Do's and Don'ts of WSO. part 1
As I wrote last weekend Wall Street Oasis is a place where you can meet some great people. Today, comes the first part in how to maximize interaction with some of those people to your benefit. All-the-while learning lessons that will help you in your job search and personal lives.
Building Bridges, not Making Moats
These are my views on board etiquette. I feel that they will help you greatly ...if you follow them.
This exercise will come in two parts, so let's get the negatives out of the way today and come back with possible solutions/improvements tomorrow.
The DON'Ts
1) DO NOT
post topics without using the search function first. I am not going to be hiring anyone for anything off of WSO. But I have done a lot of hiring (and firing) in the past and can tell you that all employers ask themselves one question before hiring someone: can this person help my business?
If you are throwing up the 77,000th "OMG!!! I'm from a non-target what do I do?" post...chances are people will look at you the same way I used to look at people who came to interview with me and didn't know what my company did...result: FAIL
2) DO NOT
pick out the guy with the most bananas and spam him with your resume and life story. If someone has the tools to help you on your way, you can be pretty sure they don't want to be treated like a resume reviewer or headhunter. I for one, love to help people. That having been said, I am going to take a completely different approach with people based on the level or respect and courtesy they show me.
3) DO NOT
be arrogant. We have people from all walks of life on this site. Be respectful of EVERYONE if you expect help from ANYONE. Just like in the real world people talk ...
You do not need to invent offers to wind up like Jeffrey Chang .
Respect people who have been here longer than you, even if you really are smarter than them ..
One of the keys to working your way up the ladder is knowing who's boss...
Your boss isn't always smarter or better, he was just there first.
Respect the chain of command and you will climb the ladder faster.
Remember and consider the immortal words of Tyler Durden...then come back tomorrow and read about what to do .
Like a monkey, ready to be shot into space. Space monkey! Ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
This.
I agree. While I have done resume reviews at my Career Center, I am still an undergrad as I have said like a million times. So it confuses me when people, sometimes many years my senior, message me asking for informational interviews or resume advice. The latter is ok, but I should prob be asking for informational interviews.
One guy even emailed like 10 iterations of my screen name at aol.com, at gmail.com, etc. One was actually right though
i think its probably because of your profile pic. lol
When you've shit post so much that people come to you asking for a job. Wow.
Great post Midas. I will throw another DON'T out there that newbies do all the time:
4.) DO NOT post threads asking us to rank banks, schools, groups, or anything else besides sports teams. It is impossible to say which opportunity is best for you without knowing your entire life story, how you fit in with the folks in each group, and what you eventually want to do post-banking. It all depends on your situation. What is best for me might not be best for you. Prestige counts for a lot less than college students think. If you want us to help you decide between offers, post some background information and some idea of your desired career trajectory. There is NO ABSOLUTE BANK RANKING, but if we're ranking sports teams, I'll tell anyone that will listen that the Eagles are at the bottom of the barrel.
Everyone can agree with that.
As someone who is beginning to use this site consistently, this was very helpful in understanding the culture and etiquette of WSO. I can see how "J.P. OR GS?!?!?" gets old quick
And as for the Eagles, I would respectfully like to point towards the current NFC East standings
2) DO NOT
pick out the guy with the most bananas and spam him with your resume and life story. If someone has the tools to help you on your way, you can be pretty sure they don't want to be treated like a resume reviewer or headhunter. I for one, love to help people. That having been said, I am going to take a completely different approach with people based on the level or respect and courtesy they show me.
I have been guilty of this. It was a dick move, I should have known better.
All around good advice.
DO NOT:
Pretend to be a partner at a hedge fund.
Great post.
In addition to #3, guys, I know it may not seem like it, but people do notice what you post. If you were asking questions only a few weeks ago, don't be mean to new posters. Nothing is more insulting or will get you onto my personal shit list faster than insulting/making fun of a new poster when you yourself was asking questions not too long ago. Do onto others as others have done onto you.
Also, I don't know about others, but I am a sucker for simple "please", "thank you", and "I understand this is a stupid question"....showing some respect can get you a long way.
I agree with the "spamming the people with the most bananas" comment. I used to give people detailed advice on resumes, but I really don't do it anymore (same is probably true for most people who have multiple years of experience). Given that there is a dedicated forum for people seeking resume feedback, it's hard to justify sending it to targeted people. Also, given how generic a lot of the PMs I receive are, I often assume that the person sent the same PM to 10+ people and I'm less likely to give well thought out advice.
Also -- if you are going to send me a private message asking me to give you 1 on 1 feedback on your resume, don't redact the whole damn thing (name is fine). Knowing what school you went to and where you interned helps me to give good advice. I know some people will disagree with this comment but the reality of the situation is that I don't really care who you are, cause if you're an undergrad you're not applying to my shop and if you're a banker and I like your resume, I'm going to want to hire you!
This is spot on advice. I look at countless resumes and people are always completely shady about their identity. As if I give a shit what your name is. Fact is without pertinent details I cannot give you targeted help.
Common sense people. That is all.
.
I'm posting 100x less these days because the topics just aren't interesting anymore... it's the same regurgitation of questions in a different form, everytime...
once you realize most questions have already been answered on this forum (god bless all who have contributed to this situation) you realize your input is not required - the smart people who deserve answers use "search" and the rest should go be tellers.
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