How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads • Hacker News Board

Re: How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads

#121

Post by eli_gottlieb » Sat, May 17, 2014, 3:24 PM UTC

gertef wrote: post #89

lhh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, some of my friends who did investment banking internships (it's near impossible to get the full-time offer without an internship) ended up being miserable. However, some enjoyed the internship very much, and they return for full-time. The experience as a banking intern is a far cry from what the experience is as a full time analyst, at least psychologically. The internship is a 10 week sprint, you're not reall…

And thus the classic joke (told poorly by the first source I could copy): """ Satan offers incredible wealth to a man in exchange for his soul. The man replies, “B-b-b-but, won’t I have to go to Hell?” Satan says, “Oh, don’t believe what you’ve heard, Hell isn’t that bad. Here, take a look.” And it’s all cocktail receptions and long lazy lunches at fancy restaurants. So he sells his soul. Later, when he dies, he goes…

Back when I heard that joke from my father, it was a software salesman, and Shaitan told him, "You must have seen the demo".

Re: How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads

#122

Post by mercer » Sat, May 17, 2014, 10:04 PM UTC

JackFr wrote: post #35

robgering wrote: post #25

I'm genuinely curious -- what do these recruits actually do while working these massive hours? Is there really 80-120 hours of desk-based work to be done, or does office politics or fraternizing play a role in those hourly figures?

I've worked for banks to 15 years or so, but always on the sales and trading side, rather than the investment banking side. In general, I like the industry. However, I've come to believe that the 90 hour analyst work week is hazing, pure and simple. It doesn't really matter what they're doing. Being a banker is a pretty plum job and it simply weeds out people who don't really want the job that badly. The other aspect…

In some ways it baffles me that anyone would voluntarily choose such a lifestyle for a payoff that doesn't seem worth losing so much of your youth over.

On the other hand, it amazes me how humans can do things that other humans consider insane. We're a flexible species, which I guess can be both good and bad!

Re: How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads

#123

Post by dba7dba » Sun, May 18, 2014, 6:50 AM UTC

walshemj wrote: post #86

dba7dba wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But this is more a criticism of K-12 education, not the wall street industry! No matter if K-12 system is doing its job or not, Ivy League should not be sweeping up a their of Ivy League graduates. > By suggesting that investment banks are "printing money," you've shown that you aren't well-informed on the industry. Yes I apologize. I was just venting my frustration. But are the finance companies THAT important tha…

Well other professions need to pay more then - unless you think rigidly planned economies are good idea? "ah yes comrade brin" for you we have a nice job as third assistant boiler maintenance operative.

I'm sure managers and recruiters in other professions would love to pay more. But they can't. Or they can't compete against Wall Street.

Re: How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads

#124

Post by walshemj » Sun, May 18, 2014, 7:35 PM UTC

dba7dba wrote: post #123

walshemj wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well other professions need to pay more then - unless you think rigidly planned economies are good idea? "ah yes comrade brin" for you we have a nice job as third assistant boiler maintenance operative.

I'm sure managers and recruiters in other professions would love to pay more. But they can't. Or they can't compete against Wall Street.

To quote Christine Keeler "well they would say that wouldn't they"

So you believe anything anyone with a vested interest tells you?

Re: How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads

#125

Post by walshemj » Sun, May 18, 2014, 7:40 PM UTC

yannyu wrote: post #97

chimeracoder wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the first that I've heard of Pivotal Labs requiring drug testing. That makes me really sad - I thought the tech industry was free of this incredibly invasive, offensive, and counterproductive[0] practice. Do you know any other tech companies that have these policies (particularly startups)? I wonder if this is an outlier or just a commonplace practice I've been unaware of. [0] Because not all drugs remain det…

My understanding is that it is not uncommon for VCs to push their companies to start drug testing. Can't vouch for exactly why that is, but it seems to be something that happens.

Why do these VC's have shares in drug testing company's I can think of only a handful of job (outside of DV/TS clearance) that should be allowed to test there employees train drivers, airline pilots and so on.

Your MD doesn't have to have drug tests and they have access to the whole damm candy store.

Re: How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads

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Post by nostrademons » Sun, May 18, 2014, 9:13 PM UTC

mahyarm wrote: post #103

nostrademons wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Top Google engineers can make millions in stock grants. Even if you're not the best of the best, get promoted a couple times and you get a very respectable salary and stock grants that (in this market) add up very quickly. I know at least a couple mid/late-20s engineers that are like "Yeah, I'll stick it out for another 5-10 years and then move to Portland or Seattle and retire."

I hear stories of people in google never getting a promotion in 7 years as a software engineer. Or getting frustrated with promotions because everyone is overqualified for their position with PhDs and so on for positions such as a sales manager and so on. How does one become a top google engineer in their mid/late 20?

It happens. I think the longest I knew was someone who was there 11 years without being promoted. I also know folks who are promoted reliably every 2 years, all the way up from SWE 3 to Distinguished Engineer. My personal story was in the middle...I was promoted while at Google, but I didn't particularly want to climb the corporate ladder in a big company.

As for tactics - they aren't actually all that different from what you'd need to manage a successful startup. Get yourself put on a big, important project, and execute successfully on it. How do you get yourself on a big important project? Make yourself an expert within a department in one area, so that when that project is looking for people, they really need to have you. For me that area was Javascript, although I also picked up a lot about all aspects of the search stack from working on a bunch of projects (this is the "success begets success" phenomena: if you're an expert in one area, you can leverage that to get your pick of projects, which you can use to become an expert in more areas). It also helps to have a good relationship with your manager, and to pick a manager who is "plugged in" to Google's priorities and aware of the top priorities and opportunities around.

Re: How Wall Street recruits so many Ivy League grads

#127

Post by wil421 » Mon, May 19, 2014, 1:07 PM UTC

dba7dba wrote: post #58

wil421 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>These are kids really really smart, socially adjusted (enough to be accepted by Ivy League), and hard working. If they entered science/medicine/engineering/etc, they would've added great positive impact. IMHO I believe the kids the banks are stealing from science/medicine/engineering/etc, are not kids that would truly follow those paths. Personally once I found IT I didnt want to leave and nothing was going to deter…

I want to point out IT is not the true engine of America's economy. The true engines to me are companies like Boeing/GM/Tesla/SpaceX who make things that other economies want to pay money for.

You name companies that all have export bans on parts or all of their high tech stuff.