Importance of Being Normal

To be successful in Wall Street, you have to be "normal." But to be "normal," or more precisely, to be "Wall Street normal," you have to know what that means first and what you have to do to create an image of being "normal."

Long stories short, you must understand that in Wall Street, at all times, "as it seems so it is" rules apply. You don't actually have to know the stuff for most jobs out there, but you must appear like you know the stuff 110%. For those skeptics who say that isn't difficult, I will tell you, to pretend to know something is more difficult than actually knowing the stuff (or easier option of admitting that you don't know the stuff).

I read this book yesterday, "Tinder for Experts: How to stop losing hot matches, relying on cheesy lines, wasting time & getting nowhere"

What is interesting is that the authors try to create what the "being normal" means online, on Tinder. To name a few - You must not have a selfie (as in a pic of you taken by you against the mirror) - You must have some friends in at least one of your photos, but not in your profile photo - Your photo must show at least one of the 6 "values" and each photo represents one and only one value (to dumb it down, I suppose)

Whether this is a successful strategy online about getting laid or getting a love of your life, I don't know. But what is interesting and true is the idea of "as it seems so it is."

As the authors admit and write so clearly, you don't actually have to possess any of those 6 values (as identified by the authors). I mean how many mountains you have to climb to get bored of it (i'd say 3). If you say you like adventures, what you are really saying is that you can't afford the adventures all the time. You probably get to go on these trips, what, a few times a year. So you are not bored of climbing mountains or skiing in the Alps. You earn probably in the range of 100 - 200k a year (and there is no possibility of early retirement) and can take 3 week holidays a year (so twice).

If you could actually afford the luxury (such as cars that cost 250k, houses in a number of different countries, doing the "swim with the dolphins" crap as many times as you like), what would you rather do is a completely different question. I'd probably say, I would still work, work for myself. Some might say, no creating a family, good family is important etc. The less you know it, the better it is. The less you show these things, the better your chances of scoring are.

In Wall Street careers, I think the same principles apply. You have to appear like you belong there. To do so, you need,

• A good education
• Mannerism
• Analyst training program at one of those bulge bracket firms (even what you did everyday for 3 years was click "submit" button on your PC)
• Grasp of Wall Street hierarchy of different departments, teams and firms
• Middle-class values (apart from a few, Wall Street is a middle class place, not above that)

For those who don't have all of these characteristics (including myself), we have to find ways to function there. We have to find our places there and it is no easy task! At all times, assume that a new firm, a firm you are applying to, prefers those with the BB analyst training to those with 3 years experience at a non-BB firm. It's not what you did that counts, what you appear to have done counts. Assume that they always prefer a good university graduate than a non-name university graduate.

All industries and sectors operate the same way, but in Wall Street (as in financial services industry), this is more tangible. One brand name analyst training in your resume is a lot more convincing than you answering all the difficult interview questions perfectly. After all, clients of the financial services firms make their decisions the same way.

"As it seems so it is."