GS asking kids if they’re LGBTQ to help get off WL?!?!?!

Friend had a GS superday and felt that it went amazing and then got waitlisted. He reached out to a connection there and they asked if he was LGBTQ because that would boost his odds of landing an offer.What the fuck? Are we seriously in a world where your sexuality will help or hurt you land a job? You've become the very thing you sought to destroy!

28 Comments
 

I know a lot of diversity candidates who smooth sailed through recruiting this year. These people have it so easy god damn it. Non-diverse are the real grinders

 
Controversial

This will get monkey shit but to give some context:

Diversity recruiting is there for a reason. Think of all the years people who identify as a minority group (Black/Hispanic/LGBTQ+/WIB) have been put at a disadvantage or didn't receive the same opportunities as a white person who's straight. With years of being put at a disadvantage and not being able to get fundamental education/advance in certain career paths (especially in business), there needs to be some type of recruitment to even out the playing field.

So yes, recruiting has come to this most of the times and that's just how it'll be. I'm a white guy and I get how frustrating it can be but these programs are there for a reason. If candidates prove they are qualified on the job and posses skills to be in the industry, then great I'm glad this diversity pipeline worked out. If not, then they won't get a FT offer.

Not trying to bash anyone or anything I'm just trying to help y'all see this from different lenses.

Edit: tough crowd I guess

 

I get your point, but for IB diversity recruiting these diversity kids don't really have to send thousands of networking emails. Networking is the biggest part, non-diverse like me and many others grind it out from day one of college to even stand a little chance. Nothing against diversity, but I wish I had the same "privileges" to IB recruiting like them

 
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Sorry, but I don't buy that gay people/LGBTQ are diversity. It's always been such a weird concept to me? A rich, white, gay person from the East Coast who attended boarding school etc., should not be allowed preferential treatment in the recruiting process because s/he is gay. How is that fair? They have an incredible amount of privilege over the, e.g., first/second generation Chinese/Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi etc., student who attended public school (for argument's sake) and doesn't have any connections in finance. Yet the gay person will get the offer over the actual minority person. 

Being gay is not a hinder in finance, but coming from an immigrant background naturally means that you don't have the same network as a family who's been in the US for 100+ years or so.

I do not have a problem with diversity recruiting in terms of giving out interviews as long as they perform as competently as others (which is how they operate in the UK, but I understand it's different in the US), but I do have a massive problem with waiving through people based solely on their characteristics, and especially LGBT people because, by and large, they are not coming from disadvantaged backgrounds - it is just a backdoor for rich, privileged people to claim "diversity" to get in easy.

 

Ya I’ve heard some wild stories abt ppl getting BX internships without being asked techs. What’s the long term effect of this…. Are people just going to be worse at their jobs? I’m not saying that someone who isn’t asked technicals is incapable of doing their job, but some level of commitment and effort to shine in the non diverse pool will likely lead to a higher quality intern or analyst to start at the very least

 

This year a top BB filled most of their class with diversity. Top target like Harvard Yale non-diverse people didn't even get a first round I heard. Ridiculous to say the least! Like imagine going to Harvard and grinding to find out you won't even get a first round lol. For argument sake, if the diversity candidates are grinders props to them, but the seats should be limited for them.

 

Make Recruitment Great Again!

But seriously, as a POC, I think diversity recruiting is fucking bullshit. For context, I did NOT do any diversity programs (recruited regularly since I missed the diversity hiring timeline).

It shouldn't be allowed and it's crazy to think how many of the diversity candidates go into the internship/job without knowing ANYTHING. In my experience, there have been various times when diversity hires have shown how weak they are technically and I wonder: "how the fuck did this person land [Insert good bank]?" Then I remember: "oh wait, diversity."

I get it "once you're in the job, diversity hires perform just as well," but the hardest part of this all is getting your foot in the door. When you get asked no technicals and get a free pass to an amazing bank just for being back/woman/LGBTABCDEFG+-*/etc., that's not fair. Also, I don't think that Karen who went to Brunswick or Gabby who went to [insert insanely expensive private/boarding school] were oppressed, ever.

I also get the whole "HiStOrIcAlLy, ThEsE gRoUpS wErE oPpReSsEd!" narrative, but two wrongs don't make a right. Hiring should be objective and focus on things that actually matter (e.g., technicals, industry knowledge, etc.) rather than focusing on things candidates cannot change (e.g., sex, race, sexual orientation, etc.).

 

Make Recruitment Great Again!

But seriously, as a POC, I think diversity recruiting is fucking bullshit. For context, I did NOT do any diversity programs (recruited regularly since I missed the diversity hiring timeline).

It shouldn't be allowed and it's crazy to think how many of the diversity candidates go into the internship/job without knowing ANYTHING. In my experience, there have been various times when diversity hires have shown how weak they are technically and I wonder: "how the fuck did this person land [Insert good bank]?" Then I remember: "oh wait, diversity."

I get it "once you're in the job, diversity hires perform just as well," but the hardest part of this all is getting your foot in the door. When you get asked no technicals and get a free pass to an amazing bank just for being back/woman/LGBTABCDEFG+-*/etc., that's not fair. Also, I don't think that Karen who went to Brunswick or Gabby who went to [insert insanely expensive private/boarding school] were oppressed, ever.

I also get the whole "HiStOrIcAlLy, ThEsE gRoUpS wErE oPpReSsEd!" narrative, but two wrongs don't make a right. Hiring should be objective and focus on things that actually matter (e.g., technicals, industry knowledge, etc.) rather than focusing on things candidates cannot change (e.g., sex, race, sexual orientation, etc.).

You may not realize it but you are actually proving part of the point of these diversity programs. 

It isn’t all about historically oppressed, etc. It is about getting the smartest people in the door (at least at the HFs I’ve been at). Just like you described, many people don’t know anything about finance and many people used to not even apply for these jobs (and a large portion of those were “diversity” due to how the business was run). So if you have 0 women applying to your finance jobs I can guarantee you aren’t hiring the “best” and that’s a problem. So while there are all the other stuff you and others have stated, not knowing technicals or being in love with finance since you were 16 shouldn’t be the benchmark you use

 

Ah yes, the poc who thinks he’s better than everyone else because he didn’t utilize diversity recruiting - a tail as old as time. Point is still semi valid though which I’ll give. Personally I haven’t seen as many diversity backgrounds that don’t know anything, mostly just diversity students at ivies, targets, and semitargets that utilize it since it’s available to them. It is sort of stupid though since so many of these students didn’t need advanced placement but I digress…

 
Funniest

I belong to the LGBTQM community. The M? It stands for moneysexual. It's quite subversive. I mostly get off to fiat these days but I'll make do with digital if I'm really pumped. I was first outed when my mom found copies of the journal hidden under my bed. She says its filthy lucre but I think she's overinflating the issue. 

 

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