Dude said he got into a diversity conference by saying he had a learning disability

I know someone that recently went to a top tier BB diversity conference for people that are disabled. The disability he said he had - a learning disability. Why would a bank want to employ someone with a learning disability? I understand a conference for people who are physically disabled but to accept someone who isn't as mentally competent makes no sense to me

18 Comments
 

People with ADHD or are on the autism spectrum can function normally with medication. As long as you can do the work and can interview well it might not even be noticable

 

On average I would agree but my roommate in college was on the spectrum but an absolute genius and workhorse.

Honors college, 4.0, electrical engineering, top GRE scores, defended dissertation, etc.

Obviously an outlier and I think he would have made it through ANY rigorous interview process without being given diversity treatment but the assumption that most people can function better than him is a bit narrow.

 

There are high functioning students and professionals with learning disabilities. It depends on the disability, how severe it is, how it affects them (everyone is different), as well as how they manage it (ie. if it would take 50% more time to accomplish XYZ task... Do they compensate by working twice as efficiently? Being a complete machine in other areas of work? Has this work ethic in fact helped them to not only overcome that 50% obstacle, but also actually excel over thei peers?).

As a student with a disability, interested in banking, and very involved with disability advocacy, I'd b happy to provide more color on this topic.

Edit: Just realized I posted this under anonymous tag. (Didn't do that for a reason fundamental to this thread, I just always prefer anonymity. )

Edit Edit: There are some fringe cases. There was a controversial case lately of a Goldman Sachs former employee who never showed up for work due to worsening ADHD and was let go. He sued for being stripped of a career that would have earned him "millions." (His words.) Goldman settled. I thought it was ridiculous and I really cringed when I read about it. But maybe I'm just not the litigious type.

 

Currently have a visual disability where my vision is really bad (eye is still stabilizing from operation). As a result I see very poorly. However I've been afraid to disclose to ppl and not sure what I should do given that I'm not sure if its permanent or not. Because of all the recovery and stuff I've stayed at home which has limited my ability to join investment clubs, etc. What should I do? I don't want to act entitled like I need help but its been really rough. Even worse, I was told that I needed my first operation first week of college :(. There were weeks where I didn't leave my house at all and basically don't have a social life now. Used to be sorta popular in hs so the change in social life was pretty rough on me. Been mentally depressed beyond anything I can write down , in and out.

 

Sorry you are going through this.

I think there is a popular and harmful myth that college is the one opportunity to position yourself for life and if you don’t get career positioning right in college (incl and esp internships), the ship has sailed. This contributes a lot to the pressure that someone in your position feels.

It isn’t true. Life is long, careers are long. The SA job you land as a 21 yo or the FT job you land as a 22 yo is not path-defining. It’s just the first on-ramp to a potential path. There are many on-ramps afterward, not to mention many other paths.

Don’t make any sacrifices to your physical or mental health and don’t let the college bubble impose fake deadlines on you. Almost everyone faces bumps in the road for family, health etc. Smart people who work hard and avoid disasters end up fine in the long run.

 

During my degree I was completely blind (lost vision in both eyes and could only see a sliver from one of my eyes, ended up getting surgery to correct it so all is mostly good for now.), I understand how you feel. It took me a while after finishing college to find a full time job and managed to land a pretty good role at that. I'm on the exact path I want to be on and couldn't be happier. My advice to you is to keep pushing - something will eventually give way, keep applying and try your best to keep your grades high. Don't impose arbitrary deadlines on yourself like "everyone in my class has FT offers so I should too", everyone takes their own path in life, for some, reaching their goals will take longer than for others and there's nothing wrong with that, just as long as you get there. Re: your vision and social life - most people I interacted with either didn't seem to care much or would go out of their way to help me by taking notes for me etc etc, i'd often joke about my lack of sight with my friends which definitely eased the burden a bit. Also, try not to sweat the whole "joining investment clubs " etc, most people in the industry don't really care much about this sort of thing (unless you ran the club), so don't waste your time worrying about this. Re: your operation - chances are you operation has a very high chance of success and I wouldn't be too worried about it, just keep in mind that your current eyesight isn't permanent and will eventually be back to normal.

If you need anything, feel free to PM.

 

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