Partially colorblind guy looking to get some opinions on a question that has been killing me lately (can’t find a single, relevant post online). I accepted an SA offer with a BB for next year, and I wanted to know (on a scale of 1 to fml) how shitty will my time be when it comes to formatting slides with color? Currently, the eye dropper tool and a simple programming script get me by, but I’m not sure if I’ll even be able to use the latter at work.
Are the firms you all work for all standardized/set when it comes to color, or do you occasionally have to come up with a matching color scheme on your own? Also, any colorblind bankers out there willing to shed some light?
P.S. I would ask some contacts at my firm, but I’d rather not come off as hopeless.
Colors are standardized and they will have the tools/resources you need to match the colors with its specific # identifier. I think it should be pretty easy for you get by. I'm not color blind and I still get different shades of the same color wrong if I try to eye-ball it. Point being, I wouldn't worry about it.
Hope this helps.
SB’d. Thanks for the insight. I’m sure there are others like me who are doing just fine, and it’s just in my head—courtesy of some interns/friends making a joke about me trying to format pitch decks. Nothing quite like finance bros to boost your morale!
Red green color blind here. Not a big deal. Firm colors are standard (I have the RGB numbers at my desk). If you're trying to get some other color scheme, just copy with the eyedropper tool. Not a ton of opportunities to go rogue even if you wanted.
Awesome. Good to know. With standardized color schemes, I’m sure most people probably use the eye dropper and avoid eyeballing things, regardless of their vision. Sounds like being color blind won’t really be a hindrance whatsoever. Thanks for the response!
You might not believe this but the 2nd yr analyst I worked with during internship is also color blind (specifically red green colorblindness). I didn't get too much details on how he got by this issue but no one in the office, from intern to MD, ever bothered him with any comments. He's extremely smart and highly regarded in the workplace, on track to make associate later this year. Also when I worked as an intern I didn't do much color changing at all with the template. I'm pretty sure you'll do great as an SA.
I wouldn’t be surprised. A star banker is a star banker. Would be pretty shallow for something like that to happen. Appreciate the encouragement!
I’m also red green colorblind, hasn’t been a problem for me over the past decade
Good to know. Feel like this post is causing all the color blind to come out of the wood work! There’s more than I thought (albeit it’s relatively common among men)
Established firms typically have colors standardized in pitch decks, if not the MD typically has specific colors he/she works with consistently. The only instance I ever had with changing color schemes was when we first started our firm, but even we quickly decided on a combination and stuck with it.
I myself am not colorblind, but even still, find it good practice to ask for other people's opinions on my work before submitting it. How does this look? Do these colors work? Can I get a proof-read/sanity check? etc.
Every banker remembers being an SA, if you need help don't be afraid to ask. IB teams have a good level of camaraderie, especially towards young guys wh go extra lengths to ensure the job gets done right; any team member worth his or her salt won't mind helping you.
Really good points. Never hurts to get others’ opinions as an SA. Assuming I’m not suffocating them, I’m sure it’ll definitely show initiative. Thanks!
Why did people downvote this? Great advice!
As someone with mild Red-Green colorblindness, this post give me anxiety.
Haha sorry about that. Good thing most agree it won’t be an issue!
the only color I see is GREEN
Does BBK mean boy better know in reference to Skepta?
Haha I wish. In all honesty, I made a random name for an account just to see all the comments. Long time lurker. Looking back, a little creativity wouldn’t have hurt
I know of two MD's in particular that are color blind so it's possible to succeed in spite of it. Keep your head up and do your best!
Damn. Here I was two days ago not knowing any other analysts who are colorblind, yet you know two MDs. That’s crazy.
In IB i don't think there's any problem if you have any sort of colorblindness. Almost everything is standardized to a point. But in Consulting you might ran into some real problems such as key highlights on your decks, especially if somehow you couldn't reach out to another guy in your team to help proof-read your slides.
My brother is in consulting and goes up to Calgary these days by himself. One man show out there. Fortunately he didn’t get the colorblind trait, because that sounds like hell to me (a very cold one at that).
Prolly a good habit to have is to memorize your firm 3 most used color (primary, secondary, accents) RGB code. I don't have colorblind but memorizing them helps if you wanted to keep consistency between slides that contains new elements and not a template ripoff. Plus having a consistent company/department wide slide master helps a ton
In your first week print all of the standardized firm colors and their RGB codes. That way the associate hovering over you can say "no the the darker red" and you have the RGB right there. I think most BBs have their color sheet floating around, but if not it's easy to make.
I’ll have to check around. Great idea to familiarize myself with the schemes beforehand.
Staring at excel sheets and powerpoint slides all day long is not going to help your vision. If it's a serious issue, back out..
Not necessarily a vision issue in terms of weak eyesight. I don’t have to wear glasses (enchroma glasses would be cool though). Just means that i am missing one of the cones in my retina, making it difficult to see the difference between some colors on the spectrum.
Also colourblind person here. On my last internship I just used the tool that copies the colour (instead of finding it on my own) and it was okay.
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