which stands atop the investment banking world - was the son of a postal worker and receptionist and grew up in the Bronx. I believe he started at a small firm trading gold.

But I do think it is more difficult today. You have the privileged, well-connected students with pedigree degrees. They've always been there. Nothing new. And you have hiring priorities, particularly in banking, which favors DEI hires. If your kid is even remotely Black or Hispanic, there are so many internship opportunities.

In the end, it's always the grinders that rise to the top. Maybe they don't have the same opportunities at 19. But they grind. And by 40 they're everyone's boss. I would encourage networking and calls everywhere. Things like LinkedIn make everything so much easier. And people do generally like to help. Go to the best possible school you can. The great thing about this country is that it tends to work out for smart, disciplined, hard-working people regardless of their background. If you crash and burn, start again.

I don't think mail room to CEO will ever happen again, but there have always been white shoe firms where Princeton and connections matter most and outsider firms where talent and hard work matter most.

[Anonymous]

See, referring to them as “outsider” is loaded. It’s artificial to divined the world into white shoe and “outsiders”. There are many many non-white shoe firms that are more pleasant and just as profitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have not read the whole thread, but a Caucasian White Male at a Top 25 is going up against diversity recruitment targets at these companies, so he would be at a disadvantage no matter what school he goes to. Are you sure that the kids landing the big jobs from Penn State for example aren’t connected and strings weren’t pulled for them? Regardless, I would advise your DS to adjust the companies / jobs he is targeting… aim for mid tier or niche consulting for example….or aim for locations outside of the key offices. And, if you have any contacts or family connections at all, now is the time to pull them. Lastly, The recruitment cycle for consulting and finance internships for summer 2024 are pretty much over, they hire 12-18 months in advance, so if he doesn’t have anything lined up for next summer, he needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan B

There aren’t diversity recruitment targets. Stop lying. Maybe with the federal government. With the private sector forget it.

Actually, there ARE diversity recruitment targets in the private sector, definitely at major professional services firms. So we do see certain types of kids being squeezed out. By the time, you bring in the kids with connections and the kids to meet your DEI targets, there aren’t many spots left open. It’s brutal.

Ask me how I know.

Yes, especially in banking, the most prestigious banks all have special diversity internships earmarked for the summer after sophomore year. Very big in IBanking. This means that most other kids need to start networking early fall or summer of junior year to land the plum internships junior year summer. Ideally those convert to job offers before the start of senior year.

I work for a non-profit financial regulation organization and DEI is real. The organization hires a DEI EVP and has a goal of achieving 100% diversity in the next five years. My wife works in IB and it is the same thing. Most internship positions go to DEI and family connections and very few to candidates without hooks.

[Anonymous]

I get invited to play golf with big companies in the financial, tech, and fintech space once a month, and take my college student kids with me to these events so that they can make connections with important people. College sophomore's son already got an internship out of this while my oldest son applied for a fintech job at company X but got no response until he met this SVP from company X at one of the golf events. The SVP contacted the department and HR and DS got an interview. At the interview, DS mentioned that he played golf with the SVP and got an offer two days after the interview. Go out there and network as much as you can.

[Anonymous]

some people are not good at working others are , others work hard, others don't

Others go to the happy hours while others work harder